Paul Martins Pumpkin

Message to Canada?

More Income Trust Fallout

Reuters reports that "Canada's IPO steamroller was in high gear before sputtering and stalling in October due to the federal government's decision to stop issuing advance tax rulings to companies seeking to convert to income trusts, according to a survey released on Thursday.

Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2005, there were 86 initial public offerings worth C$5.3 billion ($4.5 billion), the PricewaterhouseCoopers survey said. That compares with 56 IPOs worth C$3.4 billion for the same period in 2004. Of the 2005 total, 37 were income trust conversions valued at C$4.3 billion, more than 80 percent of the total value.

The third quarter was particularly active with 17 new income trusts worth C$2.4 billion.

But almost all activity stalled after Ottawa's Sept. 19 decision on advance tax rulings, said Ross Sinclair, IPO and income trusts services leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers."

So much for lower oil prices and rising interest rates Ralph!

"Mr. Goodale fiercely disputed this yesterday, saying it's unfair to blame him for the selloff in trusts because rising interest rates and softening energy prices played a role too. "For the argument to be made that there's only one single cause and that it's all a concoction of the government I think is a bit extreme and a bit misleading.""

Liberal Bloc Alliance Rejects Hospital Bid

Previous posted about the private members bill here.

Turns out the Liberals and Bloc ganged up to defeat the motion 165-110. The hospital pays $23,000 annually in rent. Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre presented a bill to have it reduced to $1. Another issue is thaty the lease is up in 8 years and will be based upon a "market vlaue assessment" which could mean anything considering it's on greenbelt land. A very unsure future.

The Queensway-Carleton is the only hospital in Canada that pays rent to the federal government.

Sad to see the Bloc rejecting a bill that only affects Ontarions but the Liberals - great defenders of health care that they are - voting this down is pretty stupid. This will be an issue in the next election and could well affect the Liberals votes in the many ridings that are served by this fine hospital.

Official Dingwall Retraction

While the resemblance in uncanny, the Liberal in the right in Funny Liberal Pics Part 4 -Dingwall and Mahoney may not be David Dingwall - even though he appears to be chewing gum.

Since David has been cleared of expensing said gum and a Liberal would not purchase anything they could not expense, it could be another Liberal.

Dingwall tried to expense the gum but it was disallowed because it's against the rules as he gets a $20 per diem while travelling. So it could be him.

I have engaged the accounting and audit firm of Wea, Skewm, and Howe to investigate this matter.

For my penance for leaping for conclusions, I will not mention - for the rest of the month - that Dingwall is still under investigation for a $300,000 "non-lobby lobby" payment scheme

Liberals Admit Donations/Judicial Appointments Linked

That's the word from Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler. But Cotler says there's nothing to suggest a judicial candidate is favourable to one political party or another ... Cotler added there is no proof that partisan activity plays a role in nominating judges to a federal bench.

Ummm ...O.K. .... I'll take your word for that ...

I mean it's not like giving a donation to the Liberal party and getting appointed as judge, at least partly due to the donation, that could lead to any kind of influence. That'a just not the way the Liberal Party operates.

Gang Violence : East vs West

Two different approaches to the same problem - gang violence.

East - More officers for Toronto gun unit

West - New police unit to fight violence

Tell me who will be do a better job a unit fighting guns or a unit fighting gangs?

Dalton McGuinty Says Ministers Should Pay

"Nothing inspires me more than the opportunity to combat the cynicism that far too many people feel about Ontario politics," wrote Dalton McGuinty, then leader of the opposition, in the preamble to the Liberal platform.

Dwight Duncan quote from his days in opposition: "Yesterday we learned that Tory ministers and their assistants will go to the ends of the Earth and back, as long as they can charge the taxpayers for it."

So the Liberals said they promised to draw the line on ministerial expenses - in their election platform 2 years ago!

They are only doing something about now that their hands are caught in the Steak and Candy jar ... and only issueing a "memo" at that. How about banning the practice!

I do like John Tory's idea of a website to disclose all cabinent minister's expenses and; furthermore, think this should be done federally as well.

Free Our Hospital!!

