Saturday, November 22, 2008

Daily Digest November 22, 2008


The DAILY DIGEST: INFORMATION and OPINION from ST. JOHN'S to VICTORIA.
ARCHIVED at http://cdndailydigest.blogspot.com/

EDITORIAL PAGEs

ST.JOHN'S TELEGRAM -
Plane sense

OTTAWA CITIZEN -
Lessons from Nebraska

 A voice silenced

TORONTO STAR -
Why auto firms must be helped

Looking for good jobs

GLOBE & MAIL -
Steering by vital ratio
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081122.weDeficit22/BNStory/specialComment/home

A great national festivalComment1
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081122.weGreycup1122/BNStory/specialComment/home

Saved by a big brother
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081122.wefootball1122/BNStory/specialComment/home

NATIONAL POST -
Robbing the slim to pay the portly
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=983151

Taking our car industry across the credit-crisis bridge
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=983152

Lessons learned from a life of public service
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=983153

TORONTO SUN -

Bailouts have their limits

LONDON FREE PRESS -
Integrity watchdog worth considering

WINDSOR STAR -
Border ID
More harm than good may be the result if Ontario proceeds with plans to offer
enhanced drivers' licences without addressing mounting privacy concerns.

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS -
Famine was genocide
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/editorial/story/4252789p-4896671c.html

WINNIPEG SUN -
We can't afford to lose them

SASKATOON STARPHOENIX -
Public bailout of auto sector unwise course

REGINA LEADER-POST -
Slump is forcing boomers to retire dreams of freedom

RED DEER ADVOCATE -
 We must avoid excesses of 'pendulum politics'

VANCOUVER SUN -
Memo to auto executives: Appearances matter when you're begging for money

VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST -
Recreating a woolly mammoth

Software to track homeless population


ISSUES

ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS -          
AFGHANISTAN -
CANADIAN FORCES
Spend millions to fix choppers: air force


ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HEALTH CARE RELATED
Combat Stress is one of the charities you can support in this year's Telegraph appeal. Here, Andy McNab, who has seen brave friends devastated by the aftermath of war, explains why it is such a vital cause.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/telegraphchristmasappeal/3503105/The-battle-that-never-ends.html

MIGRATION
Canada wants immigration despite crisis


POLITICS IN THE PROVINCES
PARTY POLITICS
POLITICAL OPINION -
PRESSURE POINTS
Oil Prices Falling, But Interest In Alternative Fuels High

Adding windmills to the city skyline


OPINION AND INFORMATION
INFOS 
BELOW(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)(30)30)(30)(30)(30)(30)

Speaking/talking out of both sides of your mouth
to say different things about the same subject
How can we trust any politicians when we know they're speaking out of both sides of their mouths?
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/be+speaking%2Ftalking+out+of+both+sides+of+mouth

Is or is not a "state of fear" induced through comparison being made between 2008 with 1929?

Harper promises 'unprecedented' action to calm 'state of fear' because crisis being called potentially worst since 1929

The current financial crisis has been erroneously compared to the Great Depression--
an episode we seem to have learned little from
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=983157

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From: "Rebecca Gingrich"
Subject:  FW: Genetically engineered meal close to your table...
here in Canada,  regulators have yet to announce how they plan to regulate
genetically  engineered animals http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/541710

===================================
From: alan heisey <hize@sympatico.ca>
To: "joe hueglin, daily digest" <joe.hueglin@bellnet.ca>
Subject: herewith last sunday's earthworm text, exhibit next

i would be most pleased if you could reproduce the whole thing and you 
will get one hell of a lot more copy when i send you the text for
"the plaintive squawk", the four tab page printed newspaper which i 
handed out about a thousand copies and have more if any of your 
readers would like it!! cz
_______________________
earthworm 08 11 16 sunday


Publisher is Alan Heisey, 38 Avoca Avenue, L.P.H #6, Toronto, ON, 
Canada, M4T 2B9
Phone 416 923 5381, <hize@earthlink.net> Emailed from Toronto.

