Jackie, Jackie, Jackie - you poor little old apparatchik. The ashes of your coalition are not yet cold and the chimera of power fast fading, still you cling stubbornly to the stupidity of your stance. What possible gain is there in not supporting the budget, flawed as it might be? Do you think either the Conservatives or the Liberals will give you anymore than a swift nod of the head now? If that. How could they possibly take you seriously when you so blindly and pig-headedly refuse to see the light. What possible good have you done your party, your constituents, your future? Had you not put your own arrogance and power-hungry ego before the good of the country, you might now have something to contribute to parliament. You might now be able to work for some of the policies you so once proudly championed. You betrayed your principles in exactly the same manner you accused Prime Minister Harper of doing not so long ago. Truly, you are a pathetic shadow of your former self.

Did I miss something here in Canada? While I slept somewhat soundly Monday night did the Conservative party suddenly morph into the quazi-liberal party? What else explains the budget they presented in parliament yesterday? Oh wait, maybe it could simply be something called political expediency or, in other words - power at any cost. Yet even as I say that, I must realize that this budget does not validate the Conservative hold on power in parliament, rather that power now lies in the hands of the Liberal party who, as their latest attempt at a leader now states, will hold the Conservatives to every accounting. That is not power. That is simply puppetry.
I, like most Canadians, do not wish to see another election right now. I simply want our politicians to act as mature adults and get down to the business of governing our country. This budget will ensure that something gets done but at what cost to the soul of the Conservative party? What damage has been done to the party by giving in to the opposition party and tabling a budget that probably made Paul Martin smile.
None of this had to happen had Stephen Harper not so arrogantly acted to punish the opposition parties by yanking their election funds. It wouldn't have happened had he not completely mis-read the obvious signs of a coming recession and acted quickly to address the problem in a meaningful way. I place the blame for the current state of the Conservative party squarely on his shoulders and will do everything in my power to ensure he is ousted at the next leadership convention. He is not a leader in any sense of the word and does not deserve to lead our party any longer. Enjoy your few remaining months in office sir. If nothing else it will give you time to reflect on the fallibilty of hubris.

I am with Danny Williams on this one. The very idea that some US company believes they have a life-long hold on OUR natural resources is just wrong. As Danny Williams said, they had an agreement and they broke it. They had the use of the resources contingent on the fact that they provided employment for citizens of Newfoundland. They aren’t carrying through with the deal so they no longer get the resources. Go Danny.

I just wish the other premiers would get onside with him. It is high time we stopped giving away our natural resources. Moreover, I can’t think of a better time to do it. US companies are in trouble. They are running out of money. We have other markets that we can tap and the US can go hang.

The Americans have a time-honored tradition of sticking it to all their trading partners as we saw to our horror when they screwed us with the softwood lumber agreement, to name just one. We never win against the Americans. In addition, with the Obama administration getting set to take over, Democrats that they are, we are in for one heck of a ride. So let’s stand up and tell them straight out. We are not going to sit back, make nice, and let you walk all over us. Our resources belong to the people of Canada. They are our and our children’s birthright and should never be ‘given’ to an American or any foreign company for that matter. If the US wants to renegotiate NAFTA, fine. This time it will be we Canadians who refuse to back down. And if they don’t like it they can take their bus loads of lawyers and go home. Let us, for once, show some backbone here. We can deal with the fall-out. We can deal with the backlash and snivelling from the Americans. This is our country and it is high time we stood up for it. Our children and grandchildren deserve no less.

A friend of mine has been penning political poems for awhile now and I think this one deserves to be shared.


Merry Christmas, Canada!

'Twas a bit before Christmas
And all through the land
The coalition was trying
To take a strong stand

But its leader was goofy
And had not a clue
His own party said no
He just will not do

So they crowned a new King
The man of the hour
And hoped that they'd soon
Be right back in power

The Liberals are happy
That Mike's at the helm
And ready to be
In charge of the realm

The one thing we don't know
Is what will he do
His party's in shambles
And out of cash too!

Some folks in that party
Are nasty and sour
And focused on nothing
But getting back power

So Iggy, slow down
And try to rebuild
If you force us to vote
You'll likely get “killed”

But wait, there is more
To this holiday tale
The aftermath looms
Like a poop in the ale

Commando Jack waits
Like a snake in a rut
To see if he'll soon
Be out on his butt

He came very close
Too close, we'd agree
To power and glory
And a big spending spree

Any money we have
Would soon not be there
Cause spending is all
About which he cares

Old Gilles is still there
The third person, a crowd?
He's greedy for money
Of that, he is proud

He has not to offer
A thing to our land
In fact, it could crumble
By his very hand

So Christmas is coming
And so is '09
And Stephen is thinking
The power's still mine

He has a mean streak
And calls people names
But we're getting quite tired
Of these childish games

It's time for some manners
And good common sense
Be nice for a change
Or are you too dense?

To see that we need
A leader that's real
That looks like he cares
That's a much better deal

Old Santa is watching
Whose naughty or nice
So let's get together
And melt down the ice

Another election?
Oh no, that's not good
Why don't our MPs
Just work like they should?


No matter your stand
Or political stripe
Please do not succumb
To...

[ Continued ]

Once again the PM was given a chance to make amends to Canadians and the Opposition. Once again he failed. As a member of the Conservative party, I am, to say the least, disappointed and to say the most, disgusted with Stephen Harper. How bloody hard can it be to simply say, "I made a mistake." Moreover, in my opinion, he did. Instead of being humbled and thankful for another minority government, he spitefully moved to deprive the opposition of campaign dollars funded by the taxpayers. I do not believe any of the parties should be funded by the taxpayers, but that is beside the point. The point being that he knew, knew, that this move was nothing more than a slap in the face which would enrage the opposition. He also knew that restricting public sector union's ability to strike would ignite a huge furor, yet he added that as a further insult. He simply could not be anything more than he is, an arrogant and small-minded person lacking completely in social skills and diplomacy.

Once the expected anger was evident, did he step back immediately, apologize, and move to soothe the ruffled feathers? No way, not our Stephen. He enabled the formation of the Axis of Idiots (aka coalition) and then raged against the inclusion of the Bloc which sufficed only to kill any chance our party had to court Quebec voters. I don't blame Quebecers for being angry even though the Bloc does not belong in Parliament considering their expressed desire to separate from Canada. Even so, the fortunes of the separatists had fallen of late and tempers were cooler. Along comes Stephen to re-ignite the flames and once again put separation on the table. That this is evident was seen by the slim majority which was given to Charest in the Quebec election. As one pundit mentioned, it is a good thing the election did not drag out longer or this majority may not have been realized, thanks to Stephen Harper.

It really saddens me that I feel this way as I had such hopes for both...

[ Continued ]