June 29 - The election is over, and the Liberals have been re-elected but to a minority government.

I am deeply embarassed that Laurel and Hardy of the American left came up here to intervene - Ralph Nader urged voters not to regard voting NDP as vote splitting, and Michael Moore spoke out about how it is better to vote Liberal no matter how troubling that act may be.

No members of the American right pulled that stunt, but you can bet there would have been loud screaming had they done so.

Attack ads and fear-mongering work up here, as Toronto voters swallowed their outrage at the corruption of the Liberal Party and voted "for the devils they knew" who will likely form a minority government with the New Democratic Party -who are even further to the left of the Liberals (No looking back.)

Promises of federal funds for Toronto - the transit system, SARS relief, black-out relief, homelessness relief, you name it, it got promised relief - resulted in the ridings going completely to the Liberals and NDP and it looks as though much of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) went the same.

Damian did live blogging of the elections, which makes for interesting reading (even though I knew the results before I got home from work) and the comments have some interesting analysis, including some discussion as to whether the Liberal Party-NDP coalition will hold and, if not, whether another election could be called in two years (although I have my doubts that a Conservative Party-Bloc Quebecois coalition would have held much longer than that, too.)

Olivia Chow lost her bid for a federal seat, which is good and bad because it means Toronto is still stuck with her ...

The CBC has an election round-up and you can link to the individual ridings, but I'm trying to find a freaking map because I am very curious as to how the Conservative Party did outside of the GTA.

I've had a virus thingy and am still somewhat under the weather (that's an indirect way of saying I feel like hell but made it to work) but I found a crappy map thingy at CTV (scroll down to Provincial Breakdown) and it says Ontario went 44.7% to the Liberals for 75 seats and 31.5% to the Conservatives for 24 seats.

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June 23 - The Ontario legislature is set to approve a law that requires hospitals to report gunshot wounds to police (Call cops over gun wounds, docs told):

ONTARIO HOSPITALS will become the first in Canada required to report patients with gunshot wounds to police, under new legislation being introduced today. Government sources said Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter will table a bill today in the wake of growing support from Ontario doctors to make such reporting mandatory.

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June 22 - One of the strangest aspects of life in Canada is the intense regionalism. Not because regionalism is strange (at least to someone of my age who grew up in the American West) but because the federal government tends to encourage it and all the divisive antagonisms that it involves.

You see, it comes in handy during election campaigns. So what if lies must be spread to keep the distrust at full agitation level, as Ezra Levant recounts in this column, Anti-Alberta bigotry:

So last week, Martin blasted Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, calling Klein's health-care reform package un-Canadian. "Unlike Stephen Harper, I will look Ralph Klein in the eye and I will say 'no.'," ranted Martin. From Ontario, of course -- not over the phone to Klein privately, not in a memo, but at an election event, using federal-provincial relations as a desperate partisan weapon. "Unlike Stephen Harper, I will defend medicare," he said -- defending it against Klein, the new Liberal demon.

Although nearly every province has private health-care facilities, Martin chose to attack only Alberta.

He did not criticize Ontario and Quebec, with their burgeoning private hospitals. Ontario and Quebec are run by Liberal governments.

The government of Alberta has kept Martin briefed about their proposed changes for months. Martin has never raised an objection, and Anne McLellan, the deputy prime minister, has repeatedly approved of such changes.

So there was no reason to criticize Klein's plans at all -- at least until they provided a scapegoat for the Liberals. And if Klein's plans provide a scapegoat, so do all the other provinces.

Given that the Liberal Party proclaims Canadian unity as their sole objective, why would they make statements that encourage anti-Quebec sentiments unless they prefer a Canada divided and thus weak?

But then we can't have the Liberals running on their record, now can we.

