Canada's International Reputation Takes Another Beating

And again on the environment. Was our stalling and the daily condemnations being rained down upon us at Bali not enough? Apparently we needed a replay in Poland. Not only is every Western nation taking action on the economy while we are not, they all seem to be much more serious about tackling climate change while we have our heads in the sand. The economy may be top of mind for most people these days but that doesn't mean what we decide NOW on the environment won't have dramatic consequences for the economy and our way of life in the future. Good economic policy is good environmental policy and this is yet another area the Harper government should change if it is to prove itself worthy of survival in January. And it seems Jim Prentice has serious trouble taking hints from international leaders that he's failing at his job. Jim when you are told that Canada has "historically" played a strong role in international affairs and human rights, that's not exactly a complement of what you're doing right now. Meanwhile, Chuck Strahl is being blasted by Native groups for his government's stance in Poland that fails to adequately to take into account the rights of Aboriginal groups. It seems we won't be going back to our historically strong roles unless we have a change of a government.

Galling Senate appointments, obstruction on a fundamental issue on the world stage, neglect of Native rights, stalling on economic stimulus, all of this since the poroguing of Parliament. The onus is on Stephen Harper to prove why he deserves to survive in January and so far his actions are really not a good sign.

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Prentice defends Tory position at climate talks

Despite facing heated criticism from international delegates trying to negotiate a pact to deal with global warming at the UN climate conference in Poland, Canada's environment minister insists Ottawa is being "constructive" at the talks.

Environmental groups have called Canada's position at the talks "shameful," saying the Canadian delegates are acting like spoilers at a time when other world leaders are trying to cope with a serious problem.

During a short telephone interview from the conference, Environment Minister Jim Prentice thrice said Canada wants to be "constructive."

"We very much want the world community to arrive at a final binding agreement in Copenhagen in 2009," he told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.

Prentice went on to note how UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told him that Canada has played an important role "historically" in international affairs.

However, international leaders have said the current Canadian government appears to be thwarting negotiations, with one world leader going so far as to say Canada is "blocking progress."

"I think they're definitely disappointed," Megan McKeen, a 17-year-old youth delegate at the conference, told Canada AM on Friday about the international community's reaction to Canada's unpopular stand.

"Canada should be in a position where we are stepping up and showing leadership. That's what developed nations are expected to do in a situation like this."

European countries are calling for a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. While the Canadians have said they would go along with the target, they won't set target levels to 1990 figures, which many developed nations say are needed for an effective agreement to curb global warming.

Even here at home, Harper's Conservative government is facing a backlash from the native community. Canada was only one of four countries in the world not to include language recognizing the rights of native peoples in a conference plan to deal with deforestation.

Prentice said his government is concerned about the "drafting of the text" as it relates to aboriginal issues. He said Canada "fully expressed the ability of aboriginal peoples to be consulted in these issues."

McKeen said Prentice needs to do less talking and provide effective action.

"I can't say we're pleased with the talks," McKeen said, noting Prentice acknowledged the importance of the youth delegates at the conference.

"The best way for him to acknowledge us is to commit to the targets and help us," she said.

The conference in Poznan, Poland, is expected to wrap up Friday with an aid package for poor countries to adapt to the effects of climate change.

The international community is trying to come up with a binding comprehensive environmental deal by next year to replace the Kyoto Accord.

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Congratulations Stockwell Day!!!

You've been voted most likely to be investigated!! This may yet be Day's most monumental victory to date! Honourable mention goes to John "you first" Baird, who finished just one vote behind.

For those Conservative MPs who might feel let down they didn't win this time you may be consoled by knowing that at least one person out there thought you were worthy of being the next Conservative to come under investigation. Keep up the good work and you may yet just be that Conservative.

And to be fair not every Conservative had a chance to be validated by my readers in this poll, so maybe, just maybe, it will be another Conservative who gets the honour of an RCMP, ethics commissioner or other watchdog investigation (Scott notes that Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz may get the honour).

Either way I don't think we will have to wait long to find out who it will be.

