Question about Parliamentary rules
If Peter Kent is a piece of shit, is that a defence?
The Cotler file: update (and updated)
I’m still enraged by the puppet Speaker’s ruling. When a reader posted this, it made me even madder.
Anyone else knew this?
Carolyn says:
December 14, 2011 at 11:57 am
The firm that did the calling into Cotler’s riding also did $8,198.79 of work for the current Speaker, Andrew Scheer, in the last election. Scheer should have excused himself from making the Privilege decision yesterday because of a conflict of interest!
UPDATE: The CBC, at least, recognizes this is a legitimate (and significant) news story – and doesn’t relegate it to a little-noticed blog, like the Citizen does. Read it here.
From the human rights front line
Stapled
Wonderful story about Stephen Harper by my former Carleton journalism classmate. Well worth a read.
Brings to mind a good line I recently heard in a lousy movie: “The Lord judges you for who you are, not who you were.”
Hugo
I know you all come here for rough political stuff and all that, but tonight I saw the most amazing film with my sons. It was one of the best movies I’ve seen in years.
The trailer doesn’t do it justice, but take my amateur film critic’s word for it: it’s wonderful. You’ll remember it for a long time.
Prime facie B.S.
The Speaker finds:
- he has jurisdiction
- that Irwin Cotler’s complaints were factual
- that what the Conservatives did was “reprehensible”
- that Cotler had a “legitimate grievance”
Yet, despite all that, there was no “prima facie” case. Because (a) Cotler continued doing his job and (b) people have read about it in the paper, and will hereafter be “wary.”
That is unmitigated bullshit. To use a hockey analogy: was Cotler supposed to drop to the ice, and stay there until the guy who gave him a head shot was suspended from further play? Will this kind of thuggery stop, now, because a few scolding newspaper editorials were written? It is to laugh.
This ruling was a test of a new Speaker, and he has utterly failed it. There was a reason why the Prime Minister’s Office favoured his candidacy.
And now we’ve seen why. He’s their water boy.
Awkward photo day
Seeing as how there is an awkward photo in every Toronto paper today, I bring to your attention even more awkward (and sort-of-NSFW) photos. More here. You’re welcome.
Jim Flaherty on health care, in his own words
“We will keep it at six per cent for whatever the duration of the agreement is.”
If they try, we’ll make them wear it, big time.
Toronto Tactless Commission
Does the above, seen of the front pages of newspapers across Toronto this morning, make you ill? It does me. I think the couple – who decided to bump uglies in the full view of commuters on the Bloor-Danforth line, mid-afternoon – should be imprisoned for life.
I’m a prude. Not only do I oppose most pornography, I also favour categorizing PDAs as a criminal offence.
I subscribe to George Bernard Shaw’s maxim: “The position is ridiculous, and the pleasure is momentary.”
What do you think? Vote in our super-scientific poll, below!