“Hudak’s antiquated attitude toward energy doesn’t just stand to harm the environment. It will be a colossal blow to this region, which is in the midst of a diversification plan driven by the green energy sector.

Several companies have chosen to locate here thanks to government incentives, and with each new factory comes jobs -direct and indirect -and the opportunity to lead the way in cutting-edge research and development.

That would change in an instant if Hudak were able to fulfil his promise. “It would mean, basically, that we would close our factory and leave,” said Paco Caudet, general manager of Siliken Group, the Spanish manufacturer of solar panels (which, ironically, will host its grand opening Friday in the shadow of this sudden threat).“

More here and here and here and here.

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I was chatting with a couple folks in the Canadian publishing industry last night, and we were (like everyone else) dissecting last week’s election results.  And, particularly, the results as they related to the Liberal Party of Canada.

The continued preoccupation with the Liberals fascinated me.  The party has been reduced to a wispy shadow of its former self in every part of the country – but here we are, I said, still talking about them.  They have less than three dozen MPs, little fundraising strength, and even less organizational depth.  They have no leader, and no unity. But the media were still decamped outside the Liberal caucus meeting space, yesterday afternoon, waiting patiently for someone to come out and talk to them.

As I say, this fascinates me, and you can see ongoing preoccupation with the Grits here and here and here and here and here and here.  In fact, seven out of seven of the main stories promoted on the influential National Newswatch site are about the Liberals.

If you’re Jack Layton, this has to drive you bananas.  (If you’re Stephen Harper, you’re delighted, because you would prefer the media didn’t exist, or at least never wrote about you.)  Why, Layton might say, are the media still so focussed on a political party that has been reduced to a third-place rump?  Who cares what they do, and who their leader is?

They’re fair questions.  My hunch: the media continue to write about the Liberal Party of Canada out of habit. They grew up with the party; it’s been a fixture in their professional and personal lives.  They haven’t yet processed the huge change we all witnessed last Monday night.

What’s your view?  Am I right?  Comments are open.

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Warren reacts with surprise to the news that Ruth Ellen Brosseau has been named the LPC’s interim leader.

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There’s not a snowball’s chance in Hell that Liberals or New Democrats will pay this any heed.

But they should.

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Since the web site re-jig, and since we started counting in earnest, wk.com has received more than four million visits – 4,050,000, to be precise.

A significant perecentage of those visits belong to people who (a) hate Yours Screwly but (b) can’t keep away, because I am richer, smarter and better-looking than they are.

Four million! Wow! Thanks to you, wk.com regulars!

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Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak’s pledge to reverse the McGuinty government’s key green energy policy if his party wins the October election could mean the death of a burgeoning new industrial sector in Windsor, renewable energy companies said Tuesday.

“It would mean, basically, that we would close our factory and leave,” said Paco Caudet, general manager of Siliken Group, a Spanish manufacturer of solar panels.

If Ontario’s Green Energy Act were scrapped, “we would have no more basis to operate here,” added Klaus Dohring, president of Green Sun Rising. “It would have a devastating effect (on the sector),” he said.

“It would be a disaster for Windsor,” said Caudet, whose Windsor operation hosts its grand opening Friday. Manufacturing solar panels since last month with just over 50 employees after a $7-million investment, he said the current plan would see 165 workers employed by the end of this year.

More here and here and here.

 

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Our lead guitarist, Ritalin Boy, is the devilish fellow featured on the SFH poster, below.  He’s from Brandon, Man., parts of which are fully under water (his Dad, by the way, was a Conservative cabinet minister, under Dief).  At our gig tomorrow night – parts of which I’ll be stepping out on, because Face To Face and Strung Out are at the Phoenix – we will be passing the hat for Manitoba flood relief.  Folks there are facing terrible destruction and devastation, and they deserve all the help we can give.

And, if you can make it to the show tomorrow night, please do!

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Today.  Thirteen! His sister preceded him, so now half the kids are adolescents.

Anyone who would like to explain how I am therefore “not as old as I think” are welcome to do so in comments.  You won’t be successful, but my thanks in advance for your efforts.

And happy birthday, eldest son!

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I carry no brief for the Bob Rae – see below – but this “decision” of the Liberal Party’s functionaries is a joke.  It’s simply an anti-Rae missile dressed up as something else.

In particular, the thought control part of the diktat – that you can’t even discuss cooperation/coalition/merger with another person – is extraordinary.  Will they now ban unauthorized gatherings of more than three Liberals, too?

Anyway, it sure is a good thing we still have Alf Apps in charge.  He did such a great job in the election campaign, and he’s now doing a terrific job of bringing everyone together!

UPDATE: They’re not fooling anyone, either.  See here and here.

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Geert Wilders is human garbage.

It was a mistake for the Harper government to let him into Canada (when they had previously, and appropriately, made things inhospitable for George Galloway). It is an even greater mistake to allow a federally-funded facility play host to this asshole.

I know folks at PMO – and James Moore – read this site regularly.  They should do the right thing and ensure that this bigot spews his venom elsewhere.

If they don’t, they risk Wilders’ stink enveloping them, too.

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