Smog Day!

Today, there was a smog warning in place for Montreal. It was mostly because of the forest fires around but also because of pollution. I could smell the ozone and fine particles in the air. In fact, pollution is the reason for smog. Smog is yet another consequence of polluting in cities. I would guess that transportation is the leading cause for smog. There should be more funding public transit and even more funding for zero emission transportation like biking and walking. We need to reduce the space for cars and replace it with pedestrian, bike and public transit reserved lanes. That is good urban planning and great sustainable development. Nobody likes smog nor breathe it. Cutting down on the polluting cars would ensure fewer smog days.

Rand Paul for once I agree with you

You may all know about how I have mentioned how I disagree with Rand Paul on some issues, but here is one me and him are in agreement. He said that he wants to stop the law that would allow the illegal immigrants children who are born in the U.S citizenship. The current law in the U.S is that if you are born there you have citizenship, but if there was an illegal immigrant who came in the U.S then had a baby born in the U.S that baby would have citizenship. This is not fair how a baby can get become a citizen of a country, because his mom broke the law, and went into the U.S. This is not correct , and it encourages people to illegally immigrate so their baby can legally be a citizen.

"We are the only country I know of that allows people to come in illegally, have a baby, and then that baby becomes a citizen," Paul said. "And I think that should stop also."

Legislation referred to as the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009, a bill that has 91 co-sponsors, would modify the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent U.S. citizenship for individuals born to undocumented immigrants

read more here

Reid Might Win

Harry Reid, the Democrat senate leader has had major problems trying to get reelected in his state of Nevada. Many groups have raised funds for the GOP party candidate. So no candidate has this money yet because there are three front runners in the republican primary. The polls since the winter have shown that Harry Reid will lose against any one of these candidate, but a new poll's results (Reid vs any Republibcan candidate) are within the margin of error. So what I think this proves is that now that we are done the health care bill, and have moved on to different issues, it is giving a bit of a boost on support. I hope that Harry Reid does win, because after the senate elections when the Democrats came back, (according to current polls) they should have a leader to start getting stuff done.  
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/28/new-poll-suggests-nevada-senate-race-tightening/?fbid=vC151ygio_T

BP cover up work

On Friday, there was about 400 workers on the golf coast cleaning up the gulf, but after a few hours, there was just 20 people. The only difference between these two points of the day was that Obama came to visit. This is just a new low for BP. They just bring people in so that they can show the president what a good job they are doing. Only when Obama leaves, do they stop cleaning up. This is just disgraceful to the people of thee gulf coast that the only reason stuff was getting done was because Obama came to visit. This is where government could get involved in cleaning up this oil spill. There should be govermnet workers over seeing all the projects and the workers, so that the Gulf coast could always get this Presidential treatment.

Early Friday morning, "a number of buses brought in approximately 300 to 400 workers that had been recruited all week," Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts told CNN's "Situation Room."

But, when Obama departed, so did the workers, he said, adding that he's never seen more than 20 workers at the Grand Isle cleanup site since the effort started.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/28/gulf.oil.spill.bp/index.html

Canadian Model Works

Many financial experts say that the reason Canada was shielded from the hard part of the recession was because of our regulations. If we had become more deregulated, we might have ended up like the US. It was the regulations that saved us. We do not need to lessen the rules in the economic sector, it works fine as it is. We need to keep our country this way to protect our country from future economic disasters.

The sharp contrast between the Canadian experience and how negatively the financial crisis affected the United States, and much of Europe, reflects different regulatory regimes, as well as different corporate governance systems, financial institution lending practices and different structures. Interestingly, in the halcyon years before the financial crisis, Canadian practices were often criticized in New York and London as being too conservative, too prudent and too unwelcoming of the new financial innovations that were sweeping global balance sheets.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Voting is Good

New research shows that political activism is good for people. Mentally, of course. They feel better, have a sense of purpose, better relationships and have a good sense of self esteem. This is very interesting. Of course, after the 2008 election with the lowest voter participation on record, we have to wonder whether there should be vote legislation. Anyway, I hope more people get involved in politics.

When it comes to politics, why are more of us becoming disengaged? Are we more cynical? Lazy? Self-absorbed? Distracted? Busy? Despairing? All of the above?

New psychological research suggests that rising indifference to politics among Canadians, as well as people in many parts of the world, may actually reflect a lack of personal happiness, an existential melancholy. In fact, the novel psychological experiments conducted by a U.S. psychologist and a German psychologist suggest that humans feel more satisfied and alive when they jump into political action, even at a relatively minor level.

Read more at the Vancouver Sun.

Not Just Yet, Oil Companies

After the terrible disaster in the Gulf, the Obama administration has said that they will maybe take back a few opportunities from the oil companies to start drilling. Like the delaying of the exploration for oil in the coast of Alaska, canceling the drilling in Virginia and stopping new wells from being built. This is all because the administration is revising the risks of drilling.I hope it will make sure that if there is such drilling it should be as much away from as much wildlife as possible. It should have strict regulations to make sure they do not hurt the environment, and must follow all the rules. If by any chance there is a oil spill the company must not only pay for the damages, but must also pay for the environmental recovery of the area, pay for all the economic losses they have created, must be fined heavily, and be put under serious questioning. There should be no excuses for oil spills, because there should not have been an oil spill in the first place.

