When it comes down to the finals, it is then that we sort the men from the Socialist Aristocracy. Here’s hoping that the majority is sufficiently huge to put to bed the socialist/communist game plans for at least 4 years.

Canada – please don’t be dumb.

Quebec: thank you for NOT voting BLOC separatists, who should have a very tiny voice when debating national issues, as they only care about Quebec. The lawn needs weeding ABB!! Note to Quebec: social equalization does not include cheap day care and cheap tuition for you! Equalization was supposed to be for BASIC services, not elite services. You may not want what you vote for in future separation, so wake up. The ROC Canada is DONE with the gravy train for Quebec, as we are milked dry, ticked off and sold out.

Ontario and maritimes: thank you for finding out again that the blue door is better for prosperity than red or orange. The CPC is your best bet, not NDP.

That said, Jack Layton is a nice guy with whom to have a beer, but do not let him anywhere NEAR the CASH machine or till, and make sure he pays his fair share (including layers of tax) before leaving the bar!!!!!!! Jack also brings a lot of friends to the bar who have “forgotten their wallets”!

Besides ….. Jack could be gone in near future, and it could be PM Libby (any protest is fun) Davies instead or the perpetually angry Thomas Mulcair, which would tank leader numbers.

For you Liberal folks who want more GST, what are you thinking??? Ontario and BC just killed tourism, added a lot to housing costs and restaurant businesses with killer HST. We both also suffer under carbon tax, so know that this will be very inflationary. We are shopping south of the border as possible. The important strategy is to cut government waste folks, not raise Liberal, NDP and BLOC taxes!

Remember: THE COALITION IS STILL IN FORCE. PM Layton as coalition leader is the scariest possible scenario I can think of.

None of the party’s financial programs are fiscally strong – all are a fail, if they were my household budget even in the recession, for which I had planned ahead, (which is balanced). However, the CPS proposes the least expensive option. The budget was a compromise already, but, oh no, the Liberals wanted to spend 300 million to get rid of a failed leader vs. asking for a leader review.

And Elizabeth May wants to double the CBC (and Radio Canada) budget!

English Quebecers, stop voting Liberal like your arrière-arrière grandmère, and put some West Island Conservatives in power!

Notwithstanding the oppositions game-plans, I firmly believe they are already into the next stage of the game whereby they pretty much anticipate the finals as you predict them.
The second phase is where they realize their plight, peer at each other and shout: What happened here?
Scrambling to regroup into some hodgepodge of opposition, they may attempt or have already sequenced the end-run of the coalition apropos.
I cannot vision that scenario working in this setting, therefore the conceived plan is doomed from day one.
Mr. Ignatieff will finally admit defeat, Mr. Layton will be happy with second best and take his place at the table as official opposition, the Bloc will fall into disrepair losing seats in Quebec and running out the old card – “See, we told you Canada does not like us!”
The finality of this whole affair is that the Liberal party will now have to choose a “democratic” leader, who is chosen by the grass-roots individuals in the caucus rather than anointed. We all see how that one played out and it was not pretty. A tough choice but necessary for the Liberals who will be banished to the hinterland of politics for the next four years, or longer.
Canadians will ask themselves, what brought this $3 hundred to $4 hundred million fiasco on in the first place?
The common sense crowd already realize that it was the opposition parties whose greed drove them to visualizing the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. NOT!
I hate to say I told you so, but they were all wrong and I hope the Canadian taxpayers realize this by punishing the perpetrators of this uncalled for election.
The question of bringing down the government on ethics was just a lame excuse for opposition parties to have a federal election where absolutely none was needed.
The results are looming larger and will likely (barring any unforeseen pitfalls) award the majority government and mandate Mr. Harper has been seeking.
May 2 will unfold as planned, the sun will rise and Canadians will realize the fruits of their labor later that evening.
So what have Canadians learned from all of this? A diverse society will come away with their take on the federal election but the bottom line here is; This election was not necessary and I dare-say most Canadians agree with that analogy as well.
Cast your ballot wisely, Canada is your future.

