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.

 

Comments (34)

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!

Comments (4)

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!

Comments (13)

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.

Comments (69)

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.

Comments (40)

Now, neither left nor right, the once-great Grits are at a crossroads. Lots of big decisions loom. One of them: With Ignatieff now back to academe, who will replace him, short or long-term?

For an interim leader, the job description is pretty straightforward: Bilingual, to keep the Libs relevant in Quebec (for the inevitable NDP caucus stumbles). Good on their feet in the House (which is where all the action will be for the next four years). And will focus on keeping the Liberal brand alive (because the brand still has value — and, in fact, Liberals still govern in our three largest provinces).

Rae carries steamer trunks of baggage from his time as Ontario’s NDP premier. Tory strategists would be giddy to have him in their sights in the next election.

But if Rae promises, in blood, to be only an interim leader, and not run for the top job when the leadership race commences? Then he’d be fine.

Comments (69)

A guy just came up to me to say hi, he reads the web site, etc. Asked me about the chances of an NDP-Liberal merger/cooperation thing now.

Said I: “It’s a good idea, therefore it’s dead. Ottawa is where good ideas come to die.”

Comments (69)

It’s a beautiful sunny morning in Ottawa, to which I have returned for the first time in many months. I’m here to give a speech about the Canadian political future with the Cons’ Tim Powers and the Dippers’ Brad Lavigne.

It’s a closed-door session, so I won’t give away what I intend to say. It’s Top Secret!

But on the issue that needs to be settled this week – who should be the Grits’ interim leader until a full-time one is selected by party members – here’s what I think:

1. Bob Rae is fine, but only if he pledges to be interim, and he doesn’t run for the full-time post. I get the impression he doesn’t want to agree to that, which will sink him.

2. Stephane Dion is an awesome choice, since he’s (a) been leader and (b) he’s a Quebecker – which is the place where we have the greatest potential for growth, as the Dipper Kiddie Kaucus continues to stumble.

3. Ralph Goodale doesn’t speak French, and is therefore not a good idea.

There you go. That and fifty cents will get you a cup of coffee.

Have a nice day, Ottawans. Enjoy the calm before the storm.

Comments (79)

What does it mean?

In the hours after the political earthquake hit on Monday night, Canadian pundits, pollsters and politicos quietly slid into chairs, turned on their computers, and stared — blankly — at the blinking cursor thing.

Wordless. Flummoxed. Terrified.

What the hell just happened? A Reform Party-in-disguise capturing a majority? A socialist party, comprised of vacationing students and America-hating conspiracy theorists, making up the official opposition? The (formerly) most successful political machine in Western democracy, reduced to a rudderless rump?

How?

Comments (90)

Warren Kinsella, Toronto lawyer and Liberal consultant well known for his own punk-rock past, agrees that musicians have an innate reluctance to self-affix any political labels.

“Most musicians are outsiders. They’re very suspicious of mainstream institutions, like political parties,” Mr. Kinsella says. “Political parties often stand for the things musicians hate – conventions, caution, homogeneity. Punks, in particular, despise politics. But they’ve started to come to see it as a necessary evil.”

So, as Mr. Kinsella adds, “tons of bands now donate songs and shows to help very specific candidates and causes. It allows them to help out, but hold onto their grimy, safety-pinned souls.”

Comments (0)