Harper report card

The TorStart gives Harper the recognition he deserves for his first months as PM.  They claim he is "deft".

polls

Cs gaining in atlantic canada.  Harper isn't perfect, but he plays the political game like a pro...

Harper wrong on head tax compensation

The National Post thinks so

Elections matter

Conservatives to raise age of consent to 16 - first time it's been changed in 100 years

The senate is not completely useless

I know, I'm surprised too.

The CBC should stop broadcasting professional sports and eventually cut all advertising so it no longer competes with private networks, a Senate committee recommended yesterday.

"We have to come to the conclusion that CBC-TV, in particular, is in danger of losing its way. It is trying to be all things to all people," said Senator Joan Fraser, a member of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications and a former editor of Montreal's Gazette.

"It is trying to compete head-on with the private sector. Such competition is neither necessary nor often in the public interest."

 

This better not be right

Conservatives planning on sending $10B in untendered contracts to Boeing and Lockheed Martin . 

Happy Tax freedom day!

From the Fraser institute.  Horray!

This year, Canadians start working for themselves on June 19th. According to The Fraser Institute's annual Tax Freedom Day calculations, Canadians worked until June 18th to pay the total tax bill imposed on them by all levels of government.

Tax Freedom Day arrives five days earlier than in 2005, when it fell on June 24.

 

"the end of Al Queda in Iraq"

That's the assessment of the Iraqi National Security Advisor after the raids and information discovery that have resulted from the raid on al-Zarqawi's safehouse last week.  There have been hundreds of arrests and raids, yielding weapons and information. 

 

Let's hope he's right. 

Elections matter

Usually I post on somethhing positive that resulted from the election of a conservative minority government last January.  But this story relates to having a Paul Martin liberal government before that.  It's shocking and yet not surprising at the same time.

 

The quote from the article (via Today's Family News) was something like: "this result [legally having two mothers and no father] is the natural progression from the same sex marriage law passed by parliament last year".

civil servants

Canadian civil servants may not be perfect, but compared to this they are positively angelic.  Yikes.  h/t nealenews

Elections matter

Terror suspects who want to avoid jail should go back where they came from: Day

 

That is one sweet headline.  While far from perfect, the new Conservative government is both conservative and moderate, and a very welcome change from the mushy spinelessness of the last decade.

Sad but true

It may have been the most politically correct terrorism bust in history.

 

Would it be ok, since we now know that Canada has to fight terrorism and Islamic extremism at home, if we just LET THE POLICE DO THEIR JOBS?  Leave the politics to the politicians, and give us straight shooters like General Hillier.  That's all the Canadian public wants - just the facts ma'am. 

A significant victory

The most wanted terrorist in Iraq has been killed by the US military.  This wont end the violence, but hopefully it will reduce it.

 

Here at home, "security experts" make a sensible recommendation: deport radical clerics .  Looks like the UK is going to do just that.

Terror at home

Apparently the RCMP have disrupted 12 different terror plots or groups in the last 2 years in Canada.  Wow.

 

When PM Stephen Harper was asked about all this, including reports that terrorists wanted to kidnap and behead him, he said  "I can live with these threats as long as they're not from my caucus."  Nice - humorous and paranoid!

 

Given all of this, you have to wonder why the defence department wanted the National Citizens Coalition to take down their "Support our Troops" billboard in T.O.  They have now relented.  Good for them, but who thought trying to pressure them to take it down was a good idea in the first place?

Giving in to Iran

Is this really a good idea?  The US will give them nuclear technology in exchange for a promise to stop enriching Uranium.  Something tangible for something intangible - and something that will likely not be verifiable.  Or at least they might stop for a while, acquire the technology the US offers, and then go back to enriching.

 

The hopefull part of me thinks that may the US just wants to call the Iranians bluff and force the European hand - once Iran announces it wont allow inspectors to verify they aren't enriching Uranium, maybe something can be done...

terrorism round up

As David Frum points out, Canada is now on the world's radar when it comes to terrorism.  He also has a number of good links to follow, and a correction for a story he linked to about a beheading in Iraq.  I linked to that story too, and it seems now that the lady in question was shot and killed, and the beheading video was of someone else.

 

Anyway, as we might expect: The 17 suspects represent a spectrum of Canadian society, from the unemployed to the college-educated. The 12 adults live in Toronto, Mississauga and Kingston, Ontario.  More details here.  I've seen speculation that the CN Tower or the Peace Tower might have been targets...

 

Andrew Coyne is back (why does he keep going away??) with lots of terrorism news, analysis and links.

 

And finally, more arrests might be coming, according to the RCMP.

Sweet site

Perhaps you haven't been keeping up on the Joe Volpe story , where at least three kids donated the maximum $5400 to his leadership campaign.  This site will help you understand...

Terrorism in our midst

TORONTO - Canadian police foiled a homegrown terrorist attack by arresting 17 suspects, apparently inspired by al-Qaida, who obtained three times the amount of explosives used in the Oklahoma City bombing, officials said Saturday.

Marriage vote in the fall

Harper said today that a vote in the house of commons on the issue of same-sex marriage will happen in the fall