Just in case there’s an open mind or two reading this board:

“This contempt for facts, coming right out of the Bush/Cheney/ Rove playbook, infects every decision being made by the Harper government, from jets to jails to corporate tax breaks, as someone has put it. If you want to hear some sense about defence issues, don’t miss the Rideau Institute’s fine analyses. If you want to know how taxes can be fairer and how desperately needed public services can be paid for, check out the program of Canadians For Tax Fairness. If you want more on our growing democratic deficit, try Democracy Watch.”

More here, such as a list of the groups Harper has canceled or defunded, and the people he has attacked and fired or driven from office.

I fully accept that many of you want the government out of the “advocacy” business. Fine. Whatever. You are entitled to an opinion. But to ignore the rest of the damage Harper’s doing to Canada in order to get there, and the way he goes about it…

I’d like some crack reporter/journo to ask Layton where he’s going to get all the doctors and nurses he’s promising and who is going to pay them?

Great blog post!

And what, pray tell, would you be doing looking for an open mind? How in God’s name would someone like you ever reconise it? Mr. “If Harper or the conservatives did it, it must be wrong” who makes a knee jerk reaction look like a well thought out plan. To begin with, welcome to Canada – I say that because you are clearly confused with Bush/Cheney/Rove and the current PM of Canada who happens to be Stephen Harper – the US is not Canada and Harper is not Bush. I really apologise for bursting the little balloon of yours but face it, it has to be done. Secondly Stephen Staples and his Rideau institute is for people whose IQ is roughly similar to their boot size. That stalwart institution, even during the largest rust out of the CF, has yet to suggest a single offensive first line weapons system for purchase by the government. Do you really think that is a serious bunch? Staples got the boot from Janice Monk and her bunch for God’s sake. If you want to be left defenceless and without soverignty anywhere in the country, fine, but don’t include the rest of us in it. The federal government has limited responsibility for infrastucture. If public services need to be maintained then the municipal or provincial tax bases are there for that purpose. That’s one of the reason’s that proves Iggy to be an unmitigated liar when he bleats about health care and education – both a provincial responsibility. So while Toronto may believe in the Nanny state, it has the largest Municipal tax base in the country – time they solved their own problems and left the rest of us out of it.
Harper has proven to be the best PM this country has had since the ’40s. He has concentrated on national issues like trade, defence and soverignty that had been ignored to the point that everyone from Denmark to Russia was encroaching on our resources. He pulled us out of a global economic meltdown with his “Shovel ready” projects instead of pissing money into the banks. He has again made us respected in our circle of allies. Frankly, if the other parties had bothered to play nice instead of trying to gang up and thwart everything he did, the Parliament would have worked better. For them to actually accuse the Conservatives of contempt while they plotted to take power in utter contempt of our process is a better concuction than the ones Gaddafhi is coming up with. Which of course is why they have spent such a huge amount of time trying to force the issue that though they are all different before an election, they are identical twins after – so long as they can usurp the winning party of course. In any country as bad as you profess this one to be, or having a “dictator” in power, the Three stooges, Dion, Iggy and Jack would be either dead or in jail for what they attempted. Wake up Kenny boy, and smell the coffee. If all you can see everywhere is crap, its becuase of where you have your head.

For those who pride themselves on their abilty to separate needs from wants, and have not been insolvent, Harper has proven to be a more than competent leader as shown by the following expenses claimed by various MP’s.

For the most recent 12 month on-line report on MP expenses (excluding salaries) here is a sample:

NDP
Jack Layton $628,913
Olivia Chow $530,304 ( Jack’s wife!)
Megan Leslie $502,279
Pat Martin $508,773

LIBERAL
Michael Ignatieff $570,984

CONSERVATIVE
Steven Harper $281,255
Peter MacKay $392,660.

Its interesting when one considers that to fly home to his home constituency, Harper has to go back to Calgary – Layton and Chow have only to go to Toronto. Yet the highest expense claim award goes to Jack Layton , leader of the NDP, followed by Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Liberals. Just think how much more these two could suck out of taxpayers if they ever got into power! Jack & Olivia (one family) managed to take over one million dollars in expenses in a 12 month period out of the public purse! Jack should ask Sheila Fraser the Auditor General to legitimize these exhorbitant “expenses” submitted by NDP members. Don’t forget, these expenses are in addition to a MINIMUM of $147,700 per MP in salary dollars.!

