05.27.2012 08:09 AM

Next time Angry Tom lectures everyone about the “tar sands” (updated)

…show him a picture of his FOUR CAR GARAGE.

UPDATE: My great friend McGregor, for what it’s worth, says the Google image they used is distorted. I look forward to them making the appropriate clarification, which I will then re-post here.

51 Comments

  1. Anne Peterson says:

    This is a four car garage? A royal garage? Yup, sure looks like Buckigham palace to me. As opposed to the conservative cabinet limos? Give us a break from liberal partisanship of this sort. I realize you guys are on the ropes but no need to get ridiculous.

    I repeat: There is a country, Norway, which has been smart enough to integrate it’s natural resources ( oil, oil, oil) with the rest of the economy and has developed institutions to handle shocks to the economy caused by currency pressures. In other words the Dutch disease. That ridiculous old Oliver should be sent to study that, not that he would pay any attention to anything but his own ideological vision So it can be done and Mulcair seems to be the only person who is suggesting it should be done. I think Mulcair would find a way to encourage some of the huge potential of green energy in this country. e.g. geothermal which is great from what I read. If a fraction of the money given to the oil sands by the government in its various ways was put into renewable energy we would be better off. Maybe not completely solve all problems, but better off.

  2. Sam Gunsch says:

    Has Mulcair been quoted anywhere saying Canadians who drive more than one car are all guilty of endorsing the tarsands and hence in your view he thus fails to see the hypocrisy in his critique of society bearing the costs that the tarsands industry externalizes?

    I have yet to see in the way Mulcair’s raised these issues, that he has taken a hypocritical stance of any sort, nor have I seen how the costs he has pointed out, which of course have been documented in many government reports and by the science community, would imply that someone like me would be a hypocrite if I raise questions about full costing of fossil fuel extraction/mining, before I abandon my modern fossil fueled transportation and before I find an unlit cave for my residence?

    Or is that the general standard you are suggesting be required of any citizen, before they are permitted to speak out about global warming and fossil fuels?

    If that is what you are getting at in this 4 car garage post, it is of course is something we can all hear and read from most Reformatory/global warming denialists media/blogs.

    ====
    BTW… 2 car garage …in house he’s owned since the 1980’s…

    according to the news article you linked to which says this:

    “It is unclear why Mulcair would need to refinance the modest two-garage home in Beaconsfield so many times,…”

    Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/leader+remortgaged+home+times+since+early+1980s/6685607/story.html#ixzz1w5D0i6iV

    Perhaps he should he have downsized to obtain the moral high ground?

  3. Joey Rapaport says:

    Maybe he has 4 Chevy Aveos??? LOL

  4. Warren's Best Friend says:

    First, I only see a two-car garage. Second, is this the best you can do for your beleaguered Libs, Warren? Weak sauce, my friend.

  5. fred says:

    If Toew’s extramarital sex life with the babysitter is off-limits, why isn’t Mulcair’s personal finances?

  6. frmr disgruntled Con now Happy Lib says:

    Am I opposed to the pitting of one region against another?…..most definately……but I am even more opposed to the environmental disaster that is the tar sands……..

    • leeky says:

      Great! Then you’ll give up you car and starting walking. No transit either, that uses gas/oil. And in spite of your inflammatory insinuation, there are no “tar” sands. Little things like that and people might actually take you seriously.

      • frmr disgruntled Con now Happy Lib says:

        Ho-Hum…….A member of the “log it, burn it, pave it” crowd, obviously…….

  7. Tomm says:

    4 car garage?

    Regardless, a house that had a mortgage of 58K 25 years ago, now has one for 300K after 10 re-negotiations.

    The guy and his wife are both making the big coin. He wants to run our treasury?

    hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

  8. W.B. says:

    Original source? Con war room? Lib war room? Please enlighten.

  9. Kwil says:

    I’m a douchebag.

  10. W.B. says:

    I think some of you Libs are driving people away with this Mulcair stuff.
    I think it’s pretty typical for many of us to have supported both Liberals and NDP, perhaps even Red Tories like Bill Davis through the years. I think a lot of progressives were Dion and Ignatieff supporters but not Martin, and its hard to see Rae sticking around for another five years.
    Rather than scaring us away from Mulcair with these crazy tactics, and pile ons, and way over the top reactions to pretty reasonable positions, even McGuinty positions, you professional Libs are driving sincere people toward the NDP.
    I don’t see Chretien, Dion, Iggy, Mulcair as some kind of crazy progression.

