You tell me who is effective!!!!

By the numbers.....

Taking on Harper; NDP opposed 41 of 43 Confidence votes, Liberals propped up Harper on all 43

Showing up for work; NDP attendance 87% Liberal attendance 65%

Private Members Bills; NDP bills 43% Liberal bills 29%

Standing up for you; NDP 57% - 291 motions Liberals 28% 145 motions

Each of the NDP Members of Parliament did the work of % Liberal MP's

Who do you want working for you???

Liberals' gas tank is heading for empty

This comes as no surprise to me. The NDP are growing in both memberships and donations across Canada.

clipped from network.nationalpost.com The figures are bleak. According to filings with Elections Canada, the Liberal party raised $912,000 in the quarter that ended in June. That’s just ahead of the New Democrats, who have almost 70 fewer seats in the House of Commons but raised $711,000. Overall this year, the NDP has raised $1.83 million, about $100,000 ahead of the Liberals. The number of donors to each party is also telling. The Liberals have had the fewest donors in both quarters of the year, just 9,556 this quarter compared to 33,000 for the Conservatives. Not to overdo the auto industry analogy, but if the parties were cars, the NDP would be a hybrid (popular with true believers but not yet mainstream); the Tories would be Corollas (which sell well even if not that attractive), and the Liberals would be as popular as a Hummer with a hemi.

Canada's Copyright party is.....the NDP

This came in this morning from p2pnetnews..No a bad take on the truth!!

clipped from www.p2pnet.net many of the comments about Bill C-61 on BLOGS all across Canada you can hear people saying that all the parties are the same, and that we need a Canadian Pirate Party. The Pirate Party (Swedish: Piratpartiet) is a political party in Sweden that focus on one issue: reforming of so-called “Intellectual Property” laws such as patent, copyright, trademark and other related laws (also called PCT) to better integrate with a modern technological and participatory society. There is, however, something exciting happening in one party that warrants a closer look for those who think fair copyright reform is important, and that is the NDP. In the past I have been worried that it only took a one person change in the NDP caucus to switch from being supportive of the backward-facing reforms we saw in the USA NII/DMCA to the progressive position articulated by Mr. Angus. My worries have been greatly reduced by the message coming from other members of the current caucus, as well as future candidates.

Layton slams 'kill-a-unionist-pay-a-fine' deal with Colombia

clipped from www.nupge.ca Ottawa (11 July 2008) - Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton says it's "simply outrageous" for Ottawa to sign a trade deal with Colombia with a clause calling for the South American nation to pay a fine to a special fund whenever a union activist is murdered. It's not clear how the fund would work and the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not released any details on the payment scheme, negotiated with the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. NDP trade critic Peter Julian describes the proposal, written into the Canada-Colombia trade plan, as "kill-a-unionist-pay-a-fine." He predicts that it will become a significant issue during the fall session of Parliament.

NDP Launches On-line Petition Against the Text Message Cash Grab

For months the NDP has been running a campaign against the outrageous and unfair charges cell phone customers have to put up with. Canadian cell phone users face higher charges than in Europe or the US.

Today it was reported that in August, Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility will begin charging cell phone users 15 cents for each incoming text message, including spam.

This afternoon, the NDP launched an on-line petition in opposition to this text messaging cash grab and all staff are encouraged to sign the petition and pass it around to your network of contacts. We are hoping to get as many signatures as possible in the first 12 hours.

http://www.ndp.ca/page/6577

A Facebook group has also been created.

Thank you.

Pricing carbon: cap & trade vs. carbon tax

My apologies for my lack of postings. For the first time in three years, I actually broke down and took two weeks vacation..but I am back and rested and ready to go again!!!

The Dion Liberals have recently mused about developing a policy for “Carbon Taxes.”

To date there are few specifics, but Dion has suggested that increases in consumption taxes would be “offset” by reductions in personal income taxes. Dion has said he will announce details of his plan by mid-June.

There is no greater crisis facing the planet then climate change and we welcome the debate.

Jack Layton and the NDP believes the most effective step in reducing greenhouse gasses is to place a price on carbon by establishing a “cap-and-trade” system, not a carbon tax.

The NDP’s plan will set caps on the amount of carbon a big polluter can emit, then establishes a carbon auction system where credits can be traded.

The NDP’s plan ensures that the big polluters start paying their fair share, while Dion’s plan ensures that average Canadians pay more.

The NDP’s plan ensures that all revenue raised from the big polluters will be invested in green solutions, while the Dion plan claims to be revenue neutral and therefore will have no new money for green solutions.