There certainly were reasons to find Harper off-putting -most of which had to do with his utter disregard for the facts.

His decision to stick to his tiresome and downright untrue script that this election came about because of the rejection of his government’s budget, and not the non-confidence vote over accountability, was only slightly less galling than Harper’s revisionist claim that his minority government was always ready, willing and eager to work with the other parties in Parliament.

Harper’s last five years as PM -indeed his whole political career -has been best summed up in his response to the litany of Harper’s democratic indiscretions cited by Ignatieff.

These include shutting down Parliament to avoid defeat, and being found in contempt of Parliament by the Speaker.

“Mr. Ignatieff, I know what your attacks on this government are,” Harper said. “I simply don’t accept the truth of those attacks.”

Harper’s phrasing was odd, albeit inadvertently revealing.

…and that’s from a column in support of Harper

In any country as bad as you profess this one to be

I haven’t said that. Ever. I like it here, and I’m pissed that Harper wants to mess with it. Of course you misrepresent me at every turn, so that wasn’t unusual.

Your take on division of national and provincial responsibilities is charming. Describes the US perfectly. Need a new map?

You have an original style, but you’re mainly just serving up the mush that the Conservative blogosphere has already chewed for you. Tastefully garnished with violent pull-quotes from a Tom Clancy novel.

Well-played sir. Now include all the travel expenses etc that Harper and MacKay and the rest of the Cabinet didn’t have to account for because it comes out of a government budget.

“Government – membership has its rewards.”

Nice try – when it comes to expenses, every MP (including the PM) is governed by the same rules. (Well, except Chretien – despite the rules forbidding members of the cabinet from influencing public works, he claimed it was his “duty” as an MP to his constituents to break them). You can probably claim that the PM could double-dip if he had to attend a trip out west and stopped off in Calgary on his way back, but you’d have to supply proof of how many times that happened. Fact remains that Taliban Jack and his bride are screwing us over as fast as they can. But then most socialists, once they worm their way into power, always live high on the hog while the people pay – so at least he’s running true to form.

Another venomous, knee-jerk, fact-free conservative attack. You know very well that cabinet gets alot of their expenses covered directly. Vingt-quatre Sussex, to name but one. In terms of hours served and expense accountability, I’d put Jack Layton and Olivia Chow (separately) up against ANY CPC MP.

When someone like you resorts to simply regurgitating what’s in your in-box, it means you’re either tired, p!ssed, or worried. Hope you’re not tired… still a few days to go.

Alright Kenn 2

As we’re on the subject of dipping into the public purse, why don’t you explain to us about both Jack and his wife double dipping on accomodation allowance as they share the same residence in Ottawa.
I suppose we could also talk about Toronto councillors Jack and Olivia bringing in over 300 thousand in wages and living in subsidized housing in To in the early 90′s.

Ooooo. Another venomous, knee jerk, fact free, left wing, nutbar attack. Grow up. The whole point of the post was to point out where the leaders of other parties were in spending. Taliban Jack and his bride are smoking the rest. Besides, given Jack’s reliance on the “Public” Health care system, for both the cancer and the hip, how could he possible spend so much more than anyone else?

And if you see something I should be worried about please let me know. I get the feeling that a lot of small L Liberals are going to be voting Conservative in order to keep Jack and dear Olivia from doing to the country what they so ably did to Toronto – namely to bring it to it’s knees financially. So Toronto, with the largest municipal tax base in the country came begging to the Feds for money after Taliban Jack and Chowdown finished with it, who is Canada supposed to go to?

Even Liberals don’t want Jack to get his hands on the treasury. There would be nothing left for them to bribe their friends with.

why don’t you explain to us about both Jack and his wife double dipping on accomodation allowance as they share the same residence in Ottawa.

Um, because their Ottawa place costs $2k a month and they’re each claiming $1k?

