Updated: Just a Bunch of Stuff

Note: I simply haven't the time to group these in any logical manner nor to post each separately today. Life intervenes. NJC



Updated--links added: Do not miss these articles from the National Post, Oct. 19, 05

The grown-ups' public intellectual contest; contrast with the 'quality' candidates with which CBC presented Canadians -- As they say in the hinterland, "some difference!"

* Lorne Gunter: Tom Flanagan, "Alberta's know-it-all"--literally -- Profiled for Canada's top Public Intellectual contest

* Andrew Coyne: Justice by quota

Andrew Coyne on appointing a new justice for the SCOC, quotas and logic -- reductio ad absurdem -- Excellent!

* David Frum: From axis of evil to the evils of Harriet Miers

* Canada, U.S. to begin open skies talks -- And what comes next? Think about it. Think some more.


* Total acquires Deer Creek Energy -- 78% and is going after 100% of the shares www.lexpert.ca -- Desmarais connection -- Financial Post, Oct. 19, 05

Check the law firms involved.


Kofi Annan, Coming to a Computer Near You!

* Internet -- "Keep Kofi's hands off the Internet" the move to wrest non-existent control of ICAAN from the US -- perhaps to give it to the UN. Excellent! -- This is not online at the National Post, Oct. 19, 05, but it was published as an editorial in the Wall Street Journal -- well worth reading.

GLOBALONEY: The World Wide Web (of Bureaucrats?) -- Keep your U.N. off my Internet. BY ADAM THIERER AND WAYNE CREWS, October 9, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT



Venezuelan Orimulsion & China -- Note this, NB and NBPower.

"CNOOC plans to learn about the advanced technology and expertise of oilsands development" -- scroll down for the link.

China Looks to Latin America for Potential Oil Supplies -- China has become a major importer of Venezuela's Orimulsion , a tar-based fuel developed and branded by Petroleos de Venezuela that can be used in boilers. Chinese companies in partnership with Petroleos de Venezuela are investing $330 million to produce 6.5 million metric tons of Orimulsion annually by the end of this year. China has constructed at least one major electrical power plant designed to burn this fuel in Guandong province. [. . . . by Greg Flakus, 3 Oct 2004 by Epoch Times]

* Yang Hua, of Beijing-based CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp), is excited with their low-cost entry into Canada's oilsands. "CNOOC plans to learn about the advanced technology and expertise of oilsands development", added Fu Chengyu.



A Little Background to Enjoying the Upcoming Trudeau Hagiography . . . or idealized biography such as the lives of the saints

CBC has been advertising a new TV program on the "charismatic" Pierre Trudeau--charismatic, so they keep repeating. I beg to differ.


[The] government of Canada won't be reviewing the oilsands sale to China. Jackie Jura, independent researcher

But that's not surprising. After all, Canada's Prime Minister for decades, way back when, Pierre Trudeau, opened our door to China and his like-minded "mandarins" (elites who own politicians) are still running government now. [. . . . ]

Scroll down to the bottom for several links, among them, Chinada's Sovietization and Canada's Red Trudeau Jackie Jura, Orwell Today

Mr. Trudeau told the wife of U.S. chargé d'affaires Hugh Cumming that he was a Communist and a Catholic, then went on to criticize the U.S. and praise the Soviet Union.

Concerned that the incident involving a former Privy Council employee would undermine U.S. estimates of Canada's security, Mr. [George] Ignatieff was dispatched in what appears to be a pre-emptive strike.

Search: George Ignatieff, then second-in-command at the Canadian Embassy in Washington

Let the hagiography begin. CBC getting its ducks in a row for an election to return more of the same. As Jackie Jura says:

Our resources are being devoured by our enemy and not a comment is made by the politicians who are instead distracting the masses with local pork-barrel corruption and upcoming election talk.

