The Shotgun Blog
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Saturday, August 18, 2007
Render unto Vancouver City Hall
The city government of Vancouver, Shotgun readers may remember from my recent post, has asked Tenth Avenue Alliance Church to obtain a city permit and follow various regulations before being allowed to have emergency shelter and feed the poor programs in their church.
Well, local Christian, Jewish Muslim and Sikh leaders, fearing an ominous precedent for the rest of Canada should any level of government define what a "church" is and what a "church" can or cannot do, have formally asked local politicians to drop this policy.
Their press conference announcing their protest is featured in this story on page one of today's Vancouver Sun.
Vancouver does ostensibly have a "right-of-center" majority on city council. It will be interesting to see what they do now.
Posted by Rick Hiebert on August 18, 2007 in Religion | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack
Canada's superior medicare system
Calgarian Karen Jepp has given birth, the BBC reports, to identical quadruplets:
Karen Jepp and her husband JP, of Calgary, were taken to a Montana hospital where the girls were delivered two months early by Caesarean section.
Autumn, Brooke, Calissa and Dahlia are in good condition at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, Montana.
A medical team and space for the babies had been organised for the Jepp family at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary but several other babies were born unexpectedly early, filling the neonatal intensive care unit.
Health officials said they checked every other neonatal intensive care unit in Canada but none had space.
(Hat Tip: Tim Blair )
Posted by Rick Hiebert on August 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (82) | TrackBack
Why are we there?
"Why are we there?" is a great reminder posted by the DND about Canada's role and operations in Afghanistan:
"Canada is in Afghanistan at the request of the democratically elected government, along with 36 other nations, and as part of a UN-sanctioned mission to help build a stable, democratic, and self-sufficient society.
About 2500 members of the Canadian Forces (CF) are currently serving as part of Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTFAFG). They play a key role in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission whose goal is to improve the security situation in Afghanistan and assist in rebuilding the country.
Canada’s continued engagement in Afghanistan helps create the conditions for longer-term reconstruction. All CF operations in Afghanistan are conducted with the consent and at the request of the Afghan government..."
Posted by Winston on August 18, 2007 in Current Affairs, International Affairs, Military | Permalink | Comments (70) | TrackBack
Friday, August 17, 2007
Michael Bryant sets up a sock puppet to push for his handgun ban
Ontario's Attorney General Michael Bryant wants a ban on handguns. Apparently a ban on murder isn't enough.
He even has a clever phrase: "No Gun, No Funeral".
But what he really needed was a group to take his four-word solution for all that ails Canada to the public at large. Fortunately, such a group formed at NoGunNoFuneral.ca:
We are a group of Canadians dedicated to tougher gun controls in Canada. In particular, we support recent calls for a national hand gun ban.
What group of Canadians, exactly, are supporting the recent calls for a ban? The site never says. In fact, it makes no mention of a group or individual responsible for the site, or any political affiliation.
Truly grass roots, right?
Not at all:
- The riding president of the St Paul's Liberal Riding Association, Glenn Brown, is the site administrator. The riding of St Paul's is Michael Bryant's riding.
- Michael Bryant's director of operations, Nikki Holland, is listed as owning the site's administration mailbox.
- The phone number of the site goes to the Michael Bryant Election Campaign.
None of this in on the website. It is all on the site domain administration information. The average visitor would never know any of this.
The federal Liberals get in the act too. A reverse IP lookup reveals that the domain is being served by a nameserver owned by Voyages Gendron. The IT Manager (and person responsible for managing the nameservers) for this travel agency is Marc-Andre Gendron, the VP of Communications for the Young Liberals of Canada.
So "this group of Canadians" are in fact Ontario Liberal operators directly connected to Michael Bryant, getting help from other Liberals. None of this is directly disclosed on the website.
Today, Michael Bryant came clean:
"It's my phrase; it's my idea; it's my website," Bryant said. "It's bizarre that people who don't want to register their guns think I should register my website as a dangerous weapon."
People want to know the agenda behind the message. That's not bizarre at all. Is this about handguns or is this about re-electing Michael Bryant by creating support for his slogan using a sock puppet of his own creation? Remember, the phone number goes to the Michael Bryant Election Campaign.
