"Going off the rails on the Crazy Train"

Originally I wanted to used this post to bitch and complain about Ann Coulter. Now I also have to use it to bitch at the people that staged a protest outside the university of Ottawa yesterday.

First let's start with Ann Coulter:
For those of you who don't know her, she's an author who is best known for her controversial comments. Here are some of the quote-worthy ones:
-

"They'd better hope the United States doesn't roll over one night and crush them. They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent," when talking about Canada.
-On the same show she was asked why she felt the need to make fun of Canadians and she answered: "because they speak French."
-After 9/11 she suggested all Muslims should be banned from airplanes and suggested they take Flying carpets.
-At her speaking engagement in London, On. a Muslim challenged the remark and Ms. Coulter suggested that instead of the flying carpet, she take a camel.

And the list goes on and on and on...

Now the University of Ottawa is no better... An email was sent to Ms. Coulter (which was leaked to the National Post) advising her to educate herself on Canada's hate speech laws. Because here it is a criminal offense to promote hate or violence against any specific identifiable group.

Ms Coulter, who lives off of comments like this, said the university of Ottawa was promoting hate and violence against her and as such she hired a lawyer to file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

The protesters who didn't want her speaking? Well, they're the idiots because that gave Ms Coulter an excuse to cancel the speech stating that she was afraid the protest would turn violent. So, in effect, the University of Ottawa is screwed because the protester just proved Ms Coulter's case...

While I firmly believe that Ms Coulter is an uber-bitch and is thoroughly ignorant in her remarks, I also believe that she is entitled to speak her mind. If she makes remarks that are considered to be promoting hatred and violence while in Canada we should have charged her accordingly, instead of letting her turn our own laws against us.

In conclusion:
-Thumbs down to Ms Coulter for giving Conservatives a bad name.
-Thumbs down to the University of Ottawa and its protesters for being idiots.

-Thumbs up to Ozzy Osbourne for providing me with such a catchy title.

UFOs over Canada

Darlene Stewart of Harbour Mille, Newfoundland was outside taking pictures of the sunset last Monday when she saw this flying through the sky:












She called some neighbors who also saw it. They reported it to the RCMP who asked them to phone Public Safety Canada who then referred her back to the RCMP.

Various statements were made about the nature of the object:
-RCMP says: "there is no debris or any other evidence that would allow the Mounties to investigate the matter."
-Public Safety Canada says: "that the federal government was aware of media reports of public sightings of unidentified objects off Newfoundland but said the RCMP was investigating."
-The Military says: "they were aware of the reports and have confirmed there have been no planned missile exercises off the seaboard."
-VOCM radio in St. John’s said: "that France had conducted a ballistic missile test in the Atlantic Ocean."
-The French Embassy said: "Nothing"
-The office of the Prime Minister of Canada said: "There is no indication that there was ever a rocket launch."
-In slight contradiction the PMO also said: "people on Newfoundland's south coast like to launch model rockets."
-Oh yeah and the military also added: "There's no threat to the security of Canada."

So it's not a Canadian missile, it's not a French missile... so far it's still unidentified. But there's no threat to the security of Canada? When something like this flies through our airspace the government can tell me with a straight face that everything is okay? This coming from a government that won't let me take carry-on luggage on a plane anymore because they're afraid that we're all terrorists? They get nervous about my laptop at the airport, but they don't get nervous about missile shaped objects flying through the sky?

Thank you PMO and all the other Canadian agencies involved in this for fueling conspiracy theories and fear. As a tax payer I really appreciate it.

Canadians take to the street

Today, I'm a proud Canadian.
It's been a little while since I've said that, especially when it comes to the collective conscience of the electorate.

The masses took to the street all over the country to protest the Conservatives' prorogation of parliament. For those of you not from Canada , parliament has been shut down until after the Vancouver Olympics. Why? In large part because of the questions surrounding the mistreatment of Afghan detainees (which I've written about here and here). It is most likely an effort for the Conservatives to save face and to avoid answering embarrassing question while the whole world is watching Canada.

