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The blogosphere is already filled with cries of "special treatment".

I don't think so -- it's fairly common for weak impaired cases to be pleaded down to careless. Usually the Crown sees a decent chance of losing flat out and then agrees to a plea to careless. The drug charges may well have been tainted by an improper search.

Overall a good result for Jaffer but not one reflecting special treatment.

http://tiny.cc/pandabear119

Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer pleaded guilty Tuesday in an Ontario courtroom to careless driving and must pay a $500 fine.

Jaffer had been charged with impaired driving and possession of cocaine but those charges were dropped. Jaffer will also donate $500 to charity.

Outside the Orangeville courthouse, Jaffer apologized for his actions and acknowledged the seriousness of the charges. But he said he was pleased the ordeal was ...
In the wake of the story of a Quebec woman who wears a niqab (a head garment which is worn over the entire face with a slit for the eyes) filing a human rights complaint over her expulsion from a French course at a Montreal-area college, federal Conservative Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Josée Verner waded-into the fracas last week.

In an interview with a Quebec City radio station, ...
Class - Jennifer Heil
Jennifer Heil, started skiing when she was two years old, growing up originally in Spruce Grove, Alberta.  Since the age of two, Jennifer worked on her skills, giving hundreds upon hundreds of hours of her personal life towards her skills as a freestyle mogul skier, overcoming injuries, participating in her first Olympics at 18 years  of age.  In 2006, she won a gold medal at Turin, and this week, earned a silver medal in Vancouver. 

In addition to devoting most of her young life to the development of her skills as a world champion mogul skier, in her spare time, Jennifer manages to attend the Management Studies program at McGill Univers...
Here’s a great piece from Mandrew Black of Windsor Law. I think he’s funny, even though he beat me in a moot (I’m not bitter or anything).

If you get an OCI friend,
Cop it like its hot
Cop it like its hot
Cop it like its hot
If your competitions dressed well,
Knock it like its not
Knock it like [...]

Sadly I wasn't there to skate but the Provincial and Federal Riding Associations are working together, hand in hand, to make Thornhill once again Liberal at both levels! Special thanks go to the Young Liberals who did such an amazing job!
You know you are doing something right when Kelly McParland feels it necessary to issue a direct rebuttal alongside your article:


Kelly McParland: Michael Ignatieff's latest new idea, borrowed from George Bush

Posted: February 11, 2010, 2:01 PM by Kelly McParland

Here's blogger Jeff Jedras's take on the phony abortion issue the Liberal party is trying desperately to stir up:



"When Michael Ignatieff last week called on Stephen Harper’s Conservatives to pledge that access to safe abortion services will be part of the government’s ballyhooed G8 initiative to generate international support for improving maternal and child care in the developing world, he was attacked by the critics.

Even though he was calling for an affirmation of what has been longstanding Canadian development policy under both parties – not to follow the George W. Bush route of tying development funds to personal moral and religious beliefs ...
From James Laxer:
Urgent National Debate Needed on Harper Trade Deal

(This post appeared in the online edition of the Toronto Star.)

In the middle of a period of prorogation, when parliament is not sitting, the Harper government has sprung a sweeping new trade deal on Canadians. The agreement the Harper government has reached with the Obama administration is the most important extension of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) since that deal went into effect in 1994.

The Harper deal will allow Canadian companies to bid on many, but not all, of the contracts involving government funded economic stimulus projects in the U.S., which are restricted to U.S. companies under Buy American provisions that have been inserted into the U.S. government’s Recovery Act.

In return for this “concession” from Washington, Ottawa has agreed to pay ...
My letter to the editor in the Record today:

Waterloo has a distinct culture

Re: Waterloo voters ignored — Feb. 9

Why would Waterloo reject further talks on amalgamation while Kitchener supports them? That’s easy. Waterloo is half the size of Kitchener, so in a merged city Kitchener councillors could win every vote. Waterloo would be throwing away control of our city.

The argument that Kitchener and Waterloo look the same is moot. Waterloo and Kitchener have a lot of overlaps, but they also have distinct cultures. I want to retain the culture and identity of Waterloo.

Also, the name “Kitchener-Waterloo” is too long. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life typing an 18-character name into online forms and on the front of envelopes.

The amalgamation idea has been rejected for years. I don’t want to waste another penny or minut...
An election is a long way off and this may not reflect a long term trend but ... I am glad to see this:

The federal Liberals have taken the lead over the Conservatives for the first time since the 2008 federal election, according to a new Environics poll released today. The opposition Liberals have the support of 37 percent of decided voters, an 11 point gain over their level in a previous Environics poll conducted last December. The Conservatives now trail the Liberals by four points, holding 33 percent of voter support, a drop of four points for the party since December.

The New Democrats have also lost support, falling to 13 percent from 17 percent in December.

For the other parties, nine percent would vote for the Green Party, and eight percent would vote for the Bloc Quebecois nationally, which translates into 36 percent support in Quebec.

James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

416 225 2777

...
Explain this to me, gentle readers. If Stephen Harper is so smart, playing chess while the rest of us are playing checkers, then why is his official spokesperson starting a ridiculous firefight with an obscure MP from the fourth party?

