Pushing Political Buttons - NL & Canada

Another Member

2007-11-29T05:45:00.001-03:30

Welcome Peter Whittle to the Paradox Party (aka Oblivion) where we find partisan politics repulsive and most often self-serving...

Apples to Peanuts - Equalization Share (Canada - Let's build it on the Backs of the Little Guys with no representation!)

2007-03-27T01:34:00.000-02:30

My household and I are shocked and completely disappointed by Mr. Harper's betrayal and manipulation of his word regarding equalisation and the Atlantic Accord. Note also that I was born and raised in Ontario and at least I have been able to educate my friends and family regarding the unfairness to which NL is continuously subjected. I would hope that our representatives, as few as they are, could do the same in the House of Commons. I have lived around the world and in many provinces in Canada, including 4.5 yrs in Quebec. Strangely enough, Quebec is the province with which NL has the closest cultural comparison but they have 75 MP's to our seven, so we neither get listened to nor do we get our fair share from the federation.

Bullying! 58 years of bullying! The problem: the Big Guys (Ontario, Quebec & now too Alberta) stomping the Little Guys (Atlantic Provinces, Saskatchewan and the 3 Territories) is happening in our country. The Little Guy provinces all put together cannot receive fair representation from Canada. Even if we could convince Manitoba, BC, Alberta and for that matter all of the Maritime provinces to join NL, we still couldn't match Ontario's domination and control of the federation in a purely mathematical formula of MP's! The "population" based powers and their "national" newspapers, supported by their 10's of millions of voters, wonder why the tiny hamlets (aka little provinces) are in an uproar about the broken promises and unfair measuring of everything per capita. Of course it is unfair! The new formula even removes offsets designed for years to take this factor into consideration. We need practically, just as many miles of highways and maintenance. This is just one reason why it isn't fair...

Ontario with it's nearly $6k per capita times its population base of about 10 million people surely maintains a nicer more functional infrastructure than that of NL at approx $7k per capita times its population of 500 thousand. I mean come on, compare apples to apples, or even apples to oranges but not apples to peanuts. The resource and agricultural industries are consistently stripped for their value from tiny unrepresented provinces with 4-14 MP's and are keeping central (and the rest of) Canada in very good shape as they process and "add value" to our provinces' resources' at the expense of those of us who are considered underpopulated "complainers".

Alberta (as I understand it) has received 20 plus years of benefit their non-renewable resources, yet now that NL and NS are finally in a place to receive similar fair treatment, the rules are changed. Funny, the Prime Minister comes from Alberta. Are the sands nearly tapped? Is AB running at the end of its non-renewable resource? Is that why they seem willing to step gracefully away from the trough into an equalisation formula designed especially for them!? All this just as NL finally gets a chance to earn a fair income from a different resource to make up for years of direct federally supported over-fishing, forestry, and the ongoing unfair pillaging of NL's Lower Churchill power facility by Quebec. How vile.

Mr. Manning, nay, Mr. Harper, when does it stop? Moreover, when do you keep your word and when does Canada keep her word to Newfoundland & Labrador, and for that matter the other under-represented provinces of the federation? Remember also, the Marine Atlantic ferry is our Trans Canada Highway, it is written in law. The price for a trip across the channel should match the equivalent in kilometres/litre of regular unleaded gasoline, not the cost of a round trip airplane ticket to Toronto! Our resources, geography, commitment to freedom and fairness are the primary reasons why Newfoundland was seduced by Canada. Stop sharing our peanuts with everybody, if you're not willing to pay fairly for them...

Perhaps we need to re-strike the Fair Deal for Newfoundland website, so I have also cc'd Kevin McCann and many NL MHA's. Maybe this time around the NL Government will hire and pay him for his communication talents.

Finally, we "get it", so tell Flaherty to stop being so incredulous and condescending. Every time he talks he insults the Little Guys like the self-absorbed, self-indulgent writers and editors of the Globe & Mail. National news me arse...

My thoughts for now,

Fred Harris CBS, NL

Military Stretched Thin - Yer not sayin'...

2006-04-16T14:20:00.000-02:30

I have been saying this for over 10 years. I provided an unsolicited 15-page document to Air Force Retention (a section invented to bandage the outpouring of qualified personnel who were sick of the governments cutbacks and absence of commitment to our military). The Liberal government and the upper echelon "Yes-men and women" of the Canadian Forces have been trying to use our military as stretch-wrap to cover all the edges of everything from our coastlines, to NATO commitments, to our northern sovereignty, to search and rescue and back again. It's a good thing we don't have to protect against invasion from below...