After years of inaction on climate change, it’s time to take on the big polluters. The NDP’s plan will ensure:

1. big polluters start paying their fair share;
2. effective and measurable targets to reduce pollution are established; and
3. revenues from the big polluters are invested in green solutions.

The two most urgent steps in fighting climate change are to curb the big polluters and invest in green solutions. The NDP’s plan accomplishes both; Mr. Dion’s is not likely to effectively accomplish either.

• Cap-and-trade is the international backbone of pollution reduction.
• A flat consumption tax is regressive because it treats all consumers the same, regardless of their ability to pay.

When you compare Dion's plan to Jack Layton's Plan, you need to do a side by side comparison. You can see the main differences in the two plans and can clearly see that where the NDP wish to go, would be a much better plan for all of Canada:

Top 5 worst things about Dion’s carbon tax

1. Equity
   • Low-income and rural Canadians are likely to be disproportionately impacted. A corresponding cut to income tax would not be a progressive answer to this problem.
   • Treats corporations and individuals equally in paying for pollution, when the largest responsibility should be on the shoulders of big polluters.
2. Efficacy
   • There is very little evidence to illustrate how much carbon taxes reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
3. No new revenue for green solutions
   • The Dion carbon tax claims to be revenue neutral.
4. Open to government interference
5. No details
   • To date, there have been no models designed for Canada and the absence of details from Dion are a concern to many working Canadians
   
   

Top 5 best features of NDP plan:

1. Targets the big polluters
• They are the ones with the power to drive the changes we need towards energy efficiency and cleaner energy.
2. Effective and proven
• Provides greater certainty of results in lowering emissions because the cap is fixed.
• Is a proven method that has already shown real results in reducing greenhouse gas emissions both domestically (used by Canada and the U.S. to combat acid rain) and internationally (European Union).
3. Generates revenue for green solutions
4. Free from government interference
• As a market-based system, it cannot be influenced by the Harper agenda.
5. Solid validators
• The UN Kyoto Protocol
• John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
• Green Budget Coalition
• European Union
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

New Democrats narrowly regain seat in Cumberland byelection

LA RONGE, Sask. — It came down to the wire but the Saskatchewan NDP managed to pull ahead by barely a nostril Wednesday to win a byelection in the province's northeast.

The party has held the constituency of Cumberland since 1971 but there were some nervous moments for odds-on favourite Doyle Vermette, who see-sawed all night with dark horse Dale McAuley, the former mayor of Cumberland House who was running for the Saskatchewan Party.

"In the end, a win's a win's a win," said a thrilled NDP Leader Lorne Calvert. "Close only counts in horseshoes."

During the campaign, Vermette had dismissed suggestions that voters wanted a member in government to represent them, but after the vote he admitted that may have been a factor.

"People definitely looked at that," he said. "(But) even though the Saskatchewan Party is in power, they decided to elect an NDP candidate to represent them."

Calvert agreed the Saskatchewan Party's push to elect a government member was a "powerful argument" but also observed "that argument didn't carry the day."

By the time Wednesday's counting was done, Vermette, a one-time councillor for the northern village of Air Ronge, was declared the winner by just 164 votes.

With all 39 polls reporting, the unofficial tally was 1,564 for Vermette, 1,400 for McAuley and just 181 for Tory McGregor of the Greens. The Liberals didn't run a candidate.

Absentee and hospital ballots were still to be counted on July 7, but they numbered only about a dozen and were unlikely to alter the outcome.

McAuley hedged on whether he would apply for a judicial recount, which the Elections Act says he can ask for if the margin of victory is less than the total number of all unopened envelopes, rejected ballots and ballots objected to.

At first he said it was unlikely, then he said he'd like to sleep on it. Calvert said he thought the margin was sufficient to make a recount unlikely.

"I would have liked to have won, but I guess (it was) just not quite enough votes to come to be victorious," said McAuley, who was also at one time an area director for the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan.

"But it was close. I thought I was going to win."

While conceding defeat to the NDP, Ken Krawetz, the Saskatchewan Party's deputy leader, counted the closeness of the vote as "a huge success."

"It clearly shows there isn't a safe NDP seat in Saskatchewan," he said. "I think the Saskatchewan Party has proven itself in a short while and we're going to be competitive in every constituency in the province."

Cumberland is a massive constituency with a small population. It covers the entire northeastern quarter of the province, but had only 9,413 eligible voters in the provincial election last November in which the Saskatchewan Party wrested power from the NDP.