Considering our dismal turnouts for many of our most recent federal election, I am truly surprised at the number of Canadians that took to the streets. Expatriates living in London and New York did the same.

The prorogation of parliament is seen by many as an assault on the democracy that shapes this country. This is the second time in as many years that Mr Harper and his Conservatives have shut down parliament, the first time was in 2008 when they closed it down to put together a budget that would keep them in power and avoid an election.

When prorogation occurs both the senate and the house of commons are dismissed so any bill that was tabled to be voted or become law gets axed and will need to be introduced again at the new session of parliament. This prorogation cost us 36 bills and the Globe and Mail provides us with a comprehensive list. Among the bills that died were:

-BILL C-45
Protects foreign nationals from exploitation through human trafficking
-BILL C-58
Requires Internet service providers to report tips about child pornography
-BILL C-36
Eliminates faint-hope clause that allows those with life sentences to apply for parole after 15 years
-BILL C-34
Strengthens the National Sex Offender Registry and the National DNA Data Bank

Prorogation should not be a tool to remain in power, it shouldn't be a "timeout" to rally your troops and certainly shouldn't be used to avoid dealing with issues that could potentially set off an election. Canadians will not forget how Mr Harper has manipulated the system to avoid elections and avoid hard hitting questions concerning the mistreatment of Afghan detainees. I hope that the election results will show this next time around.

Well Mr Harper... you can brush off the Opposition parties, but you can't brush of the thousands of Canadian voters, many of them Conservative voters, who took to the streets yesterday in an effort to make you hear their voices. Remember that you are a Public Servant and that is a wonderful title of trust and prestige that is bestowed upon by the people; as such you have obligations and responsibilities to public you are paid to serve. Those obligations do not include shutting down Government because you feel like it. Think about it.

Oops... I take it back...

Apparently I need to read the daily news before publishing something I wrote yesterday.
It appears Ross Rebagliati was cleared to speak. But he should have had a better speech.
Instead of saying he would do with his riding and for the country it ended up being a bunch
of fluff about "knocking Stockwell Day off his sea-do" and about how great the Olympics are.

I understand why he's doing it, he's up against one of the most prominent members of the
Harper cabinet, but maybe a little more substance would have a better chance at swaying voters
than rhetoric and catch phrases.

He might be a gold medalist snowboarder but I'm not sure he's going to win at politics.

Shut up Ross!!!

Canada's gold medalist snowborder Ross Rebagliati and world famous pot smoker (having tested positive for marijuana directly after winning his gold medal) is apparently under orders from Mr. Ignatieff's office (i.e. my former main man Peter Donolo) to shut the f$ck up, along with the rest of the liberals.

So the Liberals now have a dress code and a code of silence? I'm not sure where Donolo and his staff are trying to go with this, but for some reason I don't think this bodes well for the grits. Rebagliati is running in a riding against Stockwell Day, which will already be a tough riding for him to win, but it'll make it even harder if he's not allowed to talk to the press. How are his constituents supposed to get to know him if all he's allowed to talk about is "his experience as an Olympian, and how it relates to his choice of becoming a Liberal candidate – pride of representing his country, desire to serve needed commitment, etc.”

At first I figured Ignatieff would grow on me, that he wouldn't annoy me so much if I just gave him time. But so far it's been quite the opposite. To me Iggy is just as annoying if not more so than the day he won the leadership.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/liberals-impose-code-of-silence-on-ross-rebagliati/article1435267/

How far is too far?

Canada's Conservative government has boycotted a hearing of Commons Committee that was schedule to set the agenda for the inquiry into the mistreatment and mishandling of Afghan detainees by Canadian forces.

The Conservatives defended the move saying that now wasn't the time to be holding these inquiries into possible war crimes committed by Canadians. The boycott comes as rumors swirl in Ottawa that the Conservatives plan on suspending parliament until after the Olympic games in Vancouver.

