Two types of adult men in this world ...

Those who have prostate cancer, and those who are worried as hell about getting prostate cancer. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Jack. (Kady O'Malley's CBC politics blog)

Whaaat? Some People In The Green Party Want Elizabeth May Gone?

Really? Are you serious? Seriously serious? (Leader-Post)

May delivered what, 10 per cent of the Canadian vote last election? Ditch her and the party's dead. Stupid, stupid, eco-creatures!

UPDATE: Here are some actual, real numbers. The Green party received 6.8 per cent of the popular vote in the fall 2008 election. Almost seven out of every 100 Canadian voters cast a ballot for the Greens. And the party has seen its support increase since then--according to a Jan. 14 EKOS poll they had the support of 11.9 per cent of voters (CBC). This party would have members in the house of commons if it wasn't for Canada's rigged electoral system.

Protest the Prorogation Today

Today, Canada-wide protests against the prorogation are happening. If Harper's decision to shut down parliament has made you angry, you can vent some of that frustration starting at 1pm on Scarth Street Mall.

How Bad Are The Conservatives?

Murray Dobbin dredges the public record for Conservative fanaticism and pulls forth the festering, lunatic beliefs of Stockwell Day:

Where would Day be on the prorogation issue? In 1995 he mused publicly about canceling the fall sitting of the legislature because "The longer we're in here, the temptation is too great to come up with more laws and more regulation." Back when he was running the Bentley school, Day claimed that democratic governments "...represent the ultimate deification of man, which is the very essence of humanism and totally alien to God's word."

This bunch of Conservatives are deluded and delusional. They cling to medieval religious beliefs, are mean spirited and anti-democracy and are utterly unfit to govern. They must be turfed. (Rabble)

Rally Time

If you check out the new prairie dog just hitting the streets now you'll find a news article by Stephen LaRose and an editorial by Stephen Whitworth taking issue with the parliamentary manouevring that a third Stephen (Harper) has been up to in Ottawa to save his government from embarassing questions concerning Canadian complicity in the torture of Afghan detainees, plus also buy himself some time to appoint more Conservatives to the Senate to consolidate the party's grip on that august chamber and the committee work that it does. If the democratic rights of Canadians get trampled in the process, why should he care? This is a man, remember, who's on a mission to revamp the country and turn it into his own personal utopia where religion trumps reason and priviledge trumps public duty and social responsibility.

Some Canadians probably couldn't care less. Fortunately, not everyone has been cowed into submission by Harpo's dictatorial ways. Saturday, January 23, a series of rallies are being held across the country to protest the latest prorogation debacle. In Regina, the rally will be on the Scarth St. Mall between 1-2 p.m. That's more or less on our front door step, and we'll have writers there to report on the event. We promise.

Murray Dobbin Nails It

The most excellent journalist, author and activist who should be in prairie dog more often--oh for a 40-page weekly magazine!--has a terrific big-picture look at Stephen Harper's malignant proroguerry up on his blog. It's recommended reading. Check it out.

We're Officially An International Embarrassment...

The Economist has caught wind of Stephen Harper's call to prorogue parliament, and thinks we're a bunch of suckers if we don't do anything about it.

(The Economist)

Proroguies Again?

I've been back for 37 minutes and already in a state of impotent rage about the possibility of Harper proroguing another parliament. (CBC)

WTF? If Michaelle Jean says yes again, won't that set kind of a bad precedence (as if the last year's prorogation wasn't bad enough, AND on top of many many many other bad bad bad precedences?)

I think I'll look at this picture of Gilles Duceppe instead.

Sigh.

Our PM Problem

Dear Santa, can I have a new prime minister for Christmas?

Calling Stephen Harper a dangerous extremist who's ruining our country is a popular thing to do on Dog Blog for a couple of reasons: first, we naively think pointing out the man's problems might encourage Tory-loving Sask voters to take a closer look at him and second because the guy's actions and ideas scare the crap out of us.

Anyway, lest you perceive us as radicals, here are the strong words of accomplished journalist and columnist Haroon Siddiqui , who gave the Minifie lecture at the University of Regina a few years back:

Stephen Harper is centralizing power in the PMO on an unprecedented scale; defying Parliament (by refusing to comply with a Commons vote demanding the files on Afghan prisoner abuse); derailing public inquiries (by a parliamentary committee and the Military Police Complaints Commission); muzzling/firing civil servants; demonizing critics; and dragging the military into the line of partisan political fire.