Obama is delaying oil exploration off the coast of Alaska, canceling the sale of a lease to drill off Virginia and extending the moratorium on permits to drill any new deepwater wells for six months, a White House official said Thursday.

Obama is due to take questions from the press on Thursday, and four congressional hearings were scheduled Thursday regarding the spill.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/27/obama.drilling.moratorium/index.html

COI, Clement

CTV has learned that Industry Minister Tony Clement participated in an advert promoting a company to the Chinese. He didn't do it as a Canadian citizen, but rather as health minister of that time. This is unacceptable. Someone who is paid with our tax dollars cannot make an advertisement for a private company. Apparently, the guy who produced the advertisement was also his friend. After, his friend was later named to the Canadian Tourism Commission. The company also received multiple government contracts. This is a triple conflict of interest. First, he participates in a commercial for a private business, second, he names his acquaintance to a government commission, third, he might have given the company their contracts. There should be an immediate investigation into this affair. We don't want this sort of thing to happen again. I embedded the part of the video with Minister Tony Clement below.

Watch the report at CTV and read about it at Liberal.ca.

Repower Ourselves

A good video showing how our dependence on fossil fuels is just going to make us suffer, one way or another. We need to invest and switch to green energy so that we don't need to be slaves to the oil companies. They should not be going around causing environmental disasters. Sure, some people would say disasters are rare, but, properly build and maintained clean energy will cause less disasters than fossil fuels. We need independence from fossil fuels.

Bottled Bacteria

A new study has shown that popular brands of bottled water has a huge amount of bacteria. Even compared to tap water, bottled water had more bacteria. In fact, 70% of the brands tested didn't make the American standards for the number of colony forming bacteria allowed in drinking water. Bottled water is a waste. As shown, tap water is just as good, if not better. Bottled water, as we learn from the study, has potentially pathogenic bacteria inside and isn't good for the environment. When we consume it, we lose. The companies have obviously done a good job of marketing the product as we get water for free anyway. They are selling us something we get for free! I say we use bottled water only for emergencies.

Canadian researchers say they've discovered some bottled water in Canada contains more bacteria than what comes out of the tap — although they won't reveal which brands are the culprits. 

Researchers from C-crest Laboratories in Montreal bought and tested several popular brands of bottled water, and found many of them had heterotrophic bacteria counts that were "surprisingly high."

Read more at the Vancouver Sun.

Bye, Don't Ask Don't tell!

A new poll shows that 78% of Americans support the repeal of the "don't ask don't tell" law. This is great, and the Senate and House plan to vote on this soon. There only one catch: even if this bill is passed and then sighed by Obama today, there is still a military review which is going to have to be done before the policy is removed. This is expected to come in by the end of 2010. The truth is that no longer must people be afraid to express there sexual orientation, and then be denied to serve there country. This policy must be gone, and a overwhelmingly majority of Americans agree on this.

"There is a gender gap, with 85 percent of women and 71 percent of men favoring the change, but support remains high among both groups."

"Support is widespread, even among Republicans. Nearly six in ten Republicans favor allowing openly gay individuals to serve in the military," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "

 Read more at CNN Politics.

Dixi

Washington is ordering over one thousand Bixis from the Montreal-based company. Many other cities have already ordered Bixis. While they are buying, Bixi is always expanding in Montreal. Bike stands that used to have one row, now have two rows. One week ago, when the metro shut down, a ton of commuters decided to go out and rent bikes. This shows great progress for Bixi. Now, it is right at the top of commuters' minds. It's environmentally friendly and practical. Expanding this business will be good for everyone.

The expanded program will replace the SmartBike D.C. bike network, created in 2008.

"The response to the bike-sharing program has been unprecedented, and we are pleased to be able to join with Arlington in our expansion efforts," Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said in a statement.

The District program has 1,500 members making more than 100 trips a day on 100 bikes, said James R. Sebastian, a city transportation planner. He said the current network is "maxed out" and that the city is "trying to meet that demand with this new system."

Read more at the Washington Post.

The Oceans are Warming

Yet again, there is more evidence that the earth is warming. This time the data is from the oceans, not air temperatures. I do not know how there can still be climate deniers with all this data from global warming. Are they just going to say it's all fake. That's pretty much what their whole argument is based on, that data from 98% of climate scientists is fake. However, the studies done by the other 2% is correct. It isn't a small majority, it's an overwhelming majority of scientists who say global warming is true. According to the climate "realists," we should believe the 2%. Do we really want to take a risk hat big with our planet?

Between 1993 and 2008, the study finds, the upper 700 meters of the oceans absorbed about 0.6 watts per square meter of energy. That is roughly equivalent to the power of 2 billion copies of the atomic bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, said lead author John Lyman, an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii's Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research.

 Read more at the New York Times.

