Pudsey Steps Down
Posted by Doug Banwell in Liberals on July 29, 2010
Shawn Pudsey, the Liberal Party of Canada’s nominated candidate in Parry Sound—Muskoka, made the following statement today:
“It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to step down as the candidate for the federal Liberal Party in Parry Sound—Muskoka. A number of years ago, I was treated for cancer. It seems to be making a re-appearance. But the prognosis is good, and I am not going anywhere. I do, however, have to take this issue seriously and make health my priority.” Read on »
Numbers are in: Tories out of touch
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives on July 28, 2010
John Ivison, The National Post, July 28, 2010
It’s just as well for Tony Clement that he helped save a woman from drowning last weekend — it’s likely to be the last good news story he features in for quite some time. Read on »
The census kerfuffle isn’t about the census; it’s about Stephen Harper
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives on July 25, 2010
By Thomas Walkom, National Affairs Columnist, The Toronto Star, July 24, 2010
Two things stand out about the great Canadian census controversy.
The first is that there is a controversy. Who could have predicted that the federal government’s decision to eliminate something as profoundly prosaic as the mandatory long-form census questionnaire would generate such fierce opposition?
The second is the shameless hypocrisy shown by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. Read on »
Busy Tony Clement is alienating voters
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives, Employment, Jobs, Science & Technology, The Economy on July 22, 2010
Carol Goar, The Toronto Star, July 21, 2010
Tony Clement is rapidly alienating large swaths of the population.
Folks in his goody-strewn riding of Parry Sound Muskoka think he’s a fine politician. But across the country, a large — and growing — segment of the electorate blames the industry minister for throttling Statistics Canada, allowing foreign acquisitors to pick off Canadian companies, chopping federal funding for dozens of tourist attractions and using last month’s world leaders’ meetings to funnel $50 million into his constituency. Read on »
The inconvenient truth in Mr. Sheikh’s resignation
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives on July 22, 2010
Norman Spector, The Globe and Mail, July 22, 2010
Ivan Fellegi told the Canadian Press that he would have quit if the government of the day had tried to axe the long census form when he was serving as chief statistician of Canada. In the case of my ex-colleague, that may be true. But Mr. Fellegi made that statement three weeks ago. And the fact of the matter is that his successor, Munir Sheikh, did not choose to resign when the Harper government took the dumb decision to axe the long census form against his recommendation. Nor did he resign when the decision — and the depth of its stupidity — became a matter of public discussion. He resigned yesterday. Read on »
StatsCan recommended move to voluntary census, Clement says
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives on July 17, 2010
Bruce Campion-Smith, Ottawa Bureau chief, The Toronto Star, July 16, 2010
OTTAWA—Industry Minister Tony Clement’s claim that Statistics Canada supports Ottawa’s plan to replace the long-form census with a voluntary survey doesn’t hold water, Canada’s former top statistician says. Read on »
They don’t need no census in Muskoka
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives, Democracy on July 14, 2010
Kelly McParland, The National Post, July 13, 2010
Tony Clement must have thought he was looking at an easy summer, what with the G8 being over with, and such a resounding success too. Read on »
Harper’s home base says census change doesn’t add up
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives on July 8, 2010
The Canadian Press, from CTV.ca, Thursday Jul. 8, 2010
OTTAWA — The prime minister’s hometown can’t make sense of the census switch.
Stephen Harper’s Conservative cabinet recently decided to cut the 35-year-old mandatory long census form next year in favour of a voluntary survey.
That’s not going over well with those who run the City of Calgary, where Harper’s riding is located and in the middle of the bedrock of the Conservative political base.
Calgary, like other municipalities, relies on the very detailed information from the long census to deliver services and plan for items ranging from low-income housing, to transportation and business development. Read on »
Travers: Census change latest move in PM’s dumbing down of Canada
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives on July 8, 2010
By James Travers, National Affairs Columnist, The Toronto Star, July 8, 2010
OTTAWA—A whimsical old proverb is our new reality. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
By quietly junking the mandatory long-form census, Conservatives are blinding Canadians to truths they need to know about themselves. Damaging to the rest of us, Stephen Harper gains another political advantage by keeping the country in the dark. Read on »
Clement picked which festivals get federal funds
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives on June 14, 2010
Marie Vastel, The Canadian Press, as published in The Toronto Star, June 10, 2010
OTTAWA—Popular events in Toronto and Montreal that lost out on federal funding this year have Industry Minister Tony Clement to thank for the lack of cash in their coffers.
