Monday, October 22, 2007

Iggy-Gate Swirls On

Controversy continues to swirl over the dispute between a dog rescue agency and celebrity animal lover Stéphane 'Degenerate' Dion.

Some time ago, Dion had adopted 'Iggy' as his deputy. However, despite training and an attempted neutering, Iggy did not get along with Degenerate's other pet, Kyoto. "He kept chasing Kyoto around the house, shouting 'We didn't get it done,'" said a source close to Dion.

Dion had then re-homed Iggy in a quieter home away from the limelight and TV cameras. However when the rescue agency, run by a Mr. Coderre and a Mr. Rodriguez, heard that Iggy had been re-homed without their consent, they immediately swung into action. Iggy was grabbed from the background and placed in another location closer to the TV cameras.

"You can see how much happier Iggy is; he's smirking again," said a friend of the Hez and Bollah animal rescue operation.

Dion continues to issue tearful pleas for the return of Iggy to the background home he had chosen for Iggy, however most observers say that this is likely a lost cause, and are urging Dion to move on as quickly and as far away from the Liberal leadership as possible.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Dalton's Drive

Well, further to my earlier musings about replacing the trusty Golf TDI with something a little more mid-life crisis, I'm wondering what Dalton McGuinty's driving these days, because it seems he can pull a left-handed U-turn way faster than any car I've ever driven.

Still, at least we still have that warm, fuzzy Dalton McGuinty who's all about the family. Isn't it good to know he places such an emphasis on the family? Dalton loves your family.

Unless you have an autistic child.
Or you are tearing the social fabric of Ontario by bringing your child up in your own faith.
Or you're a family without a family doctor.
Or you're a low-income family whose finances are breaking under the strain of the Dalton Health Tax.
Or your family is supported by one of those manufacturing jobs that's about to walk out of the province.
Or your disabled family member is being evicted from Rideau Regional Centre.

... Thank God he's all about the family. Because can you imagine Ontario if he wasn't?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Ontario Election : Undecided? Think Twice

Things to remember today:
  • Dalton McGuinty knew ahead of the last election that there was a $4.5bn deficit and he signed the pledge not to raise taxes in that full knowledge. He lied to you. Do you want to reward that?
  • Dalton McGuinty has been missing in action on native occupations and blockades in Caledonia, Deseronto and other places. Dalton McGuinty believes in a two-tier justice system. Do you really want to support that?
  • Dalton McGuinty promised to fix our healthcare system, and yet thousands of us still can't get a family doctor. Some of us are counted as having one, even though it's nearly a 100km drive to the doctor. Do you have a family doctor? Do you think it's OK to have to take your young children 100km each way to see the doctor? Dalton does.
  • Dalton McGuinty turned down an offer from an organization that would have cut waiting times for several medical procedures at no extra cost to the province and entirely under OHIP. Dalton McGuinty puts his personal dislike of private enterprise ahead of the health needs of Ontarians. Do you? Or do you just want someone who's sick to get the treatment they need?
  • Dalton McGuinty turned his back and walked away from a dying man who's not getting the help he needs, thanks to Dalton. Do you want to reward cowardice and deceit?
  • Dalton McGuinty has capped class sizes in the lower grades at 20. He's not telling you that he did that by increasing class sizes in other grades up to levels around 35 or 40. There are more split grades and more portable classrooms than ever before.
  • Dalton McGuinty bought labour peace with teachers: he paid their salary demands without question; he lowered their working hours; he removed re-testing and certification requirements and he cancelled any teacher evaluation process. Do you want an education system that's run by giving a union a blank cheque under the pretence it's about students? Or do you believe teachers should be subject to the same evaluation as you are in your job?
  • Dalton McGuinty raised a whole lot of fake outrage about funding faith based schools, when at one time he was in favour of it himself. Do you want to support someone who campaigned on fear, bigotry and racism?
  • Dalton McGuinty is gradually working to take away small freedoms in Ontario, through ever increasing regulation and petty lawmaking such as pesticide bans. Bit by bit he is extending government control over your life. Do you value your freedom, or do you want Dalton telling you how to live your life in ever more areas?
  • Dalton McGuinty treats your money as his own, Ontario as his own, you as his own. Do you want to reward lying, deceit, cowardice, fearmongering?