"When you add up all that this government has done, it's truly scary," says Gar Pardy, former head of the foreign ministry's consular services. He's the one who organized the petition that defended diplomat Richard Colvin from Tory mudslinging, and which has been signed by 133 retired ambassadors.

You can read the whole column here. Please do--it's worth your time. Stephen Harper is baaad--and it's not just prairie dog saying that. (Toronto Star)

Anti-Abortion Religious Fascists Piss Me Off

So my sadistic, Whitworth-poking publisher handed me a press release from LifeCanada. The release was about a survey LifeCanada commissioned on Canadians' attitudes toward abortion.

According to LifeCanada, Canadians don't much like abortion. Surprise!

The headline reads "Poll: Canadians Favour Abortion Limits", and the press release opens thusly: "For the ninth year in a row a majority of Canadians have rejected the status quo on abortion. Over half say there should be legal protection for human life before birth and over two-thirds say abortions should only be paid for by taxpayers in medical emergencies or in cases of rape or incest."

Now, I'd be curious to hear what percentage of Canadians agree with LifeCanada's mission statement: "To promote the sanctity of all human life from fertilization to natural death through public education. To advocate for the preborn, the disabled, the infirm and the elderly who are all uniquely created by God."

The Toronto Star has a column on LifeCanada here.

You might think LifeCanada is a kooky extreme Christian group with little to no real power, but I say the thinking they represent is dangerous and becoming more popular. More and more Canadians--especially in Saskatchewan--are electing politicians to the governing Conservative party who share LifeCanada's desire to impose their pushy, old-fashioned religious garbage on the rest of us through laws and/or the sneaky and underhanded de-funding of services. For example, just within the last month, Conservative Saskatoon-Dumbolt MP Brad Trost helped organize a petition to defund Planned Parenthood International and Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott (Ass-katoon-Wanuskewin) praised the inadequate abortion services in his city.

This holy-rollers can't separate their extreme religious beliefs from their public jobs serving ALL Canadians, and have no business being in politics--but Canadians keep electing them.

This American-style right-wing garbage is moving from the fringes to the mainstream. It has to stop.

We're living in degenerating times. From tax-cut anarchists getting away with saying whatever stupid crap they want in public without being laughed off their podiums, to wanton enviroment destruction, to health care privatization to freedom of (AND FROM) religion, Canada is descending into ignorant and mean-spirited politics.

Yeah, we're all going to have to get a little more political to fight these shenanigans.

Things we can all do: donate to our favourite, non-Conservative political party and/or publicly active, non-profit advocacy group (Council Of Canadians, David Suzuki Foundation, Planned Parenthood, habitat for Humanity, etc.).

E-mail letters to newspapers magazines and other media. (Make your letters relevent to something they've published/broadcast recently, stick to the word limits and don't ramble: keep to one topic.)

Make it known to loudmouths and idiots around you that you have zero patience for the idea that their goofy personal religious views should be enshrined in law. When some jackass starts talking about saving babies or how immigration is ruining the country, don't just sit there and take it. Tell them they're a jerk and demand they shape up. We've got to get peer pressure working for us.

There's your Wednesday pep talk, fellow heroes. Now get to work. You and me, we've got to save this country from the hobgoblins who want to take hard-won rights away and drag us back to the 17th century.

And by the power of Greyskull, we're going to have fun doing it.

Grrrr!

The Solution To Child Poverty?

It's a no-brainer, says Ed Broadbent. Tax the wealthiest of us more. (Globe And Mail)

The Party Of Miserable, Judgemental Bastards

Conservative politicians think the unemployed are lazy. In other news, birds have beaks. (The ChronicleHerald)

In The Event My Little Bit Of Snark In An Earlier Post Wasn't Noticed...

Re: point six in this list...

I'm still flabbergasted that a Saskatchewan MP has a freaking petition against Planned Parenthood on his website (and apparently has had for awhile, but I only found out this week because I'm out of touch, I guess). Wasn't it enough for Brad Trost to condemn funding for pride events (StarPhoenix) and just be a general all-around anti-government Conservative politician (Brad Trost's website)?

What else can I do? I must judge those who voted for this nincompoop--who make my province look like a nest of nincompoops!--harshly.

