JAMES CAMERON FILMING AVATAR 2 IN ALBERTA?

Photo from cbc.ca 

We can now all sleep easy at night. James Cameron is on the job.

                              

Cameron is in Alberta touring the province's oil sands operations as part of a fact finding mission. According to a quote in the Edmonton Sun, he is trying "to get a balanced view of what's going on."

What somebody should've told Cameron is that he could've stayed at home and Googled the topic. Besides which, Nancy Pelosi beat him to the punch.

I'm tired of do-gooding celebrities. Am I the only person who's fed up with smug celebrities voicing their opinions on every issue imaginable? 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

                      Photo from Jason DeCrow/AP  

In his address to a virtually empty United Nations General Assembly September 23, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opined that Americans staged the 9/11 attacks "in an attempt to assure Israel's survival." I don't know who keeps inviting him to speak... Perhaps they should reconsider.


I believe in the free and open expression of ideas, but not when it's hate speech masquerading as free speech. To quote a Fox News headline, what comes out of Ahmadinejad's mouth is "U.N.-Believable."

HOW TO LOSE AN ELECTION

It was a gamble, but Judy Wasylycia-Leis basically handed Sam Katz the win.

                                          Photo from the National Post

We'll have to wait and see what the reaction will be to Wasylycia-Leis' announcement that she would raise taxes if elected mayor of Winnipeg. I would suspect however, that it will probably end in swift defeat.


For starters, raising taxes doesn't look good in print. The headline in the Winnipeg Free Press read 'Vote for me, and I'll raise taxes: Judy.' That's probably not what Wasylycia-Leis' campaign team wanted to see.


I agree with Wasylycia-Leis' assessment that we need more money for infrastructure in Winnipeg. There is also no doubt that we need new sources of revenue - although an increase in property taxes isn't the best approach; rather lowering the business tax would probably have a more desired long-term impact on increasing civic revenue - but to propose an increase in taxes while campaigning is political suicide.


Katz' strategy at this stage is quite clear: let Judy sink her own ship. He doesn't even have to answer any questions about the possibility of a tax increase. If the topic comes up, he can easily deflect the question by reminding the press that Wasylycia-Leis wants to raise taxes.


Katz suggested that the property tax freeze would not last forever; however, he never specifically said that he would end it. It's in his best interest to remain vague on the topic. He may in fact raise property taxes, but at least he and his campaign team have the common sense to avoid the topic altogether.

TO KILL, OR NOT TO KILL? - CONSERVATIVE PARTY

CONSERVATIVE PARTY

                                          Photo from the Globe and Mail

Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner's private-member's bill to scrap the gun registry will, despite the controversy and debate it has stirred up, ultimately be beneficial to the Conservative Party regardless of the result of the vote. Whereas the Liberal Party stands to lose some credibility, and the NDP stands to lose - period, the Conservative Party will certainly come out on top whether they win or lose the vote on Wednesday.

As established in prior blog posts, the Liberal Party and the NDP will not fare well following the vote. Liberals will lose credibility. Ignatieff's choice to whip the Liberal vote, along with unverified accusations of a Conservative-NRA conspiracy won't help the party. The NDP will either be blamed for the demise of the gun registry, or face stiff competition in its rural ridings from Conservative Party candidates in the next election. 

The Conservative Party stands to gain the most following the vote, and will sacrifice very little - despite John Baird's elitist comment. A backbench MP proposed the private member's bill. The Conservatives have nothing at stake if they lose the vote. It's not a vote of confidence, and their government is not at risk of being toppled in any way. Conservatives could potentially lose votes in urban centres; however, the potential gains they make in rural ridings may negate any losses in cities.  

                                  Photo from the Vancouver Sun

If Candice Hoeppner's bill passes, the Conservative Party will have achieved one of its main goals. However if the bill is defeated, the Conservatives will still be in an advantageous position come election time.  Conservatives could be in line to take seats away from rural MPs who initially voted to scrap the registry, and then changed their position. This could put 8 Liberal, and 12 NDP MPs' seats at risk.

