Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Daily Digest March 3, 2009


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

EDITORIAL PAGEs

ST.JOHN'S TELEGRAM -
Sweet success
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=227684&sc=80

CAPE BRETON POST -
Leaders name their heroes
http://www.capebretonpost.com/index.cfm?sid=227488&sc=151

HALIFAX CHRONICLE HERALD -
EI backlog needs fast fix
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorial/1109372.html

Politicians losing track of importance of timely EI relief
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1109246.html

AMHERST DAILY NEWS -
Desperation shows in such ploys  Post a comment
http://www.amherstdaily.com/index.cfm?sid=227765&sc=61

MONTREAL GAZETTE -
Prentice in Washington for a change of air
http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorials/Prentice+Washington+change/1346787/story.html
 
True human progress is built on co-operation
http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorials/True+human+progress+built+operation/1346788/story.html

OTTAWA CITIZEN -
Harper's candour
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/Harper+candour/1346870/story.html

OTTAWA SUN -
Maybe we can't spend our way out
http://www.ottawasun.com/Comment/Editorial/2009/03/03/8598446-sun.html

BELLEVILLE INTELLIGENCER -
No carte blanche for Harper
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1458951

TORONTO STAR -
What's behind PM's tough talk?
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/595369

Not so green bins
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/595375

GLOBE & MAIL -
When even modest goals are ambitiousComment7
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090302.weHarper03/BNStory/specialComment/home

Not quite the Cold War
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090302.weRussia03/BNStory/specialComment/home

NATIONAL POST -
Realism in Afghanistan
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=1346367

NIAGARA FALLS REVIEW -
Canadians hunt Russian Bear
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1459207

K-W RECORD -
A realistic appraisal  
http://news.therecord.com/Opinions/article/496952

LONDON FREE PRESS -
Lavish extremes so hard to fathom
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Opinion/Editorials/2009/03/03/8598126-sun.html

SUDBURY STAR -
25% hike in tuition fees puts higher education out of reach
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1459729

THUNDER BAY CHRONICLE JOURNAL -
Back to the gutter IF YOU haven't heard of Dean Del Mastro and Rodney Weston, it's not for want of their trying.
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories.php?id=168712

SASKATOON STARPHOENIX -
Tories return to attack mode to hold power
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/opinion/Tories+return+attack+mode+hold+power/1347135/story.html

CALGARY HERALD -
Human rights panel loopy
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=430d332b-14e1-4449-862e-8792c562277a

Man, oh, man! Get that guy out of the girls' room
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=7ffeefb9-0be0-432a-80cd-91a552a4c842

Seven tips to avoid deficits in 2010
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=36452d59-08bf-45a5-9ed5-c7298aba5906

GRANDE PRAIRIE DAILY HERALD TRIBUNE -
'We're sliding, and there is no sign of bottoming'
http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1460161

EDMONTON JOURNAL -
Realistic talk on Afghanistan
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/editorials/Realistic+talk+Afghanistan/1347758/story.html

EDMONTON SUN -
Protecting trade balance inevitable
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/Commentary/2009/03/03/8598696-sun.html

VANCOUVER SUN -
Payday loan rules an important step, but education is needed
http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=c53b279e-e9d3-48e7-8136-2b6dce10fec2

VICTORIA TIMES-COLONIST -
B.C. Rail case buried in political trivia
http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=23fb1ee2-bfab-4ed1-bb6b-79ac346b9090

ISSUES

ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS -          
The federal government is secretly planning an overhaul of the rules governing Canada's reserves that is far more sweeping than what Ottawa is telling Canada's chiefs and native leaders. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090302.wPOLnatives03/BNStory/National/home


CANADIAN FORCES -

"Eyes Right!"

The "Eyes Right" command is the biggest complement troops on parade
can pay and is reserved for dignitaries in reviewing stands.
A lone young Belgian boy is waiting to salute the Canadian troops passing
by who had been attending a memorial service.

Such class from the Canadian troops - watch what they do for this little boy...
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=622_1236062375

Ottawa makes heroes wait for pensions
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/595557


CANUSA/USACAN -
Obama's plan for unfree trade
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=584cbe3b-d218-4bce-b274-ec051f30c818


ECONOMIC AFFAIRS -
Bank of Canada cuts interest rate to lowest ever
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090303/BoC_cut_090303/20090303?hub=Canada

U.S. Steel halting Ontario mills
http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.wstelcostaff0309/BNStory/Business/home

McGuinty calls on banks to pass on rate cut
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.wmcguintyBOC0303/BNStory/politics/home

Big banks cut lending rates
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/595655

Canadians can't escape global mess
http://www.thestar.com/Canada/Columnist/article/595473

