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Canadian News Thread #2 ~ Summer is almost here!

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government will move quickly to cut the financial legs out from under its political opponents by moving to end the per-vote party subsidy in its June budget, Postmedia News has learned.

"We want political parties to raise funds directly from their supporters and not the taxpayers. So as soon as we can get that passed, that process will begin," Democratic Reform Minister Tim Uppal told Postmedia news.

Uppal said he couldn't discuss whether the government plans a weaning-off process for political parties. He said ministers were "still finalizing all these things."

Sources say the subsidy, however, will be phased out over time.

Political parties receive a large part of their funding through a subsidy of $2 per year for every vote cast in their favour in the last federal election.

Last year, the Conservatives received $10,430,835 in subsidies, the Liberals $7,275,227, the NDP $5,036,707, the Bloc Quebecois $2,763,345 and the Green party $1,877,513.

NDP leader Jack Layton said his party supports government subsidies because it keeps "big money" out of politics.

"If it passes, we will adapt to the reality (and) we will reorganize accordingly but it does make it more difficult for the democratic process really to thrive and puts money at the forefront of politics, where it should not be," Layton said.

Liberal MP Marc Garneau, who's running for the party's interim leadership, told Postmedia News the Liberals would vote against the measure.

"It will require us to find alternative means of funding ourselves," he said, adding that the Liberals would have to "deal with that reality" in terms of their fundraising abilities.

Some suggest the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois are in the toughest position now: they not only lost a large chunk of their per-vote funding because of their poor election showing, but they also lost the use of many taxpayer-funded staff due to their diminished numbers in the House of Commons.

Garneau said he believes it is worth discussing whether individual contribution limits, which are set at $1,100 each for party and riding associations, should now be raised. The limits were reduced after Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien introduced government subsidies as a way of creating a level playing field between parties.

Chretien also ended corporate and union subsidies — which both Garneau and Layton said should still be banned.

Harper told voters during the election if his government was returned with a majority he would end the per-vote subsidy — something he tried to do in 2008 before facing the wrath of an opposition coalition.

"Taxpayers shouldn't have to support political parties that they don't support," he said. "I wanted to change this but . . . unless we have a majority government we will never attempt to change it because we know that in a minority government you could never move this forward."

Democracy Watch co-ordinator Duff Conacher said Harper was "lying" and no Canadian has ever paid to support a party for which they didn't vote.

"When you vote, that $2 goes to that party and everyone pays more than $2 in taxes a year," he said.

Conacher called the per-vote subsidy the "most democratic part" of the federal political funding system since it is actually based on voter support and encourages electors to vote. He said individual donations should actually be lowered because few Canadians can afford to donate $2,200 a year.

According to unofficial figures from Elections Canada, the public subsidy to political parties following the last election could be worth at least $29.5 million a year.

Party allocations are delivered quarterly and the next cheque for April, May and June will be cut on July 1, but the results of the May 2 election won't be reflected until the Sept. 30 payments.
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
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That's a great way to make sure other parties can't fight back as easily during election time. Anyone else see the future of him suspending elections? This guy scares me so much, I hope others are seeing what he is doing.

[sunnykerr]

I don't know. This could kick him in the butt, too. He won't a majority because a majority of his people won their seats, but the Conservatives only got, like, 40% of the vote. The NDP got abotu 30 or 32%.

I'm not surprised that he's angling for it, mind you, since he used federal funds to finance the Conservative electoral campaign... but, I don't know, I don't think this is a smart move for his party.

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I hope this shows people what his agenda really is and it upsets people into action.

[sunnykerr]

It's both too late and too early for action.

Our big problem in Canada is apathy. That's how he was handed a majority, but it also means people will probably need more to realize what a danger he is to our way of life.

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Liberals could be without permanent leader for 18 months



OTTAWA — The federal Liberal party could be without a permanent leader for more than a year and a half, after the party's executive voted this week to push back its deadline for choosing a new boss.

