Fallout of Stephen Harper's Contempt Ruling

As we all know by now -- or at least, those of us who follow Canadian news -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been found in contempt of Parliament, by a committee (this won't be made formal until sometime tomorrow). Specifically, he's been cited for tolerating Bev Oda's forgery and lying, and for hiding the costs of the Conservative "tough on crime" agenda for ages.

But -- of course -- Harper's colleagues and supporters are defiant about it. Rather than do the ethical thing and own up to rather obvious blunders, they're attacking the opposition (see the comments in the linked articles), vilifying the committee (because it was made up mostly by opposition members), saying that Harper is STILL better than the alternatives, and -- wait for it -- attacking Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's family for "not being real immigrants" and supposedly bringing about the Iron Curtain.

*sighs* Let's get this over with...

1. Harper has been RATHER OBVIOUSLY lying to the public, been a total control freak, disrupted Parliament, and even broken the law. To look at all he's done and try to claim otherwise, is like trying to tell me -- with a straight face -- that The Queen isn't an old woman.
2. I know that neo-cons aren't big on things like FACTS AND LOGIC, but the Liberal party is CENTRE-RIGHT (as any look at their policies makes very clear). As for the belly-aching about coalitions (are you fucking kidding me?), not only are they legal and effective in parliamentary democracies (and EXPECTED in minority governments), but Harper himself formed a coalition with those same "socialists and traitors" that his drones put on the same level as terrorists.
3. So the committee was made up mostly by the opposition -- the opposition makes up the majority in Parliament (another thing that the far-right can't accept). OF COURSE they would take up a lot of committee space. That's how our democracy works.
4. Furthermore, this begs the question: do Conservatives really think that they should be allowed to investigate themselves? These guys claim to be tough on crime, but from the way they're acting right now, you'd think they'd be fine with Paul Bernardo being the judge in his own murder trial.
5. I don't pretend to have confidence in Michael Ignatieff or NDP Leader Jack Layton, but when Harper is THE ONLY PRIME MINISTER IN CANADIAN HISTORY TO BE CHARGED WITH CONTEMPT, it's pretty hard to imagine anyone being WORSE than him -- especially when you add his ridiculous financial incompetence to the equation (like the billion dollars wasted on G20 -- more than any world leader has spent on it -- the corporate tax cuts that NEVER stimulate the economy, the billions of dollars spent on the useless CF-35s, spending millions to scrap a census that even most conservatives say we need, etc.).
6. Do I REALLY need to say something about how stupid and disgusting -- and possibly defamatory -- it is to attack the family of your main opponent? Especially with something as idiotic as saying they're not "real immigrants"? What in the holy mother of fuck does that even MEAN?
7. And incidentally -- making racist and threatening remarks (eg. wanting to bomb all Liberals and NDPers), is EXACTLY WHY HARPER WILL NEVER WIN A MAJORITY. It's also why people think that you're, well, a bunch of fascist, bigoted, psychopaths.

THANKS FOR COMING OUT.

Too Late for Tori

You may recall that a few weeks ago, Bored on the Corner was one of many outlets trying to raise awareness of the kidnapping of eight year old Victoria Stafford, of Woodstock, Ontario. It greatly unnerves me to report that this awareness was in vain -- on Wednesday, May 20, two people were charged in Tori's murder.

I am not simply outraged at the fact this girl's life was taken so senselessly -- though there is plenty of outrage to go around. I am appalled by the fact that for two weeks after Tori was taken, the local police did practically nothing. I can't possibly be the only one thinking that if the Oxford Community Police had gotten their acts together right away -- and treated it as an abduction right away -- maybe Tori would still be alive right now. If that's true, "officers", then I have no problem telling you that you do not deserve to wear those uniforms -- you have neglected, if not betrayed, everything those uniforms stand for. May Tori's blood be forever on your hands. That's it for me.

Epic Security Fail!

Air travel has been a fairly routine part of our lives for about fifty years, so we all know about the extensive security we see at airports, and certainly after 9/11 and numerous bombings we're aware of the risks that make us need the security. There's just one problem: it isn't there as much as we might think. This is yet another thing in a long list of complaints I've made that might get me on a watchlist some day, but apparently some Canadian airports are about as secure as a screen door on a submarine.