  11. Terraderma says:

    Probably half loaded with the stuff his kids left behind……..

  12. Dan says:

    You have to wonder what the long-term Liberal strategy is here. If criticizing the oilsands that benefit a tiny fraction of the population is considered “anti-West”, what policy is the Liberal party going to run on? Or should we just check the Conservative platform?

  13. Lou Arab says:

    I don’t actually see any cars though.

    Still, it’s a decent smear job. Well done.

  14. Erik says:

    Warren,
    I enjoy reading your blog and agree with you most of the time, but that attack is pretty weak, especially when you contrast it to two years ago when Liberals were whining about similar personal criticisms of Ignatieff.
    There are plenty of ways to criticize Mulcair, but this isn’t one of them.

  15. Kre8tv says:

    He could almost give fellow jaccuzi socialist Billy Bragg a run for his money in terms of of the palatial abode he calls home. Almost.

  16. Mulletaur says:

    Just another champagne socialist … wonder what make and model of cars fill those garages ?

    • smelter rat says:

      Uh huh. Perhaps you think he should live in a yurt?

      • Mulletaur says:

        No, but as Mulcair is the leader of a political party that pretends to represent the interests of the working class (and it is, of course, nothing more than a pretense) he could at least be expected to show a bit of humility rather than acting just like the class traitor he is. Layton and his ‘wife’ Queenie were no different, they couldn’t wait to get their trotters across the threshold of Stornoway and their snouts in the public trough.

  17. Houland Wolfe says:

    Warren, from all the comments, it seems that your campaign against Bob Rae is more successful than the one you mounted against Thomas Mulcair. Could it be that you wish Mulcair were still a Liberal and could run for its leadership? Just asking. BTW, if your friend, the Rt. Honourable, is still in favour of a Lib-NDP strategic alliance, perhaps his views on TM are somewhat more balanced. Again, just speculating.

  18. Robert Jago says:

    Are you seriously applauding what Glen McGregor has done here? In your own words: “What a piece of work Glen McGregor is. How is this news?” ( http://warrenkinsella.com/2011/11/test/ )

    This man has boundary issues. Unless there’s some suggestion that Mulcair got sweetheart deals on these mortgages (and there is no such suggestion), then I don’t understand how what the Mulcair family do with their home is any of our business.

    Look at this blog post, look at this comment: http://warrenkinsella.com/2010/07/take-that-al-gore/#comment-6777 (and who wrote it). Is there any difference between the two?

    • Warren says:

      I’ve said nothing about the mortgages. Don’t really care.

      The garage photo shows him to be a hypocrite.

      Now go attack Atlantic Canada. That’s more consistent with your style.

      • Kwil says:

        No, it shows you to be a liar, as it’s clearly a two car garage.

        However, let’s assume you’re not a douchebag who can’t handle criticism similar to the smear job you put out and so assume it really is a four car garage.
        Let’s further assume that there’s even a car parked in every bay of the garage.
        Let’s go even *further* and assume that they aren’t hybrids or electric cars.

        Now, anybody with half an ounce of brainpower would look at that and go, “So how does having four cars make him a hypocrite about the oil sands? Does he drive them all at once to be a gas guzzling maniac?”

        C’mon, Warren. You can do better than Levant.. we’ve even seen it once or twice.

  19. JamesHalifax says:

    Hey…no atttacks on the Maritimes please. MOST people there actually work.

    The new legislation is for those who make a habit of EI, or think they have a right to it. Frankly, many maritimers know folks who abuse the system and actually approve of the changes.

  20. Michael Behiels says:

    No different really than Bob Rae, the wealthy arm chair socialist, who aspires yet again to lead the hapless Liberals.

    Mulcair, the bull in a china shop leader, is partly right about PM Harper’s and Albert’s Redmond almost exclusive focus on resource exploitation for export purposes. This is a really foolish policy based on short term gain but long term pain.

