“We cannot remember encountering such an aggressively stupid political campaign as the Progressive Conservatives are currently running.”

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“…the Liberals have raised some important questions about how a Hudak government can deliver gain without pain…Surprisingly, the Tories count on private sector forecasts to show an extra $500 million windfall from higher annual tax revenues by 2017. Who knew that the PCs had such confidence in the Liberal fiscal plan for economic recovery?  The Tories also fail to account for key campaign promises, the Liberals claim: 200,000 new apprenticeship spaces would cost an extra $200 million annually; improved student aid would add another $40 million; tax credits for language training could cost $60 million.  Then there is a Tory plan to cut 2 per cent annually from everything except health and education. That adds up to $600 million in their first year in power, reaching $2.3 billion in cuts by their fourth year, which the Liberals keep warning will be painful — especially if the cuts stray into health and education…In their hastily convened counter-briefing yesterday, the Tories tried to explain everything. And while they offered a few clarifications on spending timelines, they had a hard time justifying the removal of the DRC from hydro bills (acknowledging that the debt is still there)…The auditor is expected to release his verdict later this month on the Liberals’ latest budget. If he finds the government’s cost constraints are tight, it will only increase the skepticism about how a future PC government would do it any better.”

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I am so sad to read this:

Canadian novelist and poet Robert Kroetsch has died in a car accident near Drumheller, Alta. He was 83.

Kroetsch died Tuesday while returning to his home in Leduc, Alta., from the Artspeak Festival in Canmore, according his publisher University of Alberta Press.

What an extraordinary man he was!  I know, because Kroetsch taught me in 1980, in my first year at the University of Calgary.  Without getting into too much detail, I was leading a pretty rock’n’roll lifestyle in those days, and doing all kinds of things I shouldn’t have done.  I missed a lot of classes and assignments, and I had rock-bottom grades to show for it.

One day, I got back an essay I had written for Kroetsch’s English class.  I don’t remember the grade, but I certainly remember every word of what he wrote:

YOU ARE DESTROYING A GREAT TALENT.  ROBERT KROETSCH.

I remember reading those words like they were written yesterday.  They had the desired effect, too.  I resolved to get my act together – so I quit what I was doing, transferred to another university, and ended up graduating in a lot better shape.

You know those teachers who change your life?  Dave Beatty was one, and Father O’Brien, and George Roseme.

And Robert Kroetsch, who I will miss, and whose words I took to heart.

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You should see this.

We Ontario Liberals wanted to not just tell voters that there is a multi-billion-dollar hole at the centre of the PC platform – that it is is “dubious” and “false,” as Jeff Simpson put it this morning – we wanted to show them.

Some of our smartest economic guys and gals (we call them “the mathletes,” for anyone wondering) have spent days meticulously poring through the PC numbers. This morning, they briefed a lot of reporters at Queen’s Park about what they found. No adjectives, no spin, no finger-pointing: just a very factual analysis.

We captured their presentation on a little video, for you to watch and decide for yourself. Hopefully, we will convince you that the PC platform truly is as bad as Simpson says it is.

And, hopefully, it will help us to earn your confidence – and your vote – in October.

PC Platform Costing from Ontario Liberal Party on Vimeo.

UPDATE: More here.

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I was sent a photo, last night, of one of the 20 SUVs NDP leader Andrea Horwath plans to ferry her and her staff around the province in the coming provinmcial election. Some of you asked questions: why does she need twenty SUVs?  Beats me.  Are they hybrids?  Beats me.  I don’t know what the size of the resulting carbon footprint will be, but I sure know that it sure tells us a thing or two about Andrea’s ego footprint.

Anyway, after the pix went up on Twitter and so on, her fart-catchers promptly went ape.  Below, just a couple of them – from Jeff Ferrier, who is a “former” Horwath press secretary (who sure acts like a “current” press secretary, while at Toronto Community Housing), and Mike Rosenstock, one of Horwath’s personal staff who bills himself as a “researcher.”  Uh-huh.

Anyway. I think the Horwath gang are upset because someone caught their newly-wrapped SUVs on camera – they’d clearly been saving them for some announcement.  My free advice: stop parking your big secrets in plain view, Dippers.  Oh, and stop being such sucky babies: you guys (federally and provincially) are fast developing a reputation for being able to deliver a punch, but never being able to take one.

Now, get ready for a pile of outraged/hurt comments from New Dems in comments.  They can’t help themselves!

 

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He takes a few swings at us, too, which you can read in the link below.

But, boy, does he ever let the Ontario PCs have it.  I wonder if these quotes will show up in an ad, sometime soon?

“Tim Hudak is not the first politician to take voters for chumps, and he certainly won’t be the last. But the Ontario Conservative Leader’s platform, on which he’ll fight the fall election, is based on so many dubious, to say nothing of false, premises that he must be counting on the electorate’s ignorance for victory.”

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Spotted…I can’t say where. But I sure hope her campaign vehicles have a small carbon footprint!

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This guy never ceases to amaze.  Reporters and even partisan Conservatives are shaking their heads at his latest self-promotion stunt.

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“OTTAWA – The RCMP is looking into allegations that the Harper government misappropriated funds in order to lavish $50 million on a cabinet minister’s riding prior to last year’s G8 summit.

The probe comes on the heels of an auditor general’s report earlier this month, which concluded the government “did not clearly or transparently” explain how the money was going to be spent when it sought Parliament’s approval for a G8 legacy fund for Tony Clement’s riding.

The Mounties’ involvement was prompted by a complaint from former Liberal MP Marlene Jennings. She was interviewed for an hour last week by three RCMP officers.

“My sense is that they’re taking it very seriously,” Jennings said in an interview Tuesday.

“My sense is that they’re looking at this to see if there are any elements of proof that there may have been wilful intention to mislead Parliament.”

 

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BCL noticed that Mark Steyn hasn’t been around for quite some time, and started asking around.

As I recall, there had been some indication, some months ago, that the U.S.-based writer was facing some health challenges in his family. I fired off a note to him at the time, offering best wishes, etc.  I didn’t get a reply, but I hope that whatever challenges he was facing at a personal level have been resolved.

Oh, and just to be clear, I still disagree with just about everything he says, particularly the Islamaphobia.

 

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