• Power and Politics: Was on Evan’s show last night, in the dark, to jaw about the U.N. Security Council cock-up and Khadr.  The clip is at the 1:45 mark or something.  Above: a snap of me playing traffic cop for Monte and Karl, and failing.
• Bullshit alert: Nobody is “pondering” leadership, anywhere, in any way.  What a load of bollocks.  Does this guy ever have a source that is on the record?
• The biggest PMO comms fumble yet: L. Ian MacDonald kicks the living beejesus out of the Reformatory [oxymoron alert – ed.] brain trust for the “blame Iggy” strategy: To make a complete botch of the day, the damage control strategy of the Prime Minister’s Office was to blame the failure of the UN bid on Michael Ignatieff’s comments that Canada didn’t deserve a seat on the Security Council…This is the most idiotic communications strategy yet devised by this PMO, and that’s saying something.” Ouch.  My Twitter take, that day, was that Ignatieff was clearly also to blame for the deficit, H1N1, my daughter not getting a pony for her birthday, and Justin Bieber.
• The Toronto Clowns’ Office?: The Toronto Crown Attorneys’ Office refused to even look at the mountains of animal-cruelty evidence in the Toronto Humane Society scandal, and dropped all charges without an explanation.  They are prosecuting Chinatown hero David Chen for no reason, and against all commons sense.  And now they are blithely dropping hundreds of G20-related charges, thereby validating the view that they were indeed complicit in suppressing civil liberties during the Summit.  That office needs a shake-up, big time.  They have become a nation-wide embarrassment.
• Saint/Brother Andre: If you look way, way up on one of the walls at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, you’ll see crutches that had been used by my great-grandmother, and which were abandoned by her because – she said – Brother Andre cured her.  My Dad, ever the scientist, always had a bit of an arched eyebrow about that one.  That aside, Brother Andre is getting his due this weekend.  My great-Nanny is no doubt pleased.

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Last 24 hours: lots of politics.

Tonight: Bad Religion and Bouncing Souls with hundreds of punks at Kool Haus.

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1. How can you “quit” something which you haven’t been part of – quite literally – for weeks? Or from which you were fired? How, exactly?

2. What kind of “friend” are you when you stab a friend in the back in public – without a head’s up, without even the courtesy of a phone call? Is that not what cowards do?

3. Does it suck when someone you trusted turns out to be untrustworthy? Sure it sucks. But it says a lot more about them than you, usually, doesn’t it?

UPDATE: Read this.

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…the Reformatories shit the bed. I guess year after year of alienating pretty much every other country isn’t much of an international strategy, is it, boys?

What a complete and total failure: it’s epic. Beaten by PORTUGAL.

Comments are open. Let’s see how many Tory Trolls start regurgitating PMO talking points.

(They’ll be the same trolls who would’ve been trumpeting it as a Harper victory, naturally, had we not had our asses handed to us by a country that has fewer people than Ontario, and is geographically smaller than Sakatchewan.)

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I was so sad to hear this news: I didn’t even know Mo Foster had been ill.

He was a great Chretien man, and a gentleman, too.  We are diminished by his passing.

***

Former Liberal MP Foster dies

Former Liberal MP Maurice Foster, who represented Algoma, Ont., was “a man of humanity and compassion.” He died on Oct.2, at the age of 77 from pulmonary fibrosis. As an MP from 1968 to 1993, Mr. Foster served as the Parliamentary secretary to the Treasury Board president and as the party’s deputy whip. He also chaired three committees during his time in the House and upon retiring from politics, served as an adviser to former prime minister Jean Chrétien until 2001.

Mr. Foster is survived by his wife, Janet, four children, and 14 grandchildren. A funeral service was held last Monday.

(The Hill Times)

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I’m a bit of a Julian Fantino fan, so I’m biased.  Maurizio leaves big, big shoes to fill: can Julian do it? What do you think?  If Harper wins back that seat, how far is he from a majority?  (It’s Monday, and I’m not awake yet.)

Personally, I’m amazed Julian’s giving up on three pensions to embrace the joys of Perpetual Minority Government. Not how I’d spend my twilight years, but that’s just me.

***

Fantino Politics
Source: The Canadian Press
Oct 12, 2010 4:05
VAUGHAN, Ont. – Reports say Ontario’s former top cop will take a run at joining the Harper Conservatives in Ottawa.

The reports say Julian Fantino will announce today that he will run for the Tories in an upcoming federal byelection in Vaughan, north of Toronto.

A telltale sign is found at his website www.julianfantino.ca.

Although the website didn’t open early today, a title bar that did open is marked “Conservative Party of Canada.”

The seat was vacated in August by longtime Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, who quit to run for mayor of Vaughan.

He served the riding for 22 years and won several elections by wide margins, though that lead tapered off in the 2008 race.

(The Canadian Press)

INDEX: NATIONAL JUSTICE POLITICS

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Related: we seem to have a national memory of about seven seconds, and possibly less.  Worth a read, in the Twitter Era.

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Rob Ford in action.

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Since they started offering free WiFi, every Starbucks has become a goddamned laptop farm.

No place to sit. I hate it.

Thank you.

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Statement by Martin Gladstone

Candidate for Council, Ward 32 Beaches-East York

Today, I have made a very difficult decision, one which I believe is in the best interests of our community and the residents of Ward 32.

I have come to the really hard decision that the best way to serve the community of Beaches-East York is to withdraw from the race, and request that my supporters vote for Mary- Margaret McMahon for Councillor Ward 32.

Since August 12th, our team has worked very very hard to mount an effective campaign to defeat Sandra Bussin as Councillor Ward 32. The number of concerned community members who came forward to help has been one of the most positive experiences of my life, and I am truly grateful for the support I received.

As a community, we share the strong belief that our ward desperately needs change. Every day on this campaign residents have called me, written me, and at virtually every doorstep have expressed their anger, frustration, and lost confidence with our current councillor. They have also expressed their deep concern that the vote will split between the candidates and that Bussin will be re-elected.

After reviewing current poll results, Mary-Margaret McMahon is in a slight lead in this race. The reality is if I continue to campaign it will probably be at the expense of Mary-Margaret McMahon’s support which in turn will erode her lead and allow Sandra Bussin to squeak past and be re-elected by a small margin. I care too much about our community and our city to allow that to happen.

Mary-Margaret McMahon is a hard worker. She brings fresh energy and vision to the job. She has been a proven community leader and is ready to serve us with integrity and enthusiasm. She is the change we all want.

I hope my supporters will share my conviction that by making this decision our team is doing everything possible to achieve our original shared goal, which is to unseat Sandra Bussin and bring the real change we all desire to our ward and our city.

I wish to thank all my volunteers and donors for the support and enthusiasm they have brought to this election and I hope Ward 32 will support Mary-Margaret on October 25th .

-30-

Media contact Des Brown at 416 568 1214 or des@desmondbrown.ca

Mary Margaret McMahon’s campaign: 416-690-5006

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