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.

10 reasons why coalition talks are hot air

Talks of coalition governments formed between arch-enemies for the sake of ousting Stephen Harper are far fetched, and in my opinion this is an enormous load of hot air. This is why.

1. Coalitions built on an anti-something platform are short-lived
2. The Bloc is mercurial and the Liberals have nothing to gain in QC by pandering to the separatists.
3. If the Cencelli handbook is anything to go by, the NDP would have to field complete newcomers in at least 1/4 of senior portfolios and just below 1/2 of junior ones. The Government would be very shaky, particularly in these times.
4. Distributing the portfolios and patronage among the at least 5 factions in the Liberal Party will be a nightmare.
5. When the Liberal leadership convention takes place, either leader will be faced with a government where more than 3/4 of members are hostile.
6. When you're in government, the buck stops with you. Many senior Liberals wouldn't touch government with a bargepole - any deterioration of the economy will kill the Party.
7. Liberal stimuli will not earn them votes. They're hemorrhaging support in manufacturing areas and forestry areas are going to all other parties. Their message is not resonating, and neither will their money.
8. The economy is not a basket case. It's on a rocky road, and it isn't a good idea to change drivers on a rocky road while the car is moving.
9. When the Bloc votes the coalition down for not pandering to Quebec, either government will return to the Tories, causing humiliation on the other side of the floor, or new elections will be called. Either way the Liberal party is screwed.
10. As many have remarked, many Liberals wouldn't want a coalition with the NDP. Some in marginal seats may well cross the floor.

As much as there's backroom dealing and grandstanding, I'm sure the real leaders of the parties concerned are negotiating with the Tories to come out of this mess. My money is on an out-of-House settlement for some stimulus in exchange for a cut in the subsidy.

Shame on Britain

Damian Green MP, UK Conservative spokesman on Immigration, has been arrested by anti-terrorism agents yesterday night and had his home in Kent, London properties and offices raided by the police. The accusation: being a link in the chain of embarrassing leaks from Government offices. The Times has an excellent commentary today.
More information in my previous post.

Labour has overstepped the line this time. UK voters will not forgive these Zimbabwe-like tactics when they go to what may potentially be the last fair polls in the country's history if Labour isn't ousted.

UK MP arrested for doing his job

Damian Green MP, Conservative immigration spokesman, has been arrested in a dawn raid at his home in Kent in connection with embarrassing Home Office documents leaked to the press. He was released on bail pending a hearing. Special Branch stormed the MP's residence and searched it, the charge being an obscure and never used provision of British common law. The Speaker of the House of Commons is rumored to have sanctioned the raid.

It is essential that this story receives the worldwide attention it deserves. Guido Fawkes has a worrying comparison to Robert Mugabe which stands fairly true.

This is beyond contemptible.

Hear the thud

Britain's Labour plans for "zero-carbon" homes flopped with a thud when it was revealed they cost a million pounds each to achieve.

A £15 million project to build hundreds of new zero-carbon homes has fallen flat after only 15 qualified in the first year, The Times has learnt. Gordon Brown’s scheme [...] failed because the Government’s specification for a zero-carbon home is not practical, the building industry says.[...] A better, cheaper alternative would be subsidies to improve the air-tightness of existing buildings.

Yet another example of how grabbing headlines with expensive programs to combat a non-existing threat will land you in a pot of boiling water. With the economy going to the dogs and the embarrassment of the pre-budget report, Britons will not like hearing that 15 million of their money were so badly spent. Coupled with today's news of free flip-flops for drunk women (to prevent falling over when wearing high heels), Gordon Brown's Labour will definitely face the toughest question from its voters: "WTF?"

Sask HRT raps Christian commissioner

A Saskatchewan marriage commissioner is being rapped by the Human Rights tribunal for refusing to be there for a same-sex marriage ceremony on the grounds of religious belief. Despite being one of the many commissioners in Regina, I don't think I can side with his cause.

Were his actions related to a wholly private practice the couple in question wouldn't stand a chance: business is business. However when applying to be a marriage commissioner one signs up to performing marriages in accordance with existing law. It becomes a public service, and religious belief can't come into play here.

Delivering a public service doesn't just mean you get paid by the government. My definition of it includes any situation where someone accepts to perform a duty on behalf of the government, paid or not. Therefore refusing to put a stamp on a lawful union is something he could not do. There are many professions and duties one can perform keeping his or her faith in mind. Government-sanctioned positions do not belong in that list.

Deficit coming - Duh!

Deficit predictions keep appearing like mushrooms in virgin woodland after a big storm, but most people endowed with the gift of common sense will just shrug and say "Duh!". The world economy is chin-deep in stinky goo, and solid economic foundations don't help you avoid trouble when your major customer is going down the tube and your major natural resource sheds 60% of its value almost overnight.

Who are we kidding? The progressives at the Centre for Policy Alternatives may well predict a 50 billion deficit, but anyone worth their salt will figure these guys are on crack. Being good at predicting surpluses is easy, as any government budgets conservatively. Predicting deficits involves coming off the high and sparing a thought for the government's future actions. If auto bailouts and massive "social justice" programs are included in these warped figures then we could well run a 50 billion dollar deficit. However this is no New Deal and there's no big spending party in government. Thank God!

Now we hear that trade unions will have to stop playing omnipotent and accept conditions before a bailout gets in the works. Tony Clement has the guts to say it and he's damn right. The trade unions and their perpetual strife for laziness are part of the equation that brought the demise of the auto sector. If the government has to tighten its belt, so do union bosses. Right on!

There's rumors of an additional 300-billion rescue package in the works south of the border. That adds up to the 700 billion already sent down the drain, making the total exceed $1 trillion. That's more than is required to pay off an entire year's worth of negative US balance of payments. Canada isn't going down that route, we're demanding change for cash and we'll get it.

Wishful thinking aside, running a deficit now is almost inevitable (chapeau to the Tories if they manage to break even). How big the deficit is will depend on how bold the government thinks it can be. When things get tough it's easier to push for structural change, because many inefficient organizations have close to nothing to lose (they've been wiped out) or, conversely, too much at stake (they could go bankrupt with a thud). Do we break the hair knot that hit the comb or do we just grease it up?

We'll run a contained deficit, and if we accompany it with a sound economic restructuring plan and a detailed cash flow forecast we can still show responsible management instead of the Grits' mercurial just-plug-holes approach. Even big companies are sometimes short on cash, it's normal if you know how to manage it. What's the fuss?