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1 My family is from B.C. and I lived there for a number of years as well. I'm not sure who my father's family liked least: Americans or Easterners. No one either side of my family had any use for Ontario or Quebec, and that was a fairly common sentiment in general. So, a few years ago, I finally visit the dreaded "East" and Nin and I stayed at this lovely lodge in the Haliburton Highlands (run by former French nobility no less)(nicest French folk I've ever met actually) and we chatted quite a bit with this ON couple before and after dinners. We'd had a few glasses of wine and I finally mentioned my predisposition to not trust a thing east of Manitoba. They laughed and laughed, and the husband assured me that he knew peoplel from the West thought anyone from ON, especially TO, was evil incarnate I told them I would be glad to report back that that was not the case.

Posted by: Ith at June 22, 2004 06:57 PM (C7QsI)

2 Ith, that lodge wouldn't just happen to be "The Domain of Killien", would it? (Forgive my vulgar curiosity; I've heard good things about it

Posted by: Jim at June 23, 2004 09:40 AM (MMmaD)

3 Jim, it would! That's kind of scary that you knew and all It is WONDERFUL! Just for the bread alone, it was worth it. I very much want to go back one day. I can't recall a much better stay anywhere else.

Posted by: Ith at June 23, 2004 11:17 AM (C7QsI)

4 Mmm, bread. You just can't match a proper loaf of bread, especially when you can smell it fresh from the oven. I've never been west of Ontario in Canada, but I've been to the east coast and love Cape Breton Island. You'd love it, Ith, especially with the heavy Scots influence. (Wait, I seem to recollect that you have been there?) The coastline is much like that of Northern California: rugged, mountainous and heavily wooded. It brings back some fine memories. Of course, Ontario looks down its nose at the Martimes, too.

Posted by: Debbye at June 23, 2004 07:47 PM (RtUPc)

5 I was in Halifax to see Nigel Bennett in Hamlet. Ummm, March of 2000 I believe. Loved Nova Scotia! and Cape Breton is a place I really want to visit. The bread at Killian is to die for. Fresh baked baguettes in the evening, fresh baked croissants in the morning with homemade jam. And they'll pack you a picnic lunch with a sandwich made from a baguette. Nin's fave was the smoked ham and grueyere (sp?) cheese. We were there in the fall, and the owner told me I had to come back in the winter because I had a good chance of seeing the local wolf pack. One day!!

Posted by: Ith at June 23, 2004 09:40 PM (C7QsI)

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June 22 - Earl McCrae of the Ottawa Sun interviews a Canadian soldier who delivers a blistering attack on PM Martin and all those who are trying to redefine the military and their role in PM outdated, not our troops:

"I voluntarily became a soldier knowing that it might one day mean me losing my life for Canada. Can Martin say that? When did he ever serve? He's a fat cat billionaire without a clue about what it means to be a soldier. What he said was an insult to every man and woman in this country in uniform. All of them better Canadians than him. But what's he care? Our military size has been so shrunk he figures the Liberals don't need their votes to win."

The soldier was reacting to a front-page newspaper story he read on the weekend in which Martin, during an interview, attacked Conservative leader Stephen Harper's plans for the Canadian military. Martin, according to the article, saying Harper would impose a warlike "ready aye ready" philosophy that is out of vogue in today's Canadian society.

"I went ballistic. Harper never served, either, but he's a hell of a lot more understanding and realistic as to what the armed forces should be than that ignorant fool Martin. As for outdated, it's old Martin who's outdated. What does he think the role of Canadian soldiers is? To hand out candies? Carry toy guns? Just sit around and watch? Being trained and ready to fight and kill the enemy in the defence of freedom is what soldiers willingly do.

"Men and women aren't forced to sign up, they sign up because they're willing and want to be warriors, and somebody tell Martin they're damn fine people, not thugs like he makes it sound. He insults every soldier in this country as well as their families."

The soldier slammed the Liberals' anti-Harper ad on TV portraying him as a warmonger. "The Canadian soldiers jumping out of armoured personnel carriers and attacking with their weapons -- just what the hell is wrong with that? They're soldiers, for krissake. Does the scene turn Martin's weak, little, stomach? Does he hope Canadians will puke with disgust over it? If they do, then we're a nation of pussycats and in real trouble.

