One Hundred and Fifty

One Hundred and Fifty.

That is the number of reasons I have for writing this.

One Hundred and Fifty is the number of Canadian Soldiers that returned from Afghanistan in flag draped coffins during Stephen Harper’s watch.

I apologize is this is offensive, but it is what I feel.

Canada sent our forces to Afghanistan to free the Afghan people from tyranny. To allow the Afghan people free speech. To allow the Afghan people free elections.

But here at home…

Vic Toews wants Adam Carroll, a former Liberal Staffer hauled in front of an Ethics committee over the Vikileaks30 Twitter comments.

The posts may have been nasty, the use of government computers may have been improper, but we didn’t hear Vic Toews complain that they were false, he didn’t threaten slander he just complained.

Mr. Carroll resigned over this and Bob Rae apologized on behalf of the Liberal Party but Vic Toews wants his pound of flesh.

Sorry Vic, this is free speech.

Vic Toews also wants the group “Anonymous” charged with contempt for their revelations and threats of future revelations about his acts in the past.

He didn’t call them lies, and Anonymous claims that their future releases are verified so how can this be contempt?

It is not like they are lying to the House of Commons ala Bev Oda or withholding information from the House of Commons ala Stephen Harper, acts which were deemed prima facie to be acts of contempt.

This again, however unpalatable, is free speech Vic.

Recently it has come to light that people in a number of constituencies received phone calls claiming to be from Elections Canada directing them to bogus Polling Stations. Other calls were reported to be harassing in nature. These were attempts to make some political parties look, shall we say unattractive to their own supporters.

A number of Harper Party Members including Peter MacKay and Dean Del Mastro pointed their finger at a lone “rogue” Staffer, Michael Sona. They claimed that this was the reason that Mr. Sona resigned, a claim Mr. Sona denies.

I don’t recall Mr. Sona ever saying “I did it” only that the Harper Party MPs said the guilty party had resigned.

No, it appears the Harper Party may have been involved in illegal vote suppression and the fact that they have no interest in investigating this, in calling Mr. Sona before an Ethics Committee speaks volumes.

One Hundred and Fifty brave Canadians gave their lives for freedoms for a foreign land while at home these very same freedoms are being suppressed.

I have but one question,

Did these soldiers die in vain?

The Transparent Credibility Gap

When I was younger, one of my preferred reading materials was “Mad Magazine”, a glorious combination of humour and satire.

One thing sticks in my mind from those days, from those magazines… Why is it when your child tells a fib it’s called lying, but when the President does it, it’s called a “credibility gap”? (I’m running off memory here, forgive me if I messed that up.)

The reason it popped into my head again, is the ongoing nonsense from Ottawa. Why does it seem that it is impossible for any member of the Stephen Harper Party (SHP) to fess up when they make a mistake or if they screw up?

The standard operating procedure for the SHP seems to be lie about it create a credibility gap.

A while ago, Bev Oda signed a document she (according to the SHP) shouldn’t have signed recommending funding for a group. So rather than just step up and say “I did it by mistake”, she fudged. Someone using “the arm”, the auto signer for important people, signed it for her. In the recommendation someone stuck in a caret and the word “not”, except the two bureaucrats that signed it were in fact sending a recommendation to pay, so an unknown staffer stuck the ^not in on their own accord then later on Bev Oda’s say so.

She got a promotion instead of a kick in the pants.

Tony Clement and the G8/G20 spending fiasco. The tapes say one thing and Hansard says another. Someone changed something, no one’s saying who.

Peter MacKay and his rescue “training mission”. Now we get the emails that the military was hesitant about picking him up and developed the cover story about how MacKay wanted to see them in action. Here’s a thought, in the real world, where we don’t get free helicopter rides, we plan our vacations to not interfere with our work.

Now we have the Stephen Harper talking heads pop up and say “It was OK, it was business”. No. He knew full well that he had an appointment and could have arranged to leave his buddy’s fishing lodge two hours earlier, but instead he misappropriated a military helicopter and then has the gall to lie about it create yet another SHP credibility gap.

Supposedly, when we have elections, we are choosing from among our best people to choose the very best to represent us in the House of Commons. It ain’t happening kids… adults suck it up when they screw up, the SHP crew cover up and fib.

You see where I come from, a person’s word is their bond. If I tell you I will do something, I will do it. If I screw up, it is my responsibility to admit it.

Now if my memory isn’t too far off, Stephen Harper said there would be transparency and accountability on his watch. Ministers would answer for their decisions.

I also recall Stephen Harper saying that the SHP would be better than the Liberals. He preached honesty, integrity, transparency, and accountability.

Or was that all one big credibility gap?

Oh, the guy on the right is Balok the puppet from Star Trek.