Canada mortgage sector in cyclical downturn: Harper
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090303/canada/canada_us_economy_mortgages


FOREIGN AFFAIRS -
Ottawa Urged to Fight Ban on Seal Products
http://www.vocm.com/news-info.asp?id=34586


HEALTH CARE RELATED -
Champion of public health care to head CMAhttp://www.montrealgazette.com/business/fp/Champion+public+health+care+head/1346718/story.html

Sometimes you just have to say no
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.wlwolf03/BNStory/lifeFamily/home


JUSTICE SYSTEM -
Feds feeling heat from insulation lawsuit
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2009/03/03/8598546-sun.html

Fertility clinic doctor's design-a-kid offer creates uproar
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/03/02/2009-03-02_custommade_babies_delivered_fertility_cl.html


POLITICS IN THE PROVINCES -
Ontario faces $18-billion deficit
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.wontdeficit0303/BNStory/National/home

Someone needs to ride herd on Tory 
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/595406

Former PQ insider warns against Yes vote
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Former+insider+warns+against+vote/1346795/story.html


FEDERAL POLITICS -
Ignatieff won't bend on $3-billion 'slush fund'
all 179 news articles » Langue : Français
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.wignatieff0303/BNStory/politics/home

Ignatieff demands stimulus details
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/03/03/ignatieff-stimulus.html

PM plays the old distraction game
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/595518

PROGRAMMES -
GST hike urged by OECD
Global economic group urges sales tax increase to make Canada more competitive
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/fp/hike+urged+OECD/1348305/story.html

Feds, Maple Leaf discussed Listeria before outbreak
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/595908


PRESSURE POINTS -
Plenty of fish in the sea? Think again
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090302.wfish0302/BNStory/Science/home


OPINION AND INFORMATION -
PM sounds like defeatist, father of slain soldier says
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.wafghanharper03/BNStory/National/home

What government must do to save capitalism
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090302.wcorudd03/BNStory/specialComment/home

Peter MacKay's Dr. Strangelove moment
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/03/03/don-martin-peter-mackay-s-dr-strangelove-moment.aspx

Risky business: Banks today are expected to price loans based on cheap credit from government, not risk.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/03/02/jack-mintz-risky-business.aspx

Mandatory jail sentences good publicity, bad strategy 
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/595407

 Who's to blame for the auto crisis? 
http://www.thestar.com/Opinion/article/595383

Clement: How Canada can compete in tough times
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=1346460

Canada redefining 'success' in Afghanistan
New goals would see Afghans handling Taliban conflict
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Canada+redefining+success+Afghanistan/1347268/story.html

Hillier to headline conservative conference
http://www.canada.com/news/national/Hillier+headline+conservative+conference/1349661/story.html

Conservatism isn't dead yet, but its world is under siege
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090302.wcomartin03/BNStory/specialComment/home


INFOS -
Peu de discussions sur les sables bitumineux, dit Prentice
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/environnement/200903/03/01-832941-peu-de-discussions-sur-les-sables-bitumineux-dit-prentice.php

Ottawa et Maple Leaf ont discuté de listéria bien avant le plus fort de l'éclosion
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/national/200903/03/01-832942-ottawa-et-maple-leaf-ont-discute-de-listeria-bien-avant-le-plus-fort-de-leclosion.php

L'opposition surprise et perplexe par la volte-face de Harper
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200903/02/01-832593-lopposition-surprise-et-perplexe-par-la-volte-facede-harper.php

Cannon réitère sa volonté d'aider les Palestiniens
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200903/03/01-832685-cannon-reitere-sa-volonte-daider-les-palestiniens.php

Toute attaque anti-Ignatieff serait «contreproductive»
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-canadienne/200903/02/01-832623-toute-attaque-anti-ignatieff-serait-contreproductive.php

Pas de chèque en blanc
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Politique/2009/03/03/001-Fonds_urgence_Ottawa.shtml

De nouvelles règles pour les Autochtones
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/National/2009/03/03/001-autochtones_politique.shtml

Une mission à redéfinir
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Politique/2009/03/02/001-afghanistan-reactions.shtml

Des pays dans l'ombre de l'Afghanistan
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/03/03/237048.html

Devant l'indifférence d'Ottawa, les forestières lancent un appel à Québec
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/090303/N0303102AU.html

Fonds spécial de 3 milliards $: l'opposition veut les détails
http://info.branchez-vous.com/Nationales/090303/N0303188AU.html


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)

TRUTH or TRIVIALITY?

If you can pay your working poor - or your prison population - next to nothing, you've gained the biggest possible market advantage.