New Democrat Joan Beatty easily captured the seat with more than 3,000, or 66 per cent, of the 4,700 ballots cast.

But Beatty quit in January to run for the federal Liberals in a March byelection, which she lost. On Wednesday, she said she would again seek the Liberal nomination in the riding of Desnethe-Missinipi-Churchill River for the next federal election.

The vote did not change the balance of power because the governing Saskatchewan Party holds 38 seats to the NDP's 20.

Wednesday's result was just the latest tight election race in Saskatchewan.

Following the Nov. 7 election, three constituencies - Prince Albert Carlton, Moose Jaw North and Meadow Lake - had close results.

The final tally Nov. 19 gave the Saskatchewan Party wins in Prince Albert Carlton and Moose Jaw North. But in Meadow Lake, it took a judicial recount a month after the election to confirm that Saskatchewan Party candidate Jeremy Harrison had defeated NDP incumbent and former industry minister Maynard Sonntag by 36 votes.

Copyright © 2008 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

In Memory of Ed Tchorezewski

Today is one of the saddest days in Saskatchewan. Last night, Ed Tchorzewski passed away. It is with a heavy heart that I write this blog.

Ed was instrumental in pulling Saskatchewan back from the brink of bankruptcy. His style, manner and confidence was and will remain an inspiration to all that knew him.

Ed was never far away from a phone when I needed his advise or guidance. His words of wisdom moved me forward and his support fostered confidence.

To his loving wife, Shirley and his entire family, I wish to express my deepest heartfelt condolences. If I had but one goal achieved in my life, it would be to become half the man that Ed was. Then I would know that I had truly achieved success.

God speed my friend!

Please see the Saskatchewan New Democratic Caucus Release below:

News Release

June 5, 2008

ndp leader lorne calvert remembers ed tchorzewski fondly

NDP Leader Lorne Calvert today extended his deepest sympathy to the family of Ed Tchorzewski on his passing.

“Ed will be remembered as a stalwart individual,” Calvert said.

“In every endeavour, whether it be in his personal life, or in his political life, Ed gave 100%. He will go down in the history of Saskatchewan as someone who helped to move this province forward.”

Ed Tchorzewski was first elected to the provincial legislature in 1971, under Premier Allan Blakeney. He served in the Blakeney cabinet as Provincial Secretary, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Minister of Culture and Youth, Minister of Health, Minister of Finance, Minister of Education and Continuing Education. He also served under Premier Roy Romanow, in the nineties, as Deputy Premier, Finance Minister, Municipal Government Minister and Minister responsible for SGI and SaskTel.

“It didn’t matter what portfolio Ed was in, he always served with distinction,” Calvert said.

“Without a doubt, his most important role was that of finance minister following the 1991 provincial election. It was Ed Tchorzewski, who a very big way pulled Saskatchewan back from the brink of bankruptcy.”

Calvert telephoned Ed’s wife Shirley to personally extend his condolences on behalf of the NDP caucus to the entire Tchorzewski family.

House of Commons adopts Layton’s Kyoto Plus bill

clipped from www.ndp.ca OTTAWA – Today, with the passage of NDP Leader Jack Layton’s private member’s bill, The Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-377), Canada’s House of Commons has become the first elected chamber in the world to adopt science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent, from 1990 levels, by 2050. “This is a world first,” said Layton. “Our legislation sets tough but achievable targets that will ensure Canada does its share to avoid the dangerous two-degree increase in average global temperature that scientists warn us about.” “When Conservatives filibustered this bill in committee, we kept fighting relentlessly for this law,” said NDP Environment Critic Nathan Cullen (Skeena Bulkley-Valley), who led the legislative efforts and negotiations in the environment committee. “The cost of doing nothing to combat climate change would mean economic and environmental disaster for Canada. This is exactly why working families don’t trust the Conservatives.”

See a pattern here? Part 5

clipped from www.cbc.ca It was the first event of its kind in Regina since a 17-year-old-video surfaced earlier this year showing Lukiwski making derogatory remarks about homosexuals. Lukiwski issued a lengthy apology for the comments, saying they don't represent his views and adding he would spend the rest of his life trying to make it up to the people he hurt. However, Lukiwski hasn't made a very good start, parade organizer Nathan Markwart said. "We haven't even been graced with an 'I won't show' or 'Unfortunately, I cannot attend due to conflicting events,'" he said. "Nothing, nothing. Obviously, when he said he would spend the rest of his life making amends, that's going to be a bit longer." Lukiwski is still welcome to come to any and all of the gay pride events happening over the next week week, Markwart said. Calls to Lukiwski's office were not returned on the weekend.