The executive voted unanimously on Thursday to present an amendment to the party's constitution next month that would set the deadline for electing a new, long-term leader to sometime between Nov. 1, 2012, and Feb. 28, 2013.

The current rules require that a new leader be elected by October 2011, but the ammendment would change that if passed at the party's upcoming special convention, which is set for June 18.

"It really reflects the consensus that has been building throughout the country in terms of time frame," party president Alfred Apps told Postmedia News.

The change also conforms to a condition laid out by Liberal MP Bob Rae, who said Thursday he would "accept" the job of interim leader so long as the party postponed the vote for a permanent leader by at least 18 months.

The Liberal caucus is to meet next Wednesday to recommend an interim leader.

MP Marc Garneau has also said he would run for the interim leadership.

Some Liberals have expressed concern that Rae would use the interim leadership as a means to run for the permanent position later on.

Garneau told Postmedia News that he and Rae have spoken and that he takes Rae at his word that he would step down.

The party's national board earlier this month decided that the interim leader would not be able to run for permanent leadership of the party.

"The overwhelming reason to delay the leadership vote is to allow for meetings throughout our ridings, regions and provinces in the upcoming months so we may together discuss and decide upon our future as a party . . . before we turn our attention to our leadership choices," said a statement by Robert Hamish Jamieson, the Liberals' national membership secretary, which was posted on the party' website Friday.
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

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Honestly I think they just aren't sure what to do, they seem lost.

[sunnykerr]

Honestly, this is the smartest thing they've done since Chretien told the Americans to take a hike over Iraq.

The past two (three, even, if we count Paul Martin) leaders of the party have been completely miscast. They need to stop elected smart intellectuals who can't boil down their ideas to a 30-second soundbite and who couldn't buy charisma without all the gold in Fort Knox, and they need to find someone like Chretien, who comes off like a total moron but has savvy and intelligence enough to carry his motions through.

And, before all of that, they need to figure out what the heck they stand for, not just against.

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LINK

Strike averted as Canada Post workers present new contract proposal
(The Canadian Press) – 2 hours ago

OTTAWA — It appears a strike by Canada Post workers has been averted, at least for now.
The union representing urban postal workers presented a new contract proposal Sunday and decided not to give the 72 hour notice needed to take job action.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says its proposal includes important compromises.
It says the proposal covers all unresolved issues at the bargaining table, which include wages and benefits, staffing levels and working conditions.
Canada Post will only say negotiations continue and it's focused on reaching a settlement.
The union had threatened job action if a deal wasn't reached by this week. The lack of a 72-hour notice effectively means the earliest the union could strike would be Friday.
An earlier agreement covering some 50,000 employees expired on Jan. 31, and talks on a new deal began last fall.
Last week, Canada Post reached an agreement with the union to bring in volunteer postal workers to deliver cheques to pensioners and those on social assistance should a labour disruption occur.
Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt urged both sides to reach a deal to avert a potential disruption of the country's mail service.
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Hopefully a strike doesn't happen. I can't believe someone would volunteer for the postal service.

