Dear Royal Gendarmerie of Canada

Full disclosure to the defence is essential to justice. Complete the paper work or turn in your badge and S&W 9 mm. End of story.

Police waste taxes on Olympic ticket scam

The police should not be wasting our taxes settling scores between crooks:

West Vancouver police have issued a Canada-wide warrant for a man alleged to have collected over $60,000 in an Internet Winter Olympics ticket scam.

The way I figure is that if I make a deal with a thief to buy stolen property from him and that deal goes sour, at the very minimum I deserve to take the loss. The Olympics were held on stolen land.

The fools who gambled their money buying tickets from Sean McConnell Stuart through Craigslist and Kijiji should pay for their own frivolous security by getting insurance on their purchases.

Do tell! Do tell!

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

Now, with any change, there’s some apprehension. That’s natural. But as Commander-in-Chief, I am certain that we can effect this transition in a way that only strengthens our military readiness; that people will look back on this moment and wonder why it was ever a source of controversy in the first place.

I doubt it. Allowing homosexuals in the military probably will not make a difference. This will all go out like a whimper.

You have to wonder how it could be that for decades, so many young men were willing to run away from their friends and family to live in close quarters with complete strangers of the same sex while risking their lives.

B.C. HST: “Always look on the bright side of death…”

If deducting a tax is supposed to be good, then surely eliminating the tax altogether would be even better. However, it seems like we are not smart enough.

The recent nonsense coming from Stephanie Cadieux, B.C.’s Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister, and parroted by Peter Leitch, chairman of B.C.’s Motion Picture Production Industry Association. sounds like the stupidest sales pitch I have heard in a long time to encourage the public to support taxation.

“Clearly we wouldn’t be competitive on certain productions and see less business [than we] otherwise would have. In terms of the exact amount, it would be difficult to know.”

–SNIP–

Remove B.C.’s HST advantage and Leitch said Ontario will “immediately market against us” and try to lure productions away from the province.

Oh, the irony! The drama of Monty Python seems a propos:

Life is a counterfeit and when you look at it
Life’s a laugh and death’s the joke, it’s true
You see, it’s all a show, keep them laughing as you go
Just remember the last laugh is on you

The New Conservative Cabinet

Today, Mark Kennedy speculates on a looming federal Cabinet shuffle.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with an eye on a potential spring election, is contemplating a cabinet shuffle to re-energize his team and bring greater focus to his government’s priorities.

Let’s assume Kennedy is right. Who should be shuffled in, shuffled out, promoted, demoted?

Keep in mind that the Conservatives have a new addition to their team: Julian Fantino, the former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner who was recently elected in a Vaughn by-election.

Let me kick things off with three recommendations:

1. Fantino would fit in well as Minister of Public Safety, a portfolio currently held by Vic Toews. If current National Defence Minister Peter MacKay does indeed step down in the days/weeks ahead, as some have suggested he might, then Rob Nicholson, the current Minister of Justice and Attorney General, could take over at Defence and Toews, a lawyer, could fill the office vacated by Nicholson.

2. Larry Smith, the former CFL commissioner whom the Conservative Party is said to be courting, should be appointed to the Cabinet even without a seat. Smith would then be expected to contest an election at the first available opportunity, either a general election or a by-election. (Appointing someone without a seat in the House of Commons to the Cabinet is unconventional but not unprecedented: Jean Chretien appointed Stephane Dion to the Cabinet in January 1996 long before Dion had won a seat in the House.) Where would Smith go? One option is for Smith to takeover for Tony Clement at the Ministry of Industry, and Clement could then replace Chuck Strahl (who is rumoured to be leaving) as Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

3. The prime minister needs to find room for Michael Chong. He is just too good to be left out of the Cabinet.

That’s my advice for the prime minister. What’s yours?

Say “No!” to MP3 levy

Canadian musicians should just shut up, drink their beers, play their music and be grateful that Canadians are willing to listen to their music.