Wall anonunces byelection

clipped from www.canada.com Wall announces byelection in Cumberland constituency Voters in the northern constituency of Cumberland will be going to the polls on June 25. Premier Brad Wall, speaking at the provincial cabinet office, announced the byelection Tuesday. The constituency became vacant in early-January with the resignation of NDP MLA Joan Beatty. "The constituents of Cumberland need to have a voice in the Legislature, and now they will have their MLA in place before the start of summer," Wall said. Wall said this campaign will give the government a chance to talk about some of the important initiatives it has taken in the first six months in office, as well as the role of the north in the Saskatchewan economy.

Funding national affordable housing critical: Layton

Federal Leader Jack Layton addressed a crowd of over 200 Saskatoon Residents who are concerned about the homeless and housing crisis in Saskatoon

clipped from www.canada.com SASKATOON - Federal NDP leader Jack Layton points to construction of Saskatoon's Station 20 West as proof of the value of his party's push for a Canadian affordable housing program. "We're here to build support for our case for a national affordable housing construction program. Without that, the actions of the local governments will not solve the problem alone," Layton said in an interview. Layton offered encouragement to local citizens fighting for legislation to prevent condominium conversions during periods of low rental vacancy rates. A similar rush to convert rental units to privately-owned condominiums ravaged the rental housing stock in Toronto 30 years ago, he said. It sparked a citizen's movement that resulted in laws to protect the rental housing stock. Saskatoon received $11.6 million for housing out of that, part of which is funding Station 20 West. That money will be gone after this year and the Harper government is not putting more in, Layton said.

Right wing mentality constant Canada wide

How much more proof do we need that the entire mentality of the Conservatives spreads far and wide. From Ottawa to Manitoba to Sask, it never ends.

clipped from canadianpress.google.com Sask government member makes sexist comment, resigns as premier's secretary 2 hours ago REGINA — A backbencher with the Saskatchewan government has resigned his post after calling an Opposition member a "dumb bitch" during debate. Mike Chisholm of the Saskatchewan Party has quit his job as a legislative secretary to Premier Brad Wall after directing the comment to NDP member Deb Higgins. Chisholm used the sexist remark during debate earlier this week at an intergovernmental affairs and justice committee meeting. The remark wasn't noticed by committee members at the time, but was audible enough to be picked up and printed in the official transcript of proceedings. Higgins says the remark was extremely personal and is a blow to all women in politics. Chisholm, who will remain as member of the legislature for Cut Knife-Turtleford, says his words should never have been "thought or spoken."

Media $$$$$$ for the Sask Party

Wow, why am I not surprised!!!!!

clipped from mediamelon.net Private media companies contributed financially to the Saskatchewan Party in 2007 but gave virtually nothing to the NDP and the Liberals. According to this report, Rawlco Radio (whose properties include News Talk radio in Saskatoon and Regina) and the Rawlinson family contributed over 100 thousand dollars to the Sask Party. Other media contributors to the Saskies include: CTV, $1256; CanWest Media Works, $5,000 and Leonard Asper, $5,000; Harvard Broadcasting, $693.00; Access Communications, over $16,000 and Shaw Communications, $1500. Ad and marketing companies Prairie Advertising, Brown Communications and Phoenix Advertising also donated to the cause. Phoenix Advertising also contributed to the NDP while Access gave to the Liberals. Of curiosity was a donation of $629 from the Saskatchewan Roughrider football club to the Sask Party and contributions to the Saskies from both the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan. Huh?

Sask Party owned by Corporate Donors

Funny how they claim that the NDP is in the pockets of Organized Labour.....

clipped from www.canada.com REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Party took in more than twice as much cash as the NDP in 2007 as it romped to victory in the November provincial election. In fact, the party's take from corporate donations alone -- $3.02 million -- exceeds the NDP's total haul of $2.28 million. The financial documents were disclosed just weeks after the Sask. Party accused the NDP of being puppets of organized labour for its reliance on union donations -- $165,999 in the 2007 documents.

Tory Racism not just limited to MP Lukiwksi

The right wing mentality, racism, arrogance and attitude must be addressed. A video gets dismissed because it was 16 years old, but it shows a deep seated racist, discriminatory attitude in Tories at all levels across Canada. When is this going to be addressed and stopped?

clipped from www.winnipegsun.com Tory MLA Leanne Rowat was on the hot seat yesterday, apologizing for a comment deemed racist by aboriginal leaders while ignoring their calls for her resignation. Last Thursday, Rowat -- the party's aboriginal affairs critic -- yelled "wine and beer" in response to the statement, "We are providing sustenance to the First Nations people." Rowat once dug up receipts for wine and beer served at a Spirited Energy function. When she asked about them, Jim Rondeau -- the minister in charge of the campaign -- called it "sustenance," according to Rowat. She has since made reference to wine and beer whenever she hears the word.