Canada Ranks Low

Canada has ranked sixth out of eight on our overall environmental policy. Even ahead of us was the United States of America. However, in the categories innovation and and skills, we ranked third and first respectively. This means we have a great potential to do well, it's just that our government isn't letting us be green. There is no pricing of carbon in any which way, there is minimal funding to green technology and our emissions targets are low and still won't be met by the Harper government. We need to use the skills and innovation we already have to push us ahead of the crowd, to the forefront of being green.

OTTAWA—Canada has placed sixth among G8 nations in a federally-appointed think tank’s new report on low-carbon performance.

The ranking comes in the new low-carbon performance index produced by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, which is measured across five key categories and 15 indicators.

The categories are emissions and energy, innovation, investment, skills, and policy and institutions.

But while Canada placed sixth overall, the country ranked first in skills and third in innovation under the performance index.

Read more at the Toronto Star.

Tea Party leader rasict

The tea party leader, Mark Williams blogged about a new mosque, and a new Islamic cultural center near ground zero. He said the mosque would be a place where the Muslims would pray to there "terrorists monkey-god." I think this is racist for him to say such a thing about another religion and for trying to make the connection between Islam and terrorism is just horrific. I think we can all agree that Mark Williams should apologize, but he sent an email to the media saying that he wasn't sorry. He even said that he meant to connect terrorism and Islam. Mark is setting a bad example for the tea party, and I can speak for many people when saying that racism should have no part in a democratic country.

"The monument would consist of a Mosque for the worship of the terrorists' monkey-god," Williams, a frequent guest on CNN, wrote on his Web site

In an e-mail to the Daily News, Williams was unapologetic - saying his comments were specifically aimed at the terrorists, which he described as "the animals of Allah."

Read more at the Daily News.

STM's going Electric!

The STM has announced that 100% of Montreal's buses will be electric by 2025. This will include trolley-buses and fast-charge buses. The STM has bought only diesel-powered and hybrid buses so far, but the authority is going to start testing the trolley buses in 2011. By 2012, all buses bought will be hybrids. This is a great initiative from the STM. Electricity in Quebec is cheap and clean. Public transit is already environmentally friendly. By making all buses electric, emissions from using public transit will near zero. Once again, the STM has looked for ways to be greener. I wish them the best of luck in this endeavour.

MONTREAL – Montreal's public transit system will be entirely electric by 2025, says the Société de transport de Montréal, making the city the first in North America to pledge to use only zero-emission - and zero-noise - vehicles.

The STM is currently waiting for a shipment of 380 new diesel buses, with a lifespan of about 15 years, said Carl Desrosiers, chief of operations for the STM. But these will be the last of their kind in Montreal.

In the meantime, the corporation will begin to introduce more efficient, and less polluting buses starting next year.

Read more at the Montreal Gazette or CBC.

Rand Paul "Obama un-American"

If you don't know yet, in Ketucky a Republican primary overwhelmingly was won by Rand Paul. If his name sounds familiar, it is. He is the son of the former Republican presidential nominees candidate, Ron Paul. He said that Obama is un-American, and his reason for this is that Obama is too tough on BP. He said how he thinks "sometimes accidents happen." I think he needs to know how BP was not following  all the regulations, and that they should be held accountable. I don't think BP needs another pillow than the ones it was given by Bush. Rand Paul is trying to bring the coutry to what it was during the Bush White House reign. Where all the corporations are too comfortable with Washington Dc.

"I've heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill," Paul continued. "I think it's part of this blame game society in the sense that it's always got to be someone's fault, instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen."

Democrat Jack Conway, Paul's opponent in the Kentucky Senate race, released a statement Friday slamming Paul over his comments on BP.

"Rand Paul apparently has a deeply held conviction that corporations should be allowed to do what they see fit without oversight or accountability. He even goes so far as to say that that criticizing corporations when they hurt taxpayers and working families – as in the case of the massive BP oil disaster – is 'un-American,'" Conway said.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/21/paul-says-obama-being-too-tough-on-bp/?fbid=JRSptEDlHJy

Reformed Wall Street. Now what?

Last Thursday, a new bill passed the American Senate by a margin of 59-39, and more importantly 4 Republicans voted yes, but 2 voted no. I think this is great that there will now be a consumer agency regulator. That will help the system be more consumer friendly. This system also would change the procedure in which companies go down. So it is great that now we know for sure that the Obama Gov. has moved on from health care, and now going into reform, and I would hope the next thing they start talking about it is immigration. Because there this issue is sparking up since the new law in Arizona.

It would create a council of regulators that would sound an alarm before companies are in position to trigger a financial crisis. The bill would also establish new procedures for shutting down giant financial firms that are collapsing.

The bill, which passed 59-39, imposes more oversight and stronger capital cushions for the largest banks and Wall Street firms, while aiming to stop bailouts, shine a light on complex financial products and strengthen consumer protection.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/20/news/economy/Wall_Street_reform/index.htm

New Senator

Harper has appointed a new Senator. David Braley, apparently is one of the few people who "knows Harper's phone number." Of course there is something wrong with this, but, it's the whole Senate which is bad. Prime Ministers just fill it up with hired votes for their bills. Harper is right about democratizing the Senate. I just hope that making our government more democratic happens faster. We need an elected Senate so that if there is a majority in the House of Commons, it's not a dictatorship for the party that has a majority. We must have an elected Senate to ensure that Canada moves into the future, more democratic.