Clement himself chose which 47 events would receive financing under the Conservative’s marquee tourism events program, Richard Dicerni, deputy minister of Industry Canada, told the Commons heritage committee on Thursday. Read on »
Stephen Harper missing women’s health summit
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Women's Rights on June 7, 2010
By Olivia Ward, Foreign Affairs Reporter, The Toronto Star, June 6, 2010
WASHINGTON—The cavernous halls of the Washington Convention Center are awash in colourful djellabas, shalwar kameez, saris and African print cottons as the world’s biggest maternal health conference opens Monday with a speech by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
But missing in action is Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who, as host of the G20 conference in Toronto later this month, has made saving the lives of the half-million women who die each year din pregnancy and childbirth his core theme. Read on »
A gazebo for Tony
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives, The Deficit on June 3, 2010
By Dan Gardner, The Ottawa Citizen, June 2, 2010
Everyone who reads a newspaper knows that the resort town of Huntsville will play host to the world’s economic leaders later this month. They also know the G8 summit will be fantastically expensive. And they are paying the bill. Read on »
The G20: A billion dollars worth of what?
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives, Foreign Policy, The Deficit on May 27, 2010
The National Post Editorial Board, May 27, 2010
Admittedly, the security bill is staggering for the G8 and G20 summits to be held back-to-back in Ontario next month. Nearly $1-billion is an eye-popping sum. That’s almost as much as the cost of security for the entire Winter Olympics in Vancouver last February, and the Olympics lasted two weeks. The two summits in Huntsville and Toronto will be over and done with in just three days. Read on »
Our local Liberal candidate on maternal health
Posted by Doug Banwell in Foreign Policy, Health Care, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Liberals, Women's Rights on May 19, 2010
For the Harper Conservatives, it seems possible to talk about maternal health care without mentioning the word abortion. Read on »
Female academics ‘discouraged’ after women shut out of funding
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives, Women's Rights on May 19, 2010
By Mia Rabson, Winnipeg Free Press May 19, 2010
OTTAWA — It was a great day for Canadian academic excellence. For women, not so much.
Industry Minister Tony Clement announced the first 19 Canada excellence research chairs Monday, which bring world-renowned scientists to Canadian universities in order to lead research programs in fields ranging from biology to computer technology to the Arctic.
But on the gender-equity scorecard: Men 19, Women 0. Read on »
Planned Parenthood gets silent treatment from Ottawa
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives, Foreign Policy, Health & Safety, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Women's Rights on May 14, 2010
By Olivia Ward, Foreign Affairs Reporter, The Toronto Star, May 13, 2010
One of the world’s biggest health-care providers for vulnerable women appears to have fallen victim to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s zero tolerance policy on abortion.
In London, International Planned Parenthood Federation is waiting for a call from Canada that will preserve life-saving programs that help 31 million women and children. Read on »
Ban criticizes Canada on climate. UN chief urges Harper to comply with Kyoto Protocol targets.
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives, Environment, Foreign Policy on May 13, 2010
By JULIET O’NEILL, Canwest News Service, as published in The Montreal Gazette, May 13, 2010
The United Nations chief chided the Canadian government for its climate change policy yesterday, urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute new funds to help developing countries improve their environments. Read on »
Tories keep MPs in dark on data, says Commons budget watchdog
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives, Democracy on May 11, 2010
By Kathryn May, The Ottawa Citizen May 10, 2010
When it is finally released, budget watchdog Kevin Page’s costing of one of the Conservative crime bills will suffer the same problem as his probes into First Nations schools and the war in Afghanistan — no hard data from the government. Read on »
Can you spare $10 billion?
Posted by Doug Banwell in Accountability, Conservatives, Crime & Safety, Taxes, The Deficit on May 11, 2010
VANCOUVER SUN MAY 5, 2010
Conservatism, in both theory and practice, advocates that governments must introduce changes only when there is substantial evidence of their potential efficacy, and only when their costs are known and manageable.
Just how unconservative the federal government is acting is evident from its criminal justice reforms. Read on »
Lancet medical journal slams Canada, Stephen Harper on abortion
Posted by Doug Banwell in Conservatives, Foreign Policy, Health & Safety, Health Care, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Women's Rights on May 7, 2010
By Mary Vallis, The National Post, May 7, 2010
One of the world’s leading medical journals is slamming Stephen Harper’s Conservative government’s “conscious decision” not to support groups that undertake abortions in developing countries. Read on »
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