The Liberal Party has treated the Canadian Forces abominably. There are a lot of weepy words on Rememberance Day but little else. Their refusal to fund and equip the Canadian Forces should have had a detrimental affect on recruitment yet we still have steadfast volunteers, especially since Sept. 11, of excellent men and women who understand that their beloved Canada is at risk and are willing to defend and protect it.

I've made no secret of my respect and gratitude for all those who serve, but I have to admit a slightly higher awe for the Canadian soldier, who despite the lack of respect they are accorded by the current government, have done whatever they were asked cheerfully and made do with what they had or could procure, including scrounging up paint in Afghanistan to provide suitable camouflage for desert terrain on their blankets and uniforms. (For Americans: there were no uniforms available for desert terrain, so they painted their forest green uniforms and blankets with desert colours.)

I think the Liberals have underestimated the loyalty and pride the Canadian people accord to their armed forces. Martin's unfortunate comments were meant to be a shot at Harper's support for the USA in Iraq, but the shot went astray and struck at the courage and readiness of the Canadian soldier.

(Via Jack's Newswatch.)

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June 20 - Sorry about the light posting. The Sunday-Monday period is a rough one due to even odder hours those days, but there is one quick item I wanted to bring up before I go to work this evening.

THE PROVINCIAL Liberals are wasting time and money on a redundant plan for an anti-child porn tip line while dragging their feet on funding for vital resources, frustrated cops said yesterday. "We've been told behind the scenes that we're not getting any money, but nothing's been made official yet," said one officer, who asked not to be named out of fear of having a funding application denied.

Several police agencies province-wide, including Hamilton, Sudbury, Ottawa, Peel and Toronto, have applied to Attorney General Michael Bryant's office for grant money through the Victim Justice Fund to fight child pornography.

But it's been months and they still don't have answers.

Despite this, Liberals have moved to close child porn gap, the issue about child porn in Canada is not only about the laws that are on the books regarding child porn but about how the law is enforced and how the issue is handled when it seemingly conflicts with privacy laws. When there are convictions, the sentence is too often confinement to one's home.

A related issue is a national DNA registry for convicted sex offenders. The national government finally got onboard with the notion after provinces, including Ontario, chose to by-pass the national procastrinators and build their own databanks and allow one another access. Unfortunately, the databank only includes convictions secured after the law was passed rather than include those who are currently serving sentences for sex offenses.

Harper is not backing down on the issue of whether short stories and hand-drawn pictures should be defined as child porn or have "artistic merit" and I am fairly certain that the majority of Canadians share his views and are unimpressed by the belated stance of the Liberal Party.

I caught a CBC Newsworld bit early this morning which announced they were going to explore how Harper is wading into dangerous territory by promoting family values. I need to sleep more than I needed to rant but the phrasing of that promo only reinforced my view that the CBC is dangerously out of step with most Canadians.

Re-uniting families is a favourite theme of our Immigration policies, but Harper is dangerous because he promotes family values? Someone more nuanced than I might be able to work out that apparent contradiction.

More tomorrow.

June 22 - 17:46: Lorrie Goldstein takes on the Liberals' record on crime today and cuts to the heart of it (Sorry, but the Liberals ARE soft on crime):

No, Mr. Martin, no fair-thinking person believes you support child porn. But what many of us believe is that your government has failed to seriously address this issue, along with countless others, when it comes to fixing our criminal justice system. And that after 11 years, enough is enough.

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June 19 - A common feature over at Ghost of a Flea has been posts that begin "Now is the time at the Flea when we dance" and then the link is to something weird and/or funny.

There's been another dance going on up here, and it is somehow appropriate that Flea is the one who signals an end to that dance and suggests we confront the potential for a terrorist attack here in Canada right before the June 28 elections in his post titled evocatively March 11.