Think long and hard before you vote and ask yourself if your vote has really been earned by this sorry record.

Monday, October 08, 2007

A Propos...

... of my last post, I came across this quote from Mahatma Gandhi, which to my mind fits the current mob of Canadian 'leaders' (with honourable exceptions such as Stephen Harper and John Tory):

"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence."

For God's sake, or for any sake you believe in, let's try and vote for someone honest and true to themselves this election, rather than someone impotent.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

What's The Difference?

As we cruise to the finish line in the Ontario provincial election, and McGuinty seems poised for an easy majority win, I find myself thinking less and less about the minutiae of this policy or that policy, and more and more about something deeper and more fundamental.

In the time that I've been blogging and in turn reading many other people's excellent blogs, something has been nagging at me. In a nutshell, it's this: I would consider myself to be a fairly liberal and tolerant individual, and far from being a 'social conservative' in the North American sense of that phrase. However, on issue after issue, I have found myself more in agreement with the so-cons than with the liberals, and in particular I have been deeply uncomfortable with the tone of virtually all debates involving matters of morals, ethics, religion and personal freedom in which I have been involved.

These thoughts have been crystallized of late by the faith-based school funding debate. I am on record as being opposed to Mr. Tory's plan, and yet, time and again I have been drawn to its defence, or at least to the defence of those who have been mercilessly attacked by the McGuinty campaign machine around this issue.

What I think has been revealed in this election campaign is something very deep within our society and that is the level of discomfort that still exists in Ontario for anything 'different'. Supposedly, we are a multicultural society, in which all members are treated equally and fairly without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, colour, ethnicity, birthplace, sexuality, etc., etc. Such a society is, of course, utopian. Human nature being what it is, there will always be conflict between different groups, different faiths, people of different cultures, and people from nations with historic emnities. In practice, therefore, there are essentially two ways in which one can build a peaceful, multicultural society: either people are assimilated into a common group, with common values and beliefs, thus removing the sources of conflict, or people are allowed to remain true to their own identities while learning true respect for those of different backgrounds.

And here we come to the problem. I incline to the latter view. I would like to think that I can exist peacefully alongside anyone of any background and any belief system, respecting them and avoiding conflict as far as possible. And if I can, then so can most other people. This doesn't mean I compromise my values or my beliefs; on the contrary, strong values are the great strength of a society built on this model. But I am a true liberal in the sense that I respect other people's right to hold different values, practice different faiths, to be different. Rather than hide differences, we hold them out in the open where they can be discussed, debated, and dealt with.

This is the model of multiculturalism that I always thought was supposed to be the Canadian model. However, what this latest election campaign has shown me is that in fact, it's not. The multicultural model which has taken hold in this country is actually not multiculturalism at all, but simple socialism. In this model, difference is not something to be celebrated, but to be feared. We must minimize our differences, and sweep them under the rug. We must appear to be tolerant, liberal, progressive and open-minded, but all the time we must marginalize those who differ too much from our comfortable middle ground.

In this Ontario, it's OK to be different, but not too different. You can be Catholic, but not too Catholic, like actually letting your faith guide your daily decision making. You can be a rural leader, standing up for the rights of a whole class of Ontarians neglected by their government, but you can't be too obviously rural. Step over that line, defined by the ruling class, and you're mocked, spat upon, and effectively run out of town. The examples are endless.

There are two major problems with this approach. One is that the very fabric of government and society is built upon lies. Day after day, socialist politicians, of which McGuinty is but a archetypal example, stage events to show how tolerant they are; they appear with different folks of different colours, of different faiths... McGuinty hands over $1m to a cricket club, for example, as if he actually knows square leg from silly mid off. But it's all a flimsy, thin veneer. The Leader doesn't actually know anything about the people, and respects them still less. It's a carefully controlled display of difference - but not too much difference.

The real differences are minimized and buried under the surface, where they fester. Instead of being out in the open to be addressed, they are suppressed and caged, to emerge in gangland violence, terrorism, school bullying, discrimination on the job, and a million other ways every single day. Socialism cannot in the end allow differences to exist; they must be controlled in this way in order for politicians of Mr. McGuinty's ilk to build the socialist society and economy they wish to see.