Despite all the constituency connections, Michael Bryant insists this is not a constituency operation:
Bryant said constituency resources, which are provided by taxpayers, were not used to develop the site.
Right.
You can see all the evidence establishing a connection between the site and Michael Bryant and come to your own conclusion. But it certainly seems like something designed by Michael Bryant to help Michael Bryant get his particular spin and slogan in the public eye just in time for the upcoming Ontario election.
Of course, to seem credible, the visitors to the site weren't supposed to know it was Michael Bryant saying that Michael Bryant's idea was so brilliant.
I guess he can't keep that a secret any more.
Posted by Steve Janke on August 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (27) | TrackBack
Not a shrinking violet
The new Wildrose Party of Alberta may not have the most macho of names but it certainly is attempting to advance a muscular brand of conservative politics. The latest example is yesterday's press release calling on the Stelmach government to host an international conference questioning global-warming science. That'd be one I'd buy a ticket for.
The party has scheduled a "founding assembly" for late October, at which it will also talk about its policies to reduce crime, strengthen families and communities, entrench property rights, and implement an Alberta Pension Plan alternative to the CPP. Firewall anyone?
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 17, 2007 in Canadian Provincial Politics | Permalink | Comments (56) | TrackBack
Khadr can't count on Rosie
Today's unexpected treat: A gratifyingly level-headed assessment of the Omar Khadr case from the often-infuriating Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star. Her opening line, "When Omar Khadr purportedly tossed the grenade that killed an American infantryman, he was neither child nor soldier," just about says it all, and certainly complements my Western Standard cover story on the Khadr case.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 17, 2007 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (26) | TrackBack
Freedom in Iran
Iranian-born Sayeh Hassan is an articling student in Toronto. She also works as an activist for freedom in Iran and against the Islamist regime. I met her in this capacity, and her passion and concern for Iranian democrats--and there are many of them--is palpable. Working with an Iran-based group called Human Rights Activists in Iran, she is in direct contact with political prisoners in Iranian prisons. Check out her blog, and if you know of any way to make popular the names of Iranian political prisoners, please help out. The more well-known and credible a political prisoner is, the better he is likely to be treated by the regime, concerned as it is with international opinion.
Correction: She is now a full-fledged laywer. Watch out.
Posted by Jordan Michael Smith on August 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Say one thing, do another
How serious are Canadians when it comes to reducing their ecological footprint? Judging by the traffic at Canadian airports last month, not very.
StatsCan reports today that take-offs and landings increased a whopping 9.2% in July compared to the same month last year. That's a lot of extra carbon emissions from citizens of a country where global warming is supposedly such a pressing issue.
Although I personally know one retired biology teacher who, before flying to Borneo earlier this year, paid an outfit $70 for some carbon offsets, I sincerely doubt that any more than a handful of Canadians are doing likewise.
A conclusion: Canadians pay lip service to the great green god when the pollster calls, but are not willing to change their personal habits to solve a problem that is still theoretical.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 16, 2007 in Travel | Permalink | Comments (49) | TrackBack
See no evil
So, you're supposedly a peaceful, law-abiding Muslim-Canadian who knows full well that your religion is viewed with growing suspicion because of the deadly actions of radicalized fellow adherents.
So, what do you do when a group of young Muslim men, who only months before had seemed rather normal, start showing up at your Mississauga mosque wearing combat fatigues? Do you call police? Do you call your MP? Do you call CSIS? Well, according to a new report from the New York City Police Department, on the home-grown radicalization of Muslims, you do nothing -- leaving the group free to hatch its plans to storm Parliament and behead the prime minister.
I've got some advice to the mom-and-pop worshippers at the Mississauga mosque: If you want to persuade Canadians that Islam is, as you say, a religion of peace, then the next time you see a gang of obviously radicalized young men growing like a cancer in your congregation, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Here's the National Post's story on the report; here's the full text of the NYPD's document. The passage about the complacent (complicit?) Mississauga mosque is on page 42.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 16, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (136) | TrackBack
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
David Suzuki, Michael Buble and Stephane Dion?