Legends including Anne Murray, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Andy Kim, Tom Cochrane, Lawrence Gowan, Carole Pope and members of Triumph have signed a joint letter in support of the private copying levy to Industry Minister Tony Clement and Heritage Minister James Moore, along with contemporary sensations Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, Metric and The Tragically Hip. Rising stars including Sophie Milman, Eva Avila, Serena Ryder, Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards, Hawksley Workman, Jacob Hoggard and Royal Wood are also signatories of the letter.

This recent demand of charging a levy on MP3 players is absurd and unjust. Musicians do not deserve a levy. In fact, they should feel honored when somebody copies their music! The musicians owe their fame and fortune to the tax-payer as much as they owe it to their own artistry.

Former Little Bow Riding Executive Responds to Wild Rose Alliance Statement

There are a number of discrepancies with the statement provided by Hal Walker, President of the Provincial Executive for the Wildrose Party (bolded in parentheses).  Below is a rebuttal by Kevin Van Lagen, former Chair of the Little Bow Nomination Committee tasked with running the Wildrose nomination contest:

Hal Walker: “At three nomination events on Saturday November 20th, 414 Wildrose Alliance members in Little Bow cast ballots to select their candidate in the next provincial election.”

True, although only 406 have been verified by the Returning Officer, and there were at least 7 other paid members who were not allowed to vote due to some type of error at the central office. In fact at least two of these had their credit cards charged prior to the cutoff date, but were not on the list.

What do the rules say?

7.6.1 A membership is effective on the date that a legible, complete and acceptable membership application and the membership fee arrive at party headquarters.

Hal Walker: “The nomination process was run in accordance with the candidate nomination rules and procedures as approved by the Party.”

The nomination committee attempted to follow the rules and procedures but was met with resistance by the Provincial Executive on a number of key issues.  Firstly, it was discovered that candidate Ian Donovan had purchased memberships for individuals thus making those memberships invalid.  There were a number of people that tried to pay poll clerks for their memberships hoping that the poll clerks would give the money to Mr. Donovan on their behalf.  This was witnessed by the party official present. Others witnessed Mr. Donovan taking money from individuals outside the voting station in Vulcan.

What do the rules say?

11.1 The following offences will be reported to the PCSC, will be investigated, and may result in the disqualification of an Applicant, Nomination Contestant, or Candidate as the case may be:

11.1.4 Buying of Party memberships for individuals who are not immediate family members;

The party’s response was that Mr. Donovan was simply providing these individuals with a loan.  There is a reason memberships cannot be purchased by anyone other than family members.  It is to prevent abuse and it blurs the clear lines of open, honest, transparent democracy.  Regardless of the intent, Mr. Donovan clearly violated this rule when he purchased memberships for “friends”, to which the Provincial Candidate Selection Committee ignored.

So once again, who is breaking the rules?

There was an issue with the eight (8) mail in ballots that were mysteriously left in Calgary.  As the Returning Officer, I have yet to see these ballots or supporting identification, therefore it was impossible for me to declare them valid and include them in the count.

What do the rules say?

7.8.2 The RO shall supervise the voting and vote count and declare the winner.

7.8.3 The RO shall retain possession and custody of the ballots for fourteen (14) calendar days for delivery, if requested, to the Party. If not so requested, the ballots shall be fully and completely destroyed after the expiration of the fourteen (14) calendar day period. If so requested, confirmation of destruction shall be provided by the RO.

As the RO, it was my responsibility to ensure that the ballots counted were valid.  It would not have been responsible for me to take the word of a staff member from Calgary that he had mail in ballots in his possession.  Further, the staff member was not authorized to validate the mail in ballots.  Those ballots were required to be at the “designated location before the close of voting”.  This did not happen therefore, those ballots could not be counted as they did not meet the requirements as set out in the rules.

7.14 An eligible voter who will be unable to attend the nomination meeting(s) may, by personal individual application to the Party headquarters, request an absentee mail – back ballot.