Maybe my belief that the Conservatives government would be equally ineffective at protecting and supporting our service people, coupled with an ongoing inability to provide serious commitment to rebuilding and re-equipping the Canadian military, were premature. The following news story finally seems to recognize just how thin our military has been left following years of hack and slash governing.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/04/13/oconnor060413.html

Will the Conservatives improve this? I hope so. Am I still pissed-off that Emerson and Harper (re: Fortier & Emerson) have not been held to task for the abuse of our voters trust? You bet I am. This merely elicits the often-misinterpreted belief that just because I'm pissed-off about the unethical and completely irresponsible manner, in which government handles one issue, doesn't mean the same government is incapable of correctly handling other issues. However, they should still be held to task and held accountable for each of the unreasonable acts they commit.

Each event is exclusive but correctly reacting to situations and issues that disgust and outrage the electorate should be handled individually. I'm not saying that everybody should resign but I believe Harpers abuse of power in those circumstances still needs to be punished. The spirit of our country's rules, combined with Harpers word to support the spirit of those rules, rather than act like Liberals, cries out for restorative measures and telling him that he is not permitted to do things contrary to his election promises. He promised to fix the loopholes and problems in our country's legislation, not use them to his own ends. Fix that...

...and thanks for finally recognizing the shortfalls in supporting our troops! Hey maybe next we could look at providing our troops with equivalent college or university accreditation for the standardized training that they receive around Canada. What a concept, respect for protecting your country.

My thoughts for now...

FredfromCBS

Watchdogs Around the Country

2006-04-04T14:09:00.000-02:30

The following is some excerpts from one of my posts to Wallace MacLean's Labradore.

I am a diehard 'keep Canada together no matter what the cost' kinda guy.

I was and still am on a learning curve regarding both provincial and federal politics. I will form my opinions and arguments based on all the partisan crap espoused by reds, blues, oranges and greens. Good ideas for the whole of Canada and the provinces should NEVER be held hostage by any party attempting to push partisan agenda and issues of favouritism.

I pledge that I will:
1. try to play fair;
2. learn from history;
3. avoid name calling;
4. teach children about politics, ethics, fair play;
5. share information to empower people to make the best choices possible;
6. arrest hatred and do my best to stop hate crime;
7. protect the weak, disabled and elderly; and
8. Stop the abuse of our social systems and tax dollars by all.

Item 8 is designed to include government officials (white collar criminals) as well as welfare and other system abusers (blue collar criminals). The era of entitlement will need to get by watchdogs like me. It may sound Utopian but it will grow more rapidly than did these governments who abuse their positions of power.

Messieurs Harper and Emerson should be dismissed and enter bi-elections. Not just Emerson, Harper too! He compromised our trust the first day in office.

I will rant sporadically. It will be less about protecting politicians and more about protecting our country's collaborative effort with other countries to make the entire world accountable to a humane society towards people of the planet. I also support balancing the good treatment of the preservation of the creatures of the planet to their usefulness in our diets and the world economy.I hope I haven't given you too much information to digest...

My thoughts for now,

FredfromCBS

Canada's Best Legacy in the World

2006-01-20T11:42:00.000-03:30

The Canadian Forces is not an overnight fix, for sure! Especially now that people are dying and the newest direction of Canada's military involvement is looking more like a watered down apology, to the Yanks & Brits, for our less enthusiastic approach to their world wide policing action. Wasn't the Vietnam lesson enough? And if Harper gets in we become merely another Company or Platoon in the American Brigade war effort. Nah, that's not the Canadian Forces I want. Once the Americans screwed us out of the Arrow and our rightful place in history, being peacekeepers was the best decision ever made by our government. Pearson had the scattered good idea...

It is not Canada's historical design or place to merely act as another strong arm to enforce American will. Canada's first and most important role in foreign military intervention should be as a peacekeeping force. The second and probably only other reason to visit or work in foreign arenas is to be visible goodwill ambassadors for our country. It is why we are generally less hated around the world than Americans. Because we don't enforce the will or policy of anybody and we try to maintain a protective force for civilians while participating in the rebuilding of countries in turmoil; we are generally placed in high regard by the civilians in the war-torn countries we "visit".