The end consequence is that there is no balance in our trade, just a lopsided tilt. The West is being obliterated in the marketplace by China because the playing field is stacked. Playing by the rules that led to that situation makes no sense. Eventually, some level of protectionism will be the only solution. http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/Commentary/2009/03/03/8598696-sun.html


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From: "Edward C. Corrigan" <
Subject: "Memo to Minister Kenney: Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism,"
 By Judy Rebick and Alan Sears, Rabble.ca, March 1, 2009

Here is a "Memo" to Canadian Conservative Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenny that criticism of Israel is not "anti-Semitism." The authors are Professors at Ryerson University in Toronto and Jews in solidarity with Palestine. Links to related articles are found below.

Ed Corrigan

  http://www.rabble.ca/news/memo-minister-kenney-criticism-israel-not-anti-semitism
[]
Published on rabble.ca (http://www.rabble.ca)

Item 1:
The Fifth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week March 1 - 8, 2009 [1]
Item 2:
Gaza on rabble.ca [2]
Item 2 (Author, Where published) :
2009 started with nearly a month of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing over 1300 Palestinians, injuring thousands more and worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis. rabble.ca continues to bring you the best in alternative analysis of the ongoing siege of Gaza.
Item 3:
Exposed: University of Toronto suppresses pro-Palestinian activism [3]
Item 3 (Author, Where published) :
Pro-Israel organizations have responded to the strength of the BDS movement with the familiar tactics of repression, stifling of dissent and bureaucratic harassment. This article details a remarkable case of repression against student organizing at the University of Toronto (UofT).
Temp Full Story Credit:
Temp Full Story Caption:
Source URL (retrieved on Mar 2 2009 - 6:23pm): http://www.rabble.ca/news/memo-minister-kenney-criticism-israel-not-anti-semitism
Links:
[1] http://apartheidweek.org/
[2] http://rabble.ca/gaza
[3] http://rabble.ca/news/exposed-university-toronto-suppressed-pro-palestinian-activism

===================================
From:  Ross Bateman
Subject: A Nation's Amnesia

Joe:  It may well be too late for you to publish a week-old article, but if
you could...I think it's a worthwhile point-of-view, and I think you missed
it.  The National Post [most likely Tuesday, February 24] "A nation's
amnesia", by Rudyard Griffiths.  My brother mailed me the clipping; I just
now opened the envelope.    Ross Bateman

=====
 . . . it was included as below
but well worth a second go.

        Joe

OPINION AND INFORMATION -
A nation's amnesia
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=1321664

===================================
From: John Halonen

3,000 Million
and NO oversight.

Even our lotteries have major oversight capabilities, and still they
waste monies and defraud Canadian citizens.

One would think we would be able to take just one of these millions to record
information that may tell CANADIAN citizens where OUR monies are being spent.

IS this too much?

John Halonen

===================================
From: Linda Jordan
Subject: Re: "When ye proffer the pigge open the poke."

My opinion:  The statement of "put a rush on $3-billion in stimulus spending" does not necessarily have to mean MP's should or will be enabled "to bypass normal approval processes".
 
Yes there are likely to be mistakes, but one can only hope that this statement means government will actually get their butts in gear and do their jobs in a timely manner, instead of the normal government attitude (of all parties) to sit on their butt and stay they don't have enough staff while extended lunches and studies and prevarication and going around in circles around any given subject seems to continuously take place.  If government can actually assign the workers where they are needed during this time, maybe the work needed will actually get done.  Hopefully this was actually a message to government itself to cut the crap and do their job or heads will roll. (Not likely, but one can hope.)
 
The normal approval process should "NEVER" be a problem if the departments involved actually work on them in a timely manner, and hopefully Canadians will get to see at least some measure of accountability.  Bids are done on jobs all the time in many different sectors, and the process of the bids, short-listing, and selection is rarely as helter-skelter as some governments have implied, not if they do their job, and "know what they're doing" at least.  Just don't let government say they need 'more staff' to do the job properly, unless they intend to cut back staff in many other areas to fund it, and not look to the taxpayer to fund and increase in civil servants.  We need less government.
 
Linda
North Vancouver

===================================
Subject: re; the leader of the opposition;
From: Rene Moreau <rene.a.moreau@gmail.com>

To Joe;

   Any-one who is looking for defence from the antics of  Harper the
Ameri-centred, by Ignatieff, forgets his antics to get elected, his
putsch, or coup. All the other side has to do is expose his tactics
and he would be finished, in a proper time in history, but these are
not such times.
   Does prove there is a higher power, eh, when Iggy does exactly what
he accused Dion of doing, like caving in to Harper?

