This Is Me Breathing

Why Harper Can't Win A Majority

With the recent economic disaster happening south of our border it is important to note that here in Canada we're in relatively good economic shape thanks to the regulations imposed on our Canadian banks. Regulations put in place by Liberal governments of the past. Regulations that in the past Harper has said he would like to loosen and even get rid of altogether. Thank goodness he didn't get his way!

Sure hindsight is 20/20, but it has always been my opinion that too few people are in control of too much of the money in this world. Without regulation those people are left to police themselves and then greed kicks in and they begin making poor decisions. That's exactly what has happened in the US.

Recently The World Economic Forum (WEF) rated Canada's bank system as the soundest in the world with Sweden, Luxembourg, Australia and Denmark rounding up the top 5. The U.S. rated 40.

Can I say it again? THANK GOD HARPER HASN'T GOTTEN HIS WAY!

Harper may try to take credit for our relatively good economic health, but just remember that if he had had his majority in the last election, we'd likely be in the same boat as our neighbours to the south. As things sit, we're limping, but in the end by all accounts, it looks like we'll probably be OK.

If you're like me, you voted against the Liberals, not for any particular party in the last election. You may want to rethink things this time around. As much as I hate the idea of Dion at the country's reigns. I don't think this country can afford a Harper majority government and if we split our votes amongst the other parties, that is exactly what we're liable to get.

Did Harper Pop Our Cherry?

Pulse24.com ran a story this past Saturday speculating on why the world's perception of Canada may have taken a turn for the worse, sparking recent terrorist threats and arrests.

Friday’s arrests of 17 terror suspects may have marked the end of Canada’s innocence.

At one time Canadians may have felt immune to the threat of terrorist attacks, but experts believe some of the federal government’s recent policies, including sending troops to Afghanistan, have put Canada on terror target lists.

Canadarmed

After sending my last Bitch Slap to 24 Sussex Dr. in Ottawa accusing our most prestigious leader of being a little too Bushathetic, the thought occurred to me that I'm maybe being a little hard on the Canadian PM.

So I set out to look for any other clue, or evidence that might support my theory. I didn't have to look far. Actually, I just had to look over to the right of this page to a Google Ad titled Political Blogs (it may not be there anymore) where I read an entry from this past January just before the election titled Canada Set to Join the Weaponization of Space by Maude Barlow.

Harper Wants to be Bush's Mini-Me

So, let's see...since the Canadian federal election, our new fearless and noble leader Prime Minister Stephen Harper managed a broken promise and an act of hypocrisy one day after being elected. That must be some kind of record—even for the Liberals.

Since then, we have seen that his/our supposed "transparent government" is actually quite opaque after Harper pulled a bit of a disappearing act while—at the same time—banning press scrums after cabinet meetings.

The Minority Report

This past Monday, February 6 2006, Stephen Joseph Harper was sworn in as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada marking the beginning of the Conservative Party's Minority rule in this country.

In my continuing quest to become more aware of the political landscape of my own country - and in search of new material from which I hope to derive some interesting insight and, of course humour - I am going to try writing a new segment called The Minority Report.

My intention is to stay informed on the issues by writing about them here and commenting on them. Hopefully, you'll find my rants informative and amusing. If not, then I hope you at least enjoy the pictures.

Flies on a Horse's Ass, Martin Quits, The NDP's Domestic Affairs and The Bloc Gets Shocked, Then Rocked

The votes are in and the people have spoken and in true Canadian fashion, we chose not to rock the boat too much.

Despite the Liberal's every effort to give the Conservatives a majority government. They only managed to eke out a slim minority.

Blue rocks, mediocre, bites

Well today is the big day! Today, Canadians from coast to coast will vote to decide who will lead our great country for the next 4 years - or at least until the next no-confidence vote.

This column didn't quite work out the way I had hoped. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to write about the specific issues. Believe me, it was not for lack of material, as this election campaign had tonnes of material to poke fun at.

So here are just a few last minute pieces to help those of you who may still be undecided become even more confused.

Popular Yeehaw Puppet Slap

Be informed about the issues for the 2006 Canadian Federal Elections. Get the unbiased inside scoop here!

Let the Mud-Slinging Begin

Be informed about the issues for the 2006 Canadian Federal Elections. Get the unbiased inside scoop here!

And so it begins...

And so it begins... Once again, the gloves are off. The gauntlet is thrown. The day of reckoning is upon us. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

We've been led to believe that his hand was forced, and so our "beloved" leader Paul Martin has called an election for January 23rd, 2006. Just what I wanted, a lump of fucking coal for Christmas and whole bunch of new promises just waiting to be broken.

The only decision to make now, is which political sign I should put on my front lawn that won't clash too much with the Christmas decorations.

Johnny, let's meet our contestants...