I suppose we could also talk about Toronto councillors Jack and Olivia bringing in over 300 thousand in wages and living in subsidized housing in To in the early 90′s.

I suppose we could… but we’d be talking about two different time periods: the early ’90s when they lived in subsidized housing (btw, you do know that the housing subsidies were geared to income, right? – the more you make the less the subsidy. It zeroes out past a certain income)… and now, when they’re bringing in two MPs salaries… $300k. So, what’s your point?

(Wow – Layton must have really kicked a$$ tonight, to get the CPC so riled up…)

Rent to income is the way it’s supposed to work, and that’s why Laydown and Chowdown had to give up their subsidized housing. They were making a lot more than they should have to justify living in subsidized housing.

Typical socialists: Do as I say, not as I do — and we’re special and morally superior, so the rules don’t apply to us; we can do whatever we want.

heh. Can you prove that Jack and Olivia were receiving a subsidy while there? Could it be that they actually liked living in a modest place with some nice neighbours (and their constituency), and it was only the political optics of being there that forced the move? You don’t actually know, do you.

Typical right-wing bloviation: take a fact out of context , add some epithets, spin til barely recognisable, garnish with hyperbole and serve hot. and often.

Doug M, I’m totally with you. Jacko and Chowdown are total hypocrites, who talk a good line about concern for “the little guy” but who like to live high on the hog, far from the madding crowd, way, way beyond the means of “the little guy.” They’ve been guzzling at the public trough all of their political lives. Oink, oink.

God help Canada and Canadians if these two end up either in Stornoway or, heaven forbid, 24 Sussex if the Coalition Cabal have their way. Olivia, in particular, could care less if our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren end up having to pay for NDP social programs which will bankrupt our country because she doesn’t have any kids. As for Jack? Hey, his son Mike is following in the great Layton tradition of sucking at the public teat, having just been elected to Toronto City Council.

Does the Layton entitlement never end?

Doug M, I’m totally with you. Jacko and Chowdown are total hypocrites, who talk a good line about concern for “the little guy” but who like to live high on the hog, far from the madding crowd, way, way beyond the means of “the little guy.” They’ve been guzzling at the public trough all of their political lives. Oink, oink.

God help Canada and Canadians if these two end up either in Stornoway or, heaven forbid, 24 Sussex if the Coalition Cabal have their way. Olivia, in particular, could care less if our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren end up having to pay for NDP social programs which will bankrupt our country because she doesn’t have any kids. As for Jack? Hey, his son Mike is following in the great Layton tradition of sucking at the public teat, having just been elected to Toronto City Council.

Does the Layton entitlement never end?

Does your unsubstantiated slander and bile never end?

Wow, the CPC Glee club must be flat-out terrified that Layton’s cutting into their vote share. I guess they never considered that anyone with as much integrity as Layton would actually pose a threat.

What slander, what bile?

Everything I’ve said about the Laydown/Chowdowns is true. Of course, in your liberal kangaroo courts, truth is no defense.

Some justice. Some equality. Not worth the breath on which these “liberal values” are spoken.

What slander, what bile?

Everything I’ve said about the Laydown/Chowdowns is true. Of course, in your liberal kangaroo courts, truth is no defense.

Some justice. Some equality. Not worth the breath on which these “liberal values” are spoken.

Everything I’ve said about the Laydown/Chowdowns is true. Of course, in your liberal kangaroo courts, truth is no defense.

Absolute bull. “high on the hog”, Olivia hates kids. “Way, way beyond the means of the little guy”. You haven’t begun to back up your slander. And paranoia (what, the courts are all biased now too?) isn’t an excuse, it’s a symptom. You’re either just unhappy and lashing out, or maybe the CPC rot extends further into the base than I thought.

You might not know, but Doug full-well knows the West often goes NDP, and they haven’t crumbled up and fallen into the Strait just yet. Get a grip.

We’re finding out daily just how rotten the CPC core really is. Or has QMI suddenly become “Lieberal” media as well?

I feel sorry for genuine conservatives. They’ve been co-opted by the soulless neo-con wannabees who will wave any tidbit, drive any wedge to further their own ends. Which aren’t very conservative, if you look closely.