The Conservatives accused the opposition of only trying to satisfy their "political blood lust" and also ignored a motion passed in the House of Commons to release documents that speak about Afghan detainees. This denial could lead to the current government being charged with contempt of Parliament.

So... the Conservatives are grasping at straws to maintain their image in the midst of a Human Rights controversy, trying to save face as Canada prepares to welcome the world in Vancouver for the Olympics and trying to make people forget the sorry state of our leadership with the old "bread and games"? Well I'm sorry Mr Harper, this won't just go away.

The political blood lust in this case doesn't belong to the Liberals, the NDP or the Bloc... it belongs to the Conservatives who are (supposedly) willing to to shut down the Canadian government for a few months to try and save themselves; the Conservatives who are willing to boycott an inquiry that was started by an independent overseer who's job it is to oversee certain areas of our governance and by the Conservatives who are apparently more concerned at pointing fingers than the lives the of Afghan citizens we are supposed to protect.

The Conservatives complained big time when PM Jean Chretien shut down an inquiry into the behavior of Canadian soldiers in Somalia. So did all the other parties... Now the Conservatives are the ones effectively shutting EVERYTHING down to avoid a similar subject. But Jean Chretien didn't shut down parliament or boycott committees, even if he didn't always face the music at least he never plugged his ears and pretended he couldn't hear it.

Hypocrisy seems to be the rule of thumb with the Conservatives and quite frankly I can't remember a minority government taking this much leeway and freedoms in exploiting our parliamentary system. If parliament is prorogued it would be the second time the Conservatives, in a bid to hold on to power, have done it in almost a year.

So my question to everyone is: how far is too far? How far will this government go to cloud the issues and maintain power? Because they aren't doing this to save Canada's image prior to the Olympics, they're doing it to save face while they regroup and hide and hope that the world forgets the fact that Canada may have violated the Geneva Convention.

Time for an Inquiry

It's high time for an inquiry about this whole Afghan detainee torture business.

Referring back to a post I did a few days ago where Peter MacKay, our Minister of Defense, contradicted (and is still contradicting) sworn affidavits by Canadian soldiers and military officers that a prisoner handed over to the Afghan authorities was severely beaten and tortured.

For once I agree with NDP leader Jack Layton:
“Now more than ever the majority of members in this House are calling for a public inquiry. And it’s legitimate. We need to put an end to this cover-up. … When will we have a public inquiry?”

And with Michael Ignatieff
“We cannot trust a word that comes out of the mouth of the minister. When will the Prime Minister fire him and call a full, independent public inquiry?”

In a country that has all out public inquiries for everything, from the Mulroney-Shreiber Airbus deal, to the Sponsorship Scandal. I think it's time we have a serious inquiry into Mr. MacKay's statements and into the integrity of his office.

At least the Chretien and the Mulroney scandals were about money... I mean money is important and everything. But this one? This one would be about violating the Geneva Convention, trying to deny it and willingly putting the lives of people and their health in serious jeopardy. I think that lives are worth more than a few Airbus planes don't you?

The image of Canada is taking a beating every day that Prime Minister Harper lets Mr. MacKay keep his job. What kind of credibility will we have when we criticize other countries such as Burma, North Korea, Cuba or China on their Human Rights records? Not very much.

I, for one, do not want to see this great land's name dragged through the mud and there is an easy way to stop this from happening. Mr. MacKay must admit his mistake and step down, or better yet, Stephen Harper needs to ask for his resignation. Maybe just maybe, will the Conservative government, the country and our military be able to save face.

Screw the Geneva Convention

"In no circumstances shall a protected person be transferred to a country where he or she may have reason to fear persecution for his or her political opinions or religious beliefs."
Article 45 of the Geneva Convention

Canadian officials have vehemently denied knowing that some Afghan prisoners transfered to the ANP (Afghan National Police) risk being beaten, tortured or executed since a story broke in 2007 about alleged prisoner abuse.