Meanwhile, Environics Research Group's most recent poll places the Liberal Party 4 points ahead of the Harper Conservatives at 38% national support. That kind of result in a federal election could put the Liberals close to a parliamentary majority, but for some reason the Prime Minister's political staff think they should be focusing Libby Davies...
There were some heavy-duty protests at the opening day of the Olympics yesterday, with masked protesters smashing windows, damaging cars and spray-painting things. If this were happening in Ontario the Mounties would be out on horseback, something I've seen in Toronto many times. (In fact, I noticed when living in Liberty Village in west Toronto last year that even the parking police are on horseback.)

But the Olympics are in Vancouver, and things are a little different there. To thwart the main protest, CTV reports, "bicycle police formed a line across one of the main streets in the downtown."

Bikes... hmmm. It's an interesting development in crowd control techniques, and we need to hear more about it. Is it a kinder, gentler approach to policing angry mobs? Or just the way Van cops get around?

###...
For the NDP and Liberals, this is not an ideal time for an election. Jack Layton is laid up with treatments for his recently-diagnosed cancer. The Liberals (according to James Travers) are "a policy conference, an election platform and at least six months away from campaign readiness."

For Harper, an election might not look so bad. It's increasingly looking like Harper's advantage in the polls last fall was a blip brought on by Ignatieff's goof of saying he wanted an election less one year after the previous one. These current polls may be as good as Harper is going to get: Ignatieff will only get stronger over the next few months. Plus, Harper could be in big trouble once those Afghan detainee papers come out: as is frequently the case, the cover-up (and blatant lies) may be more harmful than the base issue. Some politicians would hold off on an election when a rival is...
Criminal record checks are increasingly being used to screen job applicants, and can hurt  your prospects of getting a job.
But should a recent speeding ticket (not a criminal offence) that puts you in the database allow an officer to check an ambiguous box that neither confirms nor denies the presence of a criminal record?
The Times [...]

New Law Would Ban Marriages Between People Who Don't Love Each Other
George Smitherman, who wants to become Toronto's Mayor, is becoming a Dad first.

http://tinyurl.com/yd48hpy


The openly gay politician and his spouse, Christopher Poloso, are adopting a 14-month-old boy from Toronto.

They are expecting their son on February 26.

The two are in Vancouver for the Games and last night they were at a party at the Labatt Beer Institute where Mr. Smitherman could not hide his feelings, saying he has always wanted to be a father and describing himself as being “intensely thrilled.”

He says he knows, however, that although Toronto is progressive he and Mr. Poloso will receive some negative comments, a backlash from some corners, for their decision to adopt and bring up a child.

The little boy, who the couple has taken out on day trips in the first steps of getting to know him, has lived in foster care since he was born....
A lot of time and effort was expended two years ago to fend off a business lobby intent on amalgamation. Now the same group is back with what you might call a "foot in the door" tactic - get agreement on having a referendum about whether to hold talks on the issue. Who could disagree with something so benign? But don't be fooled. When the question was "Do you want to amalgamate," the vast majority of local residents said "no". This latest tactic is a more subtle attempt to trick us into amalgamation.

Atthough we won this battle just two years ago, we can't rest. If we don't speak up, the amalgamation lobby will win this time. It's an election year and the amalgamation lobby is putting a great deal of pressure on local politicians - writing, phoning; there was even a recent letter to the editor of The Record urging voters to vote out every Waterloo City Councillor opposed to amalgamation.

Waterloo c...


Akaash Maharaj - Practical IdealismThe current government is unwilling to engage in an honest national debate over the war in Afghanistan because it believes that Canadians prefer easy lies to hard truths. But Canadians are not the fools or the cowards that such politicians take us for.


25 Days

Avatar Posted by bgrice 48 days ago (http://feedproxy.google.com)

Stephen Harper will propose new Senate Reform bills in the next session, according to the Hill Times. It may look to some like Harper is acting to bring more democracy to Canada, after he has exhibited shameful disdain for democracy in prorogation. However, the way in which Harper proposes to bring this reform goes against our form of government just as much as prorogation.

Stephen Harper is seeking to superimpose bills passed by Parliament onto the Constitution, and make them override the clauses in the constitution regarding the Senate. The proper procedure that experts have identified would be to follow the usual procedure for such amendments, namely obtaining consent of 7 provinces with more than 50% of Canada's population.

Stephen Harper may say he wants to bring more democracy with these bills, but if he proposes them, that will be yet another undemocratic action in a growing list....
The product of all of Harper's hard work. From the Rick Mercer report:


...
Technically, of course, it is not within the Prime Minister's purview to prorogue Parliament, as he is required by law to make this request to the Governor General. The Governor General could refuse, but, as with all monarchical powers, usually does not exert her right to deny Prime Ministers' requests. Effectively then, the Prime Minister now wields power he was not intended to have. We have seen the abuses, thanks to Stephen Harper, that can occur when this power is granted to a Prime Minister. Therefore, it seems only sensible that this power should be taken away from the Prime Minister, and given to those who would stop such an abuse of power.

Jack Layton has proposed to give this power to the MPs in the House of Commons. Only if a majority of MPs were to agree to the suspension of Parliament would Parliament be prorogued. The intent is obviously to prevent Prime Ministers from succumbing to their undemocratic and partisan tendencies.

This is proposal is well...

Here is what Stephen Harper thinks about governments avoiding dissent: "When government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern."

Too bad for Canadians that that was in 2005. I guess even the great tactician has to change his mind sometimes.
...

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