Category: Canada

Grits are gearing up to make a nice big stink over the fact that apparently 10% of families eligible for the Universal Child Care Benefit aren’t going to be getting it this time around. It seems that the parents of about 100,000 kids in the country aren’t going to be getting any extra baby bonus this time around.

The Librano$, who fought the program tooth and nail, preferring child-care money to be spent on governmental bureaucracy instead of being given to parents, will no doubt barf about that this is proof that the program is a failure, the Tories can’t deliver, kids are going to starve, blahblahblah. One blurb from an article in the Freeps suggests another possible explanation, however:

The majority of families with children under the age of six were automatically eligible for the benefit because they already received or had applied for another program called the Canada Child Tax Benefit.

But primarily wealthier families who hadn’t applied for that benefit — probably knowing they wouldn’t qualify — have to sign up before receiving money.

The emphasis is mine, of course but still; interesting, non? Could it actually be that some families haven’t applied because they figure they don’t need the extra money? OMG!! Are there people running around out there without a hand out for government money!?!? It’ll be the end of Canada as we know it!! EEK!!

Next news item: Scientists Baffled By Sudden Spike In Heart Attack Rate Among Canadian Socialists …Film at 11.

Can anybody really say that they’re surprised at this? It seems that after endless promises to clean up the governmental act, the Ontario Liberals’ much-ballyhooed Transparency in Public Matters Act has been, very quitely, dumped. In typical Grit fashion, this skullduggery, as opposed to their blaring promotion of the act in the first place, was pulled off so quietly and stealthily that it almost slipped past J. Q. Ontarien completely unnoticed.

Caught with their hand yet again in the cookie jar of yet another hollow election promise, Sarnia MPP Caroline Di Cocco (who was spearheading the act, once upon a time) tried the tired old Grit routine of “lie, deny and act surprised:”

…on April 5, Di Cocco was appointed minister of culture by Premier Dalton McGuinty. Her bill was withdrawn a few days later, something that has only recently come to light.

…Di Cocco said yesterday she was unaware when she was appointed minister her bill had to die under the legislature’s rules because ministers can’t push private member’s bills.

“That’s just a rule that’s there,” she said. “I wasn’t aware of it at the time.”

Of course you weren’t, Boopsie. After all, you’re just a girl and can’t be expected to grok all that icky government rules stuff, right? It’s not as if your constituents expected you to be competent when they elected you or anything like that.

Nobody seems fooled, though. Even her own campaign manager quit in disgust:

“I’m very disappointed. That sums it all up,” Robert Swift of Point Edward said yesterday.

“Since she became a part of the government, it’s a waste of time talking to her about these kinds of issues.”

Well, just what do you expect from a Liberal??

If a Tory did this, there would be holy hell to pay. Screeching handwringers everywhere would bemoan the inhumanity and degradation of it all. Dire comparisons would be drawn to pimping and slave auctions and the dude who dared to do such a dastardly deed would be eviscerated by the CBC.

But since it’s the great Grit second-coming-of-Pierre-Trudeau, Michael Ignatieff, that’s auctioning people off (no, that’s not a typo), I guess it’s all okay.

Yes indeed, truth really is stranger than fiction. Several Grits are on the block to raise money for Iggy’s run for the big comfy chair at the Grit table, with Ruby Dhalla getting the best bids so far (go figure).

And last but not least, an interesting little side tidbit from near the end of the article:

The auction has illuminated once again Liberals’ undying devotion to party icon and former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

A program from the Liberals’ 1984 convention, with a cover photo of the late Trudeau, has drawn a bid so far of $111.

Some things really do never change.

Okay, I’m a little behind the herd on this one. In case you haven’t heard all the boo-hooing lately, the crying jag is going full throttle over at SoW on the heels of reports talking about the campaign, kick-started by REAL Women of Canada, to take the axe to the Trudeau-era radical feminist money pit, Status of Women Canada.

Yes, indeed, the very thought that the gravy train might not be pulling in anymore has sent Canada’s shrillest feminazis and their union and Grit flunkies to new heights of apoplexy and hysteria, ranging from the panicky:

This actually turns my blood to ice.
-Halifax communications consultant and blogger Audra Williams

to the downright stupid:

When you look at women in Canada and their human rights compared to international standards, we have a long way to go.
-Monica Lysack (Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada)

As expected, the usual accusations of “misogyny” are being hurled about but they don’t seem to be having the usual effect. I wonder why that is? Could it have anything to do with the fact that REAL Women of Canada is a, er…, women’s group??

Golly, but it’s darned hard to rave about the Oppression o’ The Evil Penis when there’s nary a swingin’ one in the ranks aligned against ya, ain’t it?