Peter McKay, Canada's Minister of Defense, has been quoted time and time again saying that there has not been a single documented case of torture following a transfer of prisoners to the ANP. Even as late as last month he said:
“Not a single Taliban prisoner turned over by Canadian Forces can be proven to have been abused. That is the crux of the issue.” (Halifax on Nov. 22)

But that was last month, before sworn a sworn affidavit from Colonel Steve Noonan (from 2007) was published and before corroborating testimony from Brigadier-General Joseph Deschamps and before field notes from a master-corporal also confirmed an incident. Is McKay changing his tune?

“He has said what he has said based on the advice of generals and senior officials in the department.” (Dan Dugas, spokesman for Mr McKay yesterday)

Both Canada and Afghanistan a signatories of the Geneva convention and as such should obey it to the letter. Don't get me wrong, I have no love for the Taliban, but the bottom line is that Canada is supposed to lead by example. How can we win the people of Afghanistan over when we let things like this happen. Not to mention our image on the world stage, when our Minister of Defense is out there flat out denying things and contradicting some of our most trusted military commanders?

How can Canada accuse other countries of assaults on Human Rights and mistreatment of their citizens and prisoners if we cannot guarantee that those in our custody will not be mistreated.

McKay needs to man up and face the music, no matter how unpleasant the tune may be, because this whole affair is a major blemish on Canada's reputation abroad and leaves a sour taste in all of our mouths.

Jacques Cartier screwed up...

I was talking with a good friend of mine today, a small business owner here in Montreal. For the last 25 years he's owned a guitar store and also worked on and off as a high school English teacher.

We were talking today, as we usually do, about the political climate in Quebec. With Jacques Parizeau trying to revive separatism in his new book, with the Franco-racist-Brotherhood and Unions trying to push the government to go against the supreme court and stop French and immigrant parents from sending their kids to English Private school (because they're not allowed to go to English public school unless both parents are primarily English) and talking about where the hell our money goes.

To sum up the conversation, we both live in a province that should be proud of its heritage and want to motivate others to embrace it but insteand we shove it down everyone's throat and play the victim. We live in a province where our gazillions of tax dollars seems to disappear. We also live in a province where Unions are bankrupting cities and choking government infrastructure.

My friend, as always, has very extreme views on this and he's prepared to back them up... Here's what he says: "Muchacho, if I ever find out I'm ill and I'm going to die I swear to god I'm going to burn this whole place down and move down south. Where life is simple, the government won't tax me to death and I can get a decent blowjob before breakfast."

A mutual friend decided last year to pack up, sell everything and move to a Caribbean island and live the life. So I'm guessing that this is where my friend got his idea that on the islands everyone gets head before breakfast. Either way, the point is that here we were, two tax paying french born citizens contemplating on the ways our government screws us on a daily basis.

My friend lights a cigarette and looks at me and says: "When Jacques Cartier discovered this place, he should have just kept going south. He really screwed up..."

Thursday Morning Stupidity

While I was sitting at my laptop writing a post (unpublished as of yet) recapping my Remembrance Day with my grandfather so total asshole decided that he would rob the Legion in Scarborough Ontario of the money that veterans collect with the yearly sale of Remembrance Day poppies.

The Globe and Mail reported an armed man entered the basement of the Legion building where veterans were counting the donations received in the annual Remembrance Day campaign. He pointed a gun at an 84 year old veteran and demanded all the "bills".

The veteran lunged at the man with the gun and tried to subdue him, with the help of another veteran, who was 64, the intruder dropped his gun and fled on foot.

I'm not sure what kind of idiocy compelled the would be thief, I mean really... Is there no respect left in this world that someone would rob elderly war veterans of the money they collect for charity? And to do it after the one day of the year the entire nation stops to honor them?

I sincerely hope the police catch this man, put his face on the news and make sure that the entire country knows who he is.

A Metaphor for a Broken System

While our Prime Minister parades around talking about his plan for protecting Canada's north and asserting our sovereignty north of the 60th parallel, one has to ask oneself about our communities who live in the northern territories. After all what's the point of protecting the north and asserting our ourselves if our communities are dying a little at a time?