I’m tired of your putting words in my mouth, another lowdown leftist tactic. I didn’t say Olivia hates children; I said that her social programs (no means tests, pretty much anyone who votes for the NDP will benefit) will bankrupt the country. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what that kind of spending will do for our kids’ generation. Look at what Bob Rae did to Ontario. We’re still digging out — and now we’re having to deal with McGuilty.

Now, you can back up some garbage you’re spewing: We’re finding out daily just how rotten the CPC core really is. Proof? Facts? And don’t hit me with that “contempt of Parliament” crap The Three Stooges cooked up. ‘Funny that the LPC wasn’t slapped with contempt of Parliament when they really were. ‘Only difference is, the LPC had a majority government.

I’ve posted several links this week. Or, just open a newspaper, cos the tory blogosphere is eerily silent about the latest stuff. Can’t blame them. I won’t embarrass you with a list here.

Cop out, kenn2.

I guess the take on the massage parlour incident, is that Jack was just being compassionate towards the young Asian woman who gave him a shiatsu massage, providing her paying work — which others might not?

Given Mr. Layton’s grave concerns about the exploitation of Asian women in the sex trade in Toronto at the time when he was a Toronto Councilor, Olivia’s defense of Jack just isn’t credible. Two things:

1) As a Toronto councilor, who knew — or should have known — that female Asian immigrants were being exploited in Toronto by criminal elements, Layton was naive in the extreme — or culpable — in paying for a massage along a strip that was known to be masquerading sex services as “massages.”

2) There’s a very real possibility that with Olivia Chow’s connections to the Chinese community, this lapse in judgment on Jack’s part could very well compromise Canada’s security, seeing as CSIS has made it very clear that “certain” foreign governments have been interfering in Canadian politics for a long time.

Was this a pattern of Jack’s or a one-off? Seeing as most of the Canadian media is covering for him, we may never know, but there are a number of serious questions that need to be asked and answered by Mr. Layton.

(BTW, if these revelations had been made about a CPC MP, the media would be all over it. For Jack, they’re doing damage control.)

I’ve been working alot the past couple of days, so I have yet to dig into this. I agree that it’s something to be clarified.

A friend of mine was certified for shiatsu massage. It was a tough two year course. I’ve had a few shiatsu massages (without the happy ending) – they’re great for “mouse shoulder” – that tight crampiness from too long at a computer screen. My wife used to get shiatsu to help reduce the incidence of migraines.

It isn’t yet a crime to get a massage, and apparently the police didn’t find anything else happening besides a massage… so why would this 15-your-old story come out now, do you suppose? As an illegal leak of confidential info. Wonder who fed it to the Sun? -koff-CPC-koff-

Your #1 is a bit far-fetched, without further evidence. Like who the masseuse was and her citizenship and level of competence as a masseuse, whether any charges at all were laid on that raid, or at any time for that particular establishment?

Your #2 is hilarious, really. But do go on. There could be a screenplay in it, or at least an episode sketch for the new season of Insecurity.

Sometimes a massage is just a massage. More info needed.

I’ve been working alot the past couple of days, so I have yet to dig into this. I agree that it’s something to be clarified.

A friend of mine was certified for shiatsu massage. It was a tough two year course. I’ve had a few shiatsu massages (without the happy ending) – they’re great for “mouse shoulder” – that tight crampiness from too long at a computer screen. My wife used to get shiatsu to help reduce the incidence of migraines.

It isn’t yet a crime to get a massage, and apparently the police didn’t find anything else happening besides a massage… so why would this 15-your-old story come out now, do you suppose? As an illegal leak of confidential info. Wonder who fed it to the Sun? -koff-CPC-koff-

Your #1 is a bit far-fetched, without further evidence. Like who the masseuse was and her citizenship and level of competence as a masseuse, whether any charges at all were laid on that raid, or at any time for that particular establishment?

Your #2 is hilarious, really. But do go on. There could be a screenplay in it, or at least an episode sketch for the new season of Insecurity.

Sometimes a massage is just a massage. More info needed.

Yeah, sometimes it is and sometimes it’s something else.