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LINK

WINNIPEG - A report out of Pakistan Monday claims Canada is seeking help from the Pakistani government to find and arrest two former Winnipeggers and ex-University of Manitoba students wanted on terrorism charges.
Ferid Ahmed Imam, 30, and Maiwand Yar, 27, both Canadian citizens, were charged in absentia by RCMP on a host of terrorism-related charges.
On Monday, the Express Tribune posted a report out of Lahore, Pakistan, stating that country received a request from Canada through Interpol to locate and arrest Yar and Imam, who is also considered a fugitive by U.S. law enforcement and faces charges for allegedly training others to blow up subway cars in New York City.
The federal government would not confirm nor deny the report on Victoria Day Monday.
In March, Manitoba RCMP announced the charges against Yar and Imam that were part of a lengthy investigation, dubbed Project Darken.
Police allege the two men travelled to Pakistan in 2007 with plans to join the insurgency against NATO forces in Afghanistan. In March 2007, Imam and Yar were photographed arriving at the Karachi airport on tourist visas. There is no record of the pair leaving Pakistan when the visas expired, RCMP said at a March 15 news conference in Winnipeg.
The Express Tribune also said Pakistan's interior ministry has directed all law enforcement agencies to begin searching for the two suspected militants. It also noted Canada does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan.
Yar was charged by RCMP with conspiracy to participate in activity of a terrorist group and participation in activity of a terrorist group.
Canadian authorities have charged Imam with conspiracy to participate in activity of a terrorist group and instructing others to carry out terrorist activity. He is also charged in the U.S. for allegedly providing terrorist training to three men.
In 2008, Imam aided Najibullah Zazi, Zarein Ahmedzay and Adis Medunjanin in receiving military-type training in Pakistan, according to a prepared statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. It's alleged the trio returned to the U.S. with a plan to set off bombs for al-Qaida and one of the targets was packed subway cars in New York City.
The alleged plot was thwarted in September 2009.
Yar studied mechanical engineering and Imam was in a biochemistry program at the University of Manitoba; both were in the final years of their respective programs when they left university, RCMP said.
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Yikes, if these two are guilty I hope they are caught quickly.

[sunnykerr]

Well, if they're in Pakistan, recent history shows that, unless they're not very high in the terrorist food chain, they probably won't be found quickly. Or at all.

And I'm very glad that Canada Post resolved its strike matters. I wasn't looking forward to the next couple of weeks at work without in-coming and out-going mail. Most of our international clients still do business that way and Canada Post is, of course, pretty central to that.

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LINK

Keeping Quebec voters’ loyalty will be tall order for NDP

Guests on the semi-circular set of Tout le monde en parle, Radio-Canada’s enduring and wildly popular Sunday-night gabfest, typically enter by descending a white central staircase.
This is, of course, an issue if you’re a 60-year-old who has recently undergone hip surgery.
So when crutch-wielding NDP Leader Jack Layton showed up for a taping in late March, a dry run was in order to ensure he could navigate the steps

