Both despise the Charter, for different reasons. Harper loathes equality; Mulcair hates the idea that provinces are equal, and the Charter’s genesis.

Liberals need to be all over this. If there is one document Canadians cherish, it’s this one. Heed the instincts of the old guy, always.

“Former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien is expressing surprise that next week’s 30th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1982 patriation of the Canadian Constitution seems to have largely escaped the official attention of an otherwise history-conscious Conservative government.

“I don’t know why they don’t,” Chretien said during an exclusive interview in his Ottawa law office ahead of next Tuesday’s anniversary. “You know, it’s a very important moment in Canadian history — whether you agree or disagree,” added the 78-year-old Chretien, who is scheduled later this week to unveil a new historical display in his hometown of Shawinigan, Que., showcasing hundreds of gifts he received from foreign countries during his decade as prime minister from 1993 to 2003.”

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This ain’t a blog, it’s a web site. But if I had to define it, I’d say it was indeed “progressive.” Just not a Prog Blog.

Anyway, the progressive web site folks have added me to their helpful aggregator, found here. I’ve therefore added them to my blog roll, a few inches to the left, and appropriately so.

Check them out! I plan to.

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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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