For the record here were the results (I should note that it was disappointing to see many more votes in this poll than in an earlier poll about which colour sheme this blog should adopt - makes me wonder what the world is coming to - people need to get their priorities straight here!):

Who Will be the Next Conservative to be Subject to a Formal Investigation (by the Ethics Commissioner, RCMP, Elections Canada, etc…)

Stockwell Day - 22%
John Baird – 20%
Stephen Harper – 12%
Gary Lunn – 7%
Jean-Pierre Blackburn – 12%
Pierre Poilievre – 8%
Jim Prentice – 8%
Lawrence Cannon – 3%

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Poll: Who Do You Think Will be the Next Conservative to be Investigated?

In the spirit of the last post, I'd like to know what you think, who will be the next Conservative to be investigated? You can vote in the top right hand corner of this blog. Feel free to indicate in the comments what you think they might be investigated for and or even feel free to remind us what investigations are already under way for many of these fine Conservatives.

Is there a Conservative you think is next in line not listed? Feel free to nominate them in the comments.

Maybe it will be Van Loan, or Diane Finley, or Rob Anders or maybe there will be another investigation that names more than a dozen Conservatives all at once (like for "In and Out"). We shall see.

UPDATE: See who won!

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Conservatives Get Your Message Straight, You Sound Like Fools

So it seems the Tories may have realized what a foolish thing it was to try to claim that they would be more fiscally responsible than the Liberals since the records of the two parties aren't even close. We know based on performance who would be more likely to put us in deficit: The Conservatives. So now I read this line here from Jim Prentice:
"The Liberals who administered the country in the past are different than the Liberals under Mr. Dion," Mr. Prentice said, advising reporters to be wary if Liberals "try to take you back in a time machine and claim they are the party that slew the deficit."

Wasn't it only a few months ago when the Conservatives were saying, this was the SAME Liberals that were in power before? Didn't they run a Quebec ad that said Stephane Dion learned everything thing he knew from Jean Chretien? Funny that Prentice talks about Stephane Dion and time machines because I also seem to recall this picture on the Conservative website.

Do they think Canadians have such short memories? As I said this whole latest campaign doesn't even come close to standing up to scrutiny and I think Conservatives are realizing it. I guess it's not the fiirst time they directly contradict themselves. Obviously this latest attack is a disaster, but maybe they will change their message AGAIN tomorrow....

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The Harper Conservatives Are Best Placed to Manage Our Economy? What a Joke!!

The latest Conservative campaign against Stephane Dion is once again a joke that doesn't even come close to holding up to scrutiny. Canadians are supposed to believe that Conservatives are best placed to keep us out of deficit? This coming from a government that brought in two useless GST cuts that have done nothing to help the economy and drained billions and billions from the treasury for no purpose? This coming from a finance minister who when in Ontario Government lied about a $6 billion deficit? This coming from a government that had the biggest spending budget in history last year? What benefit did that focus group driven budget bring the Canadian economy? Now we are talking about the cupboard being bare and economic hard times on the horizon, I wonder why?

Contrast that with a Liberal government that turned a $42 Billion deficit left behind by Conservatives into a Gonvernment Treasury richer than it had ever been in Canadian history. We've gone from reliable surpluses each year to worrying about deficits? Whose fault is that? Who has done such an abysmal job managing the economy to put us in this position? Did he ever worry about deficits with the Liberals in power?

Yet the Conservatives want to claim it would be Stephane Dion who would run Canada into deficit? The records of the two parties are clear, 13 years of solid fiscal responsiblity versus 2 years of reckless economic management.

Everyone knows the Liberals will have a fully costed platform come election time as they have for many years. Stephen Harper just wants to goad them into realeasing their playbook early. Liberals won't fall for that trick and we know there's no way a Liberal government would run us into a deficit so it's a waste of time for Dion to spend much effort dealing with this spin.

So Conservatives can spin all they want for now, but once Canadians see the Liberal platform they'll know Conservatives were lying and will see how much of a better plan the Liberals have for Canada than the Harper Conservatives.

We'll see who has the last laugh.

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