In a recent interview published in the Hill Times, Nik Nanos, of Nanos Research, noted that "if the long-gun registry continues, it will be NDP candidates and MPs in rural Canada that will probably face the brunt of the attack from the Conservatives [...] In a way, it's a no-win situation for the NDP."

The Conservative Party is already on the offensive. They launched a website entitled Scrap the Long-Gun Registry. There's a section that allows visitors to contact Liberal and NDP MPs to urge them to scrap the registry. Personalized radio ads targeting specific MPs were also produced. The Conservatives will certainly take full-advantage of waffling opposition MPs. 

Essentially, the Conservative Party stands to gain the most from the gun registry vote.  They risk very little in pursuing this cause via a backbench MP, and could potentially gain seats due to an aggressive campaign against opposition MPs.

TO KILL, OR NOT TO KILL? - NDP

NDP

                                          Photo from the National Post

The private-member's bill proposed by Conservative Party MP Candice Hoeppner to eliminate the gun registry has proven to be a divisive issue. Canadians are generally split on whether or not to keep the gun registry. The division is most acute between urban and rural populations; urban Canadians want to keep the gun registry, whereas rural Canadians want it eliminated.

                                          Photo from thestar.com 

Jack Layton and the NDP are in a particularly difficult situation. The NDP must weigh its options carefully as some of its MPs are from rural ridings who would like to see the registry eliminated. Although Layton is strongly against the bill to scrap the gun registry, his MPs have been less than united behind their leader in their responses to date. Previously, 12 NDP MPs voted to eliminate the registry.

Layton, unlike Ignatieff, will allow his MPs to vote freely on the issue. I must commend his decision to allow his MPs to vote as they see fit - it is certainly more democratic than a whipped vote. The only possible downside to a free vote however, is that it doesn't necessarily guarantee that his MPs will vote to keep the registry. To make matters worse, the Liberal Party, or the Conservative Party, could stand to gain from the outcome of the NDPs MPs votes.

No matter the outcome of the vote, the NDP will find itself in a losing position. If the registry is eliminated with the help of some NDP votes, the Liberal Party will find it very easy to blame Layton for the registry's demise. Michael Ignatieff is already prepared to blame Layton if the registry is eliminated. An article in the Toronto Sun quoted Ignatieff saying: "If gun control dies on September 22nd, it will be because Jack Layton and the NDP failed to show leadership."

On the other hand, if the MPs who previously voted to eliminate the registry change their minds and vote to keep it, the Conservative Party will improve its chances of gaining seats held by the NDP in rural ridings in the next election. As Don Martin states in his article in the National Post, Conservatives are implementing aggressive campaigns against "waffling opposition MPs." The Conservative Party could stand to gain seats from flip-flopping NDP MPs.

Unfortunately for Layton, the NDP is in a no-win situation.

In the next installment, the Conservative Party will be examined in detail.

TO KILL, OR NOT TO KILL? - LIBERAL PARTY

                                Picture from the Globe And Mail

The proposed private-member's bill introduced by Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner to scrap the gun registry elicited different responses from the Liberal Party, the NDP, and the Conservative Party. The following posts will analyze each political party's position, approach to the issue, and ultimately, each party's performance, beginning with the Official Opposition.  

LIBERAL PARTY 

                                             Photo from CBC 

Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal Party make it clear that they support the gun registry. Canadians, according to liberals, have a clear choice to make. As their website claims, it's a simple choice: "Either you support Canadian police officers, police chiefs, and gun victims, or you support Stephen Harper and the Conservative-NRA anti-cop coalition."

This statement introduced a new player in the ongoing debate. Liberals suggested that conservatives are being influenced by the National Rifle Association, an influential American pro-gun lobby group. For the moment, the "Conservative-NRA anti-cop coalition" seems less than credible. Liberals offer evidence; however, it seems to be more speculation than a source of concrete proof at this stage.

