Bud Talkinghorn

Hi-ho, Silver--Andy Scott rides in to save Tonto

A grim-faced Andy Scott, now Minister of Indian Affairs, was trying to explain on CBC why the blighted native reserve of Kashechewan never got a decent water supply. For years they have had a boil water order in force. Even for bathing and laundry, they have had to lace huge amounts of chorine into the water. The results have been hideous skin disorders. Scott stated that he visited the reserve in the summer, but nothing concrete was done to alleviate these problems. Now he says that his department will "study" ways to correct the situation. But he admitted that thirty-some other reserves have similar problems. He wasn't even honest in that confession as the real number is over 100. The decision to help the afflicted natives was taken out of his hands when the Ontario government flew out the worst cases to be treated in Sudbury. Scott didn't want to talk about the cost of this long-term evacuation, since it will be in the millions.

The Indian Affairs bureaucracy has depended for decades on the true and tried method of ladling out billions of dollars to the chiefs and their minions. In the name of political correctness, these sums were never properly audited. In many cases, the average native was underfunded, while the chief, his relatives, and the band council members lived in relative luxury. These isolated economic backwaters were rife with pathologies--ranging from teen suicides, to chronic welfare dependency, to rampant substance abuse; still, this didn't suggest to the ministry's "silly serpents" that these precious tax dollars should be monitored.

And God forbid that integration into mainstream society might be seen as the only lasting solution. It was easier to pretend that their existence was an ennobling example of diversity. Just throw more money at their problems until they stop complaining was the guiding philosophy. Perhaps the residential school scandals frightened them into ignoring the advancement principle and settling for the status quo. In a way, the day the Liberals started referring to these scattered reserves as "nations" was the end of any real control. Even the anachronism of not allowing banks or businesses to seize property, when loans or services are not paid, condemned Indians to a life without credit. Instead, to bankroll native enterprises the taxpayer took the hit. However, with no economy of scale in these remote hamlets, there is small chance of success. The almost universal failure of the businesses started on various Quebec reserves, funded after their multi-million dollar government payout from the James Bay hydro project, is a classic example of this. The majority of successful native businesses have had the good fortune to be sitting in reserves, situated on prime urban real estate or oil fields.

The Indian Affairs Department must start to really think outside the box to even begin to reverse the decline of native communities. Sacking Andy Scott would be an excellent start.

© Bud Talkinghorn



High Noon with Mr. Dithers

Without the slightest proof, Paul Martin claims that 50% of the handgun crimes in Toronto were done with smuggled guns from the U.S.--the eternal Liberal/NDP bogeyman. This claim, despite the fact that there is no reporting of such weapons. In addition, Paul Culver, a senior Crown Attorney for Toronto, says that illegal U.S. guns are a small percentage of the gun crimes. Martin quotes some obscure source for his "fact". The reality is that an election is looming and the P.M. is aware that the $2 billion gun registry is an albatross around his party's neck. The absurdity of it is evident to all except a tiny group of elites and the other usual suspects. So much money has been wasted on this boondoggle that the Liberals can't admit its error. Therefore the reasons for an upsurge of gun crimes must be accounted for by blaming those gunslinger Americans.

Nor can the government admit that similar restrictions on guns in other countries have also failed miserably. Since Britain and Australia brought in tough gun legislation, their violent gun crimes have skyrocketted. Since 1996, when Australia brought in its gun laws, gun crime has increased 36%. In Great Britain, the armed robbery rate had fallen 50% before the gun laws were introduced. Now they have soared 74% since its introduction. As a final slap in the face to the Liberals and their hysterical anti-gun lobbyists, the rate of gun deaths in the United States has fallen for those jurisdictions that allowed guns to be carried on the person. The only people in Canada that don't have guns are the victims of those who do. His ludicrous claim is just another example of Martin shooting himself in the foot.

© Bud Talkinghorn



Iran--A self-proclaimed member of The Axis of Evil

The proclamation by Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that "Israel should be wiped off the map" proves that fanaticism is alive in Iran. Khomeini has a secular rival. Here is a country that keeps maintaining it is a font of peace while it supports Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations. It is rumoured to even harbour al-Qaeda remnants, whose Iraqi division continues to slaughter Shi'ites daily. This is the country that states its nuclear plants are for domestic energy uses only, but whose former President, Rafsanjani, openly says he wants an Islamic bomb to utterly destroy Israel--even if it leaves Iran in ruins from retaliation. Can we still spell "rogue state"? As expected, the Arab League of the UN has refused to condemn this belligerent, nay insane, pronouncement. If you are still wondering if there is clash of civilizations--or democracy versus the death cult societies--this is the proof. Tiny Israel takes this hate message very seriously. Given its history of being invaded by its Arab neighbours, it cannot afford to underestimate this threat. I am sure that the number of nuclear weapons pointed directly at the Presidental palace in Tehran has been doubled. Even the pro-Arab French and Germans are extremely disturbed by such insanity. And for you Islamic fundamentalist (root causes) apologists in North America, it is worth mentioning that the student audience for this vitriolic rant started shouting "Death to America" when the speech was over. As former peacenik--now Islamic convert--Cat Stevens used to sing. "Oh, baby, its a wild world!" You better start believing it.