What Does It Take To Arouse A Sense Of Shame Among Politicians Who Use Immigration Tactics (Importing Voters Regardless Of The Problems They Cause) To Deceive Canadians And To Disregard The Broader Good Of Canada?

[. . . . ] Police and other law enforcement officials in the Greater Toronto area are very much aware of similar behaviour among Tamils and other recent immigrant groups who have also imported "the way things are done at home". The enormous size of these groups makes it very difficult for Canadian officials to control such violence. It is important to note that the enormous cost of dealing with this behaviour in these immigrant groups is never calculated when officials add up the cost of immigration which Mr. Martin and others want to increase by 40%. The latter proposal is generally regarded as the ultimate in corruption.

In other words, the answer to the question, "Why has the Canadian government not taken strong action against the very large Tamil group in Canada?" is that they rely on the Tamils to elect a number of MP's in the Greater Toronto area and strong action might alienate the Tamils. All morality is subordinated to getting elected. [. . . . ]

Paths to power -- How the Liberals seduce voters with the classic bait and switch routine JOHN GEDDES, Macleans, Oct. 18, 05 via Newsbeat1

Blend social and business themes, play off the Americans, strive to be pan-Canadian -- Liberals turn to these elements again and again. But another constant must be most galling to their opponents: their mastery of using power to stay in power. The governing party's ability to make appointments, dispense patronage, and recruit talent looms large in Clarkson's book -- and in Martin's recent record. He recruited Frank McKenna as a high-profile ambassador to the U.S., hooked Belinda Stronach with the bait of cabinet clout, and snagged Michaëlle Jean, whose appointment as Governor General restored fading Liberal hopes in key Montreal-area ridings with big ethnic votes. [. . . . ]

Get "the full catastrophe"

Government Failure in Canada, 2005 Report: A Review of the Auditor General's Reports, 1992-2005 October 2005, Fraser Institute, Jason Clemens, Mark Mullins, and Niels Veldhuis

Executive Summary: The discussion of the limitations of government and subsequent government failures is wholly absent from debate in Canada where, unfortunately, we still assume that governments act benevolently and without institutional constraints. That this is not true is plain to see in the pages of the reports of the Auditor General of Canada, which provide concrete evidence of the existence, and the extent, of government failure in Canada. [. . . . ]

"Mr. Guité said he rigged the process"

"The inquiry heard conflicting testimony about how Pierre Tremblay, then the chief of staff to then public works minister Alfonso Gagliano, was hired to replace retiring bureaucrat Chuck Guité." By DANIEL LEBLANC, Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Page A4

OTTAWA -- An affidavit prepared by the Public Service Commission for the Gomery inquiry sheds new light on the controversial hiring of a former Liberal aide to head the sponsorship program in 1999, including the role of a federal official who would become an aide to Prime Minister Paul Martin.

The inquiry heard conflicting testimony about how Pierre Tremblay, then the chief of staff to then public works minister Alfonso Gagliano, was hired to replace retiring bureaucrat Chuck Guité. Mr. Guité said he rigged the process at Mr. Gagliano's behest; the former minister denied any political interference. [. . . . ]

There's something else going on here

Why is a country that prides itself on nebulous and dubious virtues like tolerance and diversity not able to nail the really basic ones like honesty, integrity and loyalty? Occam's Carbuncle, Oct. 17, 05




"a cache of used needles and "safer crack kit" paraphernalia -- left mere steps from the children's playground"

Drug dealers laughing in Toronto By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO SUN, Oct. 18, 05

"Harm-reduction" sites and services encourage illegal drug users and alcoholic street people to continue to ingest their poisons using clean equipment in a safe environment. The theory is that it will eventually lead to fewer overdoses and less open use of drugs on the street.

[. . . . ] "What a sad message to send out to our children ... that now you can have a safe, warm, cozy place to do your crack," she said. "And the people who run this city don't feel they can help you with treatment."