This whole thing for me was sparked by the picture seen about of two ten your old boys sleeping next to an Iqaluit grocery store in the early hours of the morning. I know that it might be an isolated event, as officials from Nunavut were telling the Globe and Mail. The bottom line though is that the figures don't lie here is a chart below that shows the suicide rate in Nunavut as compared to the rest of Canada.



The suicide rate in Nunavut is 11 times higher than the national average. That should tell you something about our northern supremacy. I understand that we have a legitimate claim to the land and the oil and the ice, but how about claiming back the basic rights of our own people and take a second to think about them before we worry too much about the rest?

There is a chronic housing shortage that sees at times 20 people living in the same 2 bedroom residence, it is also a place where 25% of people taking part in a psychology study claimed to be victims of abuse and a place where children would rather sleep on the streets than go home.

I'm not saying that the government is the only one to blame, but I think that the territorial government when asked about the issues should address them directly with a concrete plan instead of saying:
"Just like anywhere else in the cities or towns across Canada, there are negative things that are happening as well as positive things, and Nunavut is no exception.”
and
“The media will certainly concentrate on one area, most times unfortunately on our negative side of things, and not so much on the positive things that have been happening in Nunavut since the creation of the territory.”

While the media are certainly scandal hungry, I also think that they have done a wonderful job in bringing this issue to the front and center where it belongs. In a country that spends billions on bailouts, billions on foreign aid, billions in Afghanistan, billions in repairing our roads, billions on the Olympics couldn't we also spend a mere 250million on building enough homes for everyone in Nunavut, or job creation? (I know we have programs present, but it's clear that they aren't sufficient)

The picture of the 10year olds is a metaphor, an image that mirrors the situation of thousands of our fellow citizens and we need to address this as if they were our own children. Our children and those of generations to come really are the most precious resource that we have and if they keep sleeping in the streets or committing suicide there won't be a population left in the north we're trying so hard to protect.

(all images above are reproduced from TheGlobeandMail.com)

Some Hard Truths About Canadian Medicare

It's free*.
I love it.



(if you disregard my tax dollars)

I'm reading this morning in Cyberpresse that the European Union plans on slapping visa requirements on Canadians wishing to visa any of its member countries.

This is all part of the fallout from Canada's decision to force visitor visas for both Mexican and Czech travelers a few days ago in an effort to lower refugee claims from those two countries. In the first 3 months of 2009 Canada received 3648 refugee claims from Mexico and 653 from the Czech Republic.

So, because we don't feel like processing these refugee claims and having these people stay in the country while we do so, we'd rather have them fill out visa applications which will take time to process and anger our trading partners? Sounds like flawless reasoning on the part of our government.

Just to put this in perspective, over 250,000 Mexicans travel to Canada each year and, according to Statistics Canada 705,000 Canadians traveled to Mexico in 2004. It we're ready to jeopardize this mutually beneficial industry to stop a few bogus refugee claims.

As for Canadians potentially needing visas to enter the EU? by the same Stascan 2004 survey almost 2,500,000 million Canadians travelled to Europe that year... So we stop the "flood" of applications from the Czech Republic (see my second paragraph) and required its citizens to request visas in order to come here regardless to the inconvenience this may cause to almost 2,500,000 million Canadians.

We'll wait and see what the EU does in response to Canada's change of stance on Czech travelers; they have already been quoted as talking about retribution and the Czech have recalled their ambassador to Canada. In the meantime, don't make any travel plans because you never know what might happen!

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Disgruntled and soon to be unemployed workers at a Nortel factory in near Paris decided to threaten to blow up the factory if they weren't given proper severance pay. Almost 500 layoffs were planned this week due to Nortel's bankruptcy proceedings here in Canada.

This, to me anyways, is just as crazy at that time in March where French workers held the boss hostage to demand better severance pay.