7.14.1 The signed request must be made no later than fourteen (14) calendar days before the first nomination meeting and must be accompanied by photocopies of the accrediting identification specified in subsection 7.8.1.

7.14.2 The Executive Director shall forward concerns about possible abuse of the absentee mail – back ballots to the Chair of the LCNC, the President, and the PCSC.

7.14.3 The voter must mail back the ballot package (Outer envelope and form, inner privacy envelope with ballot, and photocopies of the accrediting identification specified in subsection 7.8.1) to the designated location before the close of voting.

7.14.4 The Party shall provide supplementary rules and instructions for absentee ballots.

Hal Walker: “The Little Bow Local Candidate Nominating Committee (LCNC), in many instances, failed to follow these rules or maintain neutrality in the race.”

Here is where they go after locally elected volunteers. On multiple occasions the decisions made by the local nomination committee were overruled by the Provincial committee.  It was the local nomination committee’s decision to hold one (1) vote in a central location (Nobleford) and have a convention style vote.  After a complaint by Mr. Donovan we were overruled by the PCSC and forced to have three (3) voting stations throughout the riding.  This was still fair but forced a greater expense and more volunteer time.

Further to this, the LCNC did not want to have a nomination event this fall as it was not prepared to hold a nomination contest at this time.  We did not feel that we could meet many of the party requirements to have such an event on such short notice.  Once again, that recommendation was disregarded by the Provincial committee and a nomination contest date was determined for us.

Lastly there were some issues regarding communication of the Provincial committee’s interpretation of some of the rules.  One thing was said to the Nomination committee while different information was given directly to a candidate.  ALL communication regarding rules and procedures for the nomination process should have been filtered through the LCNC ONLY.  Any concerns or questions by any of the candidates should be asked directly to nomination committee.  Otherwise, why have a local nomination committee?

Hal Walker: “Party staff attended the nomination events in Little Bow to ensure that a fair and unbiased nomination process was run, despite the actions of the LCNC.”

This is conjecture and if there had been a concern about the neutrality of the LCNC, it was not addressed by the Provincial committee during their “thorough investigation” or by either of the candidates.

Hal Walker: “After a thorough review by the Provincial Candidate Selection Committee (PCSC), the PCSC unanimously upheld the results of Saturday’s nomination event which saw Ian Donovan elected as our candidate in Little Bow.”

The LCNC seriously questions how “thorough” the review was and what criteria they based their final decision on.

Hal Walker: “The provision for absentee ballots is specifically written into the candidate nomination rules and procedures in order to ensure that any grassroots member who wishes to vote in the nomination race will have the opportunity to do so – both nomination contestants and the Little Bow LCNC were made aware of this provision”

The LCNC is not questioning whether absentee ballots should be allowed at this time.  However, it is necessary that the proper procedure as outlined in the rules be followed when counting these ballots.  Declaring ballots left in an office somewhere as admissible does not fall within the guidelines.

Hal Walker: “It is regrettable that members of the Little Bow CA and the LCNC do not accept the decision of the grassroots members in this nomination process.”

The LCNC believes in grassroots as we are unpaid volunteers that supported the supposed principals the Wildrose claims to represent.  Local boards ARE grassroots and the election of our representative is fundamental to the democratic process.  This process should not be dictated and manipulated by a few paid employees that are disconnected from the local constituency.  If Danielle Smith wants to lead a party that allows this type of manipulation which shakes the very core of everything the Wildrose purports to believe, than that is a party the executive of the Little Bow Constituency Association cannot stand by.

On behalf of the former executive of the Little Bow Constituency Association, thank you for having this conversation with us.

The Future of Canadian Conservatism

Over at my other blogging home, my colleague Scott H. Payne has been having a running discussion on the future of the Canadian left.  It’s been interesting, but it’s been leaving me interested in getting some thoughts on the future of the Canadian right.  Well, up stepped our very own Mark Peters, with some thoughts on where conservatism needs to go.