Sports tycoon David Braley, appointed to the Senate Thursday, acknowledges tens of thousands of dollars in donations to the 2004 leadership campaign of Prime Minister Stephen Harper – but says he also donated to two of his competitors.

In an interview, the owner of the Canadian Football League’s B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts confirmed donations of $30,000 each to Mr. Harper and Belinda Stronach, plus an unspecified donation to Tony Clement.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Ignatieff supports Tar Sands

Michael Ignatieff has once again said he supported the Alberta tar sands as long as they become cleaner towards the environment. The tar sands will never be clean. So far, there has been no innovations designed to reduce the environmental footprint of the tar sands besides Carbon Capture and Storage. Except that it doesn't work. The only solution to the problem of the tar sands is to let the companies exploit the resource. If they choose to use the tar sands, they will be taxed. There should be a carbon tax and multiple other taxes on those businesses instead of tax cuts like Harper's been giving them. Therefore, they will have an incentive to clean up, they will be able to continue exploiting the resource, while making all of us richer.

On the oilsands, Ignatieff said the resource and entire energy sector is a matter of national unity because it creates jobs and wealth across the country. However, there's growing environmental concerns in the oilsands -- including rising greenhouse gas emissions as well as the ecological footprint on air, water and land -- that can't be ignored, he said.

Read more at the Calgary Herald.

Oil Spill a Wake-Up Call

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico should remind the world that oil is not a good resource to rely on to move into the future. First, the fact that we have to go to such lengths to harvest black gold shows us that we are running out of it. The tar sands in Alberta are actually bitumen. In its natural state, it's thick, cannot move through pipelines and cannot be used for anything else except patching up canoes. Now, we're also drilling deep underwater to get at oil. When we go farther to get oil, there will be more accidents and disasters such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico. There will also be hits for the economy. Oil is great for now, but if we don't switch to sustainable forms of energy soon, there will be a big slap in the face for oil-dependant countries. By switching now, we create a transition phase which allows us to be leaders in the future.

Relatively easy to find, extract, process, store and transport - and above all cheap - liquid oil quickly became our most important energy source to cook, heat, cool and transport things.

From plastics to supermarkets, and from globalised industry supply chains to the layout of our towns and cities, almost every aspect of human life has been radically altered over the past 150 years by oil.

Read more at the BBC.

Public transit is Worth It

According to the STM, a return trip using public transit once a week for a year is equivalent to the benefits provided by 52 trees and recycling for three weeks. These are just more examples supporting the environmentally-friendly public transit. There should be more funding for public transit. Public transit should get priority on the road. That means less space for cars, more space for buses, trams, trolley buses etc. Funds should make public transit less expensive and faster than cars. Federal, provincial and municipal governments need to do more to support public transit. It is the way of the future.

Can childern be rascist?

In a study done by CNN, young children were shown multiple pictures of other children followed by a question from the supervisor. In a question to white children: "Show me the dumb child," 76% of them picked one of the two dark coloured children. Many other questions showed the same result. Now first, I would like to say this is not all technically a scientific study, but I think it does shows that there are childern that think badly of others because of different ethnicity. So question is are you teaching you're childern not to discriminate?

CNN is going to talk about this at 10PM.

Canada's Big Bombardier

Bombardier is a Canadian company that manufactures many rail products. Unfortunately, we are not taking advantage of the fact that we have one of the world leaders in high speed rail in our country. However, others are. In China, Bombardier is being contracted to build multiple Zefiro trains for China's ever-growing high speed rail network. In fact, in a few years China will have more track than the rest of the world put together. There have been many studies on high speed rail in Canada and all have proven that high speed rail is a plus. It makes a profit, cuts travel time and goes from city centre to city centre which helps the economy (I won't explain it here). It's time Canada takes advantage of Bombardier and builds high speed rail.

Personally, I wish he would turn it around and send it straight north to Canada, where high-speed rail makes so much sense politicians don’t seem to know what to make of it.

U.S. President Barack Obama has announced $8-billion (U.S.) in grants toward producing a national high-speed intercity rail service. In Canada, where studies have endlessly and consistently promoted high-speed connections through the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, including a “spur” line up to Ottawa, and between Calgary and Edmonton, there is never anything but lip service to future possibilities. The Canadian government has committed nearly $1-billion (Canadian) to VIA Rail upgrades and infrastructure, but still no firm commitment to go the way of the rest of the world.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Hybrids

Hybrid cars are an effective way to reduce emissions. They are just a temporary measure, though, before the general public can move on to electric cars or fuel-cell powered cars. Even now, hybrid cars aren't accessible to the population. There should be more funding and initiatives from the government to help consumers buy hybrid cars.

TIm Hortons Intl.

