As a lot of you know, I support a lot of NGOs.  A lot of those NGOs do work in respect of the environment, animal welfare, and so on.

In recent months, I have been hearing from worried NGOs – over and over – that they have been targeted by federal Conservatives over their charitable status.  If they lose that status, they lose the ability to operate.

The Cons – federally and provincially – have been targeting organizations who take public positions they disapprove of (you know, the environment is good, animal abuse is bad, etc.).  They have been sending around bureaucrats to tell NGOs that they are “under review.”  The message has been clear: if you continue to advocate in a way we don’t like, you will lose your charitable status.  Federally, Conservatives have gone after a very well-known environmentalist, because they don’t like the things he says.  They want to put him out of business.

Here’s where you come in.

I’m collecting information about this McCarthyite practice for a possible column, and (for certain) my next book.  If you have any information about that, I’d love to hear from you, at wkinsella@hotmail.com.  Confidentiality guaranteed.

This is the worst kind of politics – and it has to stop.  Disagreeing with NGOs is fine.  But using the power of government to bankrupt NGOs you disagree with?  That isn’t fine.

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At the International Ploughing Match, the media asked the Ontario NDP leader about Marco’s comments – that National Socialism is a religion, and that those who object to Naziism and its variants are “pretty messed up.”

She angrily denounced those who were critical of Marco, and she refused to discipline him. She also suggested his full remarks, in context, somehow validate Marco’s position.  Here are his full remarks:

“Don’t tell me that there’s a separation of church and state right now, because when people talk about the religious right, there’s two words that just married church and state pretty f***in’ quick didn’t they? And if you’re going to talk about a book burning, may I suggest that over the next little while, if you’re going to burn books, and for the most part I would never advocate burning books, because you know books are, when I read a book, even as bad as the book is, I’m that type of person that doesn’t throw books away, I’ve got books all over the place. Maybe someday I should throw books away, but I don’t throw them away. But there are a couple of ones that I would suggest burning. And you know what, it’s not even from an ideological perspective, like ‘oh well, burn stuff by Adolf Hitler,” no. Whatever. If you want to read that stuff, read that stuff. For some people the old politics of Nazi Germany might be their religion. And just as I can’t condemn other people’s religion, I can’t, I don’t agree with them, but you can’t stop somebody from believing in something. And to bash your head against the wall trying, it’s not their fault, it’s your fault. You’re the one who is pretty messed up if you’re going to devote your entire life to trying to convince somebody not to believe what they believe. So if you’re going to be burning books over the next little while, I suggest not burning books for a while…”

That sound like an effective defence to you?  Me neither.  It still sounds like a bloody fool who is wholly indifferent to Naziism, and who also thinks Mein Kampf is worth checking out.

Anyway. The issue now is Andrea Horwath.  Why would she not condemn her candidate’s remarks?  Why would she not discipline him?

Is it because she agrees with him?

UPDATE: Star: “Horwath twice evaded the question when asked if she would advise her candidates to steer clear of making any remarks about Nazis.”

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How come? He’s in an unwinnable riding. Is it because others in the NDP feel similarly?

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….but you can get it here!

August 2, 2011: Stephen Harper calls for a “hat trick” – for Conservatives to run the country, the GTA and Ontario. Almost every day since: Conservative operatives scramble to suppress any record of Harper’s statement.

Download this video, and share it with others before voting day on October 6!  You can download the file here.

Download also found here.

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Liberals Call on NDP to Dump Candidate
NDP Candidate says he can’t condemn Nazi politics because it’s just “other people’s religion”

Toronto – – The NDP should dump candidate Anthony Marco (Niagara West-Glanbrook) over comments posted to his website saying he can’t condemn Nazi politics because it’s just other people’s religion.

In a podcast on his website, lovehatethings.com, Marco goes on to say those who devote themselves to fighting Nazis are “pretty messed up.”

“For some people the old politics of Nazi Germany might be their religion.  And just as I can’t condemn other people’s religion, I can’t, I don’t agree with them, but you can’t stop somebody from believing in something… You’re the one who is pretty messed up if you’re going to devote your entire life to trying to convince somebody not to believe what they believe.”

Liberal candidate Bernie Farber (Thornhill), former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, says NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has no choice but to dump her candidate.

“I’ve devoted my life to this cause, and there is no place in Ontario politics for someone who doesn’t understand that Nazis and everything they stood for deserves condemnation,” said Liberal candidate Bernie Farber.  “He needs to go.”

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Worth a read.  Quote:

Mr. McGuinty is campaigning on a platform that the Liberals call “a serious plan for serious times” – which, they’re eager to point out, makes fewer expensive promises than those of their provincial competitors. And rather than trying to show passion, every event is aimed at displaying a sort of sturdy professionalism. Mr. McGuinty has spent most of the campaign so far touring factories or construction sites or hospitals and delivering slightly somber lectures on how well the province is moving forward.