One of the many reasons I left the military when I did was because of the average age of people in the military was over 30, close to 35 yrs old. There was no room left for advancement and my butt-kissing for a promotion was never quite as good as some other "Yes" men & women that I’ve worked with. Non-commissioned member recruiting was way down and attrition was only eroding the qualified people who were stagnated from upward progression due to the bottleneck created by the government when they came up with the "Force Reduction Plans". The “Old Boy’s Club” is another daily hurdle in the Air Force & the Navy but I can only speculate that it is the same in the Army. Once they get into the OBC, it’s warm and career progression is nice but they hafta live with the memories of the ideas they have stolen and the backs they have walked over to get there.

No, Ed Hollett's point that, "[The Forces]: unrealistic plans to expand ... beyond what can even reasonably be recruited," is very real. What he didn't say was that the reason it is so desperate is because the Liberals decimated the Forces and it is only now starting to recover following a gapping wound delivered by his "fiscally responsible" morons in Red. It became a less viable option for kids getting out of school to join until recently but if we join Bush and his cronies with a newly elected Blue jacket, and Canadian kids start dying daily, well, let's just not get to that point. We will notice our brothers and sisters dying a lot faster on CTV way faster than Americans do on CNN.

The Canadian Forces is in an outpatient recovery program that needs to return to its roots as does the Canadian Governments policies on world intervention and missions. We are peacekeepers and our good nature, coupled with our dedication to that task is a much better use for our people than is the George Bush method of ramming democracy down someone’s throat.

No matter who gets in, they must realize this truth and shy away from the saber-rattlin' bar...

FredfromCBS

Green Party "Sealing" Fate In NL

2006-01-17T00:05:00.000-03:30

I've been embroiled in discussions with some Green Party officials after hooking up with a candidate of theirs here on the Rock. (That's Newfoundland, Canada.)

The candidate hosts a blog too http://newfoundlandgreenparty.blogspot.com

I've also come to realize that with a family, a job, 2 university courses, grandchildren, homework, 2 books started, 1 firm business idea, 1 in the works and 3 other prospects, I prefer to post on existing blogs more often than I do on my own.

I'm sure I'll get riled soon enough to go on another role.

MP Recommends Rollback

2005-09-20T10:54:00.000-02:30

This is a SNIP from John Gushue's Blog http://johngushue.typepad.com/ under "Roll back salaries, MP says":

Former solicitor-general Wayne Easter has strong advice for his former cabinet colleagues. Nancy Russell has more details from her blog tonight about the P.E.I. MP:
Malpeque MP Wayne Easter is calling on the Martin Cabinet to roll back "any financial gain made by managers over and above normal salaries as a result of the lockout" at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
...
"This lack of resolutions at the mediation talks," he writes to the ministers, " leads me to believe that at least one of the parties at the table is not really resolved to settling the issue."

This is a serious and positive step for the CBC employees which I support. If only our federal government MP's, of which Minister Easter is also a party, recommended a Roll Back for the wages associated with MP, Cabinet and Senate salaries, perhaps then we might meet the 0.7% to meet our country's goal for poverty, improve the Health Care systems, demontrate their knowledge that they are the only ones living with affordable quality of life, etc. You know I could go on and on about the programs and underfunding caused by overpaying themselves but the ravenous, glutonous Ottawa trough feeders know what I am talking about. Their ease of life is made possible by them consistently unethically voting for themselves a larger disparity in wages between themselves and the people to whom they are supposed to represent! It is a conflict of interest that they should have the right to set these wage levels. Why not "think outside that box" and Rollback YOUR wages my representatives. I mean come on, we pay for all your lunches and trips through expense accounts. Why do you need the base salary of 4 or more average Canadians?

Mr Efford, I'm still waiting...

2005-09-11T23:50:00.000-02:30

In response to NL Outside the Box [confederation] Blog hosted by NL Ex-PatriateTopic: "Voice your concerns to your federal representative, employee!"
I have sent e-mails citing concerns to my MP John Efford and even received some (canned) replies from his parliamentary assistant B. James. Unfortunately, when I identified to them that the content of the responses did not satisfy my submissions, all contact was cut-off. I submitted other e-mails trying to re-instigate dialogue but to no avail.
They will not respond to anything so I had to create a blog. I have yet to touch on all the points which I submitted to Minister Effords’ offices in Bay Roberts and Ottawa but one of the issues, which I hope they address in the House this year on the very first session, is an issue which belongs to the Speaker of the House.
That is: Per the document that they sent me regarding the outbursts of members who do not have the floor should receive warnings and then be evicted if they do not relinquish the floor or act with courtesy in the house. It is reprehensible conduct and our tax dollars are wasted by the illegal "philibuster" tactics. If they wish to argue against or for in their turn, then is their time to argue or pass comment. This continued illegal yelling, noisemaking and childishness have no place in our House of Commons!
Grow-up and earn your keep as adults within the law of our country’s procedures.
I have reposted this on my own blog.

