The right move

Canada cuts ties with the new Palestinian government.

 

Canada is cutting assistance and diplomatic ties to the Palestinian Authority because the new Hamas government has not renounced violence.  However, Ottawa will still provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people through the United Nations and other organizations.

Update: the only Afghani Christian

To know one's surprise, Abdul Rahman has disappeared after his release.  His release in itself is a very interesting story, and our PM was one of the first to call Aghanistan's PM.   But this case caught internation attention, as it should, and the outcome is solid.  That country still has a long way to come, but it's making progress.  Good to see. 

Ah, the French

On strike, again.  Nationwide.

Students and labor unions say the law will erode France's cherished workplace protections. Set to take effect next month, it would let companies fire employees younger than 26 without reason in the first two years on the job.

Whenever you have students and labor unions upset about something you know you have a great cause.  But anyway, this issue raises the great law of unintended consequences.  If you can't fire someone after you hire them a) are you more or less likely to hire someone? and b) are you more or less likely to work hard once employed?  and c) who benefits from current labor law: people looking for work or people already employed?

 

Immigration

It's becoming a big issue in the US, as witnessed by recent protest marches .  Bush wants an amnesty program, but the majority of Republicans are cool to the idea.  David Frum thinks it's an issue that could split the Rs and dampen turnout for November elections.

 

The main issue is how to deal with what is an incredibly complex economic, social, legal, and national security issue.  If a country can't control its own borders, how safe is it?  If you can get ahead illegally without serious consequences, what incentive is there to try and get ahead legally?

 

This issue probably presents an opportunity for a Republican presidential hopeful like Rudy, Senator George Allen or Mitt Romney, since John McCain is with Bush on this issue.  It also offers Hillary! an opportunity to run to the right of Bush in the hopes of bringing back moderates and conservative Democrats.  Should be interesting to watch.

Strong words

The man the Liberals have assigned to assemble their blueprint for party renewal says the defeated government's national daycare program was "a deathbed repentance," the gun registry was "an administrative disaster" and the response to the sponsorship scandal was "bizarre."

The blunt-talking Tom Axworthy, a former aide to Pierre Trudeau who teaches at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., also says the former government's Kyoto policy was not only difficult to understand, "it wasn't real anyway."

"On file after file, we haven't had bad ideas, but the implementation process has been abysmal," he said in an interview with CanWest News Service. "A press release is not a policy."

I wonder how many other Liberals think that way, and if we has trying to offend as many people as possible in order to stimulate real debate.  I suspect it will help stir things up, that's for sure.  This is a least the beginning of a realistic look at rebuilding a once great party.

 

Hostages rescued

Good news: the 2 Canadians and 1 Brit held hostage for months now have been rescued by coalition forces. Update: The RCMP were involved somehow, and possibly Canadian special forces (JTF2). Nice to see a proactive approach for once.

Harper refused to say whether JTF2 is operating in Iraq, citing national security. However, he did say it should come as no surprise that Canadian troops are in Iraq. "There have been a small number of Canadian military personnel embedded in American and allied units. That's been the case since the beginning of the war. Nothing has changed on that front," he said. The prime minister said he didn't know exactly when the raid would happen, but did have some indication days ago that it was in the works.

Iraq

This interview wih Christopher Hitchens is worth listening to as we pass the three year mark of the invasion, and for that matter, this one is worth watching.

 

At this point I'm still not sure what to think about Iraq.  In the long run it will probably turn out all right, but the short term cost has been high.  Not just in lives but also in distraction from the rest what's going on in the world.  Part of me now thinks Bush should have made rebuilding Afghanistan a priority and tried to manage the problems in Iraq differently.  That strategy would have been less controversial, Afghanistan would likely be much better off, the US wouldn't have the terrible image it does abroad, and maybe Bush would have been able to accomplish more in other areas.

 

But now that we are here, there is no option but to get things in Iraq right.  Failure is not an option.

 

Listen especially to how Hitchens ends the interview.  He makes a very important point about the message we convey to the enemies of freedom in Iraq...

How far does Afghanistan have to go?

Very far.  A man who converted to Christianity faces the death penalty if convicted.  Of being a Christian.

Recruitment is up

It seems all the Canadian military needed was a little action.  Recruitment is up in both the regular forces and reserves, at least in part due to the publicity surrounding Canada's role in Afghanistan.  And it makes sense: how can you attract people, especially top young people, if there is nothing really to do, and the pay and working conditions are sub par?  Doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure this kind of stuff out.

Now for something we can't be too proud of:

Ten Canadian soldiers have been killed so far in Afghanistan, three resulting from hostile action.

I know accidents are part of the nature of being a solider - you do a lot of dangerous things.  And I also realize that includes the 4 soldiers killed by the Americans in 2003(?).  But still, 70% of our casualties are accidental?  Maybe some room for improvement here.