And these women aren’t about to take any crap from a bunch of screeching feminists who arrogantly presume that they, and only they, can speak for all women:

Like typical radical feminists, they have decided that they speak for all women, and they only consult those groups and women that agree with their agenda. So it’s a bunch of radical feminist bureaucrats consulting radical feminists to hear what they want to hear to promote more radical feminism on my dime . . . When you question your government, your government will use your own money against you to punish you for daring to speak out.
-Suzanne, on the Big Blue Wave

or excuses, either:

If Status of Women is so effective, why are the statistics for women so ‘bad’? The group has been around for decades, has a generous budget, but their own stats seem to indicate that they’ve not done much good. SOW does NOT represent all women, and therefore shouldn’t use my taxes to lobby for a radical feminist agenda dominated by abortion rights, victimhood, junk science and male bashing.
-Kathy Shaidle on Relapsed Catholic

One wonders what exactly SOW has been doing with its $23 million a year to improve the lot of Canadian women. The only women’s lot who have been improved, it seems, would be those who work for SOW and get grant money from it.
-Loyalist, on Dissonance and Disrespect

Ouch. You go, girls. [Update: I have since been informed that in my haste to get this post up that day, I seem to have overlooked the fact that Loyalist is… well, a dude. And I now look like a horse’s arse. DOH!]

Blogburst links:

• Suzanne at Big Blue Wave
• Hunter at Climbing Out of the Dark
• Kathy Shaidle at Relapsed Catholic
• Kathy Shaidle at Relapsed Catholic again
• Hailey at Every Good and Perfect Gift
• Dianne Wood at Family Matters
• Kate McMillan at Small Dead Animals

This is bad. Several MSM outlets are reporting lately that the CAF is lowering its standards when it comes to security checks for new recruits. “Secret” clearance now requires only a seven year check and “confidential” requires a mere five year check under the new rules. Landed immigrants are also being considered for service even before becoming citizens. Since even I’m not so partisan that I can’t point out stupidity on my own team, I’m left with no choice but to ask:

Guys, what the hell are you thinking???

I understand the need to bolster our troop strength, and do it now, but this is not the way to go about it. After decades of having their budget savaged by an uncaring Grit government, one thing that the military managed to do was to keep the army an effective fighting force by focusing on quality over quantity. The result of this, as has been demonstrated in Afghanistan, was a small force with equipment that was second to everyone being manned by soldiers that were second to no one. Eligible candidates were often turned away, not because they failed to qualify, but simply because the army didn’t have enough money for more soldiers. We don’t need to lower the standards, we have plenty of bodies to fill the jobs and now we have a budget that can begin to let them in.

Slacking off on security checks does nothing, it merely dilutes the security of the Forces which, given the nature of our current enemy, could very well prove to be disasterous.

Let’s be blunt here, folks. Security checks should be kept right where they are, if not increased. And Muslim males aged under 30 should get extra scrutiny. And if you’re a male Muslim landed immigrant from a country known to export or sponsor terrorism, the armed forces should crawl up your arse with a microscope before they let you in, if they let you in at all.

There, I’ve said it. Bring on the hate mail.

The ugly truth is that the preferred tactic of the enemy is to infiltrate (which may already be happening elsewhere) and gather intel to do as much damage as possible from within our midst. That’s the nature of terrorism. That’s what we’re fighting, and you can bet your arse that the enemy doesn’t play by the rules.

Whether or not the useful idiots on the left want to admit it, we are at war, whether we want to be or not. And you don’t win a war by being tolerant, inclusive, or any of the other politically correct bullcrap that “progressives” are always pushing.

Wars are won by the side that has the stomach to win. They always have been, and they always will. Tolerance is all fine and good, but we shouldn’t be tolerating our way onto the endangered species list.

Two hundred days in office and still going.

It’s great to be conservative these days, isn’t it? Just in case you’ve been living in a cave lately, today marks the 200th day of our latest Conservative government and despite what all the nervous Nellies from the left told us, things are moving along pretty damned good.

Can anyone seriously doubt that we have seen more leadership in the past 6+ months from Stephen Harper’s rookie government than we saw in over a decade of rule under the “natural governing party of Canada?” I would find that rather hard to swallow.

Let’s indulge ourselves (just this once) on a little smug reflection on what the Big Bad Scary Tories have managed to do for the country in a mere 200 days, shall we?

• The GST, which the Grits promised to scrap but never did, has been cut by one percent, just like Steve told us it would.
• The long running trade irritant with the US over softwood lumber is finally within sight of its end. The Grits couldn’t solve this one in over a decade but Harper and his crew managed to hammer out a deal in only months.
• Money that would have been wasted on a bloated child care bureaucracy is now being routed directly to the ultimate child care specialists (parents) who can decide for themselves how best to spend it.
• We have a government that isn’t afraid to dig in its heels and declare exactly where it stands on issues, whether politically convenient or not. The recent conflict in the Middle East is a perfect example of this.
• Our long neglected military is finally getting a desperately needed injection of billions of dollars for both equipment and manpower.
• We now have the Federal Accountability Act to help keep a leash on crooked politicians.
• We have legislation working its way through Parliament to crack down on crime and make scumbags start doing some serious time behind bars where they can’t hurt anybody else.
• With vigorous operations in Afghanistan, the myth of Canada being the “mouse that roared” on the international stage is rapidly being put down.
• Federalism has been revived in Quebec, with more and more people realising that they aren’t really stuck between the rock and hard place of crooked Liberals and rabid seperatists.

All of this, and a whole lot more, from the scary bunch that the MSM howled and prophecied would bring about the ruin of the nation.

Not bad for a bunch of bogeymen, eh?