Former Martin aide on witness list for Commons Earnscliffe probe by Romeo St. Martin, [PoliticsWatch Updated 7:05 p.m. March 21, 2005]

Mentions $240,000 , Terrie O'Leary , Warren Kinsella , Don Drummond , Auditor General Sheila Fraser , Allan Cutler




No wonder PM won't allow Byfield to take his Senate seat for Alberta

He was elected, he reasons, and he writes. Why, he even has an ethical core!

Corruption has been built into Canada’s system of government Link Byfield, 10 October 2005, CCFD

Link Byfield is chairman of the Edmonton-based Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy, and an Alberta senator-elect.

Corruption doesn’t start with spendthrift good-old-boys like Dingwall and Ouellet milking the system while everyone looks the other way, or shopping bags stuffed with sponsorship cash going secretly to political campaign offices.

That comes later.

It starts with popular but dishonest political language and spending aimed at buying votes en masse.

Employment Insurance, for example

[. . . . ] In fact, EI is not “insurance” at all, just another gigantic regional equalization program, in which year-round workers in high-employment areas like Ontario and Alberta subsidize seasonal workers in low-employment areas like Cape Breton. [. . . . ]

Canadian ecstacy and pot heading to Japan James Gordon, Oct. 18, 05

OTTAWA -- Canada is becoming a major exporter of narcotics to Japan, according to an RCMP intelligence report, and this country's links with Colombian drug cartels are multiplying.

[. . . . ] methamphetamine . . . . ecstasy . . . . marijuana . . . . Canadian organized crime elements and Colombian cartels . . . . drug trafficking and terrorism [. . . . ]

Excerpt, Hansard: Oct. 18, 05 Newsbeat1

The proposed amendments to the Criminal Code in Bill C-49 would create three new indictable offences that specifically address human trafficking. The first contains the global prohibition on trafficking persons. The second prohibits a person from benefiting economically from trafficking. The third prohibits the withholding or destruction of identity, immigration or travel documents to facilitate trafficking in persons.

The legislation also ensures that trafficking may form the basis of a warrant to intercept private communications, to take bodily samples for DNA analysis and to permit inclusion of the offender in the sex offender registry. Bill C-49 also expands the ability to seek restitution to the victims who are subjected to bodily or psychological harm.

Again, without serious penalties for these very serious, abhorrent crimes, the exploitation and abuse will continue. In this legislation, there are no mandatory minimum prison sentences. We need to send a clear message that slavery is wrong.

[. . . . ] º +-(1615)

We already know that the government wants the age of sexual consent to be 14, one of the lowest in the world. It causes us problems. We have pedophiles looking at our children. They lure them through the Internet. Now there is a plan from the government to legalize prostitution and solicitation. With a low age of consent and the plan regarding prostitution, we must have multiple types of legislation to protect our vulnerable children and our women.

[. . . . ] I do support Bill C-49 going ahead, but we have to toughen it up.

Will There Be A News Conference By Irwin Cotler?
Announcing an RCMP investigation into who is responsible for the leak of contents of the Gomery ADSCAM report to the media? Kate McMillan, Oct. 18, 05

[. . . . ] None of this clumsy obfuscation would be possible in a country with a diverse and independant media. (I'll also suggest that none of it would be likely in a country where Senators and Governors General were elected, instead of plucked from the "journalistic" whorew (sic) ranks.) [. . . . ]

I read somewhere that pretending to leak is, actually, a Liberal attempt to do damage control -- that the report is bad for Martin. All is speculation yet.



The Cost of "a pervasive welfare system"

Immigration and the Welfare State in Canada: Growing Conflicts, Constructive Solutions Herbert Gruebel, Fraser Institute, October 2005, ISBN/ISSN 1206-6257

[. . . . ] Government employees and academics have studied the reasons for the low incomes of recent immigrants in Canada. The findings of these studies are still tentative, but point to the large numbers of immigrants who bypass the government screens that are designed to allow entry only to foreigners likely to be economically successful. Those bypassing the screen include large numbers of family members and refugees, many of which have low earnings capacity. [. . . . ]

. . . its main recommendation involves a fundamental reform of Canada’s immigration selection process to prevent the need for such measures and to avoid large costs to taxpayers in the future.