He's right - if one occurs, we'd best be prepared:

It is important to understand the shock that will ensue if and when Canada is attacked. The feelings of anger that follow could be turned to a resolute determination to stand up for responsible government and liberty. These same feelings can all too easily be twisted. We know what the media elites of this country have done with every story in the last two years of conflict. We can only imagine they will be ready to distort any atrocity to serve their own ends.

We need our arguments ready.

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June 18 - This is interesting: 3 in Iraq smuggle scam: RCMP concerns the smuggling of car parts into Iraq that were said to be meant for use by Saddamites. Three men from southern Ontario, Salah Abdul Sahib, 44, of Leamington, Munther Yacoub, 55, of Windsor, and Vincent Lewis, 56, of Waterloo, have been charged with smuggling money, car tires and car batteries to Iraq via third countries.

Three southern Ontario men face 296 charges of violating 100 Customs regulations and UN statutes. Three trading companies were also charged.

The Mounties said from 2000 to 2003 some 29,000 tires, worth $800,000, were placed in containers and shipped from Toronto to Baghdad, via Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Large sums of U.S. currency were allegedly transferred from Canada to Iraq, in contravention of United Nations regulations, Yen said.

Eleven containers of household goods and foods worth about $118,000 were imported for sale here, police said.

The sale to Iraq of 13 containers of tires from China, worth $444,000, and one of batteries from South Korea, worth $26,000, were arranged from Canada, Yen said.

RCMP Const. Annette Bernardon said most of the tires were shipped to Iraq through Toronto's port. "We don't know where they went once they ended up in Iraq. They could have gone anywhere."

Since the hunt is ongoing for Saddam's pilfered Oil-for-Food funds, though, the operation could well have been conducted on his behalf.

The three trading companies that were also charged are Leamington International Foods and Salco Import and Export, co-owned by Sahib and Yacoub, and Treadway Exports.

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June 19 - Michael Moore is in Toronto. However can I contain my joy?

He and I seem to agree on one thing: media coverage of the war in Iraq is disgusting. It's a very brief article, but concludes with the revelation of his inner Canadian:

I believe that about myself and this is the Canadian in me, the self-deprecating sense of (being) not worthy."

(Nope. I'm not touching the attribution to Canadians as "self-deprecating" and "not worthy." There are lots of Canadian bloggers up here to tackle that one.)

He is also is unabashedly stumping against the Conservative Party here in Toronto ('Don't go our way'.)

He seems to be endorsing the Liberals. He admits that they aren't perfect, but confides that he knows what it's like to hold his nose when he votes because he doesn't like Kerry all that much. It seems Kerry has "blood on his hands" because he voted for war in Iraq. Funny, such things didn't seem to bother Moore when he endorsed Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, a man who also has blood on his hands, although I am willing to concede that Clark waffled as much about Iraq as Kerry, which in one sense makes them equal.

Maybe that's the key to Moore's feelings of not-worthiness: he recognizes that he lacks judgement. Who am I to argue?

But I'm pleased Moore is so taken with Canada. I'd suggest he actually move here and pay Canadian taxes (and die as he waits in line for the health care his weight will inevitably demand) but he isn't really that stupid - he just talks as though he is.

Besides, I'd like to think that Toronto isn't big enough for the two of us. Or one of him.

In other Moore news, Ray Bradbury, author of Farenheit 451, is demanding that Moore change the name of his film:

AUTHOR Ray Bradbury is demanding an apology from American filmmaker Michael Moore for lifting the title from his classic science-fiction novel Fahrenheit 451 without permission and wants the new documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 to be renamed.

"He didn't ask my permission," Bradbury, 83, said today. "That's not his novel, that's not his title, so he shouldn't have done it."

[...]

Bradbury, who hadn't seen the movie, said he called Moore's company six months ago to protest and was promised Moore would call back.

