Paul Wells on The Harper Decade

On this day ten years ago, Stephen Harper was elected to head the Canadian Alliance. In the decade since, he has methodically made his way to the forefront of Canadian politics, uniting the Conservative Party of Canada, becoming Prime Minister, and winning a majority government in the last election.

On the anniversary of what it’s now clear was a portentous day in Canadian history, Maclean’s is releasing a special e-book: The Harper Decade, in PDF and iPad app format by the magazine’s Political Editor, Paul Wells. We asked Wells to share his insight about Prime Minister Harper and this crucial period in the Canadian political scene.

Q: Why “The Harper Decade?” What does that mean? When did it begin?


A: Tuesday, March 20 is the 10th anniversary of Stephen Harper’s election as leader of the Canadian Alliance in 2002. Of course he’d been in politics before, but starting in 2002 we get the beginning of a sustained effort by Harper to dominate Canadian politics. So far it’s worked. This e-book is an attempt to take stock of the man, his political style and policies, and his effect on the country.

Bob Rae attack ad shows it’s a Liberal revival the Tories fear most

There is a reason the Conservative Party launched an attack ad against Bob Rae on the same week as the NDP leadership convention.

The Conservatives are convinced Mr. Rae will lead the Liberal Party into the next election–an increasingly safe assumption. And they fear him more than they fear whomever the New Democrats choose on Saturday. So while the Tories wait to learn who will lead the official opposition, they’re getting their licks in against what they see as the greater threat.

Though nominally only interim leader, Mr. Rae’s hold on the job appears unassailable. Potential rivals – Quebec MP Justin Trudeau, former Quebec cabinet minister Martin Cauchon, New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc – have either decided they’re not interested, or have tested the waters and found them frigid. Ottawa MP David McGuinty, brother to Ontario’s premier, and MP and former astronaut Marc Garneau may also be interested, but at this point Mr. Rae is seen as by far the most credible permanent leader for the third party.

Canadian Tire pleads guilty to gas price fixing

BROCKVILLE, ONT.—Three companies have been fined for fixing the price of gasoline in Kingston and Brockville between May and November in 2007.

The Competition Bureau says Pioneer Energy, Canadian Tire Corporation and Mr. Gas pleaded guilty to the charges today.

Investigators found gas retailers or their representatives phoned each other and agreed on the price they would charge.

The companies pleaded guilty to price-fixing in Brockville court and were fined a total of $2 million.

Competition commissioner Melanie Aitken says consumers in Kingston and Brockville were denied a competitive price for gasoline as a result of criminal price-fixing.

Pioneer Energy was fined $985,000, Canadian Tire was fined $900,000 and Mr. Gas was fined $150,000.

Original Article
Source: Star
Author: The Canadian Press

ORNGE: Web of questionable financial deals at air ambulance service uncovered by Auditor General

A larger web of questionable financial deals has been uncovered at the troubled ORNGE air ambulance service, including the wasting of millions of tax dollars and paying one board member a $200,000 retainer.

Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter detailed the troublesome practices and a lack of health ministry oversight Wednesday in a long-awaited 39-page report that comes as an Ontario Provincial Police investigation continues into ORNGE.

“ORNGE is a textbook example of what happens when the government doesn’t get the information it needs to do its job,” McCarter told a news conference.

He raised the question of what has happened to about $9 million in profits after the posh ORNGE headquarters, nicknamed the “Crystal Palace,” was purchased for $15 million by an air ambulance subsidiary, then leased back to ORNGE with a rent 40 per cent above market rates and used as collateral to borrow $24 million.

“Where is that money?” he said of the $9 million difference between the purchase price and the amount borrowed, which went to another ORNGE subsidiary owned by management and the board, not taxpayers.

“I think that’s something the OPP is looking in to.”

Dissing the politically undead

Consider this:

• Somebody tried to steal a riding or two, (and maybe more), in the last election.
• The most expensive military acquisition in Canadian history – $30 billion – is turning out to have been based on government misrepresentation that may or may not have misled parliament – again. Only AG Michael Ferguson seems to know for sure. Voters have been so docile on this file the Harper government got away with saying there was an actual contract to buy these duds during the last election.
• Former Tories in the Vaughan Conservative riding association are asking for an investigation into the campaign finances of newly minted Harper uber-lieutenant Julian Fantino. So far, the Elections Canada audit of his by-election in 2010 is missing in action.
• Our new Integrity Commissioner has apparently caught a dishonest public servant but will not divulge her name or the terms under which she left office.
• Real federal public servants were used in a Conservative/Sun Media faux news special as fake citizens. Got a commendation from their boss. Hmmm.
• Ottawa says Canadians who oppose the Gateway Pipeline are dangerous radicals under the control of foreign countries.
• Vic Toews tells us that Canada now operates in a “with-us or with-the- pornographers universe.”
• The federal budget is just days away and we are told that big cuts are coming. But don’t look for details in the budget, they won’t be there. That info belongs to the government.

