BigCityLib Strikes Back

I've written about  the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) a number of times, mostly in regards to their backing away from the fight against organized hate speech in Canada for an "Israel, Israel, let's talk Israel 24/7" approach to human rights issues.  It appears I'm not the only one who views them skeptically:

“It is not clear to me who CIJA represents. Unlike [Canadian Jewish] Congress, whose officers were elected by a body representing organizations and communities across Canada, CIJA seems to be a self-appointed body, beholden only to a very small group of extremely influential backers. This transformation is a major defeat for democracy in the Canadian Jewish community,” Rabbi Scheim [, spiritual leader of Toronto’s Beth David B’nai Israel Beth Am Synagogue] said.

Interesting too that Stockwell Day is on CIJA's BOD, given his past.

...in Pakistan, as in many other countries, Islam is the only permissible religion. It is actually a matter of law. The legislated sanction can be death.

Hard to believe. Many of these nations are modern, well educated, high tech and global traders. Yet, they actually make it a capital crime to be Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, or any faith other than Islam.

How can they be so barbaric? And utterly ignorant about history.

Actually in the case of Pakistan, Stock dorks up his facts a bit. It is not illegal to be Christian in Pakistan. Yes. The Constitution discriminates against you. But merely being Christian does not appear to be a capital crime.

At this point I also intend to support a new Private Member's Bill from MP Stephen Blaney. It would require anyone voting in a federal election to not have their face covered for identification purposes.

Note the touch of equivocation in this, however. I suspect the Tories will let the bill die quietly, as they have all earlier legislative attempts in this direction. Its flaws are quite fatal, and if the government really did what was necessary to make it even marginally sane (by requiring photo ID to vote for everyone)...well that would be a hassle to non-Muslims, wouldn't it? And to solve a problem--vote fraud--that doesn't really exist in this country.

...dog is uninjured. I think Stock's OK too, more or less, but didn't bother to read that far.

End of month job reports show another increase in full time jobs in Canada - this time an increase of 15,000!

[...]

A word to critics: Criticism and debate are important and necessary. Just try to keep it factual.

...versus the real kind:

The number of full-time jobs fell, though gains in part-time work compensated for that. In fact, over the course of the past year, part-time work has far outpaced full-time jobs growth.

PS. There`s a big difference. Part-times are the crummy kind of jobs you get when the economy isn`t creating full-time posts.

...by posing with dead owl.

From an threatened species, no less.

From his latest:

All of this to say 'yes', Kafkaesque situations are alive and well even in the most erstwhile of government operations.

Erstwhile def.

I've often said of Conservatives: their hearts can be in the right place but they get into trouble from not knowing the meanings of too many words.

...because I'm too lazy to do much writing today:

Harper's chief advantage is evaporating before our eyes. The Conservatives are voluntarily eroding their own fiscal image, while simultaneously providing the Liberals with a free pass, to check off a few big ticket items of their own. Then the question becomes, just what expenditures are most important to Canadians. Planes and prisons, hardly a compelling "kitchen table" consideration, allowing for an interesting contrast. Neutered on the "big spending" front, obscure and distant on the allocation front, I'd say thanks for the massive opening if I'm a Liberal strategist

Arguably, we need some new planes, but yeah I can see how 10 Billion for invisible criminals could easily be repurposed to a more useful end.

As Kady suggests, Stock must have been referencing the 2004 National Victimization Survey, part of the General Social Survey, which is conducted every five years, when he argued this morning that Canada had seen an "alarming" increase in "unreported crime". Forget that the latest report dates from 2004 and tells you nothing about what's happened since. Here's what it says in one of the fact sheets for the General Social Survey. They're referring to "violent crimes":

Police reporting rates remain stable

Rates of reporting violent incidents to the police remained stable between 1999 and 2004. In 1999, 31% of violent incidents were reported to the police, compared with 33% of incidents in 2004. This difference was not statistically significant.

Mind you, when it comes to overall reporting, Stock isn't entirely off his nut:

The GSS reveals that a large proportion of Canadians never reported criminal incidents to police. In all, only about 34% of criminal incidents came to the attention of police in 2004, down from 37% in 1999. Household victimization incidents were most likely to be reported (37%), while thefts of personal property were the least likely (31%).

I'll leave it to the reader to decide whether or not a three per cent drop in reported criminal incidents is "alarming".

