PMO Delayed Report about Laura Gainey's Death

The Canadian Press release a news story today about how the PMO (Prime Minister's Office)told the Transportation Safety Board to hold off on the release of a report on their investigation on the death Laura Gainey, daughter of hockey hall of famer and General Manager of the Canadiens Bob Gainey.

In a series of emails with the PMO, the office of Rona Ambrose wrote to Aaron Masson (director of communications for the Transport Safety Board) and said: “My Chief of Staff has just been told by PMO to hold off on the release of the report until after the election.
However, PMO would like to be made aware of any development that occurs once you speak to the family and tell them that there is a blackout on release of reports during the [election] writ period.”

A lawyer named Michel Drapeau would specializes in public access to information said: “The Transportation Safety Board makes reports and makes findings. For any political power to interfere with it, it's improper ... totally improper.They don't even hide the fact it's for a political purpose. They were doing it ... in preparation for an election campaign.”

I'm not exactly sure if what was done by the PMO is exactly illegal, but it seems to me to be pretty darned unethical, why should an independent investigatory body, such as the TSB, take orders from the PMO? And better yet, should an election really make a father wait 2 more months to find out the investigation details into his daughter's death on the whim of a Prime Minister?

I think that this is beyond inappropriate, stalling any reports for reasons other than immediate national security is not something our government should be doing. Not to mention that I didn't think our government was supposed to be able to tell independent agencies what to do. Hopefully this was a one time incident, a little blunder and it won't happen again. But the way I look at it, once is already too much.

I'm sure that heads will role in the Harper government, let's just see who they make the scapegoat this time.

Muchacho Enfermo

Harper getting ready to attack Ignatieff

As an average Canadian, living in an regular in a blue collar neighborhood I was feeling pretty good about the way our government had been conducting itself lately. I was happy to see that our two major parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives, seemed to be working if not hand in hand at least in tandem in this time of economic turmoil that has so many Canadians scared about the future. It was nice, for a change, to have a government that seemed to be focused on actually governing the country and doing what we elected them to do, instead of focusing on vilifying the opposition to solidify their grip on power.

All that is about to change... According to the Glove and Mail the Tories are getting ready to air attack adds against Michael Ignatieff. The are apparently going through every bit of paper, footage and literature that Mr. Ignatieff has written, been quoted or featured in with a fine toothed comb in order to find something embarrassing he may have said in order to brand him, the same way they did Dion.

“The failure to brand him in the way we did Stéphane Dion is actually worrying some people — that maybe we've missed our opportunity to brand him negatively in the eyes of Canadians, and that an impression of competence is now sticking.

“So the pendulum is shifting back — that we should attack a bit more.” (A government insider quoted on the G&M)

Why must politics always be about vilifying the other guy? Are the Tories going to complain about his time spent as a Harvard professor when he was at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy? Or when he was lecturing at Oxford and hosting shows for the BBC? Or his many books that demonstrate a deep understanding of how the world works? I'm not saying that Mr Ignatieff is flawless, I'm simply stating that trying to attack his intellect may very well backfire... because in the intellectual resume category he clearly has Harper beat.

Overall, I'm interested on seeing how the Tories will brand him, but what I'm even more interested in, is how the Liberals will counter these adds. Will they fight back in the same way or will they counter with messages putting a positive spin on Ignatieff's career? Will the negative adds hurt the Tories image more then it will hurt Ignatieff's numbers in the polls? All that remains to be seen.

If there is an election in the near future I'd like the challenge the candidates to run a campaign focused on the issues: on health, education, the environment and the economy. I don't want to see a campaign that is run on negative press and attempts to dismantle the credibility of the opposition. Sadly, I'm pretty sure that this challenge will go unanswered and that next time there is an election, like most Canadians, I will leave my polling station with am uneasy feeling in my stomach because so little time will have been spent talking actual issues during the campaign that I won't be exactly sure what I voted for.

Muchacho Enfermo

Hope for the hopeless?

Cartoon: from embassymag.ca


Reading article after article about Obama since his election in November all the way until today one thing is clear: in him people see hope for change. Love him or hate him, he is bringing something new to the mix in Washington and his presence is already shaking things up.

Here in Canada, looking at our current potential leaders, it's hard to have hope. It's even harder to have hope for change. The same old boys club, the same graying hair, the same rhetoric, the same arguments, the same problems.

Since Harper's first term in office we have seen a deep divide form in this country, from the rebirth of Western separatism and Quebec nationalism, to Danny Williams doing whatever the hell wants (WILLIAMS FOR PM PLEASE!)... I'm not a old man, heck I'm a young guy, but talking to people in their early 20s it seems that politics hasn't grabbed their attention. There's a deep feeling of complacency in the majority of our young voters. Who's to blame? The politicians haven't captured our attention, the politicians we have now don't campaign on anything. They spend so much time attacking each other that none of them have capitalized on their chances to captivate voters.

Obama campaigned hard, he campaigned on promises of Change(with a capital C) he spoke with passion, he was eloquent. Weather he can make things happen remains to be seen. But the bottom line is I don't remember anyone campaigning with fire like that here in the last 8 years. Maybe someone in Ottawa should hire some of Obama's campaign managers and learn a few things.

This is my challenge to the four clowns in Ottawa: grab our attention, make us believe, make us fight for you, make us tell our friends and talk about Canadian politics over dinner and drinks with our friends. Do your jobs.

As long as our politicians act like hopeless children, I have no hope for change or improvement.

Muchacho Enfermo

Conservatives want to reopen abortion debate

It was reported by the Canadian Press that a secretive parliamentary caucus wants to reopen the abortion debate in Canada. It's been over 20 years since a court ruling made it legal for women to chose the fate of a fetus. But the pro-lifers in the Conservative party are willing to present a bill that would recognize the fetus as a living person for the purpose of criminal law. In short if a pregnant woman were to be murdered her fetus would be counted as a second person.

Pro-choice activists feel that this law would reopen the entire debate about the legality of pregnancy terminations. I think they're right.

While there are valid points to be made on either side of the debate; I believe that the pro-choice arguments are stronger. Should a woman made pregnant as a result of rape be forced to be reminded of the horrific even daily? Should that child be that reminder? How fair is that to the mother and to the child? Should a woman be forced to carry a child to term if it means risking her own life? Should it be criminal to choose what you do with your body?

The best question of all though: Should the Conservative government stay the hell out of a woman's uterus? The answer to that one is YES.

Muchacho Enfermo

Canadian Parliament Suspended, The government's on vacation!

The Governor General of Canada has granted Prime Minister Stephen Harper's request to suspend parliament until January 25th.

Closing down parliament this week will stop a coalition formed by the opposition parties from taking down the Harper government on Monday; a no confidence vote was scheduled for Monday. Harper hopes to be able to present a revamped budget to Canadians on January 27th, one that would also be acceptable to the opposition and allow him to cling to power.

What this all means people is this:
1- The opposition doesn't care about Canada, only their paycheques and they formed a coalition because Harper threatened to cut their funding.
2- Harper is a fool for trying to run a country the way he does and running away from this fight speaks volumes about his integrity.

Again, my two cents!

Muchacho Enfermo