I published this report on 416 206/8 Elections Canada (j, sending you 
this most interesting chart as  separate item)
results in larger type in Squawk recently!
(This attachment comparing 2006-2008 Toronto results available upon request)

Publisher comments
___________
M.P. Steven Fletcher sounds more open on rep by pop

Your correspondent went to this past week's Tory meet in Winnipeg 
with continuing objectives. First one was to get a fix on Ontario's 
chances of getting a full allotment of House of Commons seats rather 
than the inadequate 10 proposed by draft bill C-22, not addressed by 
the last parliament.

Numerous Ontario caucus types alluded to the difficulties of being a 
minority government, with, supposedly, the West and Quebec not taking 
too kindly to the additional 10 which ought to be included in bill 
C-54, the new counterpart to the old bill.

Buttonholing Steven Fletcher, the Manitoba M.P., he sounded much more 
open on the case than did Peter Van Loan. Fletcher has taken over the 
democratic reform portfolio from Peter so his more open-minded 
attitude was most welcome. He did mutter, jestingly I thought, about 
not wanting to give any more seats to metro, clearly because of the 
way we have voted in recent elections!

That understandable attitude, in our own Ontario caucus could be 
explained by the recent difficulties we have had winning seats in and 
close to the big smoke. It made me glad I could pass the new minister 
my pamphlet reminding all of the 14 seats in our City we Tories won in 
the first Mulroney victory of 1984, 24 years ago!

More entertainingly was having breakfast this very morning in the 
Radisson hotel dining room with 'William', a clearly knowlegeable 
delegate from B.C. who claimed to have it on a direct feed from the 
PMO that Ontario is going to get 20 seats!! He tied it to a very solid 
dissertation on the case for the elected senate which my other spies 
tell me is a hot priority of the boss.

Getting Ontario right with rep by pop is clearly a smart, small price 
to clear the decks for a much larger debate on creating an elected 
senate when most of us in Ontario and Quebec don't want it, any which 
way!

_________________________________________________
"Troc" holds ON Council slots to one over Territories' 3!

TROC, for "the rest of Canada", is a phrase of little current 
usage. This is a shame because at this convention one is reminded of 
the rampant provincialism which ties our happy country together!

I grump because the rest of the country ganged up to deny Ontario a 
fifth councillor on the important National Council, which position had 
the support of the constitution committee. This distortion will only 
hurt the judgements of the council by keeping the mass of Ontario's 
12 millions plus voters that much less well represented in deliberations.

Somewhat offsetting, good news was the optional introduction of 
regionalizing the territories which each of the councillors from the 
four big provinces may represent after the next national convention.

I had hoped that adding a fifth Ontario councillor, all five to 
represent different regions of the province, could create a slot for 
one to represent most of the population of the city of Toronto, which 
is surprisingly close to one fifth of the population of the whole 
province.

Since the decision on whether or not to introduce regionalized seats 
has been left to the overall council to establish it behooves those of 
us who believe in a more effective council to endorse regionalization 
by resolutions from individual association boards to the council.

A close observer thinks the four-seat regionalization of Ontario's 
councillor positions will go ahead, in which case the next question 
will be whether or not rep by pop or rep by electoral district will 
govern establishing the four regions. I am troubled by the very long 
term over-representation of the Ontario northern districts
populations and the equivalent under-representation of the urban voter.

Again, urban electoral district associations would do well to ensure 
that the national council knows clearly their view on this central 
issue. The facts are that both major political parties seem to want to 
over-represent rural voters and under-represent urban voters, and the 
N.D.P., with its pattern of strength in the north is unlikely to want 
any change.

It clearly was the intent of the convention organizers to time release 
of their resolutions on organization so tightly to the convention (ten 
days!) that no reform proposals from out in the provinces could be 
evolved. In any case the organizers view that motions could not be 
brought from the floor kyboshed any such dynamic!

As I advised some email recipients, the Progressive Conservative party 
permitted motions from the floor only if supported by one or more 
delegates from 100 or more electoral districts. This process survived 
into the first statements of our Conservative party's processes, 
dying somewhere on the vine! I think it would be a useful reminding of 
the power of the voters of Ontario if the five councillor position was 
again proposed by associations, soon, together with a requirement that 
elections at the 2010 meet would proceed on that basis if approved in 
at that meeting, together with a polite request (always) that the 
constitution committee report out 90 days before the convention!
____________________________________________________
Bernie Morton/St. Paul's delegation help win a squeaker

The delegated nature of our parliament and party was attacked strongly 
by a motion proposing that edas with fewer than 100 members should 
have their eligibility to send delegates to conventions 
proportionately reduced. Apparently there are a couple of dozen such 
weak associations, mostly in central and eastern Canada, details of 
which ones they are, of course, being much too secret to be revealed 
to any but the cognoscenti.