                        Rene Moreau (416-489-8347)

===================================
From: "Efstratios Psarianos"

From: Ron Thornton

There could be benefits of selling off our country to foreign interests, especially the Chinese. While Maple Leaf continues to have its public relations problems, I can't help but remember how the Chinese took care of their tainted milk concerns. If some guy is making millions to run a company into the ground, I wonder what kind of golden handshake such a CEO would get in China? No doubt it would involve some kind of celebration involving fireworks, or something that rather sounds like fireworks.
Hi, Joe.
 
A week or so ago, you asked me to comment on the C-10 thing. I haven't had the time (and I still don't), but here's a quick something.
 
Ron, in his recent contribution to the DD, touches upon 'selling Canada to the Chinese'. You know what? I think that C-10 was written to make it possible to block just that.
 
Two years ago, some group owned by the Chinese government (a sovereign fund? a commercial company?) had made preliminary moves to acquiring Noranda Inc. The latter was a Toronto-based Canadian base-metals (i.e., non-precious metals) firm that mined, processed, and refined metals. It owned other companies, such as Falconbridge (nickel, copper), Kidd Creek (lead, zinc), and so on. As soon as I heard that the Chinese were looking to buy the whole thing, my immediate reaction was 'heeeeey, waidaminnit'. At the time, China was hungry for natural resources and was sucking them in from wherever it could find them. Was China attempting to take over the company so as to get its hands on the company's products and routing them to China (i.e., was it going to stop selling metals to whatever clients Noranda had established)? I hadn't thought of that before, and at that very moment it was far from obvious that that's not what the Chinese were up to.
 
Anyway, the CPC had made it clear in its public pronouncements that it wasn't going to let just anyone walk in and acquire key Canadian companies without the government having its word to say. Nothing like this came up when Brazil's CVRD took over Inco; and there are other examples. The thinking that was in the air was that if a 'normal, friendly' foreign firm were to invest in (take over) a major Canadian one, the foreign firm would be reasonable in its objectives (i.e., it would as a normal firm seeking to develop its clientele and make a profit). However, if a CHINESE firm were to try that (especially a government-owned one), who's to tell that it wouldn't cut off of the metal supply to existing customers and to foreign markets by rerouting all of a firm's production to China?
 
THAT'S the real issue behind C-10 ... can anyone walk in, unconditionally take over a Canadian firm, and do whatever he wants with it instead of 'acting normally'. (I'm not saying rationally, because rerouting finished products to China, for example, is a rational objective ... it's just that it's not terribly convenient for others, is all).
 
And that's why the CPC doesn't want to talk about it too much. US firms or others from 'trustable' countries will get a 'Quite all right. Carry on!' treatment, whereas investors from less trustable ones (say, Russia, China, Venezuela, etc.) would get an '*Ahem* Explain yourselves' instead.
 
 
Cheers!
Stratos
 
P.S. By the way, China's government-owned oil-production firm, CNOOC, tried the same thing when it tried to buy Unocal, a US oil producer. The US made a big stink about that and CNOOC backed down. In that particular case, the worry wasn't so much that oil would be denied to the US, but rather that China's acquiring Unocal's facilities in Indonesia and thereabouts would give it leverage over countries in that region (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia,, etc.).
 
The US also made a fuss about some firm from the Persian Gulf States seeking to acquire a port in the Northeastern US. The politicians made a fuss about that being a security concern. But the dumbasses were just just being ... uuuuhhh ... dumbasses. Port security was and still would be ensured by a government agency operating under the US Department of Homeland Security. The firm seeking to acquire the port, however, still backed down

=====
. . . WHY NOT THIS AS A STAND ALONE PROVISION.

Few would disagree.

        Joe

=====
?!?!? What would be a standalone provision? That acquiring firms would have to state their intent?
 
Stratos

=====
. . . that government could could intervene
if viewed as being in national interest as in
the recent technology going to US of A.

        Joe

===================================
From: Gord Hill
Subject: U.S. Steel to shutter Canadian operations
http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.wstelcostaff0309/BNStory/Business/home
 
Today is very sad and is one that I have been worried about for sometime and voiced my opinion upon many times.       All of you that wish to see a direction that is one of and for Canadians and Canada please read this attachment written in July 2007 by Thomas Caldwell of Caldwell Securities Ltd.
 
It is time to voice your opinion and act.  We have the ability to accomplish anything in this country and it is time we stood up and did.
 
Mr. Caldwell is my hero and a true Canadian, who put his position and money where ALL could see. 
 
Gord Hill
Candidate of Record    www.pcparty.org
Hamilton East - Stoney Creek
The Progressive Canadian Party
Emacs!  

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