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre has a private members bill coming up on Wednesday this week to have the Queensway-Carleton Hospital's annual rental fee dropped to $1.

Poilievre and Progressive Conservative MPP John Baird have got local Liberal MPPs Jim Watson (provincial health promotion minister) Madeleine Meilleur (culture minister), and Health Minister George Smitherman as well as the federal NDP on board.

The only ones against this are the Liberals and the Bloc!

Baird said NCC officials told him they have no authority to change the policy.

"The prime minister is the only one with the authority," Poilievre said. "He could do this in a cabinet meeting, but he won't."

It is completely ridiculous for the Queensway Carleton to be paying rent to the federal government through the NCC while municipal golf course get thei land rent free!

NDP vs the Greens

Some supporters of the NDP and Greens claim that their parties take the high road, use only positive campaigns, and would never behave like the Liberals or Conservatives.

Well I say not so fast boys and girls. I think The Battle for the Left will be just as nasty as any other political battle - it's human nature. I believe that two parties that depend on the same voters for their relevance and very survival will be throwing the mud in record time.

Check out some of the positive campaigning so far.

First the NDP on the Green Party:

1) Jacek recommends that in the leadup to the next election the NDP attack the Greens ...."I think in the next election people will understand that the Green Party is not progressive—it’s a right-wing, regressive party…. I think with scrutiny and closer examination people will see the Green Party for what it really is."

2) Green party Leader Jim Harris said it looked like New Democrats went so far in Ottawa Centre as to get hold of a Green party member list and use it to target voters. One is a letter from former Green party leader Joan Russow urging voters to jump to the New Democrats, calling it the only real environmental party. Another pamphlet paints the party as right-wingers who will cater to the business community with subsidies.

Second, here are Green Party on the NDP:

1) "The NDP on the other hand is run by a hardened bureaucracy (atripartite bureaucracy actually) whose interests are their own jobs and careers. The bulk of membership has given up seriously challenging that situation. The leaders are able to dump policy and turn on a dime. We saw that with EdBroadbent's reversal on the NATO policy in the election of 1980. We've seen a stinking awful record on many things including Rae's welfare police among many other things as well as the record of all the NDP provincial governments on the environmental issues in particular. The argument that Mike Harris or Tom Campbell are worse is not exactly a useful assessment. The real problem here is that their policies don't mean anything. Only in a democratic organization does policy have real significance".

2) "In week 4 of the campaign, in what appears to be an orchestrated attack, within days of each other articles were published in the Globe and Mail, Eye and Now magazines in Toronto comparing the Green Party unfavourably to the NDP. The basic tenor in each of the articles seems to be that the Green Party is unfairly bleeding votes away from the NDP. "

3) The NDP candidate for Vancouver-Hastings called his Green Party opponent Ian Gregson “delirious” today, after Gregson accused the New Democrats of sabotaging his campaign by saddling him with his own kids.

Ian Gregson, the Green, is married to Sharon Gregson, the president of the NDP riding association in Vancouver-Hastings. The couple split last year and have joint custody of their children. Mr. Gregson told The Tyee that his ex took off to the Dominican Republic with her new boyfriend last week, leaving him to care for the children and thereby hampering his ability to campaign.

4) NDP they are borrowing planks from our platform and calling us "right wing" at the same time - nice trick - if you are a hypocrite.

It should be a fun election!

Liberal spending again

Joan Tintor has agreat post on the latest provincial liberal spending scandal.

Joan wrote "The McGuinty government was embarrassed yesterday when the opposition Tories revealed the expense details of then-energy minister Dwight Duncan’s trip to Brussels last September. Duncan and four aides travelled business-class, had a $789.15 lunch that included six $70 steaks, a ministerial aide expensed candy, a soft drink, a magazine and a bag of almonds (each costing less than $10) – you get the picture."

Let them eat Steak the Liberals say!

NDP Polling Creates Contraversy

It looks like the underhanded methods of the NDP have started a fire storm of controversy across the internet. Start with Stephen Taylor and work your way down.

To bring order to the internet, I will conduct a fair and balanced poll of my own. I guarantee that the results will be final and unchanged.

The poll question is: Who has been Canada worst federal party leader during the current minority government?