This was viewed by some eastern associations generally as an attack on 
the fundamental agreement which Peter MacKay had negotiated with 
Steven Harper when forming our new party from its components. Bernie 
Morton, one might reasonably call him a professional advocate, 
marshalled his fellow delegates, including myself, from St. Paul's, 
wrote the following letter, printed up a small blue card with the key 
info and set about lobbying furiously before the item came up. Dear 
Conservative Party of Canada Delegates.

For those who attended the hugely successful convention in Montreal in 
'05, you know of the public battle to preserve the right of all EDA's 
and ridings to send a full slate of delegates to leadership 
conventions. The proposed amendment regarding delegate distribution 
for leadership conventions was debated and soundly defeated in '05, 
but has now resurfaced for our convention in Winnipeg.

The proposed amendment allows for ridings with more members to send 
more delegates to leadership conventions.  It creates 2-tiered ridings 
and penalizes those ridings and EDA's who have difficulty signing up 
members often because they are geographically located in non-
conservative areas of the country.  We need to support ridings who 
have difficulties, not disenfranchise them...especially if we are 
going to secure a majority...these ridings need our help.

I was part the team that worked to defeat that divisive Constitutional 
amendment in '05 and I will be part of the growing number of concerned 
EDA's and hardworking Conservatives from across Canada who will again 
try to defeat this backward, narrow-minded and out-of-touch proposal.

Again, our ridings need to work together if we are to form a 
majority.  Some of the ridings with 1000's of members, many of whom 
have generous bank balances and the luxury of not having to campaign  
as vigorously as others because of Conservative popularity locally, 
believe they have some sort of entitlement to additional delegates.  

They are wrong.

While we across the country are happy for their success and good 
fortune, the majority of the ridings in Canada are not in that 
position...otherwise we would have a majority Government today.

For those Conservative members who worked tirelessly for the Party in 
a variety of different roles, and often on campaigns in not-so-Conservative
-friendly ridings where we are ostracized because we're 
Conservative, many of us take exception to the proposed amendment.  

While some ridings may not have a strong membership, the dedication of 
the members they do have is unwavering and must not be discounted.

Finally, in many ridings, obtaining and keeping 100 card carrying 
members on an annual basis is a monumental task and at times virtually 
impossible.  However, many of these ridings who don't have as many 
members, volunteers, or funds have been instrumental in assisting the 
Party for our national advertising program...the much heralded "in and 
out" program.  These same ridings were forced into the national 
spotlight recently with many representatives called to a House of 
Commons Committee for questioning on the program that was questioned 
by the Opposition and Elections Canada.  These "lesser ridings 
(EDA's)" have contributed and continue to contribute in their own ways 
as much politically to our Party as other ridings/EDA's...the proposed 
amendment penalizes, disenfranchises and treats them as second class 
ridings...and so too their members and volunteers.   Shameful.

We are one Party, unified and now again Government.  We should relish 
this time.

However, any attempt to divide us, to create 2-tiered ridings or give 
special privileges to some over others must be stopped and defeated.  

What a terrible message this sends to the rest of the country and to 
those voters we need to convince to support us next time if we are to 
form a majority government.

We're ramping up the effort to again defeat this amendment, which 
should never have surfaced after its defeat in '05.

I hope you will join me and the hundreds of other delegates in this 
effort. I encourage you to contact each of the candidates for National 
Council and ask for their support to defeat this proposed amendment as 
was done in Montreal in '05, and to share this effort with others.

Many thanks,
Bernie Morton
(St. Paul's, Toronto)

Suffice it to say that with a vote by coloured card of some 800 the 
nays had it by 22 votes, one of the exciting moments of the entire 
convention, but much too something-or-other to be allowed in print 
anywhere but right here!