With all that and so much more happening, the Conservatives offer the country this political knee-trembler in the form of a new political attack ad – Bob Rae is a “Failure”.

Gloves are off in war on greens

You don't want to give too much credence to the unhinged accusations of crotchety Conservative senators, but their recent attacks on environmentalists suggest a bold escalation in the government's anti-green messaging.

At a recent meeting of a Senate committee examining foreign contributions to Canadian charities, Conservative Senator Percy Mockler described some respected environmental organizations - including the Sierra Club and David Suzuki foundations - as "bad, not to mention, ugly." ("They're all anti-Canadian," chimed in Conservative Senator Mike Duffy.)

Senator Don Plett, a former Conservative party president, picked up on a flippant remark from one environmentalist who said he would accept money "from Martians" if it helped preserve B.C.'s pristine coast.

"If environmentalists are willing to accept money from Martians," Plett said, "where would they draw the line? Would they take money from al-Qaeda, the Hamas, or the Taliban?"

These unbalanced attacks - Conservative senators have no trouble with foreign contributions to the right-leaning Fraser Institute - come when environmental progress has slowed, if not stalled, partly because economic uncertainty is trumping other issues.

Ditch ‘immature rhetoric’ on oil sands, David Suzuki tells Tory senators

One of Canada’s leading environmental groups is urging Canadians to tell Conservative senators to “get back to the business of thoughtful debate” and stop talking among themselves about the alleged foreign funding of oil-sands critics.

Since the end of February, various Conservatives have been standing in the Red Chamber to participate in an inquiry initiated by Ontario Senator Nicole Eaton into the purported interference of foreign foundations in Canada’s domestic affairs – a lament against the U.S. dollars they say are behind environmental activism in this country.

On Tuesday, the David Suzuki Foundation asked Canadians to fill out a form letter on its website telling Ms. Eaton and other senators they are disappointed by their attempts to silence and demonize those who don’t share their positions.

“The Senate is supposed to be a house of sober second thought. As such, we expect more from our senators than uninformed and immature rhetoric that does nothing to further debate about matters of vital national importance,” the letter says.

Nilcilene Miguel de Lima, Amazon Activist With Escort And Bulletproof Vest: 'They're Going To Kill Me'

An activist leader in the Amazon won protection from Brazil's National Security Force, but continues to live under threat. At the same time, loggers run free.

On May 25, Brazil shamefully faced the brutal murder of a husband-and-wife team of forest activists on the same day that the country's House of Representatives voted on the Forest Code -- legislation that environmentalists warned would increase deforestation of the Amazon and violence against those who defend it. After news spread that the activists had been shot at point-blank range and had their ears cut off, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff created a national task force comprising ten government agencies, including the federal police and the military, to address and combat forest violence.

Almost one year after this task force was created, one of its charges is living proof of how federal intervention in the Amazon is still far from enough.

“They will kill me. And before dying, I will be tortured,” says rubber-tapper and Amazon forest activist Nilcilene Miguel de Lima, wearing a bulletproof jacket and escorted by nine heavily-armed policemen.

Chuck Winder, Idaho Lawmaker, Suggests Women Use Rape As Excuse For Abortions

The sponsor of an Idaho mandatory ultrasound bill, state Sen. Chuck Winder, made some highly controversial comments Monday during his closing arguments, suggesting women might falsely use rape as an excuse to obtain an abortion.

Just before the Idaho's Senate passed the bill, which requires woman to have an ultrasound prior to obtaining an abortion, opponents of the bill pointed out that it makes no exception for rape victims, incest victims or women in medical emergencies.

Winder, a Republican from Boise, responded to those concerns by raising the question of whether women understand when they have been raped.

“Rape and incest was used as a reason to oppose this," Winder said on the Senate floor. "I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that's part of the counseling that goes on.”

Waking up from the Enbridge pipe dream: how many new jobs will we really see?

Supporters of Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline claim that the project will create many thousands of jobs for Canadians, and have attempted to polarize public discussion into a "jobs vs environment" debate. But in our latest study, Marc Lee takes a close look at Enbridge's job creation estimates and reveals that the pipeline would create very few jobs, and most of these would be temporary.

Find out more: download Enbridge Pipe Dreams and Nightmares: The Economic Costs and Benefits of the Proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline

You can hear interviews with Marc on CBC Radio morning shows out of Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George and Prince Rupert, and this afternoon at 2:00 PM on CKNW's Simi Sara Show.


“According to Enbridge’s own estimates, the pipeline will only create about 1,850 construction jobs per year for three years. Even adding in upstream employment from pipe manufacture – if that were to occur in Canada – gives us no more than 3,000 jobs per year for three years.” — Marc Lee

Original Article
Source: policy alternatives
Author: CCPA