© Bud Talkinghorn



Autobiography, Sheila Copps: Worth Fighting For--a short critique

As would be expected of Copps, there are no faults admitted to, either personal or political. Even her notorious "Rat Pack" days in Parliament are cast as a Captain Canada crusade . If one is old enough, one can remember the disgraceful antics of this sextet during Question Period. The prototype for the disgaceful caterwauling seen today. Interestingly, one French member was Jean Lapierre, the man who formed The Bloc Quebecois. Financial improprieties in her Heritage Ministry are glossed over. The only mention of her own high-flying expense accounts and those of Mr. Boyer, was the media's petty attack on Boyer's $14 breakfasts. It was his sumptuous European suppers that made David Dingwall seem like a weight watcher in comparison. Dingwall, by the way, is actually mentioned as a humble down home sort of guy. who was always on the side of "the little people". His triple-dipping ways later were obviously an aberration.

Sheila comes out swinging on the deficit of bright women in Parliament. But her subsequent (and most interesting) show of gutter fighting and downright corruption in her party, are probably the real reasons women don't want to participate. Rather than the admirable fiestiness of her Rat Pack group, she portrays her colleagues as rather mousey types, who don't want to rock the boat, unless polls suggest they must. The only purely Liberal/Chretien scandal that she mentions is the secretive $180 million largesse afforded to Martin's CSL--"inadvertently" disclosed by her old Rat Pack buddy, Don Boudria. She does mention that, as Finance Minister, Martin made sure that Lansdowne Technologies, a firm he was part owner of, got millions in untendered government contracts.

However, on the sleazy methods of rigging nomination elections and leadership battles, she has lots to say. She describes opponent campaign tactics that belong in some monstruously corrupt African backwater. The only thing missing in them were the machine guns. Her account has the ring of truth. While her own saint, Jean Chretien, is afforded nothing but hagiographic praise, Martin is portrayed as a man who would stoop to any illegality and chicanery to get the Prime Ministership. Likewise, the role of Earnscliff in siphoning off government monies, then offering "free" support for Martin's campaign, should have been included in the Gomery Commission. Maybe Gomery could only handle the vindictive attacks from the little crook from Shenanigan, without having to confront Big Paulie's attack dogs as well.

I do have to give her some credit for trying to defend Canadian culture from the juggernaut of the Americans. However, the main examples she gives as reasons for this defense seem to center on Quebecois and aboriginal culture. God, as if enough money has not been shovelled out to these people already by a vote-buying Liberal Party. She might be correct in showing that we nearly lost the 1995 referendum because the Quebec Liberals didn't want any imput from their federal counterparts. Typically, the fate of Canada was considered a "family affair" between provincial francophones. Of course, this explanation allows Saint Jean off the hook for his asleep-at- the- switch approach to the vote.

All in all, if you can get past Sheila's brass-bottomed self-congratulations, the book gives a few insights into how federal politics works.

© Bud Talkinghorn



Heads up on another billion dollar boondoggle coming down the way

I received a message from the Canadians for Language Fairness, which indicated Bill S-3 was only one reading away from being passed. [now passed, Bud, Oct. 25, 05 -- NJC] If you, like me, have not spent your life glued to C-Span then you have no idea the incredible consequences of this bit of legislation. What Bill S-3 introduces is the right for any band of French-Canadians to demand schools and services in their language. There is no mention of "if numbers warrant"; rather, it is a blank cheque to any tiny francophone community to importune the provinces, counties, or urban centers for the monies for their "cultural/linguistic rights". According to the CLF, the only reason that the Bloc Quebecois has opposed this Bill is that it might force Quebec to set up English schools in their far-flung hamlets. The economic stupidity of such legislation is a secondary concern. One disgruntled francophone forced New Brunswick to issue every government document in French. After all, the McKenna government sold their Meech Lake acceptance so that Bill 101 would be passed calling for NB to be an officially bilingual province. The Liberals had to keep the francophone voters on side. Now this bill has come back to bite them on the * * *.

S-3 was propossed by Senator Gauthier and backed by Dyane Adam, the Offical Languages Commissioner. When Mr. Fortier, the first Commissioner, ran the show, he larded his staff with French Canadians--something like 73%. When asked how he could justify this over-representation, he replied, "Well, most of our complaints come from francophones." But as the 1989 Henderson-Elliot (?)report showed, almost ALL of the federal Ministeries were heavily over-represented with francophones. Unbelievably, English-Canada has snoozed through the endless chipping away of their rights -- even the right to work for their government as English speakers in the civil service. A minority has seized control of almost every facet of government. The law that already has been passed has made fluent bilingualism a must for the higher positions in the civil service. This bizarre legislation was greeted by a yawn from Emglish-Canada, even though it basically disenfrancises them from decison making.

Our politicians can't criticize Bill S-3 because Quebec must be placated at all costs. Already, the Liberals have lost seats in Quebec because of their failed sponsorship scandal, so anything the francophone voter wants now, they are sure to get.

© Bud Talkinghorn

My own take on this Bud is that the anglo worm is starting to turn and it would behoove the 20% francophone minority (demanding and being accorded far more than needed services) to keep their demands to a sensible level. I sense something has changed in Canadians. English Canada has had enough. When the majority of citizens cannot work in their own government civil service, and in much else, without learning a language many neither have use for nor want particularly, and yet they form a vast majority in this country, it would be wise to treat them with respect instead of pushing for even more. They have been played for fools long enough.

Why do I think our language commissar Dyane Adam does not understand this? Of course, neither does her government . . . yet. Slow to get revved up, but when they do . . .

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