Tim Hortons, Canada's great fast-food chain is planning to expand, in Canada and globally. This is a good thing. Tim Hortons is a Canadian business and the more it expands, the better it will be for Canada. I like Tim Hortons and eat there multiple times per year. I wish them the best of luck in expanding one of Canada's most known franchises.

Tim Hortons plans to keep growing, both at home and abroad, over the next four years, says chief executive Donald Schroeder.

“We believe there is plenty of room to develop from our current level of 3,000, to about 4,000 restaurants here in Canada,” Schroeder told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting Friday.

Tim’s will push out from its current foothold in the U.S. northeast and Midwest, Schroeder said.

It will also look farther afield, although Schroeder said its international growth strategy will be tempered by the knowledge that huge markets like India and China are “littered with people who jumped in too quickly.”

Read more at the Toronto Star.

Domestic Cap-and-trade

The U.S. is talking about if they want to impliment a cap-and-trade system. I, unlike Owner and Doggy, do support a cap and trade system, but I believe only in domestic cap and trade. This is a diffrent system than the cap-and-trade system many people are talking about. I believe that domestic cap-and-trade companies in Canada are allowed to get a carbon credit, and are only allowed to sell to Canadian companies. So this way, Canada will decrease its carbon emissions. There should also be a limit on how many carbon credits a company can buy. So this way, the big oil and big gas can't just buy instead of reducing. In this system, Canadian companies in Canada will that reduce their emissions will now have more money to improve there company for the future.

Who are the real leaders?

The auditor general ask to see the expense papers of the MPs in parliament. You would hope that MPs would allow her, but all the leaders, but one said no. Who is this one leader who said yes to allowing the expense papers to go public? It was the the Bloc Québécois Leader. Gilles Duceppe was the only leader who said yes. I am no supporter of sovereignty or the Bloc party, but give credit where credit is due. So, I say to all the other leaders that the Canadian people would really like to know what is happening with their tax dollars. So the real question is: who is the real leader in parliament? Who will show the Canadian people what they should know. Right now it is only Gilles Duceppe.

The Compromise

All political parties in Parliament have reached a decision regarding the Afghan detainee documents. There will be a committee of MPs from all four parties reviewing the uncensored documents to decide which of them other MPs and the public should view. Personally, I don't think we should have come to a compromise. I don't think Harper is willing to go to the polls right now. He would have had to hand over all the documents. Now, this compromise is fine, I just think that we, the public, should be able to get the full uncensored documents. I hope we won't have any more black pages.

OTTAWA—A last-minute deal on the release of Afghan detainee documents has been reached by government and opposition MPs.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson tabled the agreement in the House of Commons, saying it will allow a committee of MPs from all four parties to review documents in their “unredacted” or uncensored form, to determine whether they are relevant to a Parliamentary investigation into the treatment of detainees handed over to Afghan authorities.

 Read more at the Toronto Star.
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Closed Conservatives

Two pieces of writing about the closed government in yesterday's Gazette. An audit performed by the Canadian Newspaper Association found that it was the Harper government that was secretive. They didn't meet deadlines as stated by law, demanded extraordinary fees for information and I'm guessing that in some cases, the Tories didn't even procure the information. Worst of all the federal departments was National Defence with a D minus. That is a fail.

"At the federal (level), what we're seeing is (government) performances declining year over year, not getting better," said Suzanne Legault, interim federal information commissioner whose recent report to Parliament warned Canadians' right of access is "at risk of being totally obliterated because delays threaten to render the entire access regime irrelevant."

It's not unusual the Harperites are causing so many delays. When there is a chance at being ousted, Harper delays the vote, then prorogues. When the heat is on Harper about the Afghan detainee scandal, he prorogues. It seems that the way Harper weasels out of tight corners is by delaying things. And it's working! We shouldn't leave it up to politicians to keep the heat on Harper; we need to do it ourselves and now.

Read more at the Montreal Gazette and here.

Transportation Cocktail

The transportation cocktail includes public transit, walking, biking, taxis, car sharing, car pooling and more. You choose the one you take depending on the weather and the kind of trip you want to make. Therefore, trips will be fast, while conserving the environment. For those who can't leave their car at home for everything, this is the solution: a mix of everything.

A new law in France

A new law in France would make it illegal to wear full body burqa in public areas. This is going much too far. I think that people should have the right to wear whatever they want, but I think in certain areas you must be able to be identified by your face. Also, in areas like on your passport and drivers licence you must be seen.This might not be new, but I think that everyone can were whatever they want in public. That is a human right.

Canadiens win!

The Montreal Canadiens have won game 7 against Pittsburgh! That means we're either going to face Boston or Philadelphia next. We have a great chance to win the Stanley Cup this year. All Canadians should root for the Canadiens so we can bring the Cup back to CANADA!

Conservative U.K PM

The U.K now have a new PM, David Cameron. He has made a coalition with the Liberal-Democrats. This is a good thing because now Nick Clegg is the deputy PM which means he is second in charge. I think that this is good news although, I would rather have a Labour and Lib-Dem coalition than this. Nick Clegg was right to talk to Davis Cameron first because he won the election. Most importantly, what we know now is that the Conservatives have a majority goverment, but this is only with the coalition, so now the British people have a stable goverment and also a goverment that needs to appeal to the Lib-Dem party.The motions to be proposed by the Tories will need to be more centrist to maintain the Lib-Dem support.