Paul, the Panderer "has gone too far"

[. . . . ] As part of the accumulating evidence that Harper should go for the good of his party, the Liberals and reporters point to the failure of his Conservatives to much improve their standing in opinion polls.

Who pays for the polls and do the polling companies work on government contracts? If so, forget the results. Note that Fisher once sat as an NDP member.

I have heard of polls that show the Conservatives under Stephen Harper as steadily climbing. One poll showed that people chose the Conservatives by over 80% (at the time I saw it); it was about as scientific as the polls paid for by those who want to maintain the status quo.




Documenting government waste and inefficiency.

Sponsorship Scandal Only One in an Endless Series of Government Failures:Review of Reports from the Auditor General Predicts More Problems John Clemens and Niels Veldhuis. Oct. 17, 05 -- second in a series

[. . . . ] Second, once objectives are prioritized, governments should use innovative mechanisms such as privatization, private-public partnerships, and outsourcing to ensure that the highest quality, lowest cost combination of program delivery is achieved on a regular basis.

Third, governments should provide more resources and authority to monitoring and watchdog agencies such as the Auditor General, as well as expanding Access to Information abilities of third parties to better ensure internal controls and public accountability. [. . . . ]

The biggest problem with government is government. Greg Weston, Oct. 18, 05

[. . . . ] "The main lesson from the facts assembled by the auditor general is that governments are not very effective vehicles for accomplishing outcomes," the Fraser study concludes.

"Therefore, the objective must be to minimize the tasks that are undertaken in the public sector.

"Public purpose can be accomplished as well, or better, by contracting, privatizing, or ceding the activity to the private sector."

Oil thirst from China adds fuel to trade tussle - Globe and Mail - 14 Oct 2005


Hansard-Criminal Code-Bill C-49- trafficking in persons Oc.17,2005 -- Hansard

People are being told they can come to Canada and get a job and that it is a wonderful country. It is a wonderful country, but they are brought into Canada under false pretences. When they arrive here they are told that the job they were promised is no longer there but that they do have another job, which turns out to be that of a sex trade worker. It is terrible to trap people into that. The visas and passports are seized and taken from these people. These people are afraid to go to the police in case they will be deported from Canada, so they keep quiet and they are trapped.

[. . . . ]



"verbal advice only"

Hansard excerpts- Question Period - Oct 17,2005 -- Newsbeat1

Government Contracts [. . . . ]

David Dingwall [. . . . ]

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

Mr. Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre-North, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Canadians now see that the virus of Liberal entitlement, rot and corruption has spread into the department of unlimited spending.

The Minister of Indian Affairs has now been caught signing a major contract with an Ottawa consulting firm that demands verbal advice only and specifies that the consultant leave no paper trail for the Auditor General.

Canadians have seen these sorts of liberally sensitive gag order contracts before: the Earnscliffe contracts with the Prime Minister's former office, the Groupaction contracts, and now Indian affairs.

Who instructed the minister to avoid public accountability, to avoid the House, and to avoid the Auditor General?

Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as I said, as part of an audit exercise within the department and following Treasury Board guidelines, the branch hired experts. The contract called for an oral presentation on the initial findings from confidential employee interviews. It was a small part of the contract. There is a contract. There is a statement of work. There is a clear audit trail which shows the department got what it paid for.

[Translation]

Mr. Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre-North, CPC): Mr. Speaker, that is verbal notice of a dirty Liberal agreement. Two weeks ago, the President of Treasury Board confirmed that he does not know how much the Liberal government is spending on aboriginal programs. What a surprise. Even consultants working for the department are doing so in secret. The Auditor General made this same criticism about the sponsorship scandal and the Earnscliffe contracts.