Recently, Transport Minister John Baird and Liberal Senator Colin Kenny went undercover through the country's busiest airport, Pearson International in Toronto. They were monitored from a distance by police officers, as they repeatedly went through restricted areas, including the tarmac and within reach of several aircraft. So suffice it to say, if someone wanted to put a bomb on a plane in Toronto, it would evidently not be very hard. To make matters worse, the same sort of thing is known or suspected to take place at several other airports across North America alone.

This has already royally pissed off a lot of people, and with good reason. Travellers and taxpayers pay through the nose for security measures at these airports, and we put up with tedious things like undoing belt buckles and taking off our shoes in certain areas because we're led to believe it will help prevent another terrorist attack. But the whole thing is kind of pointless, if no one working at the airport can be bothered to lock a goddamn door.

Naturally, the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, which runs security at Pearson, is not only denying that there's a security leak, but is punishing the on-site police officers who monitored the operation. Excuse me fellas, but that's not reassuring the public, that's covering your asses. The cops involved were doing their jobs, as well as answering to a higher government authority than you -- so your punishing them is called "retaliation" in legal and labour circles, good luck getting out of that one. Also, if a couple of guys in ballcaps and jackets -- with no ID -- can just waltz up to an airplane with no questions asked, you don't need to be a genius to know that that's a security breach. Enough said.

Situation Normal -- All Fucked Up

So the government has finally admitted, what the rest of the world already knew: we are in a recession. What's more, it's affecting everyone. That's particularly evident in Hamilton, where one of our steel mills has shut down for the possibly first time ever. They say that it's only temporary, but strictly speaking that can mean anything from just a week, to over a year. We are definitely in the worst financial shape, since the Great Depression, and what is our government doing about it? Sweet fuck all.

Locally, we still have councillors, citizens, and special interest groups griping about the new stadium that now we pretty much have to build. Now look, here are the facts: the stadium we have right now, is falling to pieces. So unless Hamilton wants to have no outdoor sports at all, we need to build a new one. It has to go somewhere, and no matter where we put it, someone's going to be pissed. That's a fact of life, that you have to live with. More importantly, though, in case no one's noticed, this whole city is going to be a slum very damn quickly, if we don't give the steel mills some kind of business. What better, than to build a stadium in their home town? Oh right, I forgot, Hamilton doesn't believe in taking pride in itself.

Provincially, things aren't much better. At least Premier Dalton McGuinty is trying to invest in an infrastructure, but for some bizzare reason the construction work is being farmed out to places OUTSIDE of Ontario! What the fuck are these guys thinking? We have an auto industry that is bleeding to death, and McGuinty wants our buses to be built in Europe?! AGH!

Then of course, we have the cold-hearted, soulless assholes in Ottawa, otherwise known as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative party. After needing to have their arms twisting into doing anything at all about the economy, they've decided to spend most of their time and taxpayers' money, financing a slush fund that has no strings attached at all -- which probably means it's going to mainly go out to Conservative interest groups. Oh, and making ads that attack the opposition -- outside of an election -- accusing them of not being up to the job. That's a little like an emo putting down a schizophrenic, isn't it?

Anyway... when the Stelco plants shut down in Ontario, this was the time for the Harper government to show Canada some leadership. Instead, we have an Industry Minister, who never has any idea what our industries are doing, and a Human Resources Minister who doesn't believe in putting anyone on unemployment insurance. She says that the people ought to be finding work, but what Marie Antoinette doesn't seem to understand is that there is no work. Interestingly enough, the Minister, the Dishonourable Diane Finley, is the Member of Parliament for one of the towns that will be hurt by the steel shut downs. It would be verrry interesting to see what she says now.

It's at times like this, that it's very frustrating to be a Canadian. Every other week, we hear about leaders in third-world countries being overthrown for exact this kind of incompetence and indifference, yet in this country most people can't even be bothered to vote. When are we, as a people, going to find the balls to stand up for ourselves? If we just keep trusting these idiots and lunatics to run things themselves, the Canadian people will die a very slow death. That's it for me.