Who'll be the final three on this New Brunswick blogger's list of the 101 people who are screwing up Canada? We shouldn't have to wait much longer for the names.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 15, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (82) | TrackBack
Now comes the paperwork
In the wake of the police shooting of a chain-wielding man in Vancouver on Monday night, we once again have the opportunity to size up the legal and bureaucratic institutions and procedures that exist in Canada to ensure that police misconduct does not take place.
As reported in today's National Post, five detectives are investigating the shooting and will prepare a report for Crown prosecutors; the VPD's own professional standards unit will investigate the shooting; the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner has been notified; and the coroner's service is also probing the shooting.
The level of scrutiny to which is a police officer is subjected every time he fires his gun is certainly onerous and, in some respects, a reflection of the anti-police bias that became institutionalized when my utopian generation took power. Ultimately, though, I think it's a good thing to ensure that the police don't run amok -- especially in a country where it's virtually illegal for anyone except a policeman to carry a sidearm.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 15, 2007 in Crime | Permalink | Comments (44) | TrackBack
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
When's a cabinet not a cabinet?
Maybe I'm missing something here, but what's with Prime Minister Harper's announcement of a new "Ministry" for Canada? I found this press release confusing, because at first read I thought Harper was announcing a brand new cabinet portfolio -- aka, a ministry. It appears, though, that he was simply using the word "Ministry" in place of cabinet. Why this usage, when it causes confusion in the ranks of even relatively well-informed Canadians (such as me)?
Anyway, the big changes are Peter Mackay into Defence and Maxime Bernier into Foreign Affairs. They seem to me to be solid moves. Interesting and typical to see the Globe stressing the negative (who lost which portfolios) instead of the positive (who got which portfolios).
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 14, 2007 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (76) | TrackBack
A toxic pivot point
Former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed knows a thing or two about federal-provincial showdowns over the province's oil and gas reserves, so his speech yesterday to the Canadian Bar Association merits our attention.
In it, he predicts a major constitutional clash between Alberta and Ottawa over the fate of the oilsands. Constitutionally, Alberta has the right to develop its own natural resources, of course, but the impact of federal environmental legislation over the resource is unclear. Lougheed predicts the issue will eventually wind up in front of the Supreme Court of Canada.
I explored all this in my March 12, 2007 cover story for the Western Standard, "Target: Alberta's Oilpatch," in which I reviewed the old National Energy Program, and explained how some believe that Ottawa's designation (under the Paul Martin government) of carbon dioxide as a toxin should give the feds the power to regulate CO2 emissions in Alberta.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 14, 2007 in Canadian Politics | Permalink | Comments (71) | TrackBack
Monday, August 13, 2007
Exclusive! Politician gives birth to alien baby
In the middle of his opening remarks at the International Conference on After the Third Wave: Problems and Challenges for New Democracies, hosted by the Taiwan Thinktank here in Taipei, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian started grousing about the local media, calling them irresponsible and noting that something like only one percent of all Taiwanese trust the media. I looked around at my international colleagues, listening to the translation as I was on a headset, only to see they were looking around at me and everywhere else, with eyebrows cocked, “What the heck is this about?”
Taiwan pres meets the fourth estate. I guess Chen was experiencing a “problem and challenge” for any democracy, not just a new one. Taiwan must be functioning as a free society if the politicians are getting pissed off at the press and complaining about it where ever they can. (I’m sure Canadian journalists in the Ottawa press gallery and Prime Minister Harper will be happy to hear me say that.)
We did gets something of an explanation later in the mini-bus on our way to the Grand Hotel from our government information officer—media scandal mongering, attacking the president’s wife, making stuff up, etc.—and it all sounded pretty lively and I really wished I knew more. In our sit-down with the vice-president, Lu Hsui-lien, the topic was brushed on and she echoed the president’s complaint, informing us that she herself had taken a media organization to court for something they had written, and she won. “But I did not ask for money,” she added. From here she made a nice segue into praise for Taiwan’s independent judiciary—good, I thought—and then she speculated that perhaps there should be a law obligating the press to act responsibly—bad bad bad.
Obviously Taiwan has a law and she has used it. What is this impulse, even among strong democratic supporters (and if you know anything of Lu’s history, you’ll know she was once imprisoned for five years by the KMT for advocating Taiwanese democracy) to want to control the press?