In any case, Liberal Party will vote against the private member's bill to scrap the gun registry. Liberal MPs don't have a choice. Ignatieff made the decision to whip his caucus, which forces his members of parliament to vote against the bill.

The way in which Ignatieff handled the gun registry issue is, so far, less than stellar. The suggestion of a Conservative-NRA link reeks of desperation. Ignatieff's decision to whip his caucus on a private member's bill is antithetical to the notion of a democracy.

The next blog post will examine how Jack Layton and the NDP have fared so far on the gun registry issue.

WASYLYCIA-LEIS' REDUNDANCY

Photo from www.judyformayor.ca

Judy Wasylycia-Leis announced that she would earmark money towards the creation of community hubs if elected mayor, according to a recent article posted on the Winnipeg Free Press' Online Edition.


The Winnipeg Sun reported Wasylycia-Leis would spend between $1 million and $1.5 million towards the community resource hubs as part of her plan to curb crime in the city. According to Wasylycia-Leis' campaign, "[t]he hubs would be tailored to meet local, community-identified needs, from parenting resources, to employment tools, to learning supports, to anti-gang initiatives."


The reasoning behind creating new hubs is lost on me. The City of Winnipeg already provides programs and services to address parenting, employment, learning, and anti-gang initiatives, through the Aboriginal Youth Strategy for example.


Wasylycia-Leis' initiative seems redundant. I understand that it's the beginning of her campaign and that more announcements are sure to come; however clarification on the distinction between her vision of community hubs and existing programs might be warranted in this case.

PALIN EASY TARGET

Photo from voices.washingtonpost.com

I'm by no means a supporter of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.  In fact, when John McCain announced that Palin would be his running mate in the 2008 presidential election, I was shocked.  Along came a republican from relative political obscurity vying for the vice-presidency.  She didn't have much experience, nor did she possess the credentials to be vice-president, and it showed.


Palin's now infamous interview with ABC's Katie Couric, in which she discussed her foreign policy credentials, certainly didn't help the McCain-Palin ticket chances of winning the election (much less did Tina Fey's lampoons on SNL).  Palin essentially became an object of ridicule.  Ultimately, she and McCain lost the election.


Although Palin lost the electoral campaign, she became an instantly recognizable figure in U.S. politics, and she has gained international recognition as well.  With the possibility of a run for the Republican Party presidential nomination, many Canadians are questioning whether a Palin presidency would be a good thing.


I found it interesting that, according to an article from the Winnipeg Free Press, Canadians are passionately against a potential Palin presidency.  The writer stated that there seems to be a general consensus among Canadian students, and the general populace (including her grandmother no less), that a Palin presidency should be feared.  According to the article "[t]he general opinion is that if Canada is going to be so closely aligned with the United States, we'd prefer it if we could respect its president."


That comment can certainly be seen as a thinly veiled attack on Palin.  The fact of the matter is that to this day, Palin remains an easy target of ridicule and scorn in Canada.   Other American politicians have made ridiculous and outlandish comments in recent months, however Palin is principally the only one Canadians are familiar with.


What's worse is that we still cling to things Palin said during her 2008 campaign.  For the most part, we still use her vice-presidential campaign quotes and missteps as a main reference to why we "fear" Palin.  She will continue to be an easy target for scorn and ridicule in Canada because, in the end, we Canadians aren't as knowledgable as we think we are when it comes to all things American.

WELCOME

My name is David Driedger. I'm a Creative Communications student at Red River College. I hold a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in political studies and history from the University of Manitoba. 

One of my main interests lies in picking apart and analyzing all things political in the news. This leads us to the heart of this blog. I will routinely post links to local, national, and international headlines and share my opinions. 

Although my main focus will be on politics, I will also write about virtually anything of interest in the news. In essence, if you like current events and have an opinion, this blog is for you.