“He wasn’t announced, he just came out and people in the crowd started applauding spontaneously,” said long-time NDP press secretary Karl Bélanger, who was in the studio. “That hadn’t happened before.”
If there is to be a creation myth surrounding the orange surge in Quebec, Mr. Layton’s Tout le monde en parle appearance on Apr. 3 will surely be in the opening stanza.
The legend will rhapsodize about the extraordinary series of events that unfolded in the days and weeks afterward – what’s less clear is what will be written about their medium-term effects.
Quebec’s French-speaking majority is arguably as distant from the heart of Canadian federal power as it has been since Confederation, a disconnect sovereigntists see as fertile ground.
The Conservatives mustered a majority with five MPs from Quebec – the province’s feeblest representation in a majority government since the 1917 conscription crisis. True, four of those MPs are in cabinet, but a CROP poll last week found a majority of respondents were dissatisfied with the election result (including 47 per cent who voted for the NDP – the poll also found that roughly a third of NDP voters support sovereignty).
The May 2 vote saw the rest of Canada massively support a government Quebeckers overwhelmingly rejected, buttressing a key sovereigntist point: See? We really are different, they’re not like us.
In the words of Tout le monde host Guy A. Lepage, who describes himself as an indépendantiste, “Quebec is far more isolated from the rest of Canada than it was after the last election.”
Mr. Lepage’s program, a free-wheeling talk show that smudges the lines between hard-hitting journalism, celebrity schmoozing and variety programming, consistently attracts a viewership of 1.5 million per episode.
It’s not a stretch to say the show both reflects Quebec’s cultural, social and political zeitgeist and is influential in shaping it.
It has become a regular port of call for politicians of every stripe, with the notable exception of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Two days after Mr. Layton appeared, an Angus Reid poll in La Presse had the NDP running a strong second behind the Bloc – a first – and the polling numbers began trending upward.
It’s perilous to draw a direct causal link; pollsters noted well before the campaign that Mr. Layton scored well in Quebec on attitudinal indicators.
And as Mr. Lepage said, “The public didn’t suddenly decide to vote NDP because of Tout le monde en parle. … We’re just a showcase.”
Still, it happened.
Federalist triumphalism notwithstanding, the Bloc Québécois’s disintegration likely had as much to do with voter fatigue and the law of unintended consequences as anything Mr. Layton did or said – though Quebec-friendly promises on language and the Constitution didn’t hurt.
There is a sense, even among some Quebec federalists, that reducing the Bloc to a fractious rump will galvanize sovereigntists for a provincial election that is likely less than two years away.
The Parti Québécois faces questions of its own – over the effectiveness of Leader Pauline Marois and the rise of nationalist rivals on the right and left – but there is hope.
“Is this going to allow for a tightening of the ranks and increase resolve? I believe so,” said Concordia University political scientist Guy Lachapelle, who has long ties to the PQ.
The argument goes that Quebec is giving one final chance to a federalist party to advance its interests, which could be a tall order for the NDP.
One thing Mr. Layton has going for him, Mr. Lepage argued, is that he is generally held in high regard – a situation that predates the last campaign.
When the NDP Leader, a frequent guest, pitched up to the studio on April 3, Mr. Lepage didn’t have any particular inkling a wave was building.
Looking back, he recalled the convalescing Mr. Layton drew a warm audience response (he entered to Richard Desjardins’s ditty Le bon gars – The Good Guy).
“When you’re far from power, you can afford to be virtuous. And who’s against virtue?” he said. “Especially when it’s delivered by a nice, friendly gentleman. And that’s what he is: a nice, friendly gentleman.”
How long the warm feelings last is an open question.
On Monday, tens of thousands celebrated La journée des patriotes, and the annual Fête Nationale concert in Montreal next month is expected to attract 300,000. As Mr. Lepage, who is hosting the event, pointed out: “I think Parc Maisonneuve will be packed on June 24, and people are going to be screaming Quebec the same way they always do.”
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I think the biggest problem is apathy. Apathy of the public and apathy of the other parties who didn't campaign more about how the conservatives wouldn't debate, kept secrets and so on.

I hope that the campaigning starts earlier for these guys and that they really start spreading the word and exposing what the goverement is doing.

Quebec is so divided - catholic/protestant, french, english, native canadian

[sunnykerr]

Oh, not that divided. Basically, no one goes to church anymore (think church attendance is somewhere around 5%, all denominations included), we're about 80% French (except for Montreal and the Eastern Townships) and Native Americans? Oh, we keep them on reserves, don't you know.

I think the big divide, and I know there is one, is probably generational. My parents generation suffered for being French (limited access to education, job opportunities, money even), whereas mine didn't.

And that's thanks to the sovereignists, so maybe we're ungrateful for turning federalists...

Mind you, that could be easily taken care of if we continue to be treated like some sort of recalcitrant child in the Canadian family. Our tax dollars go to Ottawa, same as everyone, so it wouldn't suck to get our share back for things other than Canada Day celebrations.

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Well I think the reserves are part of that division. They don't feel like part of Quebec society. I don't really think there is much of a difference in tax dispersal, some but not a whole lot. And the bigger provinces need to help pay for the social services/ infrastruture of the smaller ones. Which I guess can make people unhappy but it's the cost of being part of the country I guess.

[sunnykerr]

Agree that the bigger provinces need to help out the smaller ones.

But, whether based on fact or factoids, there is a real pervasive perception in Quebec that we're not getting much contributions from the federal government, especially considering our local economy is struggling quite a lot.

So, in terms of population, we're certainly one of the two big ones. But, in terms of earning power? I would estimate we're quite a bit further down.

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Honestly I think most provinces feel they are getting the short end of the stick.