Month: May 2005

From the “not at all helping things” department, comes a chilling political endorsement from Iran’s supreme spiritual leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei through his spokesman Hojatolislam Gholam Reza Hasani.

“You need to vote for Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani,” said Hasani. “This way we will finally be able to have for ourselves the atomic bomb”

Rafsanjani was previously President of Iran from 1989-1997 and was a special and trusted advisor to Ayatollah Khomeini. The influential Iranian politician served on the Revolutionary Council at the founding of the new Islamic Republic

He is considered a front-runner in the Iranian presidential election to be held on June 17th.

I’ll just sit back and let the headline in the Globe and Mail do the talking:

Pollution rising in Canada, declining in U.S., watchdog finds

“But how can Canada fail at something so noble and so just as environmental protection, especially in comparison with the big bad United States”, you might say? Well, sorry to shake your myopic Liberal-induced self-aggrandizing worldview, but it seems George W. Bush is doing more to reduce environmental pollution than Canada’s Liberal Party.

Check it…

The direct release of dangerous pollutants — including lead — into the environment increased by 5 per cent in Canada during a five-year study period, the Commission for Environmental Co-operation of North America reported yesterday.

During the same period, on-site pollution levels in the United States decreased by 14 per cent, said the commission, which the governments of Canada, the United States and Mexico established to monitor North American environmental trends.

Some truth is offered to counter the Liberals’ Canadian bedtime story:

The study’s conclusions, therefore, will surprise those who believe the rhetoric of Canadian politicians, said John Bennett of the Sierra Club of Canada.

(Yes, that Sierra Club)

“Our politicians talk a better game” about cleaning up the environment, he said. “But when the Americans act, they usually act much more strongly.”

In fact, U.S. anti-pollution laws, especially the federal Clean Air Act, have been more effective than Canada’s patchwork of federal and provincial regulations, he added.

This record is shameful and we, as Canadians, must demand better from our government to reduce environmental pollution. The Conservative Party of Canada proposed a “made in Canada clean air initiative” last year during the federal election campaign. It’s time to take another look at a real plan for environmental protection, instead of the Liberal plan which, in practice, does little to reduce environmental pollutants and buys billions of dollars worth of carbon dioxide credits from India and China.

Ok, I too am tired of all of the BS news that has been floating around on the airwaves and on newsprint. But, here’s a letter to the editor of the National Post from the President of the Conservative Newmarket-Aurora EDA who, of course, feels betrayed. Let’s hope it’s the last BS post for a while.

National Post

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

As president of the Newmarket/ Aurora Electoral District Association for the Conservative Party of Canada, I find the stunning hypocrisy of Belinda Stronach’s defection to the Liberal party breathtaking. She did not consult with her political base — either the riding association or the voters in the riding. She also did not, according to her own statements during the press conference with the Prime Minister, spend much time reflecting on her decision, as she said her deliberations only began a few days before, after a conversation with former Liberal premier David Peterson.

Nonetheless, I still consider her a friend. And as a friend, I can neither understand her actions nor condone them. She has chosen to join a party that only a week prior she had vowed to defeat. Her concerns about Conservatives helping Quebec separatists are both misguided and without merit.

What is particularly galling is that, in addition to being made Minister of Human Resources, Ms. Stronach is now responsible for democratic renewal. If it were not for the seriousness of her actions, it would be laughable.

I feel for the hundreds of volunteers and thousands of Conservative voters who put their faith and trust in her as our Conservative member of parliament. However, our riding association is moving forward.

I urge all voters in our riding — at the next opportunity — to make Ms. Stronach a “private” citizen once again.

Stephen Somerville, president, Newmarket/Aurora Electoral District Association, Conservative Party of Canada.