The unfolding evidence in Iraq

This is what historians call a primary source.  Lots of new material, some of dubious credibility, but all of it undermining the standard position of "Iraq was not a threat" and "Iraq had complied with the UN weapons inspectors". 

It's clear that Saddam's regime was actively working to deceive inspectors, and was hoping just to wait it all out so they could restart whatever chemical, biological, or nuclear program they had. 

Who knows what else we will find out about in the next weeks and months.

The paranoid conspiracy theorist in me thinks this is all a Rovian plan to release stunning information in the spring of 2008 that will a) redeem Bush and b) sink the Democrats.  Now that would be cool.

Rick Mercer is funny

Pain in my package to the tune of the "Hand in my Pocket" ad.  Must see.

Holland's immigration test

I'm all for screening immigrants (preferably for criminal history and possible involvement in terrorism), but this does seem a bit extreme.  I guess it's designed to see if you can be tolerant of others, which is a good thing.  Still...

 

The camera focuses on two gay men kissing in a park. Later, a topless woman emerges from the sea and walks onto a crowded beach. For would-be immigrants to the Netherlands, this film is a test of their readiness to participate in the liberal Dutch culture.  If they can't stomach it, they need not apply.  Despite whether they find the film offensive, applicants must buy a copy and watch it if they hope to pass the Netherlands' new entrance examination.  The test – the first of its kind in the world – became compulsory Wednesday, and was made available at 138 Dutch embassies.

 

Martin is done

So I'm a little late on this, but Martin will resign Sunday as Liberal leader.  The field looks wide open to replace him, with no clear favorites.  I just want to publically say that I think Belinda Stronach would make a fantastic Liberal leader.  I hope she wins.  The next election would be a serious grudge match.  Maybe the debate could be held in a cage!  Cage match!

Ralph is (finally) retiring

Only 19 months from now.  But couldn't he go a little sooner?  I think he's done some good things, but it is seriously time for a change and for King Ralph to move in to retirement.

Harper visits Afghanistan

A good first foreign trip .  Nice to see.  Short sentances are back.  Anyway,

No prime minister in recent memory has spent this much time on a Canadian military base abroad. While former prime minister Jean Chretien made a brief stopover at the airfield a couple of years ago, for instance, Harper planned to sleep Sunday night on the base and spend Monday mixing with the troops at the dining hall and various facilities around the camp...

"We talked about it in the campaign. You recall the slogan was 'Stand Up for Canada' I don't think there's been a better example in decades of Canada really standing up, going to the front line, articulating our values, not just our opposition to terror, our advancement of democracy, but basic humanitarian values, in terms of development, women's rights, education ," Harper said during his brief airplane conversation with reporters. "So I just think this is a tremendous mission where we're showing leadership and leadership, taking on dangers, and advancing the kind of things that go to the heart of what Canada is all about as a country."

This kind of talk is long overdue, but is also helpful politically.  With the NDP against the mission, and the Liberals waffling (imagine the party that while in power sent the troops, now wants a "debate" - maybe they want a do-over), Harper is staking out exactly the right position, smack in the center, supporting out troops. 

 

Who doesn't want to support the troops?  It's a good issue for Harper, especially since ethics isn't going to be anymore.  He needs to fight as many battles as possible on his good issues, and stay away from the ones that are likely to hurt him (ethics again - what a stupid move that was...).  The upcoming session should be awesome.

Bob Rae for Liberal leader?

What does it mean when a party (the NDP) can't keep anyone high profile  in their ranks at the federal level?  Will Roy Romanow announce his candidacy in the next could of weeks?  

 

Funny stuff:  ...his supporters are also acutely aware that Rae's poor record in Ontario from 1990-95, which included the largest deficit ever at that time followed by massive cost-cutting, would be a weakness.

 

Do you think?

an economy on fire

3.3% unemployment? 

 

...the entire province's economy, which is growing so fast that the ranks of the unemployed have been reduced far below what economists deem to be full employment -- a situation in which any worker who wants a job can find one. Economists believe the Canadian economy reaches that point when the unemployment rate falls below 6 per cent; Alberta's rate is now only half that.

 

Why don't I live in Alberta?

 

Why don't we all?

Canada and abortion

Many other jurisdictions in the U.S. are discussing limitations and bans. Even in liberal Europe, there is no country with such a permissive attitude towards abortion as Canada. -- Michael Coren

 

The whole article is worth reading, even just as a reminder...

A new approach at the UN

Long over due, really:

 

Canada voted against a controversial resolution on Palestinian rights at the United Nations yesterday...The previous Liberal government had abstained on the identical resolution last year. But on instructions from Ottawa, the Canadian delegation at the UN joined the United States to vote against a non-binding motion calling on Israel to allow all Palestinian refugee women and children to return to their homes.