He finally got that call last Saturday, Bradbury said, adding Moore told him he was "embarrassed".

"He suddenly realised he's let too much time go by," the author said by phone from his home in Los Angeles' Cheviot Hills section.

But it is suggestive that Moore stole the title and concept for his movie from a patently obvious work of fiction, albeit allegorical fiction.

Moore is nothing more than this century's P.T. Barnum (what is that famous line from Barnum again?) and although he lacks Barnums's flair he supplies his own Jumbo. Mockumentary strikes again to kill truth and reason, and the rubes in Europe (and I guarantee some up here in Toronto) will eat it up.

But I'm okay with that. It's just a bit more evidence that Moore is "not worthy."

10:56: There's more coverage of the visit here, and both Damian Penny and Mark Steyn profess themselves shocked at the Large American Inteference in the Canadian Election. CTV is exhibiting their own bias rather clumsily:

As for those who say he isn't playing by the rules because he manages to be both a social satirist and a documentary journalist not held to the traditional rules of impartiality?

12:11 John Hawkins at Right Wing News links to offers by Hezbollah to help promote Moore's film.

Ghost of a Flea swats the pretensions of the Liberal Party and Moore with one blow.

June 21 - 16:48: Burnside acclaims Moore as having made The Dumbass Quote of the Week and has some good advice for Moore.

19:11: Christopher Hitchins has some observations about Moore's latest movie, Unfairenheit 911 (via Daimnation!)

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June 15 - I'm running late, but here are some articles about the results of last night's debate from the Toronto Sun Eyes right to Harper. Check out The Shotgun for some other commentary (and good stuff daily!)

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June 9 - The shrill warnings that the Conservative Party is full of religious fanatics who will overturn the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in this case abortion rights, is the one card we knew the Liberals would play, and Hugh Windsor in the Globe and Mail column On Harper, media fall for the Grit hype demonstrates how the media play a role in this endeavour.

He leaves it an open question whether the media play an unwitting role, but if they are unwitting then they are also unbelievably lazy, another trait they share with their colleagues further south.

Thus far, Stephen Harper has taken the high road, which itself is a pretty firm message to Canadians who want to see honesty and principles in those who would govern this country.

Francois over at The Bad News Bears puts it on the line:

There two ways to play this part of the game. Attack. Like the Libs, the NDP and to a lesser extent the Conservatives are doing. The other way is to look Prime Ministerial. ThatÂ’s what Paul Martin hopes to achieve this week with his trips abroad. The question on my mind is, will Harper raise the level of attacks to match his opponentsÂ’ or will he just stand there and swat away the attacks, giving him an air of leadership and strength? That seems to be working so far and I donÂ’t believe Canadians need to be reminded of adscam, etc. This strategy is making him look calm and solid while his opponents look ever more desperate.

He may be able to pull this off but itÂ’s vitally important that he keep a muzzle on his candidates who have a tendency to spout off their personal beliefs on every subject under the sun to anyone whoÂ’ll listen.

The democratic process requires debate between opposing factions, even within parties, and is important in part because it engages the electorate in those arguments which lead up to the vote.

I dislike the imposition of party discipline because it excludes dissident voices within the party and thus dissident voices in the country. When voters feel their views haven't been allowed to be expressed because of The Party, it gives the appearance that they haven't been given a voice and thus are disenfranchised.

Voters want their say, even if their side loses. It's not really complicated.

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June 8 - Via Paul, Stephan Hachemi, Zahra Kazemi's son, has written a hard-hitting letter to the editor of the National Post which, given the short link life at the Post, I'm going to quote in full:

June 3, 2004

To former prime minister Jean Chretien:

Like many Canadians, I recently learned of your coming visit to Iran as a representative of a Calgary-based oil company. It is reported that the purpose of your trip is to conclude a deal with the Iranian government on behalf of this firm.

I write to congratulate you.

