Category: Politics

Trudeau would re-think Harper's mandatory minimum sentences

Earlier this month, a judge in Kitchener, Ont. said he was “embarrassed” to do what Parliament had told him to do and levy a “victim surcharge” fine on those convicted of crimes.

Last month, a judge in Manitoba said the decision by Parliament (i.e. the Conservative majority) to impose mandatory miniumum sentences in all cases results in “cruel and unusual punishment” in some cases. The judge ignore Parliament’s wish and did not impose a mandatory minimum sentence.

Those two judges — and others who don’t like Parliament telling them what to do — have a friend in Justin Trudeau who, a few minutes ago on Twitter, responded to a question about mandatory miniumums this way:

 

Saturday morning fun: The Discovery of a New Element…

You may have seen this before but it was new to me today. Very clever:

Scientists at CERN in Geneva have announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element Governmentium (Gv). It has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons and 198 assistant deputy neutrons giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons which are surrounded by vast quantities of right-on-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons or protons, it is inert. However,

Read the whole thing at The Discovery of a New Element | Armstrong Economics.

Conservatives pitch for cash on Trudeau's China comment

If you’re a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, this is in your inbox tonight (I, not the Conservatives, have added the link here):

Friend,

You’re not going to believe this.

Last night, Justin Trudeau told a crowd of Liberal supporters that the government he most admired was – wait for it – a dictatorship.

He was asked “besides Canada, which nation’s administration do you most admire, and why?”

Here’s his full quote:

“There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around.”
– Justin Trudeau, November 7, 2013

Friend – we did not make this up.

We can’t let this man be our next Prime Minister – donate $25 or whatever you can afford right now so we can fight back.

Sincerely,

Paul Calandra
MP, Oak Ridges-Markham

The country Justin Trudeau most admires? You won't believe it.

Smog in China
Residents ride bicycles along a street amid heavy haze in Xingtai, Hebei province November 3, 2013. Dense smog has periodically shrouded major cities in north and northeast China in recent years, raising increasing public discontent, Xinhua News Agency reported. (REUTERS/China Daily)

So, the ladies had questions. Like this one:

“Which nation, besides Canada, which nation’s administration do you most admire, and why?”

There were about 100 people in the crowd  at swank downtown Toronto meeting place who’d paid $250 each to be able to ask Justin Trudeau questions and, as the ad said, to “really get to know the future prime minister.”

Ok, so other than Canada, which country’s government does Trudeau “most admire”? Continue reading The country Justin Trudeau most admires? You won't believe it.

The Longer He's Prime Minister

PM-Elect Harper
i snapped this pic on Stephen Harper’s first day as prime minister-elect, the day after the 2006 general election, on his campaign plane winging it back from Calgary to Ottawa. This sight — Harper scrumming reporters on his plane or anywhere else was about to become an increasingly rare sight and, seven years on, is something almost never seen.

I’ve just finished reading Paul Wells’ The Longer I’m Prime Minister, a book I’m happy to recommend to Harper-haters and Harper-lovers alike largely because of the way Wells treats his subject:

I offer no blanket endorsement of the twenty-second prime minister. Much of what he has done makes me angry; much more is open to serious debate. But too many people in this country have spent too much time trying to ignore Harper, or to dismiss him, or, with varying degrees of ineptitude, to defeat him. He endures. I figure it is not too soon to try to understand hi . . . Readers who still cannot bring themselves to believe he is the elected prime minister of this country not only misunderstand Stephen Harper. They also misunderstand Canada..

The Harper-lovers will love paragraphs like this: Continue reading The Longer He's Prime Minister

Newsflash: The Trudeau Liberals just may have figured out how to raise cash

Trudeau at caucus
OTTAWA – Justin Trudeau meets the Liberal caucus on Parliament Hill on April 17, 2013 for the first time as party leader. By the end of June, the party would have put nearly $3 million in its war chest, largely on the strength of his ability to draw a crowd. (DAVID AKIN/QMI Agency)

For the first time at least since the good, old days (for Liberals) of that Chretien/Martin hegemony, the Liberal Party of Canada has had two successive quarters in which more Canadians cut a cheque to the red team than cut a cheque to the blue team.

The Conservatives, mind you, are still stomping all comers, Liberals included, so far as being able to fill up the war chest with cold, hard cash. Elections Canada reported today that the Conservatives pulled in $3.43 million in the three months ending Sept. 30, the third quarter for 2013, while the Liberals pulled in $2.17 million in the same period.

For the year so far (9 months worth of work), the Conservatives have sucked up $12.8 million in contributions compared to just $6.8 million for the Liberals.

But for the Liberals, dollar totals may not be as important as the number of donors. Continue reading Newsflash: The Trudeau Liberals just may have figured out how to raise cash

Mike Duffy to the PMO: I'm just telling the truth

On CTV’s national newscast on the evening of May 14, the network’s Ottawa bureau chief Bob Fife had some disturbing news for federal Conservatives and gob-smacking news for the rest of us:

Anchor Lisa Laflamme set it up this way: “CTV News has learned that while auditors were going over Conservative Senator Mike Duffy’s living expenses, Harper’s right-hand man, his own chief of staff, was already reaching out with a secret offer, an agreement to help pay off the money Duffy owed taxpayers and make the problem go away.”

Continue reading Mike Duffy to the PMO: I'm just telling the truth