Who has been Canada worst federal party leader during the current minority government?

Jack Layton

Paul Martin

Jack Layton/Paul Martin Bloc

Voting will close Saturday at midnight.

Funny Liberal Pics Part 5

What the Liberals think of the Canadian Taxpayer!

Past Features:

Dingwall and Mahoney
Pierre Pettigrew
Paul Martin
Jack Layton

Gomery Spin Part 3 - Ye Olde Trail Ballon

Here is the classic float a trail ballon spin tactic in action!

First, the balloon, Report says Gomery will blame Chrétien loyalists.

"The report also predicts that Prime Minister Martin will be cleared of any responsibility, bolstering his claim that he was out of the loop because of his tense relationship with Chrétien."

Now the quick check to see if the spin will take hold, check how it is reported, and poll Candians.

Can't leave that balloon out too long, who know where it will end up. Next the prick -
Gomery spokesman dismisses leak of commission's final report into ad scandal. And done!

There you are : Float a balloon to see how gullible Canadians are and quickly pop it to keep it under the radar for the actual release in 2 weeks.

Part 2 Dingwall's Assertion

Part 1 Liberal Spam

Gomery Spin Part 2 Dingwall's Assertion

Update: David Dingwall says "All expenses came from the operating revenue of the corporation, not from taxpayers' dollars."

So, to summarize: the $700,000 came out of profits - and according to the Liberals - you can spend profits however you want to because that is not taxpayers money. Never mind that the profit spent could have saved taxpayers money elsewhere - that's just a red herring.

Therefore, the Liberals next step will be to say that the money spent on the sponsorship scandal was not taxpayers money - it was from the profits (i.e. surplus).

So by the rule of "Dingwall's Assertion" there is nothing wrong with that.

Part 1 - Liberal Spam

Fixing Fiscal Federalism - Pale Style

Canadian fiscal federalism is not only unfair to Ontario but ineffective in helping poorer provinces become wealthier, a provincial think-tank says. According to the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, I, as an Ontarian, give $1,600 each to poorer provinces but see little results from this - the poorer provinces stay poorer. They say that the current system transfers massive volumes of money "from high-productivity uses to low-productivity uses, lowering Canada's absolute level of productivity."

I have a better idea - give me the $1,600 and I'll put it to use in the poor province of my choice. (For the mathematically challenged, that works out to 16 pizza dinners for Volpe.)

Here are some things $1,600 can do :

Pay the average mortgage for almost two months;
Pay for a year’s tuition at a community college;
Pay the gasoline cost for two cars for a year
Buy an average family 24 months worth of electric power.
Buy a laptop.
Buy a gun, holster and bullets.

All productive uses of the money that can help a family's productivity! And that's every year!

Liberals Hit With Fresh Scandals

"The virus of Liberal entitlement, rot and corruption has spread into the department of unlimited spending," said Tory MP Jim Prentice.

Here's the list for yesterday:

-A spending scandal in the Fisheries Department that has included the firing of two civil servants.

-A contract awarded by the Indian Affairs Department on the condition that an outside consultant leave no paper trail.

-Whether the prime minister's office guaranteed David Dingwall a severance package last month before he resigned as head of the Royal Canadian Mint amid yet another ethics scandal.

- A series of $100-plus pizza dinners Immigration Minister Joe Volpe placed on his expense account.

Steve Harper asked:"Why, nearly two years after the auditor general condemned this practice in the sponsorship scandal, does the government still award contracts with no proper audit paper trail?"

The Liberal answer? ... still waiting!

A Macleans Media Hack Wrote

Paul Wells wrote that us Conservatives "will want to get, or get translated, a copy of Monday's Le Devoir so you can read about your party's new Quebec wing: Separate organization; separate platform; separate war room in Ottawa; targeting Bloc ridings almost exclusively; with a message that's staunchly pro-Kyoto, agnostic on ballistic missile defence and unwilling to rekindle the debate over gay marriage."

What, we have an inclusive party that accepts many different views? An Alberta Conservative, an Ontario Conservative and Quebec Conservatives will have different views on these and many other issues - and Paul Wells is suprised about this?