Therefore and henceforth and forsooth, I shall refer to Brad Trost's riding as "Saskatoon-Dumbolt" in anything I say or write.

And I shall continue to do this until the citizens of Saskatoon-Dumbolt turf Trost.

So let it be written, so let it be dumb.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON EDIT: Added a few links and tweaked the writing.

Public Money, Tory Cheques

The Conservatives have been busted for putting their logo on oversized government cheques (used for photo opportunities). Obviously, that's a big no-no. But get a load of this:

Opposition politicians are also convinced that the Conservatives are flowing government stimulus disproportionately to Tory-held ridings. An investigation this week by the Halifax Chronicle Herald appears to bolster that suspicion. The paper reported that more money – $162-million – is being spent in the three ridings held by Conservatives in Nova Scotia than in the province's other eight ridings put together. The $87.7-million that Defence Minister Peter MacKay's riding of Central Nova received exceeded that of all five Liberal-held ridings combined.

The Globe and Mail has the story here. So, just to double "check" (ha ha), this is the party going up in the polls, right?

Beatles Revisited

I hesitate to post this, but after what happened at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa Saturday night it seems our esteemed prime minister might have a shred of humanity in him after all. And no, I'm not referring to the cute kitty in the photo which he probably throttled, cooked and ate after the picture was taken. (YouTube)

Mandryk, Condensed

Let's bash Micheal Ignatieff for picking an out-of-control wingnut as his Quebec lieutenant. And while we're at it, let's blast him for the coalition agreement with the separatists and socialists, something Iggy disavowed. And we'll talk about how lucky Stephen Harper is ... especially the fact that the same Harper who criticized the coalition has to depend on the same coalition partners to remain in office. Oh wait, since that contradicts my whole argument, maybe I should leave that out? Ugh. (L-P)

Greener Pastures?

Having failed to unseat Conservative Defence Minister Peter MacKay in the 2008 federal election in Central Nova, Green Party leader Elizabeth May is going to swallow her pride a bit and try her luck on the west coast in the next election (which could come as early as this fall). Seems like a smart move to me, as absent a shift to proportional representation that would allow the 6.8 per cent of the popular vote that the party captured in 2008 to translate into actual seats, B.C. probably has the green-friendliest electorate. (CBC)

Stephen Harper's Conservatives Gain Support: Poll

Good news for the many fans of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party today. The Ottawa Citizen reports that a new Ipsos-Reid poll puts voter support for the Tories firmly in front of the Liberals, NDP and Greens. If an election were held today, the Conservatives, whose support is at 39 per cent, would be flirting with a majority. But all is not lost. If you're one of the one or two Dog Blog readers who hates the Tories' guts because you think they're a bunch of bigots, morons, radical ideologues and religious lunatics who can barely run a caucus let alone a country, there's hope. A smart person I know points out that the Conservatives are benefiting from the annual politics off-season and without the opportunity for Tory MPs to say insane things in public, politics-bored Canadians will be inclined to support the status quo.

Give Ignatieff the floor in the House of Commons and the NDP a shred of charisma to go with their (secretly) populist policy platform, and Harper will slink back under his bridge. Just wait and see.

Then again maybe my smart guy is wrong and we're all dooooooomed.

Trost For The Mill

Here's a couple more pieces in the Globe And Mail on the Toronto Pride funding fallout fiasco. First, we've got a Canadian Press article by Jennifer Ditchburn with the director of Montreal's annual pride festival, who says they've actually been funded more reasonably since the Tories took office. The story suggests that Brad Trost's troglodytic ilk are much more isolated in caucus than angry people (like me) think.

Next up, we have this piece that Paul Dechene told me to read, by the Globe's Adam Radwanski. Radwanski's blog lays out how the Conservatives have probably annoyed both social conservative supporters and normal people who aren't crazy (Radwanski calls these "social liberals") and might have been supporters. it's a good read too, and it links to yet more reads.

There you go, that's enough from me for a while.

What Do You Mean F*ck Me, F*ck You!

Straight from minister Lisa Raitt and her glowing hot pants, comes this new bit of Tory disdain for Canadians, from the Toronto Star.

This is the first scandal all week that couldn't be blamed on the babelicious Jasmine MacDonnell (Chronical Herald). Lose a few, lose a few.