GAS & Incentives to Buy Greener Cars!

2005-09-07T06:20:00.000-02:30

Question: Why is that Ontario's Provincial Government provides a $1,000 tax break/rebate, BC's provides $2,000 and PEI's $3,000 to people who purchase qualifying "green" hybrid new generation cars?
Answer: These provincial governments have recognized the importance of supporting the inevitable transition to environmentally friendly modes of transportation and are encouraging the people of their provinces (including themselves) to buy these cars ASAP improving the chances of survival for our planet.

Newfoundland & Labrador should receive at least the PEI level incentive and more.

Our government is unfairly pricing in the different areas of our province with different gasoline, oil, home heating, etc. prices and a stop to these practices are required immediately! Over $1.75/litre in Labrador! It is bad enough that there is such disparity from the prices in the rest of Canada compared to here in St. John's but the provincial government must stand up and lower the prices for the whole province to be equal to those prices in Ottawa.
These ongoing Monopolistic Oil Company and Taxation practices supported by Canada and then further abused by the provinces is crushing Blue Collar workers and seriously threatening 90% of the population in NL We cannot with stand these gas prices living on $10.00/hr much less minimum wage. Nobody will be able to afford to go to work!

Question: What happens if the people of NL cannot afford to go to work?
Answer: Increased stress, illness, family break-downs, welfare, fraud, violence and crime!

This is your wake-up call. Act now or lose the peace. Anarchy is brewing and nobody wants that.

These are just the bare minimum responses required by the PC provincial government or any other party who has designs to step-up to try to rebuild this province... Stop hoarding and trying to figure out how the next raise for government will go through without easing the burden of the entire province!

Hospitals N'Such

2005-08-15T20:45:00.000-02:30

Everything from Labrador only going to Labrador is never going to happen. With that said, and in working under a provincial structure where the government is responsible for the entire population of NL, it should be our goal to ensure that Labrador gets credit for their resource and people contributions, and in the fulfilling of promises that Danny Williams made which helped to get him elected.

Of paramount importance, satisfying the hospital and medical needs of Labrador's central community. What I mean by that is; it has become an unruly topic based solely on geographical boundaries and location when any of these "central" discussions unfold. Face it, St. John's (and surrounding area) has (and will continue to have in the near and probably distant future) the lion's share "and centre" of this province's population. Thus the biggest and the best equipment is going there. St. John's et al also has the most appealing lifestyle to the majority of citizens in this diverse province. It doesn't matter if you personally don't ever wish to even visit St. Johns, NL. That's just the way it is. So in our attempt to spread the wealth to best spend money to put it where the most people in this province can get access to it, we put it in St. John's.

Duplicating specialty equipment which is not often required in Goose Bay and Lab City or even Deer Lake and Cornerbrook is a waste of resources. However, whenever anybody from around this entire province is prescribed a test or diagnostic procedure that requires them to go to St. John's, a certain formula based on the family income should be used to calculate how much of the roundtrip the province, and the majority corporation stakeholders who require people to live and work in remote areas with less than ideal medical resources, should be willing (or forced) to cover these travel expenses. Social responsibility demands it.

Hell I can open a whole new can of worms by stating that anybody who goes out on a boat, or climbs a mountain or takes a trek in the nature does so at their own risk and peril. Get rid of the Coast Guard, fold Search and Rescue and save billions! While we're at it, let's see if the Liberals are going to pay back sponsorship scandal monies. Yeah didn't think so...

Make medical treatment fair and impartial based on geographical locations!

Fred from CBS

The "N" Word

2005-08-02T12:24:00.000-02:30

Most of the Newfoundlanders I know are not promoting being called, "Newfie" anymore. Has it truly become like another "N" word.

Comments?

Fred from CBS

Blogging Tories

2005-07-19T07:05:00.000-02:30

Thanks for your kind words Stephen T. but I am perplexed with the notion of party politics at this time. If you follow the http://www.fairdealfornewfoundland.com/ you will see that my current preference for a candidate is Independent. It took the foresight and conviction of our Independent Members of the House to protect our country from an ill-advised election that might have thrust our country into anarchy!