Stop Whining!

Come on. Isn't it enough. We all know that Conservatives like to bash the CBC. They say it's biased, Liberal even communist! Some say it's the Communist Broadcasting Corporation. It's just getting silly. They can't just keep blaming the Mass Media for their troubles. It's always about the poor Conservatives. However, if you look at the polls, most Canadians didn't support Stephen Harper last election. Therefore, most Canadians will have an opinion against him. Should they all be silenced so we can have only true-blue broadcasting? If people want to speak then they should be able to without being bashed by the attack-ad party.

1. How Tory operatives spend their Friday nights. Stephen Harper’s Conservatives just don’t give up when it comes to bashing the CBC. It’s getting silly, with the Tories again questioning the broadcaster’s impartiality as a result of comments about a recent poll on women in politics.

Read more at the Globe and Mail and here.

Animals: Climate Change

The Climate Change Reality is increasing in all parts of the world. Ice is melting, increasing sea levels and reducing the territory for a number of animal species. Many will go extinct if we continue polluting as is. We must stop killing the earth before it is too late. There are no quick fixes and only one solution: stop emitting.

Kept in the Dark

The budget watchdog, Kevin Page won't be able to conduct his job properly because he doesn't have enough cold hard data from the government. Apparently, there is a lack of relevant information handed out to MPs and the auditors so that they can know what the government is doing. But, is research even being done? I don't think so. Statistics prove that the Tory "tough on crime" bills only make the situation worse. That means more money spent on housing prisoners in jail and criminals repeating offences when they get out. No wonder the Conservatives don't want anyone to know about this: it completely destroys their stance. Their own research showed that their crime bills don't work. Why should they let any other damning evidence get out into the open? Harper campaigned on government transparency. It's time for him to act.

Also this week, MPs on the Commons public accounts committee are grilling bureaucrats from Industry Canada and Transport about the lack of "relevant" information in their performance reports. All departments and agencies table yearly reports in Parliament. These documents take a lot of time and energy, but the reports are considered so useless that MPs don't even look at them.

Read more at the Ottawa Citizen.

Kidnapped by the Government

Noah Kirkman was detained by the State of Oregon in 2008 after riding a bicycle with no helmet. He was then determined to have no legal guardian in Oregon and became a ward of the state in a foster home. He has not been released despite a series of legal battles. Yesterday, his mother asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to step into the fight and push the US to return the boy. This is awful. How can a 10 year old boy be detained in the US for two years and not be given back to his parents. The boy is a citizen of Canada. He should return to Canada and his parents immediately, especially, with action from the Canadian government. A motion should be passed unanimously in Parliament calling for the immediate release of the boy. We cannot just sit around and do nothing. We must take action and now!

Taking direct aim at Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a Calgary mom whose son has been made a ward of the state in Oregon called for the feds to step in.

Lisa Kirkman, who has been fighting to have her 12-year-old son Noah returned to Canada for almost two years after authorities in the U.S. state tore him from his family, took to the streets of Calgary Sunday to call on the federal government to get involved in the case that has attracted international attention.

Read more at the London Free Press.

Gun Registry Ads

To respond to the onslaught of Conservative attack ads, we Liberals have put up ads defending the gun registry. The gun registry works and the police chiefs agree. It is not in its optimum shape right now and there do need to be changes, however, it should stay for good.

Conservative Censors

Go on any Conservative blog and you will find them calling the left-wingers censors. However, we now find out that a Tory political aide sent an email to Public Works, telling them not to release a report demanded by the Canadian Press. They were obligated to release it under the law and the government had already approved it. Instead of following the law, a censored version was released 82 days after the due date. What's going on here? Why was this guy allowed to censor documents that had already been approved? There is obviously something wrong in organization if one person can set of a chain of events which ends in censorship. On the other hand, it's great that he admitted his error. Everyone should show responsibility for their actions like this. There should be an investigation into this affair.

Un attaché politique du Parti conservateur qui fait l'objet d'une enquête après avoir empêché la divulgation d'un rapport aux médias a admis que son geste était «stupide».

Sébastien Togneri a affirmé devant un comité des Communes, jeudi, qu'il avait commis une «erreur». C'est la première fois que l'employé reconnaît sa responsabilité dans cette affaire. Il a ainsi admis qu'il avait transmis, dans l'urgence, un courriel stupide. Flanqué de son avocat, il a ajouté que c'était une erreur de sa part et que c'était tout ce qu'il avait à dire.

http://goo.gl/Bg44

Bank reform

 The Conservative government have been strong on the motion to not have a bank tax. I am am in favor of a bank tax, but, I agree on a motion that the banks will pay for the bailout if there is another recession In the US, a motion to start debating about Wall Street reform passed 93-5 which shows how the Republicans are in this reform too. This is great news that there something the world is thinking about how to make sure this does not happen again. Starting is half the battle Now the only question is how.