Stockwell Day on the Census:

"Some basic is data is need. We haven’t run into people or groups or agencies who have a concern with some very basic data,” [Mr. Day] said. “The mandatory nature of criminalizing Canadians for not wanting to give the more extensive data in the long form is simply not tenable and that’s why we are doing away with it.”

Apparently, the news conference did not go well.

Srockwell Day wins the steak-knives with this defense of the government's changes to the census long-form:

If you are among the groups of people who are demanding this free info I have a question for you based on past 'quizzes'. Do you think it is right that you can threaten your neighbour with jail time if she doesn't tell you if she has mental issues or not? Or who does what chores in the house?

Or whether she is a Jew or not? Don't you find that one even a little bit chilling?

Words fail me at the sheer stupidity of this statement. I could refute it, by for instance noting that a user of census data can't find out anything about their neighbor. Its all aggregated. In fact, if the sub-tract level data for a particular area does let you make guesses as to the individuals in the sub-tract, Stats Canada won't let you see it. I could also note that this information is not free. But why bother? That would be like playing classical music in a disco.

...blames them for G8/G20 security costs.

The first part of that statement I have no problem with--indeed I wonder if the gov. will actually put its money where its mouth is and charge whatever suspects are rounded-up under our terrorism laws.

The 2nd part is, of course, bullshit.

PS. BCer quantifies the exact amount of bullshit at issue. Is Stock really saying those four anarchists cost the nation an extra 800 million?

Stock tries to convince his constituents that's he'll be working hard over the holiday:

So I was able to buy two tickets for one of the non-playoff hockey games. It will be a great experience just to attend. And at the time I bought mine there were still some seats available, if you're interested.

[...]

(Just as an aside: I thought these tickets were sold off by lottery. However, I guess rank has its privileges.)

I will be in Vancouver for a good part of the time during the Olympics in my function as Minister for International Trade and the Asia-Pacific Gateway.

[...]

...next Monday I have a number of constituent meetings already booked but still have a couple of slots open. As usual, just call the office and we'll do our best to fit you in.

[...]

I've also set aside time for some door-knocking. As regular readers of this column know, I maintain a year round program of door-knocking in between elections as well as during elections. I have found this to be one of the best ways to hear from you, the voters and taxpayers. There's nothing quite like getting the views of people right on their doorsteps - no filters, no handlers, just me getting the straight goods from you.

So I may be at your door next week either in the Peachland/ Westside area or up in Merritt and Logan Lake.

I'm also looking forward to speaking next week at one of our local Rotary Clubs. Rotary, like many other local service clubs, is always a good venue for feedback.

There you have it. Stock's earning his pay-cheque, if not by guiding legislation through the HOC, then by wrangling hockey tickets for his constituents. Leave Stock alone.

From today's Star:

There has been no...apology from Saskatchewan MP Maurice Vellacott for his unflattering depiction of women seeking abortions, which also applauded Saskatoon doctors for restricting access to abortion services.

"Pro-life feminists have ... come to see abortion as part of a male agenda to have women more sexually available," said the controversial MP in an anti-abortion news release sent out Nov. 20.

And another story here from the Calgary Sun. The statements come from a news release posted to Vellacot's website on the 20th, and reported by me on the 21st. Today is the 25th, and it looks like its only being reported because the Oppo parties picked up on it yesterday. C'mon MSM, chop chop! You're supposed to be ahead of the game in these things. I'm not supposed to be doing your job for you! I mean, it's like those girls always used to tell me: BCL this is crazy: I should be paying you.

PS. Anyone looking a nice bit of recent (unremarked) Tory stupidity can look here, wherein Stockwell Day asks who can forget Silken Laumann's Olympic triumph? and proves that he certainly can.

Who can forget Silken’s incredible comeback in the heart testing and muscle tearing sport of rowing? Some people had written her off after a training accident which had shattered her leg in crippling fashion. I guess somebody forgot to tell her that her athletic career should have been over. She wasn't prepared to live with that. In a legendary 'agony and ecstasy' journey doctors pieced her leg back together and she pieced her dreams back together with a brutal and oft times painful training regime.

As her challengers in the gold medal round watched in disbelief she gave it all in the race of her life and came through with a medal of gold and a smile of joy that lit up a nation.