Imagine, any of these no-mind parties with a majority at this time... No, I prefer to keep them all in check and at bay with a prefectly balanced minority government where the Independants make smart and federally strong choices that support autonomous provincial goals. I only wish that I could compromise my personal morales and join blogging tories so that more people could hear my anger. But alas, I can't do it so long as Mr. Harper remains the figure head. (I can't bring myself to call him a leader.) His alliances and choices for support do not represent the Constitution Act with which I am familiar. Until the hate, the imposition of "moral superiority", religious over-zealousness and intolerance can be erradicated from party politics, I must stand away from the CPC. Until the Liberals and their cohorts repay the missing money from Adscam, the Frazier Commission on Sponsorship AND the Gomery Commission I will either vote Independant or for one of the other candidates depending on their definition of ethical behaviour.

As for Gomery and not being able to charge these white collar criminals (thanks to a tastily worded caveat/sub-para), working towards a class action suit in tort law or under breach of contract from Canadians against those "people" who misappropriated, or stole, or absconded with our tax dollars may be the only satisfying route that our country could go to recover our tax monies! It's petty cash to Paul Martin's "former" holdings in his big boat companies in Canada, or the more lucrative ones abroad. And he was holding those holdings when he was the finance minister when the sponsorship scandal broke...

I'm no lawyer but one would think that a hundred of'em would want a crack at that magnatude of a class action "repayment plan".

Repost this in your blog if you want but I can't join blogging tories.

Gomery should have RCMP Options

2005-06-18T20:51:00.000-02:30

I hope like hell that when Justice Gomery comes to his conclusions, as a judge and citizen of Canada living a comfortable life as a taxpayer in a lifestyle provided primarily by taxpayers, he is able to force the abusers of our money to pay it back. Even if they don't go to jail, they should pay it ALL back! They should also pay for the entire Gomery Inquiry and the costs encountered by the Auditor General of Canada.
Lay down the gauntlet, teach these sponsorship abusers at all levels to respect our tax dollars and to use them for CANADA and not their pitifull self-serving existences. They are already paid too much and maintain a lifestyle far above the "mean average" of people who work far harder than they. It is a travesty if they get away with stern tongue lashings and slaps on the wrists.
The Liberal party must also step forward to admit their wrong doing for them to ever stand a chance in Canada's future. The worse thing that has happened in my lifetime of following Canadian politics is that the watchdogs haven't been able to punish the unethical people who commit travesties against our country, which have been so blatently uncovered, recorded, noted, proven, etc.
Gotta go to work and EARN my living now...

Excuse Me, I'd Like a Response Mr. Efford

2005-06-07T05:30:00.000-02:30

Yes, aggravated enough to create my own Blog. I thought I could get enough blogging on www.fairdealfornewfoundland.com which I totally support every direction Kevin has gone to date but it goes to sleep between issues and thrusts. I need more anger directed in letters to elected officials who aren't acting on behalf of their contituencies. Wake up out there and fight the good fight!

Over the next few months (or until my wife catches me with my own Blog) I will bring the issues covered in 3 or 4 very lengthy e-mails from me to Liberal Minister John Efford's offices in Ottawa and Bay Roberts, NL. I will also post the responses and the mailings that I received. To say the least, I am disappointed. Early indications to me were that Ms. B. James, parliamentary assistant to Mr. Efford and the female voice in Bay Roberts, would be pleased to satisfy my requests.

I did receive answers but they were the type of responses I would have expected from an insurance company or the Department of Veteran Affairs after making a claim. Brushed off without so much as a, "How do you do?"

I want ranters and critical thinkers to help me push the political buttons for Newfoundland & Labrador, other provinces (I am originally from Ontario), and most of all I want to push the buttons of ALL politicians to make our federal Canadian Government act responsibly with honour and accountability! I want teams of watchdog activists, aggressively demanding action and answers when ignored the first few times. I want the ignorant unaccountable politicians recalled and ousted in by-elections forced by the people! I want MP's to work for our country and not for themselves or their gluttonous parties and industrial friends of parties. It is my hope and goal to bust these parties by getting everyone to vote INDEPENDENT.

These partisan political thrusts and tirades have no place in governing our country. If it only takes 51% to form a separate country, then it should only take 51% to vote in the new Atlantic Accord! This unanimous drivel allowing one person or one party to bloc legislation is inappropriate. Pass C-43 and enact the ACCORD before summer break. You should not even get a summer break if this action is not settled. Why do you get a break at all? After this past 6 months of bickering we want the Accord passed now!

Bring it on, I'm up and kicking

Fred from CBS