Congratulations, Green Party

Of the U.K. not Canada. In the U.K. something amazing happened. The Green party of the U.K. has their first seat in U.K history. This is a step forward for the green party across the world. All I am hoping for, is that the Green party helps get something done in the U.K. or at least show the people what they vote for to see that the Green party wants to help the nation. Now all we need is to get Elizabeth May a seat.

VE day

Today is the 65th anniversary of VE day. The Allies accepted the surrender of Germany and the war in Europe ended. Across the country, there are a few events scheduled for VE day. For example, the Tulip Festival in Ottawa commemorates the liberation of the Netherlands. However, there were still millions of soldiers who died to ensure this victory and we should all remember their sacrifice today too. In my opinion, a good way to do that is to learn the history of World War Two.

Defunding

We all thought the abortion issue was over. Now the issue came back. We are hearing that the Conservative government has cut funding for organizations that went against the Conservative position on maternal health. An organization's funding should not be decreased just because of their beliefs. This does not sound like the Canada I know. The Canada I know is the one who does not discriminate on organization for saying their opinion. I ask the government to apologize to each organization personally and restore all funding.

The following organizations have lost there funding:

• Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW)
• Conseil d'intervention pour l'accès des femmes au travail  (CIAFT)
• New Brunswick Pay Equity Coalition
• Réseau des Tables régionales de groupes de femmes du Québec
• Alberta Network of Immigrant Women
• Centre de documentation sur l'éducation des adultes et la condition feminine
• Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale (AFEAS)
• Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH)
• Womenspace Resource Centre (Lethbridge, AB)
• Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)
• Feminists for Just and Equitable Public Policy (FemJEPP) in Nova Scotia

http://goo.gl/dydz

U.K election

On May 6 the U.K had a general election. The results of the election is that the Conservatives won a minority goverment or as they say in the U.K. a hung parliment. U.K. welcome to Canadian style politics. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, even though I dislike the Conservatives' party leader David Cameron, he has some ideas that great and much better then the current prime minster of Canada. The good news is that the Liberal democrats which in Canada would be considered the Liberal party, have strong power that can help make sure that the motions tabled by Cameron are not like Harper's motions. I am very glad that the Labour party that in Canada could be considered the NDP no longer have a majority goverment, because I feel it is unfair to have a majority goverment without a majority of the votes, and I like that now the Liberal Democrats have more power than last time.

In Contempt, Again

Jim Prentice is in danger of being in contempt of Parliament. This is because there is a whole backlog of papers which are behind FOUR YEARS. This isn't normal. Well, actually it is for our Conservative government. It still comes as a surprise to me that there is four years of backlog. I mean, how much can someone not care about the environment or be so disorganized to cause such a delay. It would be a good day in Canada when or if Environment Minister Jim Prentice is found in contempt of Parliament. We have to pick the Tories off, one by one for the severe actions they have been doing. It's time to take responsibility and protect the environment.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice might find himself in contempt of Parliament if his department doesn't clear a backlog of late annual reports.

Liberal MP Derek Lee said Mr. Prentice has until next month to get Environment Canada to deliver four years of overdue documents.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Election

The United Kingdom election has begun. Best of luck to The LPC equivalent in the UK, the Liberal-Democrats. They seem to have made great headway on their popularity. This could be a good example of how to increase popularity to Michael Ignatieff. We must regain the popular vote like the Lib-Dems.

To see the results as they come out, click here.

New Google

Google has rolled out a new level to its popular search engine. Now, in addition to the tabs on the top, there is non-removable annoying sidebar on the left. This allows users to choose the type of content that they want to to view. It cannot be turned off. Google has made many good programs and services such as Google Chrome, but this update is horrible. It makes the screen feel crowded. Either Google should make the sidebar optional, or remove it entirely.

The new Google search

Read more at the Financial Post.

Harper wake up

The European Union has told Canada to start acting on climate change. Harper just does not get it. He is acting so slowly on climate change you might think he does not believe in it, which poses the question if he does. Few leaders today would challenge the existence of global warming lest they lose support. If Harper truly believes in climate change, he would be leading the effort and showing the world a great economy supported by a green technology foundation. To quote Dr. Seuss, " Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get any better. It's not." So, the E-U cares about the future. Does Canada?

Canada shouldn't keep waiting for the rest of the world to act on climate change before making its own changes, the president of the European Union Commission said Wednesday in advance of a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Brussels.

"In Europe, we believe, according to science, that there is a real threat to our survival as a civilization. And for the future of our planet and the quality of life of our children … I think we have to move." (Jose Manuel Barroso, president of European Union Commission)

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/05/05/harper-barroso-europe-climate-change-bank-tax.html

What a Project!

The Plateau district of Montreal is planning to close 10 to 15 streets beginning with on June 17. This borough of the city was swept by Projet Montréal in the 2009 elections. They are the ones doing the right thing in city hall. There need to be less cars on the street and a good way to do it is by closing streets. The closed streets will go to expanding existing parks. Parks are places where people have fun, not in the middle of congestion. I support Projet Montéal and hope they win many more seats in the next municipal election. Only good can come out of this party.