It wasn't the first "boss-napping" but those have since stopped... now it's bombs around buildings, recently Peugeot, Renault and Citreon employees also threatened to blow up factories if the salary demands weren't met.

This stuff is just messed up, I mean deep inside of me as someone who hasn't always been on top of the food chain: I feel like cheering for the workers who have the guts to stand up to fat cats and demand what they feel is theirs.

On the other side, as a shareholder you know how much money you've lost in Nortel and from a business point of view laying off these workers makes sense: so let's do it.

The problem with both of those mentalities is what I like to call the "Me me me factor":
-The worker is thinking only of himself, not of the thousands and millions of investors that have lost their homes, their shirts, their lives because of the losses Nortel has taken over the years.
-The shareholders couldn't care less about the workers because they want dividends and profits.

All of the above, in some twisted and strange sort of way, makes SENSE it is the ESSENCE of capitalism... Is it perfect? no. But it's dog eat dog and every man for himself. So you can hate the shareholders or you can hate the workers, because in the end everyone is the same: Me. me. me.

To all you JC Haters out there...

My main man and favorite Prime Minister of all time "Handsome Johnny" Chrétien (seen above choking a separatist) is back in the news after the Queen of England, our head of state, has decided to name him to the Order of Merit (other members include Mother Theresa and General Eisenhower)

I know that I'm not alone that misses this guy... despite the corruption, the choking of people, Shawinigate, the Sponsorship Scandal and all that other crap, I still have much more faith in JC than in any other Canadian politician.

Don't ask me why, I just respect a guy who can climb into the high echelon of politics on willpower alone.

Good job JC!

Muchacho Enfermo

"Canada has too many immigrants"

In a poll today published on CTV.CA we saw all sorts of things that I found either disturbing or disappointing or both.

For example 81% of people think that "Canada's diversity is an important strength of our country." BUT 91% of respondents said that "When immigrants come to Canada they should adapt to Canadian customs and values." What does that have to do with diversity? Does that mean we want everyone to be the same except maybe not white?

52 per cent thought "Canada has too many immigrants and we should limit the number who come to Canada." As opposed to our diversity being an important strength? I really want someone to clear this crap up for me, PLEASE!

As far as I'm concerned this poll is yet another in a long list of polls that display our uniquely hypocritical closet style of thinking. How can you celebrate diversity and then say that these diverse people should be just like everyone else or better yet: there's too many of these diverse immigrants, turn 'em all away, stop 'em from coming in and send 'em home... But we love diversity, really.

Muchacho Enfermo

In Your Face Separatists!

I'm sitting on my laptop tonight and I came across a story in the Montreal Gazette about a poll that was conducted over the weekend in Quebec and the title just made me smile: "Hopes for Sovereignty Dim: Poll".

Here are some of the highlights:
- 32 per cent said Quebec has enough autonomy and should remain in Canada.
- 30 per cent said Quebec needs more autonomy, but should remain in Canada.
- 28 per cent said Quebec should become a separate and independent country.
- Should Quebec Separate from Canada? : 54 per cent said no while 34 per cent said yes.

While these results are hardly a resounding victory for me and others who wish to remain in Canada, at least it gives us some things to build on and might just (hopefully) some of that racist hateful intolerant wind from Pauline Marois' sails.

On the other hand when the same poll asked the respondents "which province understands best Quebec culture and Society?" they answered this:
-42% New-Brunswick
-9% Ontario
-4% BC
-3% Alberta
-2% PEI
-1% (Newfoundland-Lab, Manitoba, Nova-Scotia)
-0% Saskatchewan

Why is it that Quebeckers feel that New-Brunswick best understands us? I mean really... I used to live there and while it's a beautiful place in its own right it is nowhere near the cosmopolitan multi-ethnic metropolis of Montreal, how could they possibly understand us when the entire province only has 750,000 inhabitants? Is it because of the Acadians? Because Acadians don't give a crap about separation. I don't know what it is but I'd really like to find out... If anyone knows, please let me know.

