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.

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

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."

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."

New Democrats cashing in on Liberals' indecisiveness

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. Dion's decisions to abstain on key Commons votes on immigration changes, climate change and the Tory's big tax cuts have given New Democrats political room to declare they are Parliament's "progressive" party. "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. The Liberals have been careful in recent months not to oppose the government on key issues, which could force an election they don't want. And while the evidence is anecdotal, the New Democrats seem to be reaping the fallout.

Tories Cheat in last election

Go figure, Harper had to cheat to win....

clipped from www.thestar.com MONTREAL–The federal opposition parties are accusing the Conservatives of "cheating" during the last election by deliberately exceeding campaign spending limits.

Corrupt Conservatives ignore own Accountability

So here we are with a Conservative Government hell bent on accountability. It's too bad that they demand it for everyone but themselves.

The stories are amazing:

Tories accused of election advertising misspending
Opposition blasts Tories over campaign finance controversy

Yesterday, the Tories once again tried to manipulate the media by inviting only a select few to a media conference about the Elections Canada warrant. Much to their dismay the other outlets found out and when they tried to get in, the Tories left down the back hall in haste. Now that's accountability!!!!

Not only is it disgusting that the Tories broke Elections Canada laws and are claiming that it is a "publicity stunt" on behalf of Elections Canada, they are now wasting our money on mail outs into selected ridings across Canada.

Each MP is allowed to send out what is called a 10%'er. These are mailouts designed to keep their constituents informed of what is going on in the House of Commons and to keep us up to date on the issues. These mailouts are delivered free by Canada Post at the expense of the taxpayers.

The Harper Conservatives are using your tax dollars to attack Jack Layton. As the Dion and the Liberals are in bed with Conservatives and are needed to keep propping up the Government, Harper's only true opposition is Jack Layton.

What is even of more interest, is that they cannot attack the individual candidates, so they have to attack Layton directly. Jack must be doing something right if he has the entire Tory Caucus going after him!!!!

MP's voting record should hold them accountable

It is among the most fundamental pieces of information in a democracy: the record of how an elected representative votes on behalf of constituents.

But most Canadians would struggle to find a list showing how their MPs voted on legislation before the House of Commons, so buried are these data in confusing parliamentary records.

Voting records for elected representatives in other countries are readily available on the Internet. The votes in the U.S. Congress are listed on the House of Representatives website and there are numerous public-interest groups that chart online the voting records of American politicians.

One can see, for instance, that Democratic presidential candidate and Illinois senator Barack Obama missed 37.4 per cent of recorded votes in the U.S. Senate, and voted in line with Democrats 96.7 per cent of the time.

But there is no official publication that lists the voting records for Canada's MPs.

The results of recorded votes in the House of Commons are buried in Hansard, the transcript of the debates, and the House journals, and these do not list votes by MP.

To find out how an MP voted on any given bill or motion, readers must navigate through the www.parl.gc.ca website and, by cross-referencing with an index, find the journal for the day of the vote, then scan through it for the rollcall listing the yeas and nays recorded. For those not familiar with parliamentary procedure, the records can be confusing.

The journals list only the results of each vote and do not aggregate the results to see how any one MP voted on different bills or motions.

A Canwest News Service story this week revealed Liberal MPs have on average participated in only 64 per cent of the votes in the House this session, a rate less than the turnout in the last federal election.

Liberals aren't showing up for votes, and when they do vote, they vote with the Conservatives 60% of the time, compared to only 26% of the time for the NDP.

There is a privately run website tried to fill this information gap by collating all the voting results for MPs.

Web developer Cory Horner, of Victoria, B.C., created howdtheyvote.ca three years ago because he was frustrated by the process required to find voting records online, however it is lacking in current stats as it is hard to keep up updating the site.

If MP's knew their constituents were likely to be presented with this information during an election, it causes them to think twice - in a positive sense. Hopefully, the voters would use the information to help decide whom they really want representing them in Ottawa.

We should all keep these facts in mind the next time the Liberals try to tell voters that only a 'Liberal' vote can stop Stephen Harper in Saskatchewan: 'Why vote for Liberals who--even if they show up--are more likely than not to vote with Stephen Harper?'

Jack Layton Appears on Lou Dobbs (NAFTA)

There's always another option...

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Columnists/Harris_Michael/2008/02/29/4883668.html
Fri, February 29, 2008
There's always another option
Stephane Dion, recently U-Boated on YouTube, can be trusted on one point: To secure victory he is always ready to retreat.

Rick Mercer notwithstanding, what is the average non-comedian to make of Captain Collapse's latest battle whimper? -- "We'll find a way to not defeat the government and to express our disagreement with this budget."

So just how does one suck while also attempting to blow? By having a handful of Liberals vote against the budget while the rest abstain or stay in bed.

If a confidence vote is at one level the invitation to step outside and settle it in the parking lot, the Grits have signalled time after time that there is nothing on the political landscape worth fighting for, including the Afghanistan mission, the environment, the omnibus crime bill or the economic direction of the country.

I have a suggestion for giving the gutless Grits what they deserve. Who says they are the only government in waiting? There has been another party around since 1961 that has never been trusted to be the government of this country or even the Opposition, though in 1988 the NDP did win 43 seats. My proposal is this: Those hordes of urban voters who just can't stand the Conservatives should try a new option -- the NDP.

I have to laugh when callers to my program inveigh against the very possibility of giving the NDP some real power in Parliament. Most of them want to talk about the disastrous economic consequences of what the "socialists" would do. Without noting the party's commitment to balanced budgets, they talk about the mountains of debt that would pile up.

