Well, I suppose it had to happen. Politicians are only human and when they’re being repeatedly stuck with mud slung from other politicians, they’re bound to eventually get fed up and start slinging back.

Federal political parties charge taxpayer money being ‘abused’ for partisan gains – The Hill Times, August 10, 2009

So, now we’re receiving ten-percenters, the partisan flyers that prompted me to start this blog, from Liberals, now that we’ve got a Conservative MP in this riding.

But more perplexing, is the fact that our own MP has been inundating us with these useless wastes of resources. I’ve received at least 6 of them from John Weston so far, not to mention the 2 I’ve received from the Liberals.

Why is John Weston sending these to us? Didn’t we already drink the koolaid and join the Conservative fold? I’ve put in a call to his legislative assistant and am waiting to hear back as to the reason and the cost of these things.

I’ll keep you posted.

I was impressed by Christy Clark’s position on the STV Referendum, so I thought I’d share it here.

Please take the time to go online and sign the following petition. Do it right away as time is very short (the vote could take place as early as Monday December 8). Harper’s gang is preparing to spend $10 Million this coming week to fight off the movement for a progressive coalition government. We have to counter them in every way possible. 

The future of democracy in Canada is at stake!

In English: http://www.progressivecoalition.ca/form.php

And pass it on to as many people as you possibly can!!!

See video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTmNaEqMqA8

It was my first time really hearing or seeing her in action and I think she delivered the most powerful and articulate arguments of the entire group – with the possible exception of Gilles Duceppe, who was also extremely articulate and rational.

Wow. Taking this in context with the local candidates debate in which Green MP Blair Wilson demonstrated great focus and grasp of the issues, I think I’ve decided I’m going to vote Green this year.

By contrast, here’s a video that’s worth watching. It’s 2 minutes detailing 2 disappointing years.

Okay, so I’m pretty sure I’ve decided not to vote for the Conservative candidate in this riding. I mean, I emailed him twice, called once, received a reply to my voicemail (he chose reply rather than call) telling me to contact his communications director, I called the director and spoke with him and asked him for a response to my questions about the flyers. He said “sure thing, send me an email,” which I did, two weeks ago – nothing.

It’s no surprise actually. He knows they can’t defend them, so he’s ducking. John Weston is a coward.

So, that’s done. I’ve been evaluating my options for voting and came across this video. I like it and maybe you will too.

Bush & his Harper Mini-Me from AnyoneButHarper.ca on Vimeo.

Those of us who’ve been complaining about the “10-percent” flyers have been given a big boost by one of Canada’s most respected pollsters.

Angus Reid conducted a poll of 1012 Canadians on August 27-28 which found that:

49 per cent of respondents believe the mail-outs are inadmissible because they are campaign material

You can read the full poll results on the Angus Reid website.

On another note:

I received “10-percent” flyer number 21 today. It’s the usual crap of course.

Apparently, according to Garth Turner, the flyers don’t violate Elections Canada rules as long as they were mailed before the election was called. Fair enough.

HOWEVER, it does raise an interesting contrast with the actual Conservative campaign brochure I received on Monday (the day after the election was called) which must have been mailed before the “10-percent” flyer I received today.

So, while it may not violate Elections Canada rules, I believe it does violate the spirit of the rules if some candidates are mailing real election brochures with the confidence that they won’t be delivered until after the election is called while other candidates (sitting MPs) are mailing “10-percenters” at the same time (with what one should assume would be the same confidence about delivery after the election is called).

An interesting observation. The campaign brochure for the Conservative candidate in my riding was delivered by Canada Post in the mail Monday morning, less than 24 hours after the writ was dropped.

Given the time and expense involved in printing and mailing these brochures, it seems to me that the candidate must have had a very high degree of certainty regarding the election for some time before it was actually called.

This adds to my conviction that the “10-percent” flyers have been part of a planned pre-election campaign.

The campaign, which began informally back in February with the launch of the Conservative Party’s partisan flyer mailings, has formally begun in earnest.

I’m disappointed for several reasons, which I wrote about earlier, but for the time being, I’m dealing with the reality that we’re going to the polls and have decided to ask the candidates in my riding about their attitudes regarding the “10-percent” mailings.

So, I’ve sent the following question to the declared candidates in my riding. I’ll post their responses here once I receive them.

By email:

Dear Sir,

Since we’re into an election, I’d like to give you the opportunity to distance yourself from the deluge of 10% mailings we’ve seen in this riding.