An not to mention the scary "separate organization" - well it seems the Liberals have a completely separate organization in Quebec - at least that's what they are telling Gomery!

Scary Jack Layton Making Demands

Jack Layton says it's up to the prime minister to show that he's interested in dealing with issues like the environment, health care and the softwood lumber dispute with the United States. Layton says his party's support isn't guaranteed for those votes.

Probably a coincedence that a new national poll suggests government corruption now ranks with health care as the number one concern among voters.

My message to Jack - swaying with the polls is so sad - stand up for your principles no matter what the polls say - like the Conservatives do and did!

Funny Liberal Pics Part 4 -Dingwall and Mahoney

Past Features:
Pierre Pettigrew
Paul Martin
Jack Layton

Conservatives plan to introduce a motion of non-confidence in the Liberal government!

The motion claims the Liberals failed to ensure the highest level of integrity for his ministers." It also says the Liberals are "under a cloud of scandal."

I should mention that's Ontario Liberals who have lost our confidence this time!

Liberals lags U.S. in air pollution cut

They are down 40% but we cut a whole 2%!

But that's o.k! Environment Minister Stephane Dion said the large difference reflects a downturn in the U.S. industrial sector as opposed to Canada's growth! Here's a pic of someone going to work in one of the modern US emission cutting vehicles.

Uh! No Dion! The U.S. (under George Bush by the way) actually did something about the problem instead of hiring our national clown to do some silly comercials or signing useless treaties.

Dithering Liberals.

Vote for Also Canadian!

For the Most humourous in the 2005 Small Dead Blog Awards!

If for nothing else than for the famed Canadian Jedi post!

A small sample:
You keep voting for the evil emperor because "it's better the devil you know".
Due to budget cuts, your army now consists of Jar Jar Binks and 3 thermal detonators.
Chewbacca and Han Solo are legally married.

Dalton McGuinty to play Gríma Wormtonque

While 8 of every 10 Broadway shows fail to earn back their money, Toronto tourism officials argued that the cost of the provincial government not investing $2.5 million on the musical Lord of the Rings might be higher.

"We realized in the last couple of years that if you don't have new and exciting things to do, people go somewhere else," Mr. Allen said. "They want an experience they can't find anywhere else."

For my share of the money I expect to see Dalton McGuinty to step up and play Gríma Wormtonque - who better for the role! The resemblance is uncanny!

Canada Ups Aid to Quake Region

Wow - we're up to 20 million.

So we offer up 300 grand - can't offer too much before we see what other countries are giving - that would be unCanadian. Two-get horribly embarassed when most countries offer up 100 time what we are. Three- do some quick polling on a number and - presto - 20 milion in aide.

Same steps were used for Louisiana and the Tsumani - is this in some secret Liberal red book somehere?

CNET's Top 100 Blogs

This is somewhat tech oriented and USian based but there are some interestying reads!

Strangely enough, my blog is not mentioned - must be an oversite on their part.

Check it out!

Categories are:

Cutting Edge
Digital lifestyle
Law, Politics
Mac nation
Open source
Search, Media
Security,Threats
Software
Tech business
Web culture

Happy Turkey Day!

Liberals in Funny Hats 2 - Pierre Pettigrew

Pierre Pettigrew



Update: Apparently that's not a hat - it's his actual hair!

Past Features
Paul Martin
Jack Layton

Leafs Suck

Dingwall to be Audited

Hmmm - these headline kinda go together!

Dingwall Expense Claims Will be Audited and

Feds to Hire 300 New Auditors

There may serious problems with Dingwall' s700 G's in expenses afterall!

Xena and Gabrielle

Astronomers at the WM Keck Observatory have identified a moon orbiting Xena, a body they argue is the 10th planet in our solar system. They have called the moon Gabrielle! How sweet!

Here's a pic:

0 .

Serenity - Best Movie I've Seen This Year

... And, yes, that includes Star Wars!

If in doubt - check out the Rotten Tomatoes!

Best 2 line Review:

"Watching Serenity feels like watching the original Star Wars for the first time, or better yet, watching The Empire Strikes Back. Mal is a guy who would shoot Greedo first." Fred Topel