Vetting releases won't fly with Auditor

Globe and Mail this morning. Harper's arrogance never wanes for a minute:

OTTAWA -- Auditor-General Sheila Fraser says she and the other officers of Parliament have been ignoring sections of government policies that would undermine their independence - but it is time the exemptions were clarified in writing.

"I wanted to have it clear which parts of the policies are problematic, that it be expressly indicated that these things did not apply to us, and what compensating control or activity we would do to replace that," Ms. Fraser said in a telephone interview yesterday afternoon.

The issue came to the fore during a Commons public accounts committee meeting this week when Ms. Fraser told MPs that, on paper, she and the seven other independent officers of Parliament will soon be required to vet their communications strategies through the Privy Council Office.

"Well, I can tell you there is no way that my press releases about my report are going to go to Privy Council Office, or our communications strategies are going to be vetted by Privy Council Office," Ms. Fraser told the committee.

"There's no way that Canada's going to be living in a world where the government tells officers of Parliament what they're going to do," New Democratic MP Dave Christopherson told reporters. "This will be resolved. It's just a question of how much dust do we have to kick up and how far do we have to drag the Prime Minister kicking and screaming to acknowledge there are people in this country that he doesn't control."

Tiresome assembly of pure arrogance

Every once in awhile, you really have to agree with Murray Mandryk:

"That said, if it truly was the New Democrats' goal to portray Norris as pompous and idiotic in this committee, their greatest ally in this effort has been Norris himself.

Deliberately adopting a speaking style reminiscent of William Shatner on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, Norris has blithered on about Plato, Aristotle and dead trees casting a shadow on the province. No metaphor has gone untortured.

But while Norris's petulance in committee has served no purpose other than to annoy, insult and demean, it may be unfair to single him out."

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/columnists/story.html?id=bd86cbd0-3cda-446f-ad97-bd84f30ebd97

New Dems cashing in on Liberals indecisiveness

please see the the following articles!!!!

New Democrats cashing in on Liberal's indecisiveness
Conservatives lose support

clipped from www.thestar.com OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives are losing voters' support – a trend accelerated by the RCMP raid last week on Tory headquarters, according to a Toronto Star/Angus Reid poll released today. The Conservatives stand at 33 per cent support across Canada, a loss of three percentage points since a similar poll in March. The Liberals have been the prime beneficiaries of that slide, up four percentage points to 30 per cent, according to the online poll of 1,007 Canadians. clipped from www.thestar.com OTTAWA–Federal New Democrats are enjoying a bump in membership, a rise in fundraising and a spring in their step these days. And they're quietly giving thanks to Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion. "It's so clear when you sit in the House. The moment the Liberals don't vote, Mr. Harper has a majority. ... Meanwhile, month after month passes with terrible Conservative policies being adopted," NDP Leader Jack Layton said in a recent interview.

Conservatives tumble, NDP breaks 20 percent support

Checkout my good friend at Blogging a Dead Horse:

Jack Layton and the NDP are starting to see dividends from their strategy of taking on Harper over issues that impact ordinary people's lives like high gas prices and cell phone charges, and consistently being the country’s number one Harper fighter.

Today’s Toronto Star contains two examples.

The first is an Angus Reid poll commissioned by the Star which shows Conservative support tumbling three points in the last month, while NDP support has soared to the historic level of 20 percent – matching the 1988 election result which saw the party net 43 seats under Ed Broadbent.

Some of the regional breaks are also remarkable, including a strong showing of 19 in Ontario, 17 in Quebec, and in Manitoba and Saskatchewan where Layton leads with an incredible 46 percent of the vote. Even factoring the margin of error for the small prairie sample, the NDP still leads the Conservatives in the heart of the country.

But because polls are just polls, the other piece of good news for New Democrats is this story showing that Layton's pragmatic and principled opposition is being seen as the real force to beat Harper’s agenda -- resulting in tangible benefits in terms of increased NDP memberships, fundraising and momentum.

Political scientist Paul Nesbitt-Larking said Liberal decisions to abstain on high-profile issues has given the NDP room to present themselves "as the true opposition."