Question:
————–

Do you feel that the flyers we’ve been sent are a legitimate use of taxpayer money? If yes, please explain how this is so.
(see scanned versions of the 20 I’ve received here: http://www.stopsendingmecrap.ca/flyers.php)

Supplementary Question:
—————————–

If you’re elected, can you promise that you will never send flyers like this into other ridings?

I look very forward to your response.

Sincerely,
—-<snip>—–

See the responses:

• Dana Larsen (NDP) – received
• Ian Sutherland (Liberal) – received
• Blair Wilson (Green)
• John Weston (Conservative)

McCain / Harper ’08

• There’s no evidence that parliament has been any more dysfunctional in the past couple of months than at any other time in the past (in fact, the House has been in recess since June 20), although Harper has claimed this is the main reason he’s decided to call the election.
• Harper promised Canada accountability from the Prime Minister in the form of fixed election dates, under which law the next election was scheduled for October 2009.

So why then, has Harper suddenly decided to have an election?

The answer? He didn’t suddenly decide anything. This has been his plan for a long time.

Consider this:

• The Conservatives launched a thinly veiled pre-election campaign last winter in the form of “10-percent” flyer mailings into key contested ridings.
• The “10-percent” flyers accelerated threefold in volume and frequency in the 2 months leading up to the election call.

This is pretty strong evidence of premeditation. But it doesn’t answer the question of WHY…?!? Here’s what I think.

This year’s election is simply the final stage of a two-part plan to put Canada in synch with the US election cycle.

• Stage one was to establish the law whereby our elections would be held in October every 4 years (law introduced by Harper in 2006. Previously there was no fixed month and a max of 5 years).
• Stage two is to place our election in the same year and in direct competition with the US election (which also happens to be every 4 years).

Harper is simply following his long-term plan by proving his membership in America’s “coalition of the more-than-willing.”

By doing this Harper is helping John McCain since Canadian polls and Canadian journalists have been showing a strong preference for Obama and because many Americans include a sampling of Canadian media while considering their election choices.

It's what friends do!

The 2004 Presidential election was the main impetus for this effort, since Canadian media was highly critical of Bush during that campaign.

This journalism is outside the reach of US government and US media control or manipulation, yet it is widely followed by Americans seeking impartial, independent news and analysis. This is something the Republicans have long wanted to curtail — and voila — Harper is giving it to them.

But now the US Republican Party can enjoy at least 35 days of greatly limited commentary and coverage from Canadian journalists during the bulk of their election.

It’s a lovely break for them, isn’t it? Wouldn’t anyone want to silence a vocal and effective critic that had operated unrestrained just out of reach?

So, we’ve been privileged to witness Harper’s act of fealty to his US patrons and mentors. And if we watch closely we’ll probably even get to see evidence of their gratitude in the next 35 days, since I’m sure the Bush Administration has some gesture of endorsement planned.

Of course, whatever small contribution we Canadians have previously been able to make to the US political process (our most important partner in every possible sense), has been greatly diminished by this synchronization – and the US electoral process has been cheated of an additional and valuable input – but Harper managed to show his allegiance and that’s what really matters to him.

Isn’t democracy grand?

NOTE: Of course there’s another reason for the election too. Harper obviously thinks he can win. Or, at the very least he thinks he’s got a better chance of winning now than if he waits while the economy heads into a tailspin like America’s. If he didn’t think he could win he wouldn’t have followed through on stage two yet. But that’s just politics and opportunism, plain and simple. It’s Harper’s plan that’s dark and sinister. Because even if there was no economic cloud on the horizon, Harper would still be calling this election.
That’s just what friends do.

I didn’t think I could get more outraged. I even thought that I probably wouldn’t see any more flyers arriving since the election call is probably just days away.

Wow! Was I wrong.

I’ve received 2 more flyers in the past 2 days (that’s 5 in the past 13 days since I launched this blog). Now I feel certain that no rational, impartial observer could deny that this is pre-election campaigning — using taxpayer money.

Blatant Electioneering

But that’s not what’s gotten me more outraged. What’s pushed me over the edge is the fact that the most recent flyer contains a web address for a website that features radio spots, text and other media that is clearly election campaign material.

 So, our taxpayer money has been used to send a flyer that promotes a website containing campaign material (willyoubetricked.ca)

This has reached the point that an official investigation must be called. Garth Turner has promised to introduce a private member’s bill to end these flyers from all MPs, but that doesn’t go far enough. I believe these flyers need to be investigated for breach of conduct by the MPs responsible.

And who’s the MP responsible for the flyer with the website ad? Well, according to the flyer, it’s “compliments of” none other than “Stephen Harper, M.P.”

This is wrong. It needs to stop and the individuals who may have broken the law need to be punished.