The South-African-sponsored resolution was adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council by a vote of 41-2 with only Canada and the United States voting against it.

Sure it sounds cruel: women and children not being "allowed to return to their homes"...but isn't it time for everyone to get past the idea of "refugees" in this case?  Aren't the Palestinian people really just pawns in a (very successful) attempt to keep world opinion against Israel and milk money from rich countries?

 

Funny

Liberal leadership up for bid on EBay.

Ethics commish

This may be the right move, but it looks pretty bad.  Shapiro has been brutal, and deserves to be turfed from what I've seen.  However the optics are not pretty. 

 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is preparing to dump the ethics commissioner and is actively recruiting replacement candidates, CTV News has learned...The news of a possible shake-up comes just days after ethics commissioner Bernard Shapiro announced he would look into conflict-of-interest allegations against Harper.

 

Harper's communications director Sandra Buckler said the prime minister is "loath to co-operate with an individual whose decision-making ability has been questioned and who has been found in contempt of the House."

Too bad Ed Broadbent turned down the job.  The optics of that would have been great.  Maybe Bob Rae is available...or Roy Romanow.   Or maybe there is an ethical Liberal who was defeated that could do the job.  Right?  Anyone?  Must be someone...

Here's a shocker. Iran was lying

As a funny parrot once said: "I'm going to die from that surprise".

 

On the downside: The man who for two years led Iran's nuclear negotiations has laid out in unprecedented detail how the regime took advantage of talks with Britain, France and Germany to forge ahead with its secret atomic programme.

On the upside: The Iranians' biggest setback came when Libya secretly negotiated with America and Britain to close down its nuclear operations. Mr Rowhani said that Iran had bought much of its nuclear-related equipment from "the same dealer" - a reference to the network of A Q Khan, the rogue Pakistani atomic scientist. From information supplied by Libya, it became clear that Iran had bought P2 advanced centrifuges.

So...hands up anyone who thought the Iranians were being truthful from the beginning, and still think they want the reactors just for electricity.  Anyone still think they don't want to develop nukes?

The question is whether the west has the intestinal fortitude and the time to stop them.  A good starting point can be found here.

Europe...on the cutting edge of what?

A committee set up to regulate the practice will begin operating in the next few weeks, effectively making Holland, where adult euthanasia is legal, the first country in the world to allow "baby euthanasia" as well...life can be ended only in cases involving "unbearable suffering", with parental consent and after consultation with other physicians.

 

The entire article is worth reading, and these are very, very tough questions.  But here's the crux:

 

But from a moral point of view, he argued, it was no different from administering a lethal dose of morphine, since the result of withdrawing treatment would also eventually be death.  "Is there any difference between watching someone drowning without doing anything and pushing them into the lake?" he asked.

I would say, and I think the vast majority of us would agree, that yes there is a very big difference.  I've struggled with these kind of issues for a while, and I'm convinced that we make these kind of decisions because we think we have all the facts, that we know all the conditions and understand all the options.  But we so clearly don't.  And what's more, I'm convinced that we must leave room for God to move, because it's not only only our actions and our decisions that matter.  He cares much more for our character than our comfort. 

 

After all this is His world, not ours.

 

McKenna hammers Martin

Maybe he will get in to the Leadership race after all, perhaps in the fall.  Why else would be raise this issue, and thus distance himself from the stench of failure, I mean Paul Martin?

"The United States seems very prepared to have us be assertive for Canadian interests and they really respect us when we stand our ground on matters. But when we are judgmental and almost sanctimonious, I find they take offence, and quite rightfully so," McKenna said.

"I don't think [Canadians] buy into the idea of gratuitously being offensive. If I had to speculate, I would say that playing that card during the election was not helpful at all to the electoral prospects of the people doing it."

Winning a Teddy

"In a world where money is no object because other people are paying, taxis are free and there is always wine with dinner, Joe Volpe is right at home," said Tasha Kheiriddin, the CTF's Ontario director...It says former immigration minister Volpe and his staff earned the award by racking up more than $60,000 in travel and hospitality bills in just a few short months at the expense of taxpayers, [including]

• Treating friends to a dinner on March 21, 2005 that cost $507.39.
• Just a few hours later, they ate again at an Italian restaurant for $80.14.
• Spending $138 on pizza for two one night, and $207 a few nights later on pizza for three.

Nonsense

"Our last six or seven police officers were killed with long guns," said Tony Cannavino of the Canadian Professional Police Association.  "That's very sad, so that's why we need those tools to make sure we keep Canada safe."

 

Yup, that makes sense.  6 or 7 were killed with long guns, showing the need for a long gun registry because it IS SO CLEARLY WORKING!

 

Anyway, the Cs plan an amnesty and major changes to the program that is so obviously working to keep us all safer.