I believe there are very many Ontarians, however, who are like me. Who really would like to see our differences being celebrated and not hidden. Who really are capable of treating everyone with respect and listening to alternative points of view. Who see openness and discussion not as racism, sexism, homophobia, or any other -isms or -phobias, but as the means by which those things can be reduced and even eliminated. I believe John Tory is one of the rarest of those people in that he is both a true man of such integrity and a politician.

For me, this is the saddest thing I have learned in the last two months. That the country I have chosen to make my home is not really what I thought it was. That those who should be leading the fight for equality, freedom, justice, peace and respect for all Canadians are in fact doing the opposite.

This is why I have instinctively sided with so-cons on so many issues - not because I necessarily agree with them but because they, along with everyone else, deserve to be heard and deserve equal respect. I cannot stomach a ruling elite that uses mockery, fearmongering, spin and carefully controlled TV appearances to run away from the hard debates.

With four more years of Ontario Liberal rule, we will see more and more of the socialist stripes of McGuinty. There will be less and less tolerance for difference. There will be more and more control over our daily lives and the tiny details of our existence. The socialist grip will tighten and freedom will be eroded. I only hope that one day enough eyes will be opened to what is happening that enough people, from enough different backgrounds will say 'enough is enough.' and the socialists can finally be stopped.

For now, however, I expect that Wednesday will simply be a very very sad day for Ontario and for Canada.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Viewer Discretion Advised

Most people have the decency to masturbate in private. Not so Cherniak.

McGuinty's Education Paradise

I mean, why would anyone want to send their kids to a faith-based school anyway, when they can have all this?

In a further shock to a Toronto school system still grappling with two homicides during the past five months, eight boys aged 12 and 13 face sexual assault charges after four girls told of being molested on the grounds of an Etobicoke middle school.

The assaults allegedly occurred after a basketball game at Smithfield Middle School in the city's northwest corner last Tuesday afternoon. [Globe and Mail]

Murder, sexual assault, lousy academics, split grades, portables, and the teaching unions holding you and your kids by a sensitive part of the anatomy. Come on, Ontario. Get with the Liberal program here. McGuinty will not be happy until everyone is dragged down to the lowest common denominator. How dare you want better?

A round up of education related reading; pass it on to anyone you know who might be voting primarily on the education issue and ask them to think hard about facts, put spin aside, and make a sensible choice for real educational improvements, not platitudes and union appeasement.

Sandy at The Crux Of The Matter: McGuinty Vision For Schools An Illusion
Dan Gardner / Ottawa Citizen: The Negroes At The Back Of The Bus
Joanne's Journey: Value For Education Tax Dollars?
National Post: Editorial: John Tory for Ontario Premier
Ontario Teachers: Owners of $106bn, or Most of The Known Universe (See also Rick Mercer on the altruism of our teachers)
TorStar: Those Improving Standards In Full

Add your own in the comments.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Whoville News: Liberal Infighting Continues

Former PM Jean Chretien is recovering well from a quadruple bypass operation at the Montreal Heart Institute.

Another former PM, Paul Martin, was surprised to discover that Jean Chretien had a heart. However a spokesman for Mr. Martin said that information leaked from the hospital confirmed that the heart was at least two sizes too small.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Students in Faith-Based Ontario Schools

... the negroes at the back of the bus. A must read from the Ottawa Citizen.

And, harking back to what I wrote here, some real data on how spending money has little to do with educational attainment. H/t to Joanne.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Obituary

The illusion that Ontario is an inclusive, open and just society has died. It was roughly forty years old.

The illusion was carefully constructed in the 1960s, when so many of its peers also came into the world. It is predeceased by many, though perhaps not enough of the liberal politicians who created it. It leaves behind a large vacuum and some serious questions.

Although created by liberals, the illusion had in recent years become increasingly estranged from them. Despite the best efforts of media and spin doctors, the illusion suffered increasingly from the divergence of words and actions. In particular, its religious tolerance had become exposed as being merely approval of one religious viewpoint - secular humanism - over all others.

Liberals like Christians, Jews and Muslims as long as they know their place and stay in their own neighborhoods and schools, and the masses don't have to pay for them or see them.

The illusion of a tolerant society is grieved by all right-thinking, honest and decent people, but will not be missed by Liberals or liberals for whom it was becoming difficult to bear.

The Unknown Corgi

With a h/t to Neo:

We're not the only right-wing, corgi-crazy blogger out there.