Your failure to ensure justice was served in the case of my mother, Zahra Kazemi -- who was murdered by the Iranian regime while you were prime minister -- has apparently paid off: You are now most welcome in Tehran.

Last June, my mother was arrested without cause by agents of the Iranian government, who then beat and tortured her to death. No doubt, you remember the case and so are well-informed of the systematic violations of human rights that take place in Iran, as well as the circumstances that surround the killing of my mother.

And yet, knowing this, you are off to shake hands with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the executioners who less than a year ago had my mother murdered.

I can only thank you for doing this now, Mr. Chretien -- for you are demonstrating clearly what a charade Canada's fervent defence of human rights is. Despite your speeches about human rights when you were at the head of our government, you are now conferring your personal prestige on Iran's regime, and by extension its crimes against humanity.

Bravo, Mr. Chretien. I knew I could count on you to take the veil off your government's hypocrisy. The politics that you practice now show how your government favours "business as usual" before human rights. Congratulations.

Stephan Hachemi, Montreal.

Read the whole thing; it is disturbing and raises some questions that should be directed at Sen. Kerry.

Sen. Kerry has already indicated his willingness to treat with the mullahs of Iran, in a move which may be cynical (maybe it's all about the oil!!!!) or could be appeasement but which amounts to a flagrant dismissal of the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. Small wonder US Old Media coverage of the Iranian elections and subsequent demonstrations received so little air time.

As Americans and Canadians, do we support tyrants or those who yearn for freedom? Are we appeasers of murderous despots or do we actually believe in those human rights we are so quick to claim to revere?

Those issues may not seem as urgent or important as bread-and-butter issues, but if we lose our freedom to work and raise our families without fear we will lose the true meaning of freedom.

Election campaign coverage has a way of obscuring issues by focusing on the sound bites instead of the substance of remarks, but President Reagan's death has reminded us that indeed there are pivotal events that can lead either to victory or become yet another missed opportunity.

Would I rather rejoice because millions of Iraqis are entering a new era of freedom or bewail the fact that the French are annoyed with us for ignoring their advice?

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June 8 - I'm torn between being thrilled for the Iraqi people and wanting to say "duh" (Unanimous U.N. Approval of Iraq Plan.)

There are a few wrinkles according to some of the quotes from member nations of the UNSC in the article, yet none of those wrinkles seem to have been supported by modifications to the resolution and can be dismissed as empty rhetoric.

Despite the victory, four members of the G-8 summit -- France, Germany, Russia and Canada -- have said they won't send troops.

I saw a clip on MSNBC with Pres. Bush and PM Martin in which the President mentioned soft wood lumber and Canada's contribution to the war on terror. Martin reiterated Canadian support of the US war on terror.

The President also said that Canada is strongly cooperating on finding ways to cooperate, which I read to mean that Canada continues to prefer cooperating quietly and without public awareness. The Liberal Party has put themselves in an increasingly awkward situation. Lord help them if there should be a terrorist attack here before the elections. The mood has changed, the Tories have pulled ahead in the polls, and Paul Martin may be the only Canadian who remains oblivious to that fact.

Hubris. Martin and the Liberal Party can look it up.

The original draft is here (heh, with "spelling appearing to follow British usage." Sometimes Fox coverage is somewhat embarrassing.)

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June 8 - I guess this just wasn't a good year to break election promises and raise taxes. Dalton McGuinty, premier of Ontario, has one of the lowest approval ratings I can remember: 9%, which is 25% behind his Ontario Liberal Party (Premier hits new low: Poll.)

It's so mean-spirited to mock him, yet it couldn't happen to a more deserving guy:

The Liberals have the support of 34% of those polled, down from 46% last October when they won a resounding majority. [I think they mean a majority of seats in the Ontario legislature.]

Now 52% think the premier is doing a poor job while 32% rate his performance as average.

Tory Leader Ernie Eves and the provincial Tories are more popular than the Liberals or their leader in the poll.

