In at least two Conservative-won ridings with reported election irregularities, Front Porch Strategies had US staff on the ground – possibly against Elections Canada rules barring foreign campaigning. In the wake of the “robocall” voter suppression scandal, the Republican-tied U.S. firm hired by 14 Conservative campaigns admitted on Friday to having had U.S. staff working “in the trenches” during the 2011 elections, in an apparent violation of the Canada Election Act which bars foreign political involvement.

Americans PJ Wenzel and Matthew Parker — director and CEO of Front Porch Strategies, respectively – participated directly in at least two Canadian Conservative campaigns, according to social media updates and a photograph from the successful election campaigns of associate defence minister Julian Fantino and MP Rick Dykstra, immigration minister Jason Kenney’s parliamentary secretary.

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I am dictating this post, I am not typing it. This is a first.

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And she still thinks hanging out where neo-Nazis and white supremacists hang out is okay.

It isn’t. Time for Fern to learn a lesson, I’d say.

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Evans is a Calgary resident who has made failed runs for municipal office in Calgary.  More recently, he has been a participant at Wildrose conventions, and is very active in their campaign, principally online.  Here is what I know (so far) about his history:

• Evans has promoted pedophilia by squatting on web addresses, and redirecting same to organizations such as NAMBLA;
• Evans has mocked victims of the Holocaust, and posed online as a survivor, even fabricating a concentration camp-style tattoo on his arm and photographing it.
• Evans links to Stormfront, a neo-Nazi/white supremacist web site, and has long been associated with anti-minority advocacy.

I am hoping to write about the extent of Evans’ involvement with Wildrose.  Anyone with additional cited information is welcome to post in comments, below.

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Worth a read.

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Please, God, please: please make sure he is a candidate in the next municipal election.  Please.

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Very, very sad to see it go.  I liked that program, a lot.

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The Wildrose leader says doctors, nurses, marriage officials and other public officials should be able to make decisions according to their own conscience. So, what does Danielle Smith’s own “conscience” have to say about important issues like reproductive freedom, equal marriage, health care, personal behaviour and the Charter of Rights?

Here she is, in her own words:

• On abortion: “…abortions are a horrific practice… Any politician who challenges the status quo gets pilloried by the media, abortion-rights groups and opposing politicians…the taxpayer should not be on the hook to pay for it.” Windsor Star, December 4, 2000
• On university behaviour codes: “It is perfectly reasonable [to] expect its students to refrain from practices that are biblically condemned, and sign a pledge not to get drunk, swear, harass, lie, cheat, steal, have an abortion, practise the occult, or engage in sexual sins such as premarital sex, adultery, homosexual behaviour and viewing of pornography.” Calgary Herald May 21, 2001
• On two-tier health care: “Bring it on.” Calgary Herald, June 1, 2003
• On queue jumping: “We already do have this two-tier system, so why not allow people to pay for private services?” Global TV, June 1, 2003
• On democracy: “Democracy is pure theatre.” Calgary Herald, August 3, 2003
• On the courts: “The courts are out of control [because they have been] striking down the abortion law, the change in the traditional definition of marriage, the legalization of swingers’ clubs.” Calgary Herald January 14, 2006
• On overriding Charter rights: “There are ways around the [notwithstanding] clause.” Calgary Herald January 14, 2006

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If it’s Wildrose’s “conscience,” get ready for social chaos:

Then there’s “conscience rights.” The Wildrose policy book says government should “implement legislation protecting the ‘conscience rights’ of health care professionals.” The policy doesn’t spell out what that means, but when party delegates voted for the policy they put it in the context of a health-care worker – who is against birth control – being allowed to refuse to fill a prescription for the morning-after pill.

Again, Smith was vague, not specifying what conscience rights would mean for marriage commissioners, but when used in the past the term has referred to allowing marriage commissioners to refuse to perform civil ceremonies for same-sex couples. It smacks of state-sanctioned discrimination and a Saskatchewan court has deemed the idea unconstitutional.

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Of course they would.

Of course I would.

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