Dissident Mounties threaten to expose force’s ‘orchards of Bad Apples’

VANCOUVER — On the heels of a bitter public spat between Canada’s top Mountie and two B.C.-based officers who criticized him, a new group of disgruntled officers has emerged, sniping at RCMP brass and threatening to expose certain “investigative files” and compromising pictures of members whom it deems unworthy of the uniform.

The Re-Sergeance Alliance announced itself in an anonymously written email to media outlets this week. Claiming to speak for “slightly over 500 members” inside the RCMP’s E Division in B.C., the group apparently formed as two local officers were sending letters under separate cover to Commissioner Bob Paulson, chastising him and other senior RCMP managers for a host of controversies and alleged institutional failures.

Harper’s new savings machine -- SSC invokes national security to expedite IT procurement

If there was any doubt that Shared Services Canada is at the forefront of the Conservative government’s efforts to rationalize federal spending, it was dispelled earlier this month — when it accepted nearly 60 procurement employees from Public Works.

SSC’s newest workers are experts in contracting for computers, networking gear and email – and they’ve arrived just in time for an historic transformation of the government’s electronic backbone.

Mark Warawa Backs Stephen Woodworth's Motion 312 On Rights Of The Unborn

Tory MP Mark Warawa has released a video in support of a motion to study the rights of the unborn in Canada.

In the clip, the Member of Parliament for Langley, B.C., backs fellow Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth's Motion 312, which calls for the formation of a parliamentary committee to study questions related to the definition of a human being.

"The definition of human being, should that begin maybe before complete birth?" Warawa asks. "We need to take a new fresh look at this."

United Church offends Jews with bungled foray into Middle East politics

The United Church of Canada has squandered enormous goodwill this week with its bungled foray into Middle East politics.

In proposing a boycott of Israeli goods from East Jerusalem and the West Bank, a church working group either was naive and ill-informed or mischievously biased against Israel.

The church’s governing council gave preliminary endorsement to the proposal Wednesday in Ottawa, with a final vote expected Friday.

Conservative government likely under pressure from U.S. to purchase F-35s

PARLIAMENT HILL—If Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government caves in to opposition pressure and scraps its plan to buy a $25-billion fleet of F-35 stealth fighter jets, the retreat would be a damaging blow to the U.S. program developing the costly and sophisticated new warplane, a leading U.S. defence analyst says.

“For Canada to start wobbling at this stage would be a very, very serious blow to the program,” Bill Sweetman, chief editor for the Washington-based Defense Technology at Aviation Week, told The Hill Times on Wednesday.

Toews’ office looks into the future, sees ‘misinformation’

Vic Toews’ office is warning the press gallery of the potential for “misinformation” ahead of a press conference Thursday.

Representatives of some of Canada’s public safety unions are due to hold a press conference this afternoon on Parliament Hill “to discuss impact of federal cuts.” There is a fear on behalf of the unions that cuts to things like border security will endanger Canadians.

Ahead of the press conference, the director of communications for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, Julie Charmichael, forwarded a letter to the press gallery. In it, Toews reminds the unions that as part of the 2012 budget, “agencies within the Public Safety Portfolio reviewed their activities” and found areas where savings could be garnered. He goes on to note that these decisions “were taken only after careful deliberation” and according to departmental recommendations.

But in her email to the press gallery, Carmichael warns against what the unions will say.

“Public Safety Unions will be holding a press conference today and I feel it is important for you to be aware of the Minister’s response to the Presidents prior to any misinformation being disseminated this afternoon,” she writes.

I’m sure we all appreciate the head’s up.

Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Colin Horgan

Paul Ryan's radical plans for U.S. women

The floundering Romney campaign was thrown a life ring of sorts last week, from aboard the USS Wisconsin, a decommissioned U.S. Navy vessel based in Norfolk, Virginia. There, Mitt Romney introduced the man he said would be "the next president of the United States," until he corrected himself. "Every now and then I'm known to make a mistake," Romney confessed. "I did not make a mistake with this guy. But I can tell you this, he's going to be the next vice president of the United States." And with that, Paul Ryan became Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate, the man who, in the event of a Romney win in November, becomes a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Ontario government releases bill to freeze teacher wages Published 30 minutes ago Share on twitter Share on facebook

The Ontario government has taken its battle with teachers to a new level, laying out its threatened legislation to freeze their wages for two years and short-circuit any strikes or lockouts.

Education Minister Laurel Broten previewed the bill with just 15 days to go until her Sept. 1 deadline for teacher unions and school boards to negotiate deals with no pay increases as the province fights a $15 billion deficit.

“Time is running out,” Broten said Thursday. “As a government we cannot sit back.”

Norway vs. Canada: Where to Draw the Line with Big Oil

Instead of charging royalties as Canadian provinces do, Norway makes its money by taxing profits of both foreign and Norwegian owned oil companies.

The University of Stavanger boasts something that is absent from most other college campuses: a 30-story oil rig. Of course no one is expecting to find oil in the barren granite under the cafeteria. It was a gift from Shell Oil in 1985 and has been used for the last 28 years to train Norwegian petroleum engineers.

So why would an oil company do such a thing? The same reason that a teenager would bring a bouquet of flowers for his prom date's protective mother -- to buy some goodwill.

Politics threatens to scuttle Enbridge pipeline

Recently, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said a decision about the contentious Northern Gateway pipeline would be determined by science, not politics. It is difficult to say if the PM’s statement was a directive or a desire, but at this stage, the more politics becomes involved with the project, the less likely it will be built.

Today, the political arithmetic just doesn’t work; the present lay of the land simply does not lend itself to direct political support of Gateway by any sitting government.