Beginning June 17, the borough intends to open a farmer's market on the street on Thursdays, featuring local and organic producers.

It is the first of 10 to 15 streets that Ferrandez said would be closed to traffic in 2010, adding he hopes other boroughs will follow suit.

"We hope it will send a message and start a movement," he said.

Earlier this year, Projet Montréal announced an end to free on-street parking for non-residents in the Plateau.

Read more at the Montreal Gazette.

No Oil Spills in Canada

according to Harper, thanks to Canada's strict offshore drilling rules. Harper also says that British Petroleum won't be able to drill in Canada's offshore oil deposits unless they meet all the requirements form the National Energy Board. But, can we really trust him when hardly any Alberta tar sands projects have been denied. Even when studies into the project have proved that they are bad for the environment did they get approved. And Harper says that we can trust him on this issue. I don't think so. We can't let oil companies destroy more of our environment than they have already done. It must end now.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says a "horrific" oil spill similar to the one in the Gulf of Mexico couldn't happen in Canadian waters because of the federal government's strong offshore drilling rules.

Harper's defence of Canada's drilling protocols came after NDP Leader Jack Layton called on him to convene an emergency meeting of G8 environment ministers to put the Gulf spill on the agenda for this summer's G8 summit in Muskoka, Ont.

Read more at CBC.

Tar Sands

Andrew Nikiforuk explains how the tar sands will affect us all. The US now imports the majority of its oil from Canada. What I find wasteful about the tar sands energy project is that in some locations, natural gas is used to harvest the bituminous sands deep underground. So, we're burning natural gas to get oil. What a waste!

Thanks Gordon Campell

The premier of British Columbia is sending help to Louisiana with there oil spill. Whether you like him or not, I would like to say thanks to the Environment Ministry to help with the cleaning, and the sharing of expertise. Because no matter your politics we have to help our neighbors to the south deal with there disasters, so we can help save the lives the coastal areas and the animals. This goes without saying that this disaster was not natural, and there should be regulations to make sure this does not happen again.

First Priority: High Speed Rail

Professor Nesbitt-Larking says that high speed rail should be our top national spending priority. We remain the only G8 country without it. All the other ones have felt it necessary for their future economic ambitions. Building high speed rail would help Canada's economy now, and our future economy. We must get moving on high speed rail now, at least in two corridors: Quebec City to Windsor and Calgary to Edmonton. The US is already on the move as it is considering building high speed rail on the Amtrak Cascades line (Vancouver-Eugene). HSR is a must for Canada.

The development of high-speed rail in Canada should be our top national spending priority. It is almost inconceivable that Canada remains the only G8 country without it. Adding a cruel twist of irony is the fact that Bombardier, a Canadian company, has been an innovative contributor to successful European HSR initiatives.

Read more at the Mark and CTV.

Bicycles Only

The chief of the National Capital Commission said that Ottawa should consider closing car lanes to allow more room for bicycles. He said that bicycle commuting should be a priority. This is a great idea. The car is becoming more and more an idea of the past. Public transit, bicycling and walking should be the priority in the reorganization of roads. Ottawa should become a bicycle city role model for Canada. More cities should be buying into this mode of transportation and less into the car. Just look at Europe's beautiful streets.

This is the kind of thing I would love in Canada. Ottawa, as the capital should be a leader and take lanes away from cars, and give them to bicycles.

Read more at the Ottawa Citizen.

PEI to buy Quebec Electricity

Quebec and Prince Edward Island are currently negotiating the sale of Quebec's hydroelectricity to the smallest province of Canada. Right now, the residents of the island get their electricity from New Brunswick. But, it's very expensive and not very environmentally friendly. Quebec's clean hydroelectricity should make a good replacement for the burning of coal. This is great. We have a surplus of energy and we need to exploit it by exporting it. Hydroelectricity is cheap and green. There is no rival for it these days. Quebec should be exporting it everywhere it can.

CHARLOTTETOWN - Le Québec et l'Ile-du-Prince-Edouard négocient présentement la vente d'électricité d'Hydro-Québec à la plus petite province du pays.

Les résidants de l'île sont ceux pour qui l'électricité est la plus chère au pays, une situation à laquelle le premier ministre Robert Ghiz entend bien remédier.

D'où ces négociations qui ont été entreprises il y a déjà plusieurs mois entre son gouvernement, celui du Québec et Hydro-Québec.

Read more at Métro.

Partisan Spending

The Ethics Commissioner has condemned the partisan spending of the Conservatives. This includes putting big Tory logos on government spending. This gives people the idea that the Conservatives are funding it from their own money. I say that since they put their logo on the cheques, they should pay for all the money from the government. There shouldn't be such a thing as free advertising. The bad thing is that the ethics watchdog cannot do anything about it. It will be up to Harper's government to change on its own.

OTTAWA -- The federal ethics watchdog says the Harper government crossed the line when it used ceremonial cheques with logos of the Conservative party or identifying local Tory MPs to make government announcements.

But in a report released on Thursday, Mary Dawson, the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, said she cannot do anything about it.

 Read more at the National Post.