I’m still mulling over Mark’s thoughts, but he definitely makes some good points.  Feel free to pop over there and leave a comment, or start a parallel discussion here.

Little Bow Wildrose Alliance Constituency Association Resigns

I just received this letter outlining some serious allegations against the Alberta Wildrose Alliance Party concerning the local nomination for the provincial riding of Little Bow:

We are writing this letter in response to the decision of the Wildrose Alliance to allow Ian Donovan as candidate for the Wildrose Alliance in Little Bow.

We became members of this party because we believed that it stood for something different. We saw the policies of the Wildrose Alliance as exciting ideas that would change the nature of politics in this province. We particularly liked the open and transparent message that came from the party. This being said, we have now discovered how wrong we were.

As members of the constituency association we have experienced that the leadership of the Wildrose Alliance has systematically demonstrated incompetence in regards to the nomination process. Not only this, we have also experienced that this party is not a grassroots party, but a party run by a few paid employees that are not willing to work with local officials. Most significantly, the party central, with the leader Danielle Smith in awareness, flagrantly ignored its own procedures and rules by carefully interpreting the rules to favour a specific candidate. Two violations that we point to is the buying of memberships for people other than direct family members in clear contravention of the established guidelines of the party; we also point to the fact that eight mail-in ballots were never verified by the Returning Officer, but were mysteriously left in an office in Calgary.

It does not bode well for a party to make a statement in the public about open, transparent government on the same day that a locally elected executive was being squashed by the party central. As such, we are prepared to release the following statement to the presidents and to the local and national press by 10 a.m. Thursday, November 25, 2010 if our voices are continued to be ignored:

“The Provincial Executive of the Wildrose Alliance has declared Ian Donovan the winner of the nomination contest in Little Bow, contrary to the conclusion and declaration of the local Returning Officer based on the ballots in his possession. To this end, all but one member of the executive of Little Bow are resigning immediately. These resignations are based on the fact that flagrant irregularities occurred in the nomination process that were acknowledged but disregarded by the provincial executive, including the leader of the party. As such, the directors have lost faith in a party that supposedly espouses transparency and grassroots democracy.”

Sincerely,

Kevin Van Lagen, President
Jack Derksen, CFO
Lee De Boer, Secretary
John Voorhorst, VP Fundraising
Robert Laing, VP Policy
Bill Harding, Director at Large Kerry
Nabozniak, Director at Large

It appears that in a rush to jump start the party and it’s chances against the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, the fledgling upstart “grassroots” Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta is tramping on the very grassroots they claim are the heart of the party.

This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, Danielle Smith is a rookie in the game of politics – she clearly does not understand the vital role of the grassroots in an upstart party. Nor can we expect the Wildrose Alliance’s new Executive Director, Victor Marciano – fresh from a tenure with the federal Conservative Party of Canada, to honor and recognize the grassroots of any party. Since the merger of the PC Party and the Canadian Alliance, Victor Marciano and the other party elites on Conservative National Council have successful purged most of the grassroots elements out of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Perhaps this is the new reality of party politics in Canada.

Update: Former Little Bow Riding Executive Responds to Wild Rose Alliance Statement

RE TSA Insanity

I have but one question: Why are we not following the Israeli model?

Update Nov 20, 2010: Israel’s top 10 airport security technologies (H/T). These plus 80-15-5 should certainly do the trick.

Trace-Safe from Israel and Raptor from the US have co-developed a chemical process, called TraceGuard, which can free particles from fabric and luggage for speedy detection and analysis.

The technology detects harmful substances and not benign ones like perfume or pharmaceuticals. It doesn’t show false alarms, doesn’t need filters or a cleaning. “You only want to detect the substances that you can make explosives or biological agents out of,” says Sela.

It can be integrated into scanners and magnetometers and also into a wand that can be passed over both people and luggage.

Update Nov 22, 2010. Via Drudge, strip searching young children. But – hey! – at least we’re not “racist,” like those hateful Joos, right?

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