Beaver

— 05.02.2017 10:15 PM

Signifying security. By Kwakiutl artist R. Adams of Alert Bay. 

Picked up during a quick swing through Ottawa to get a daughter (100 per cent on final exam!), talk to a Prime Minister (the best!), and eat at the Shenger (suck it, Jason Kenney!). 

Beautiful, eh?


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CJN on neo-Nazi rag

— 05.02.2017 12:24 PM

Story here:

Warren Kinsella, a founding member of Standing Together Against Mailing Prejudice (STAMP) and a political consultant, said his organization, and others, “remain determined to keep this violent, racist and misogynistic rag out of their communities.”

Kinsella, who lives in The Beaches, said he first found out about the paper when it appeared in his mailbox. “It was up close and personal hate,” he said.

Kinsella applauded Foote for prohibiting the distribution of Your Ward News, something that STAMP had urged.

“That was a huge victory for the group,” he said.

He noted that a similar measure was taken decades ago against neo-Nazi propagandist Ernst Zundel, and while that step was overturned by the courts, he said it occurred before the charter of rights was introduced and thus may not be a precedent that could be used in these proceedings. 


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This week’s column: a Dear Kevin letter

— 05.01.2017 06:21 PM

Dear Kevin:

At least Michael Ignatieff moved back here.

You know what I mean, Mr. Disembark Tank. You’re Just Leaving. As expected. As planned.

As such, I was going to wish you the best in packing for the return to Boston – but we both you know you never really unpacked, did you? Ignatieff may have been “just visiting” – but you, Kev, were “just not here.” Like, ever.

During your (really) short jog through the colonies, you proved one thing, however. You showed us that running a leadership campaign out of a mansion in Boston is indeed possible – in the Conservative Party of Canada. Not sure we Liberals or the New Democrats would ever go for it, however. Pretty sure we wouldn’t.

And that, as you eyeball gate 11 – that being the gate at Ottawa International Airport for most flights to Boston, your true home, God Bless America, etc. – is the problem, isn’t it? The problem wasn’t you, per se. The problem is once-great Conservative Party of Canada.

The notion that any serious political party would ever seriously consider you as a leader – well, it says it all, doesn’t it? The fact that the Conservative Party would ever rally behind a vulgarian and a creep – one who grabs women, mocks women, dismisses women – well, it’s kind of crazy, Kev. 

One who is — as the National Post’s Andrew Coyne called you — “a clown,” a cartoon who had never held political office, and who didn’t have a single coherent policy. One who didn’t speak a word of French. One who called some black women “colorful cockroaches.” One who called an opponent “an Indian giver with a forked tongue.” One who said “it’s fantastic” that half the world’s population lives in poverty. One who said that unions “should be destroyed with evil,” whatever that means. One who said that anyone in a union should “be thrown in jail.” And on and on. 

You get the picture, Kev. The only priorities you ever had were the ones you saw in your bathroom mirror down in Boston every morning. You, like Donald Trump, like to say whatever mean, rotten, cruel thing that pops into your powdered head. And you equate headlines with support. But notoriety, Shark-boy, isn’t the same thing as popularity.

That said, the Conservative Party fell for it, didn’t they? Hook, line and blinkered. So desperate are they to recapture relevance – so completely out-of-touch and out-of-ideas are they – that they enveloped you in their warm, corporate embrace. They all stood there in their fifteen-piece pinstriped suits, and welcomed you into the cloistered confines of the Albany Club. It was like Stephen Harper had never even happened. Trump Lite!

In no time at all, they propelled you to the front of the leadership line. Most of the leadership aspirants were the Dwarves – Creepy, Crawly, Needy, Beastly, Kooky, Crazy and (really) Dopey – but you were their Snow White. Every Tory wanted to be rescued by you.

But we’ll give you this much, Kev. You were uncharacteristically candid when you withdrew from the race at one of those clichéd hastily-called press conferences. You were honest. You had reflected, you said, and you and your advisors had concluded you just couldn’t beat Justin Trudeau. (Parenthetically, you should have reflected on the fact, too, that your top advisor was at a soulless, Satanic “consulting firm” that, inter alia, cooked up the fake incubator babies story to justify the Persian Gulf War. But we digress.)

And it was true: you weren’t going to ever, ever beat Justin Trudeau. He was going to put you – a bloviating blowhard, a misanthropic misogynist, a down-market Donald – through the political Cuisinart. He was going to shred you to pieces, and make soup out of you, Sharky. 

So you packed up your toothbrush, waved over your shoulder in the direction of Mad Max, and started jogging back to Gate 11.

You always planned to. You won’t be missed.

Sincerely,

Etc.

 

 


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BC Libs edge ahead?

— 05.01.2017 09:34 AM

So says one pollster, here.

Exclusive poll shows BC Liberals edging slight lead after televised debate

A new exclusive online Ipsos poll for Global News and CKNW suggests the BC Liberals have a slight lead over the NDP after Wednesday’s televised debate.

29 per cent of voters said they believed Christy Clark would be the best premier for the province, while 26 per cent put their weight behind the NDP’s John Horgan.

15 per cent said they prefer Green leader Andrew Weaver, while 30 per cent surveyed didn’t have an opinion.

To my BC Lib friends – and, yes, pious and abusive Dippers, they are my friends, because I helped run the ’96 BC Liberals campaign, and I came pretty close to being Gord Campbell’s COS, and the BC NDP are the most corrupt party I have ever encountered (cf. Bingogate, Hydrogate, etc.), and I have many many friends there still, and I admire Christy Clark for her loyalty to certain friends (unlike another Premier who will not be named) – I say: good work. Keep at it. Campaign like you are way, way behind, as I know you will. 

This ain’t over, not by a long shot. But it may be that (a) the other guys (again) peaked too soon (b) they (again) underestimated Christy and her team, and (c) Angry John Horgan’s sexism and anger issues turned off plenty of women. 

Just over a week to go. A lifetime, in BC politics. 


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I miss my life before you became President, too, you moron

— 04.28.2017 07:48 AM

…as one of my witty readers put it.

To wit, from that now-infamous Reuters interview with the Unpresident:

He misses driving, feels as if he is in a cocoon, and is surprised how hard his new job is.

President Donald Trump on Thursday reflected on his first 100 days in office with a wistful look at his life before the White House.

“I loved my previous life. I had so many things going,” Trump told Reuters in an interview. “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”

We all loved our previous lives, too, you witless twit. We all loved life before you came along to wreck everyone’s life.

When Satan eventually takes you home, make sure not to be buried in a cemetery plot the location of which is known to the public, Agent Orange.

They’ll walk their dogs there every day.


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