In conclusion I can go to bed tonight a little safer in knowing that I still have a country and that I might not have to move away just yet. Although with Canada day and St-Jean Baptiste around the corner, emotions here tend to run high from the separatist side; so I'm expecting, as usual, my neighbors to ignore me and call the police to be my house at 3pm to tell me to stop my annual Canada barbecue, again.

Muchacho Enfermo

Human Rights Improving In China?

In the Globe and Mail this morning there was a short article about how our foreign minister Lawrence Cannon said that China “has made progress” on human rights.

Cannon does tell the G & M what that progress is, on what he thinks China has improved or on what time frame he is basing this statement because if you read the Amnesty International report for China 2007 and 2008, there are no marked improvements.

Cannon also said: “You're much better working on the inside with the Chinese leadership to get things done, than to be outside and criticizing.” Which I might be inclined to agree with, being inside and having a dialogue beats the heck out of throwing rocks at the from Vancouver Island and hope they reach Beijing.

We must all remember that when Stephen Harper was asked about China he had said "I don’t think Canadians want us to sell out important Canadian values. They don’t want us to sell that out to the almighty dollar."

The bottom line is going to have to be whether we prefer China's money and influence or we prefer to hold on to our Canadian values.

Muchacho Enfermo

And Now the State Department?

When I first posted about Laura Gainey's death and the subsequent withholding of information by the Conservative government, I did not expect that of my 20 hits per day I'd have the Canadian Government read it which they did.

Now, for some reason the US State Department seems interested in the story.


I'm not exactly sure why, but I really wish one of the two governments would leave some sort of comment! Please...

Muchacho Enfermo

This Week In Politics (according to me)

My friends, in my 29 years on this earth and this country the stupidity that goes on in government has never ceased to amaze me. Political intrigue in Canada? Please, all we have in Canada is political bickering.

Take for example of yesterday: The federal Liberals we finally able to say that they were over the sponsorship scandal because they had retaken the lead in polls in Quebec for the first time since 2004. On the tail of that announcement the PQ announced that they had discovered a new “sponsorship scandal” at the provincial level claiming that the provincial Liberals had used funds that were supposed to be distributed in the Saguenay for economic development and funneled it down to companies in Montreal owned by Liberal party members. This isn’t even a political game or an attempt at character assassination, this is just good detective work by the PQ and a big let down by the Charest government.

If the PQ is indeed right, this would be devastating for Jean Charest and his federalist party. If the PQ is right, it might be exactly what the separatists have been waiting for to be able to tip the scales in their favor. Even if it’s only 8million dollars and it basically means nothing on a provincial budgetary level, it’s 8million TAXPAYER dollars that weren’t allocated where they should have been... and that ladies and gentlemen will be enough to sink the Liberals.

On a federal level, the Conservatives are saying that Canada has measures in place to counter the possible pandemic of swine flu. This is the same government that told us late last year (when the whole world was panicking about money) that the economy was fine and would be fine for a long time. Sure, now they’ve revised their stance and have taken action, but as with the economy, I fear that we are going to have to wait until imminent infection is upon us before the government revises its “everything will be okay, trust us okay?” stance that they’ve so far taken.

Then there's crazy Elizabeth May, whom I used to be a fan of, but now is more like a soap box carrying crazy cat-lady (no offense to cat-ladies) who preaches to whomever is willing to hear it that Harper is trying to buy votes in Quebec.

And what about "Jumping" Jack Layton? Where has my favorite sandal wearing MP been recently? I haven’t seen him on the news or read about him or his party in a long long time. Maybe he’s taking time off to grow a goatee or buy new sandals? If anyone knows I’d love to hear it.

Forget Iggy and Jack and Steve and Lizzy, I’ve got bigger fish to fry... I’m still trying to figure out what I can do to have the utterly racist book “Anglaid” removed from the shelves and banned from sales anywhere in Canada. If a book like this had been written about any other race or culture the entire country would be up in arms about it. But since it’s only about English folks in Quebec no one seems to give a damn.

Muchacho Enfermo