And, from Wiki, what really happened:

Arguably the most famous incident in Laumann's life was during her training leading up to the 1992 Summer Olympics. One of the odds-on favourites to capture a gold medal, her shell was involved in a collision with the boat of German coxless pair team Colin von Ettinghausen and Peter Hoeltzenbein on May 15, 1992. Despite serious injuries to her leg...five operations and a total stay in the hospital of approximately three weeks, Laumann was back on the water training by late June. Her efforts paid off with a bronze medal...

I bet she was rowing South at the time, just like the Niagara River.

$108,000: 1 hour Tory propaganda fest.

$27,000: Keeping Trade Minister Stockwell Day safe on his nine day mission to the Czech Republic and India.

If they'd managed to trim even that $8,000 off their economic update they probably could sent Ole Stock on a quick side-trip to Bhutan.

You think you've heard the story of brave dash to Newfoundland to intercept Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, but you haven't heard it until you've heard it told by Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Coquihalla and Minister of International Trade in the federal Conservative government Stockwell Day. All boldings are mine; to get the feel of the piece, try snarling those words:

...if you (the LPoC) want to get back the Evangelical vote.

From "Canadian Evangelical Voting Trends by Region, 1996–2008", on why Evangelical voters have trended Tory:

First, when the Canadian Alliance was formed in 2000, it elected Stockwell Day, an evangelical Christian, as its leader. During the 2000 general election campaign, Liberal Party representative Warren Kinsella appeared on Canada AM, a popular national television program, with a Barney the Dinosaur doll and mocked Stockwell Day’s creationist beliefs, saying, “I just want to remind Mr. Day that The Flintstones was not a documentary.”13 Kinsella would go on to boast, “Of all the things I have done in politics, over many, many years, probably nothing has had the impact of those few seconds on Canada AM.”14 While Evangelicals hold various views on Creation, most understood this as an attempt to denigrate their faith.

While this and other explanations offered in the paper seem a list of the authors' personal set of bitches, whines, and complaints, the fact that Evangelicals have trended Tory over the past ten years seems unassailable. Gruending, for example, has made the same point from a different perspective.

IMHO, the real questions are:

1) are there enough Evangelicals out there to justify a special attempt at outreach?

2) Have the Libs abandoned Evangelicals, or vice versa? Stockwell Day/Preston Manning sold their Evangelicalism as part of the political package you would get out of Reform if you voted that way. Most were unimpressed, but some bought into a point on the ideological spectrum that was not, if I am remembering correctly, previously on offer in Canada, at least not federally. To me, that explains most of the shift (and why, with Evangelicals now firmly in their camp, the Tories cannot break the 40% majority level).

Stockwell Day on Senate Reform, August 31st, 2009:

To deal with the problem of it being a life-long position the Prime Minister takes an innovative approach. Whomever the Prime Minister appoints must vow to step down after 8 years, no exceptions, no excuses. So each person he recently appointed, along with the ones he appointed earlier, will be done in 8 years. That's a major change.

Newly minted Tory Senator Jacques Demers, September 19th, 2009:

Demers expects to spend the next 10 years in the Senate, and wants to learn from his colleagues while keeping his own opinions.

Either Mr. Demers has already broken his vow, or was exempted from it. Or the very existence of the "vow" is a bunch of hoo-hah meant to con Tory supporters who care about this kind of stuff.

Stockwell Day on Senate Reform, August 31st, 2009:

One more thing about the latest round of Senate appointees, each one has agreed to work hard from inside the Senate to push for reform. That means when the next federal election is called we may see senators stepping down from the Red Chamber and running for office.

Newly minted Tory Senator Jacque Demers, September 19th, 2009:

"I just did not see myself going in different places shaking hands. I am not a politician." That's why, Demers said, he won't run for office if senators are elected.

Senate Reform--a poor joke at best.

There was another item that came up, unsolicited, at a number of doors -Harmonized Sales Tax, the HST. Some people I talked to understood that the decision to bring in a harmonized tax in BC is a provincial one. For others there was some confusion. So please allow me to clarify this.

The decision to bring in a harmonized tax in BC is a provincial one. Several provinces have moved to an HST. There is a process that was put in place several years ago by the federal Liberals to assist provinces which opt to move in that direction. We have made that same transition process and resources available to the BC government, at their request.

Moving to an HST is the decision of the province of BC. For details on what it means to you please feel free to call your local MLA.

I guess the question I asked earlier this morning--How can any of the other provincial leaders contemplating such a move not wonder if they will be simply hung out to dry [by the Feds] when the going gets a little tough politically? --has been answered: they can't.