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June 8 - According to Justice John Gomery, who is to head the judicial inquiry into Adscam, it could take five years before there are answers about Adscam particularly the burning questions who knew and when did they know it.

Five years? I could be dead and buried by then so consider myself free to draw my own conclusions: they all knew. They knew what they intended to do when they first set up the sponsorship program. And if I'm wrong, no one will know it for at least five years by which time no one will remember.

Five years? There will be another presidential election (Guiliani-Rice ticket), another summer and winter Olympics, and the people of Iran will have thrown off the mullocracy but Canada will be waiting patiently for answers to questions long forgotten.

Two people, Chuck Guite and Jean Brault, have been charged with a dozen counts of fraud. Chuck Guite is the former head of the sponsorship program and Jean Brault is an ad executive.

In preparation for the judicial inquiry, former PM Chretien has requested standing, as have former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano, deputy minister Ranald Quail and the aforementioned Chuck Guite.

If they are granted their requests, their lawyers will be able to play an active role, including questioning witnesses, or at least those who are still alive five years from now.

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June 8 - Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney will deliver a eulogy at President Reagan's funeral on Friday (Farewell to the Gipper) and Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson will attend to represent Canada. (Leave Saul at home. Please.)

NAFTA was crafted by the two men and has been good economically for both countries. The Liberal Party campaigned against the free-trade agreement and promised to scrap it if elected (one of their many promises they didn't keep) and one of Sen. John Kerry's election promises is to scrap NAFTA.

20:10: PM Martin won't attend the funeral. It sure is hard to improve relations with the US while both keeping your distance so as to placate the more left-wing Liberals and not provide the NDP with new ammunition.

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June 7 - To heck with it, I'm going to risk being late to work because I want to hear what is probably Don Cherry's last commentary on Coach's Corner. He made the most of his spot on Saturday, praising the Canadian assault on Juno Beach; in what may come to be seen as perhaps his most enduring legacy, Don has never waited for a casualty to express his support for the Canadian military and never hesitated to use his ability to speak to kids to urge them to remember, admire and respect those who serve.

The past 23 years with Don Cherry have been a delightful education for me. Like many women, I was somewhat astonished at this flamboyantly dressed man and more than uncomfortable with some of his statements. As my boys grew up, though, I felt relief than discomfort that someone other than their father and I was giving them some straight talk about sportsmanship (never sucker punch a guy from behind, kids,) backing up your teammates, and playing your heart out.

Not hard to see why the CBC wants to muzzle him.

By the way, Tampa Bay is ahead 1-0 in the first period.

Don is coming on and I'm logging off. Thanks Don, it's been a great era for Canadian hockey coverage.

June 8 - 18:03: Don comments on the lack of talks about his contract.

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June 6 - Peter Worthington reminds us of things We should remember about the storming of Juno Beach by Canadian soldiers 60 years ago, and Mark Bonokoski reminds us to remember today's Canadian soldiers who serve in Afghanistan, the Golan Heights, and Bosnia.

The problem with lies is the intellectual disconnect necessary to maintaining those lies: if Canada has always been a peacekeeping nation, how does that square with those who served in the Boer War, WWI, WWII and Korea? Clearly the Canadian participation on D-Day was a military offensive, yet the Canadian Prime Minister is in France to comemorate that non-peacekeeping mission.

The lack of financial support for the military and the cynical misuse of funds earmarked for the military (exemplified by charging the military budget for former PM Chretien's purchase of two Executive Jets from Bombardier) resulted in Canada's meagre troop assignment in Haiti, the only other francophone nation in this hemisphere and thus the only place in which a French-speaking military command would be of practical value.

How many young Canadians have enlisted in the US military? How many young Canadians have considered doing so? Both the Conservative and Liberal parties have promised to increase the funding and size of the Canadian military, but to what end?

I'm an American, so I see the military through American eyes. I can't accurately judge how Canadians see their military but I do wonder at the pacifist philosophy of the ruling Liberal Party that seeks to recruit young Canadian men and women to a military that is not supposed to fight.