    Successful Cdn governments since the time of MacDonald and Laurier have always supported both resource exploitation and manufacturing. They also encouraged, lead provincial governments of Ontario and Quebec, the refining of resources within Canada. This tandem creates high paying jobs and higher profits that can be reinvested all sectors of the economy

  21. Dave Breukelaar says:

    Wow. Attacking someone for having a two car garage, and calling it a four car garage? Is this the state of politics in our country? You’ve actually lost a bunch of credibility and respect from me for this post. I get it, your party is losing ground and support to the NDP. But, what does someone’s garage have to do with it? If it’s anything like most people’s garages in this country is stuff full of camping gear, a canoe, snow shovels, gardening equipment, bikes, and other things to enjoy the great outdoors with. Hardly anything worthy of attacking his environmental credentials and calling him a hypocrite for.

  22. Paul says:

    Dave,
    You’re the idiot. If you look at the photo you would see that Warren is correct. It is 2 double car garages = 4 car garage. Although I agree that it does not necessarily equate to 4 cars, it does make Muclair look like a hypocrite. Shouldn’t Thomas live in a tent and walk with the BS he spouting? Nothing wrong with a modest house and big yard in Canada – but don’t be a hypocrite about it.

    • Philip says:

      Ooooops. I guess it’s not a four car garage anymore, is it? Like I said before a lot of people are really looking foolish on this story, Thomas Mulcair isn’t one of them.

  23. JamesHalifax says:

    Well, at least Mulcair isn’t as big a Hypocrite as was Alexa MCdonough.

    She’s from a very wealthy family and the gates and fences they had surrounding their estate (shaw brick empire, I believe it was) to keep out the riff-raff and downtrodden, was almost as big as the promises she made to help them out.

    champagne socialists…….always fun.

  24. James Bow says:

    Warren, the picture the National Post is showing is distorted. It’s far wider than in reality, as you can see comparing the picture as seen in Google Maps. A link is here:

    https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=109+Lynwood+Drive,+in+Beaconsfield,+Quebec&ie=UTF8&ll=45.43411,-73.84145&spn=0.004803,0.011362&sll=45.434027,-73.841472&layer=c&cbp=13,91.25,,0,8.53&cbll=45.43402,-73.841414&gl=ca&hnear=109+Lynwood+Dr,+Beaconsfield,+Communaut%C3%A9-Urbaine-de-Montr%C3%A9al,+Quebec+H9W+5M2&t=h&z=17&panoid=WGI7qSgQscBL9zGCHbT8ow

    So what you have here is a two car garage, not a four car one. You’re being inaccurate. Further, it should be noted that two-car garage though it may be, there isn’t a car in sight.

  25. James Bow says:

    Well I believe the original news story is here, correct? (http://www.vancouversun.com/news/NDP%20leader%20has%20remortgaged%20his%20home%2011%20times%20since%20early%201980s/6685607/story.html)

    Nowhere in that story does it refer to Mulcair having a “four car garage”. Indeed, the direct quote of the story is “modest two-garage home in Beaconsfield”, so you’re posting something of your own interpretation, based on a photograph in the paper.

    It’ll be instructive to see if the photograph is similarly distorted in the print version. Manglings of photographs on the Internet are not uncommon as people just play with the resizing with impunity to fit a pre-defined space, so you should always be aware that sometimes you can’t always trust everything you see and read on the Internet.

    I’ll pass on to the paper that their photograph is distorted, but given that you’ve made the assumption, based on no written facts based from the article itself, but a potentially distorted photograph, I hope you’ll let this comment stand as a counterpoint.

  26. Gloria says:

    I know many people who would love to have a green run vehicle, the price of gasoline in Canada is obscene. Problem is, they are far too expensive for the everyday Canadian. I have a feeling the price on those vehicles, will stay through the roof in Canada, everything else does. Canada is now known as a, rip off country.

    One Canadian family, saves $7,000 per year by shopping for food in the U.S. Harper encourages Canadians to shop over the border. Canadians save mega bucks, by gassing up in the U.S. I don’t know how much a green run car costs in the U.S? Perhaps Harper can work out a deal for Canadians, to shop for green run cars in the U.S? Harper also permits price gouging in Canada, so the U.S. is far less expensive. Harper will steal your eye’s, then come back for the sockets.

    The worst Canadian province for price gouging, is BC.

    Whoever thinks or says, Mulcair must have four cars, should just ask him, before he/she shoots their mouths off.

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