Even at rallies, he’s keeping any emotions well in check. In his home riding of Ottawa South last week, a few hundred supporters were boisterous as they waited for Mr. McGuinty to make his entrance. But when he took to the microphone, rather than feed off the energy in the room, he brought it down a notch – making a relaxed and even-keel pitch for continuity in which he declined even to build to a big finish.

As much as it may be kryptonite for adrenalin junkies, it’s an understandable approach for incumbents who care less about being loved than about keeping their jobs. Just as Mr. Harper aimed to strike a contrast with a blustery Michael Ignatieff – and, ultimately a bigger challenge, with Jack Layton – Mr. McGuinty is trying to look like an adult next to the two rookie leaders he’s up against. Progressive Conservative Tim Hudak, in particular, seems to have played into that strategy by coming off intermittently glib and angry, pulling out props at some events and raising his voice about Mr. McGuinty’s failings at others.

In at least one regard, Mr. McGuinty is actually better suited to delivering the steady-as-she goes message than was Mr. Harper. Inoffensive and non-confrontational, he is not as personally polarizing as the Prime Minister. With his advisers spouting the mantra of “never too high, never too low,” he is a veritable comfort blanket of a politician.

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You may not know it yet, but what NDP leadership candidate Brian Topp thinks matters. It’s true.

A Leger poll released Monday explains why. Topp’s main rival, NDP MP Thomas Mulcair, is heartily disliked by pretty much everyone — including members of his own party. Outside of Quebec, Leger found, only 3% of self-identified Dippers favoured the ambitious Mulcair. In the race to replace Jack Layton, party president Topp seems to be the acknowledged favourite.

That’s not all. To the chagrin of federal Conservatives and Liberals, the NDP brand remains impressively popular, Leger found. Nationally, the Cons are pegged at 39% — but the NDP remain highly competitive, at 33%. That strongly suggests the so-called Orange Crush was no mere blip. Nationally, the NDP remain a factor, and need to be taken seriously.

In Quebec — the province that propelled the New Democrats to a historically high showing in the House of Commons — the federal party still enjoys an astonishing 43% support. The Tories and the Grits are far behind, at 19% and 11% respectively. Topp was born and raised in Quebec, and knows well the crucial importance the province plays in both the House of Commons and in New Democrat backrooms.

Another finding in the Leger poll presents the well-liked Topp with a dilemma, however.

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…about which there will be no comment!

This time the Liberals set a bear trap for Tim Hudak’s Tories. The Grits had been badly trailing the PCs when the Liberals were putting the finishing touches on their platform. So Premier Dalton McGuinty and friends slipped the $12-million tax-credit program for hiring new Canadians into the Liberal manifesto to see if the right wing of the PCs would bite on this ethnically charged issue, according to inside Grit sources. They did.

Using the term “foreigners” has alienated the new Canadian vote and outraged the soft middle which Hudak had to capture to win a majority. The polls dramatically turned as the “foreigner” issue grew. While Hudak has now put the question on the back burner, the radical right of the Tories, namely eastern Ontario candidate Randy Hillier, is stilling screaming “foreigner.” That’s killing Tory chances of swinging Toronto area ridings with their large new Canadian makeup.

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Check this out:

Families Face Massive Hudak Hydro Hike
Hudak to Impose a 44% increase during the times families use electricity most

TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2011 /CNW/ – Today, it became clear why Tim Hudak’s handlers insist he stick to their talking points and avoid specifics. The first time on this campaign that Hudak went off script, he revealed some of the details behind his proposal to end time-of-use electricity pricing. The result: bad news and significantly higher costs for families who Hudak has deceived into thinking he was giving them a break.

Under questioning from reporters, Hudak came clean for the first time on the formula he will use to replace time of use pricing. Hudak said: “The flat rate is simply set as an average of the other rates.” (Media scrum, September 19, 2011)

The average of the three existing rates is 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour. That would represent a:

• 44% increase in “off peak times” representing 64% of residential electrical usage (from 5.9 to 8.5 cents)
• 4.5% reduction during “mid peak times” representing just 18% of residential electrical usage (from 8.9 to 8.5 cents)
• 20.6% reduction during “peak times” representing just 18% of residential electrical usage (from 10.7 to 8.5 cents)

What Tim Hudak has failed to admit is that most residential usage happens during off-peak times, when rates are lowest. It is business and industry who drives up the usage during so-called “peak times.”  Hudak’s failure to understand this basic fact will result in families paying the price of his ill-conceived policy.

QUOTE:
“Tim Hudak is planning a massive increase in the cost of electricity during the times families use it most.  Tim Hudak’s policy is ill-conceived. It risks families paying significantly more and would take Ontario off track.”
– Brad Duguid, Liberal Candidate (Scarborough Centre)

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