But wait? Wasn't it the Liberals under Pierre Trudeau who spent the numbers off the national credit card and attempted to breast-feed the nation from cradle to grave? Wasn't it the Conservatives under Brian Mulroney who pushed Canada toward fiscal meltdown in two terms of drop-dead financial profligacy? Never mind what the NDP might do. Think about what the traditional parties have done. By the latest calculations, Canadians are coughing up $18 million a day, every day, to pay the interest on the mountains of debt the so-called "responsible" parties have racked up.

Then there is the "Remember Ontario" refrain, a dour reference to Bob Rae's dubious stewardship of Confederation's former Big Kahuna. Surely because of what Bob Rae did to Ontario, surely the NDP must never be trusted to govern again. People who argue like that almost never want to talk about Roy Romanow, living proof that an NDP government can be every bit as fiscally responsible as anyone else, while still promoting the party's policies and values.

It bears remembering: Those enemies of the Common Sense Revolution may not have liked Mike Harris, but no one suggests that a Conservative must never again run the show at Queen's Park. Quebecers booted out Robert Bourassa with great gusto, then brought him back, and now have another Liberal calling the shots in Quebec City. A poor job rating does not bring eternal banishment to the traditional parties, so why should it to the NDP?

The list of NDP politicians that didn't ruin their provinces by winning power is long and not without some distinction: Dave Barrett, Mike Harcourt, Glen Clark, Alan Blakeney, Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert. Gazooks, even Albertans once voted in the NDP as the official Opposition!

I ask you, is it really that scary to think of Jack

Cadman Controversy goes to RCMP

With the release of a transcript between Steven Harper and reporter Tom Zytaruk in 2005, the ammunition was more than enough for a serious call to the RCMP to investigate possible corruption with the Conservatives.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/02/28/pf-4883305.html

February 28, 2008 Scratchy tape begins with Harper request: 'This is not for publication' By Alexander Panetta, THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA - The voice on the scratchy tape is unmistakably Stephen Harper's. It was as unmistakable as his concern that the tape's contents might one day be made public. Harper interrupted a local reporter in 2005 when asked about allegations his party had offered financial enticements to a dying MP to win his support on a critical vote. "This is not for publication?" Harper asked Tom Zytaruk. He was told that the interview was intended as fodder for a biography of Chuck Cadman, the late MP from Surrey, B.C. But the ensuing two minutes, 21 seconds of audio raise questions about apparent discrepancies between what the prime minister said Thursday and what Harper himself said on the tinny tape more than two years ago. The prime minister said Thursday he looked into claims Cadman was offered financial considerations and determined they were untrue. The tape suggests Harper was not only aware of a financial offer to Cadman, but that he gave it the go-ahead, while urging party emissaries not to "press" Cadman too hard. Harper's conversation with B.C. journalist Tom Zytaruk took place outside the Cadman residence just after Harper paid a courtesy visit to the former MP's widow shortly after his death. "The offer to Chuck was that it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election," Harper says. And Harper says of the people who made the offer: "They were legitimately representing the party." Here's how Harper summarizes his instructions to those party operatives: "I said, 'Don't press (Cadman), I mean, you have this theory that it's, you know, financial insecurity, and you know, just, you know, if that's what you're saying make that case,' but I said, 'Don't press it."' The Liberals have already sent a letter to the RCMP asking for an investigation into whether the entire incident could violate the bribery provisions in Section 119 of the Criminal Code. The Mounties said Thursday they're examining the request. Harper is clear on the tape that he never expected the overtures to succeed. Cadman did in fact vote to rescue the Martin government. "I don't know the details. I can tell you that I had told the individuals, I mean, they wanted to do it. But I told them they were wasting their time. I said Chuck had made up his mind." - Transcript of author's tape of Harper sheds light on Cadman case OTTAWA - Transcript of a portion of author Tom Zytaruk's tape of a 2005 interview with Stephen Harper, then leader of the Opposition, for his biography of the late Chuck Cadman: Zytaruk: "I mean, there was an insurance policy for a million dollars. Do you know anything about that?" Harper: "I don't know the details. I know that there were discussions, uh, this is not for publication?" Zytaruk: "This (inaudible) for the book. Not for the newspaper. This is for the book." Harper: "Um, I don't know the details. I can tell you that I had told the individuals, I mean, they wanted to do it. But I told them they were wasting their time. I said Chuck had made up his mind, he was going to vote with the Liberals and I knew why and I respected the decision. But they were just, they were convinced there was, there were financial issues. There may or may not have been, but I said that's not, you know, I mean, I, that's not going to change." Zytaruk: "You said (inaudible) beforehand and stuff? It wasn't even a party guy, or maybe some friends, if it was people actually in the party?" Harper: "No, no, they were legitimately representing the party. I said don't press him. I mean, you have this theory that it's, you know, financial insecurity and, you know, just, you know, if that's what you're saying, make that case but don't press it. I don't think, my view was, my view had been for two or three weeks preceding it, was that Chuck was not going to force an election. I just, we had all kinds of our guys were calling him, and trying to persuade him, I mean, but I just had concluded that's where he stood and respected that." Zytaruk: "Thank you for that. And when (inaudible)." Harper: "But the, uh, the offer to Chuck was that it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election." Zytaruk: "Oh, OK." Harper: "OK? That's my understanding of what they were talking about." Zytaruk: "But, the thing is, though, you made it clear you weren't big on the idea in the first place?" Harper: "Well, I just thought Chuck had made up his mind, in my own view ..." Zytaruk: "Oh, okay. So, it's not like, he's like, (inaudible)." Harper: "I talked to Chuck myself. I talked to (inaudible). You know, I talked to him, oh, two or three weeks before that, and then several weeks before that. I mean, you know, I kind of had a sense of where he was going." Zytaruk: "Well, thank you very much."

Rick Mercer Liberal Song