___________________________________________________
"the squawk" went to a lot of places i wanted to write to!

Our party is very impressed with blogs, so impressed that whatever 
number of bloggers were accredited, just as if they were columnists 
for one of the big Toronto dailies, to attend our open sessions and 
sit in the press room and post their points on their ethereal notice 
boards somewhere out in galactic space.

Your correspondent, because I do in fact publish a paid circulation 
tabloid magazine every three months called Georgian Bay Today, 
qualified for a free, yellow coloured  press pass, along with my $650 
delegates red badge.

Being singularly unimpressed with the few blogs I have read, I cleave 
to the traditional printed, political pamphlet for state occasions, 
such as reaching out in print to 2,000+ Tories all in one building for 
three days. (Please do not confuse "squawk" with "earthworm" - 
what you are reading now - an emailed, internet fortnightly newsletter 
sent directly to your computer in-tray, vulnerable to an  "unsubscribe".

I called the current pamphlet "the plaintive squawk", researched a 
couple of tables, and pulled together more text and a few pix, printed 
2,000 copies for a few hundred dollars and managed to deliver nearly 
one thousand right into the hands of a lot of polite tories. I intend 
attaching it's emailed proof pages to the next issue of worm in a 
couple of weeks

One of my objectives was to provide some meat on the successes as well 
as the failures of our party, in Toronto, as in Montreal, and, as I 
was told at the convention, even in Halifax! I fear there are powerful 
voices saying we can continue to govern well without the big cities 
and I remind them we have won the city of Toronto big time and must do 
so again.

The table I reproduce on the first page showing the 23 city of Toronto 
ridings has not been published by any of the Toronto dailies, all 
preoccupied with their market area of the Greater Toronto Area, 905 + 
416, and so has created a lot of interest.

One of my advantages was that I know most serious politicians are 
newsprint junkies so I dare to think that a copy delivered personally, 
or through a polite executive assistant, might have gone on the plane 
to the G-20 meet!

____________________________________________
The Tory 'Peg convention, as always, was full of jollies

The Winnipeg meet reminded me of a giant ant hill whereon each of us 
ants proceeds along, stopping to shake the pinky with an incredible 
variety of other ants, some old chums, some newboys and girls. In that 
connection I remain amazed at the imbalance between the genders, there 
being at least three handsome young males for every glamorous young 
female, all making for great watching from afar!

____________________________________________
Hize lectured on email address copying, press badge

I was indebted to Dan Hilton for sending me an email after I arrived 
in Winnipeg which listed the names of all recipients. This emailer is 
always on the hunt and so I immediately dashed off a note to all X 
hundred names on his list. Turns out that was a no no because he, not 
me, had made some undertaking to the national party about the 
sacredness of the list they supplied him! (latterly, there is some 
awareness that the list left much to be desired, however.....)
Shortly after I received the following letter from Andrew Prescott

Good day Mr. Heisey,

Please be advised that any further use of this list of e-mails may be 
a violation of the privacy agreements that Mr. Hilton has signed with 
the Party in order to obtain these e-mail lists.  Any such use of 
these e-mail addresses may also constitute a violation of the privacy 
of the individual recipients.

As an IT Systems Administrator, I suggest that you delete these names 
and NOT use them again.  Dan had access to these names through legally 
approved means... you do not.  You have only gained access to this 
list due to a minor error on the part of of Dan's team, using the TO: 
field instead of the BCC: field.

Do not make use of this list again.  Any such further violation of 
privacy will be pursued via all means.

Andrew Prescott
President, CPC Guelph EDA
CEO - prescoan Systems”

To which I replied:
08 11 12 mr. prescott,

thank you  for the additional information and i will be happy to 
oblige, cordially,

Alan Heisey, (a.k.a. "al" or "hize", informal signoff is "cz")
38 Avoca Avenue, LPH 6,
Toronto, ON, M4T 2B9

Email address <hize@earthlink.net>
Phone 416 923 5381, fax (only when it is turned on beforehand) 416 944 
0133, cottage 705 756 3289, florida 239 513 0444

===================================
COMMENT BY EDITOR

As you may recall all data coming into purview
is sent by EDA's and M.P.s to be entered into the
CIMS's System.  The nominated candidate in
Guelph Riding (oops EDA) was removed - he had
not been reporting the results of his doorknocking.

Just who was it that criticized cz for misusing data?

===================================
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