French President Chirac reportedly warned US President Bush against making any comparisons to the war in Iraq during D-Day commemorations, which of course drew more attention to those comparisons than any words President Bush might have spoken!

We finally learnt on Sept. 11 that evil never dies but merely assumes a new face, yet on this D-Day anniversary we are hearing the usual platitude that they fought so that we don't have to which is also is a lie. The truth is that they fought so that we would be able to continue to do so.

Be grateful to those brave men who stormed the beaches, and do so by remaining true to their cause. That is the only possible tribute.

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June 1 - A couple of items about the upcoming election: Soldier fortune in which Harper pledges to increase money and troop numbers for the Canadian military, another poll which shows the Liberals slipping, McGuinty is labeled 'political anthrax' and Martin pulling in Chretien advisors for the campaign.

Harper's plans to improve the military is naturally what got my attention first, and the opposing response was typical:

Steven Staples, a defence analyst with the Polaris Institute, said Harper's policy is geared toward a more American-style combat military.

"If you ask Canadians where the government spending priorities should be, seven out of 10 will say education and health care, and only one in 10 will say it should go to defence spending," he said.

"He's appealing to a very narrow group of people."

Moving along, the military has been whittled down (if not starved outright) because it was claimed it was necessary to divert money to finance health care. Now there's no military and the health care system's waiting times will kill you (unless you can afford to travel south for health care.)

Why counterpose one against the other? There is no reason Canada could not adequately fund the military, good health care and fix the education systems (starting to teach kids to read and write would be my first goal.) All we have to do is find a leadership willing to reform the civil service system, eliminate patronge appointments and conduct regular audits to ensure tax dollars are spent as carefully as we spend the money we have left in our own pockets after taxes.

I get monthly statements from my bank. Unlike the current government, I actually look at them and make sure the accounts are reconciled. If there's a discrepancy, I want to know why.

Doesn't everyone?

Lorrie Goldstein injects some common sense and caution in There's McGuinty's way, and the right way.

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June 1 - Andrew Coyne: The Blog is back with a New!Improved!Look but the same, vintage Coyne dry humour and clarity that makes his blog such a joy to read are unchanged.

I found his piece titled "Adscam, the election and the Conservatives" wonderful mostly because he said what I've been fumbling to say for a long time and clarified something I've had a lot of trouble with up here.

Because it isn't just about the $100 million, nor is it restricted to a few rogue bureaucrats and their sleazy advertising-industry friends. It isn't even about corruption, at least as defined in the Criminal Code. Adscam, rather, is woven into the very fabric of Liberal Party dominance, a web of personal, political and even familial ties built up over the party's many years in power and connected at every point with public money. It is of a piece with the HRDC scandal, the gun registry fiasco, the regional development slush funds, the lot. That is why the Liberals, whether Martinite or Chretienite, are so deathly afraid of the whole business. Whatever its virtues as a scandal in its own right, Adscam is more significant as the entry point, the single loose strand from which one can begin to unravel the rest. I do not mean this only in an investigative sense. It is rather the opportunity it provides to focus public attention, adjust public expectations, and through them alter the structure of Canadian politics.

But it's this next bit that lends clarity to the muddle Canada has been in for the last little while, and perhaps even some clarity about our Old Europe allies:

For what is striking about the whole Adscam affair is how unsurprising it was, any of it, to anyone. Everyone knew what the Liberals were up to, and everyone knows there is much worse to come. And yet -- perhaps the Liberals' greatest achievement -- we had all grown accustomed to looking the other way, and having looked away the once, to congratulating ourselves on our sophistication. It was deeply shaming, and like all humiliated people, we learned to drown our shame in cynicism. After all, it wasn't as if there was anything we could do to change it. The Liberals were fixed in power, immovably, eternally. (Emphasis added)

Read the whole thing.

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