Posted by Kevin Steel on August 13, 2007 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack
Terror Billboard Removed
The billboard featuring terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah in Windsor, Ontario, has been quietly removed today. But the fact is that the supporters of the terrorist group Hezbollah are still among us here in Canada!
Posted by Winston on August 13, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (177) | TrackBack
As the radio world turns
Catching up on some radio-hotline news out of Vancouver:
The venerable Rafe Mair plans to kick it into high, er, second gear next month by "airing" an hour-long show three times a week over the Internet starting September 4. Rafe hasn't posted the announcement on his website yet, but he sent a mass email announcing his return. [UPDATE: The announcement is now on the front page of the indicated site.]
Another former politician, ex-B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Christy Clark, will be getting a high-profile gig on CKNW starting Aug. 27. Her show will be running daily from 12:30 p.m.- 3 p.m., a slot currently filled by Winnipeg's Charles Adler. When I heard this, I feared that Adler, certainly one of the most reliably level-headed and entertaining talk-show hosts in the nation, had been given the boot by 'NW. But the station's programming assistant, Lizzie Buckingham, tells me that Adler will be bumped to the 7 p.m. slot.
Also, I was sad to learn that former hotliner John Pifer (on whose CKST show I was a regular Friday morning guest for several years) died last month. John, who was only 61, was a fun fellow and a good journalist. He left us far too early.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 13, 2007 in Media | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBack
Back in the saddle again
I'm back. Like Kevin Steel (below), I too am suffering from some jet lack, having just returned Saturday afternoon from an overseas vacation. While I get up to speed on current events, readers might want to chew over my latest offering in the Tri-City News. Here's my take on federal hate crime legislation, and here's that of Mary Woo Sims.
Posted by Terry O'Neill on August 13, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Hezbollah in Canada
Our own Rightgirl had a post about a suspicious billboard that was put on display in Windsor, Ontario by supporters of the terrorist group Hezbollah.
Now check this out: Terror supporters are proud of what they have done:
“In Canada we want peace,” said Hussein Dabaja, a Lebanese-born Hezbollah supporter. “We’re not trying offend anybody. We have freedom of speech. It’s a free country. We can do anything. Every Lebanese in Canada has somebody that died in Lebanon, the freedom fighters. Who is Hezbollah? Our brothers, our family, our parents, our friends. We came to Canada and they stayed there to fight.”
I'd say let's try that Multiculturalism button one more time. What you say?
(h/t LGF)
Posted by Winston on August 13, 2007 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (48) | TrackBack
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Taipei tourist
Greetings from Taipei. It’s 6 AM here on Monday morning and I’ve just about recovered from the 12 hour Canada to Taiwan jetlag. Yesterday was spent touring museums and the countryside, guided by a protocol officer from the Taiwanese government. In a few hours I along with a delegation of international journalists will be sitting down to have a chat with the Taiwanese vice-president, Lu Hsiu-Lien Annette, in the run-up to the 2007 APEC summit in Australia.
I wanted to take a moment here to recommend a book that I was given by a representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Association during my layover in Vancouver, waiting for the 2 AM flight across the Pacific. I have barely started it, but what I’ve read of Jonathan Manthorpe’s Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan, I like; well-written and comprehensive. It starts off with the 2004 assassination attempt on the life of President Chen Shui-bian. Ms. Lu was wounded during that shooting.
Changing the subject, as we drove in the mini-bus back from Keelung yesterday, a journalist from Thailand started discussing with our guide the betel nut girl phenomenon in Taiwan. I hadn't heard of this before and I found it fascinating. Chicks in bikinis selling drugs. Fascinating. (Yeah, I needed sleep.)
Posted by Kevin Steel on August 12, 2007 in International Affairs | Permalink | Comments (40) | TrackBack
C-17 for Canada
Canada's newest airlift plane has just arrived:
"The arrival of Canada One, as it is being called, will allow the military to abandon its need to beg, borrow or lease heavy-lift carriers from other armies or private contractors when responding to domestic or international crises."
Posted by Winston on August 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (55) | TrackBack