Why is the minister hiding the truth from Canadians?

[English]

Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, clearly the member did not listen to the answer in the first instance. There is a contract. It is very transparent. It shows the department got what it paid for.

National Defence [. . . . Gun Registry]

Mr. Colin Carrie (Oshawa, CPC): [. . . . ] Over the weekend a TTC bus driver was shot in the head after getting caught in the middle of a dispute during his shift. Just hours before the shooting, I attended a crime and justice forum in Scarborough where constituents were in unanimous agreement that mandatory prison sentences were needed to control the recent wave of violent crime. The Liberal government has opted for throwing money at an ineffective gun registry instead of investing in front line policing to keep our communities safe. [. . . . ]

Conservative MP John Reynolds Slams Liberal Party on Integrity

“Integrity is doing the right thing at all times and keeping in mind that we are sent here as trustees and representatives of the people of Canada and the money they send us is sent in trust. Those dollars are Canadians’ dollars and we must never forget that. Unfortunately the Liberals seem to have forgotten what the ‘public trust’ means and seem to have adopted the belief that what’s good for the Liberal Party is good for Canada.” Frank Tridico, LTVNews, Oct. 18, 05

Frank Tridico is author of upcoming book, Inside Sault Ste. Marie Politics



Stop Islamophobia

'Stealth' Islamists recruit students Ali Hussain posted by him on CCD 2005/10/18

The Sunday Times began the investigation after a report by Professor Anthony Glees of Brunel University, which said colleges had become breeding grounds for extremists.

[. . . . ] Razaq said: "Stop Islamophobia is set up by us. But we don't actually push it like that. The moment they link Hizb ut-Tahrir with Stop Islamophobia, they'll bring the whole campaign down."

[. . . . ] He explained the "party method", which he said was non-violent but demanded complete dislocation from democracy and British secular values.

"You don't work with the system," said Razaq. "Our political work is outside the system in order to create that Islamic change. We want influential people, but when you win them over you win them over to the framework of Islam." [. . . . ]

Four lobbyists investigated for possible ethics breaches -- First such investigations ever launched under ethics guidelines



Google and privacy By ANICK JESDANUN, Oct. 17, 05

[. . . . ] It also describes in greater detail what Google is doing to protect against abuses.

But it remains silent on how long information is kept. That's an area of growing concern as Google offers more and more services that potentially collect and store a wealth of personal data, making the company's servers a prime target for abuse by overzealous law enforcers and criminals alike. [. . . . ]

[McCallum] said the companies, PetroChina and CNOOC Ltd., were "very positive" in their response to his pitch to invest in Canada. By GEOFFREY YORK, October 14, 2005 Page A1 With a report from Dave Ebner

They are likely to get a more welcoming response from Canada than from the United States, where CNOOC's bid to acquire the American oil company Unocal was blocked by an angry political reaction.

Mr. McCallum said he received the 400,000-barrels-a-day estimate yesterday from Chinese and Canadian investors in Beijing, who called it an "ambitious but realistic target" for China's aspirations in the Canadian oil patch. [. . . . ]

In April, PetroChina signed a preliminary deal to take 200,000 barrels a day from Gateway, one of three big oil-sands deals China has made this year. In May, SinoCanada Petroleum Corp. -- an arm of state-run Sinopec -- paid $105-million for a stake in the Northern Lights oil-sands project and CNOOC has paid $150-million for a one-sixth stake in MEG Energy, a small Canadian company with proprietary oil-sands technology.

Search: called for quick implementation of the Canada-China "strategic partnership"

IMHO, Chinese interests, inroads and influence are not limited to oil. Watch that "proprietary oil-sands technology". Warning based on past experience with intellectual capital, copyright, design (AECL nuclear -- Sunpoke design) . . . .



The Top 10 Models in Fuel Economy By Marc Lachapelle

According to Natural Resources Canada's ratings for new 2005 model year vehicles

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