Canadian Politics from Canada's Centre
The Issue of Canadian Health
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Canadians are fat, exercise insufficiently, lead generally unhealthy lives, and our medicine does little to prevent this.
When our politicians announce billions of dollars for a health care plan, they mean of course that they will spend money on our hospitals and, with any luck, our schools. What's the problem with that? We're treating our population's ills just fine? That's exactly the problem; we're
treating illness. The most we ever do towards
preventing it is discuss the subject over dinner, and come to an consensus that the best thing that must be done is eat in moderation and exercise regularly. For some reason though, we do neither.
What can be done?
For starters, we can establish a Canadian Association of Preventive Medicine. To date, there only exists an American Assocuation, and they count a mere 2000 physicians as members. (That's still 2000 people more than in Canada.) At any rate, such an organization could focus on research and development, not only in the field of medicine, but also in politics, in order to develop strategies for Parliament to better the health of Canadians.
Another initiative which ought to be considered, is enhancing the powers of the organization that oversees the the sanitary conditions of restaurants and such, to ensure that they reduce their portion sizes. Research has repeatedly shown that portions sizes are linked to obesity, and obesity linked to ill health. Cut portion sizes, you're attacking poor health (assuming of course, that other things stay constant ... ie, snacks don't increase consumption, as a consequence).
Pressuring politicians is another important avenue to be explored. There's someone being paid to represent you in the Commons, and that means they're supposed to hear your ideas and represent them in Parliament, assuming they have some value. This hasn't shown up in any of the parties' official platforms, so there's good reason to believe this can be a cause celebre for those whose MPs want to make themselves known in the House. In addition, it would show leadership on a subject of national importance.
Others to whose attention the subject ought to be brought include newspapers, policy think tanks, and, naturally enough, one's doctor.
This is a pressing subject. Canada's economic future is mortgaged if our citizenry spends its time as invalids in hospital beds. As it is, the current costs of absenteeism are astronomical, as can be seen
here and
here. Furthermore, as a nation dependent on immigration, it is imperative that we compare favourably with other nations in the eyes of potentital immigrants, and besides economic factors, health issues are a natural concern for immigrants. It's no good leaving a country where you're idle at home to go to a country where you'll be idle in bed.
Quip of the Day (aka Quote it!)
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Only hypocritical fools enjoy politics.
Related posts in the categories:
humour and
quip.
CBC Features Weak Mid-East Coverage - Again!
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Our publicly funded TV covers the Middle East in a terribly biased manner. The CBC's consistently weak editing has let yet another bit of editorializing distort their coverage of the news. I subscribe to a newsletter,
Honest Reporting Canada (which I recommend to anyone who's sick of the CBC's weak "reporting"), that has demonstrated the network's repeated anti-Israel slant.
I'd like to take the opportunity to digress for a moment and emphasize my wording: their slant is anti-Israel, not pro-Palestinian. One can be pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel (though many people who claim this position are in fact biased ... kind of like people claiming to be centrists ;) ).
Getting back though, the network's latest fault has been in their holiday reporting of the goings-on in Bethlehem. They describe Israel's security fence, aimed at preventing terrorist infiltration, sniping, and other terrorist attacks, as aimed at keeping the tourists out, and focus on graffiti calling it an apartheid wall. Perhaps next time Workman is in Jenin, wearing a bulletproof vest, we might call it "the apartheid vest."
The full article is
here.
Previous instances of CBC problems were with their
"documentary" on checkpoints, which they belatedly fixed (which still isn't great: how many people bother reading corrections, or even see them?) , trying to suppress the use of the words "terrorist" and "terror" to describe Hamas, Islamic Jihad and co., when these are organizations internationally recognized as terrorist groups, including Canada's own list of such groups.
Fake Outrage - Klander
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(cross-posted at
BlueGrit)
I'm a big fan of Bill Maher. He coined a term a while back that I just loved - it's called "fake outrage". It's a bottled version of the real thing that politicians and partisans use when they want to make it seem like someone has done something deplorable, or when they want to manufacture as much anger towards someone as possible. It's all a big show, of course - that's the nature of the game. It works well politically for politicians and their hacks to look like they're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore - it rallies the troops, not to mention the voters. Maher used the term to describe the reaction of a nameless Alabama congressman to his comments about the US military's
recruiting problems; said Congressman called him a "traitor" for noting the troop recruitment problems in order to get his name-recognition up by manufacturing a small scandal.
The reaction I've seen from
Tories thus far to Mike Klander has been, to be blunt, as pathetic an example of fake outrage as any I've ever seen. Fake outrage allows some... creative license. So for example, Bill Maher pointing out the obvious recruiting problems of the US military in a humourous and politically incorrect way (does anyone remember the name of his
old show...?) as a politically incorrect comedian could be expected to do, can be conflated into him being a "traitor". Get how it works? Great, so let's see here, what were Klander's sins?
- He compared Olivia Chow to a Chow Chow. Okay, not the most original attack (actually a bit childish), but that's about it. But wait, enter fake outrage and all of a sudden it's racist! You heard me. Conservatives have been calling Klander's comments racist. One can only assume it's because "Chow" is a common Chinese last name. Okay, so was the "Jack-o-Layton" racist? Needless to say, it takes a pretty big jump to go from "Chow Chow" to "card-carrying member of the KKK". For this alone, people making this ridiculous charge collectively should receive the Volpe Award for Outrageous Hyperbole and Overreaction
- He called Jack Layton an "asshole". Again, crude. But nothing most of us haven't said about one politician or another at some point (if not all of them). Ill-advised? Yes. Childish? Yes. But have a little perspective - it's not as if he was breaking new ground.
- He claimed that he'd never be a politician because he would have to pretend to like stupid people. Maybe I'm a misanthrope, but when I read that I laughed, because it's true. There are a lot of very, very stupid people in this world, and by association in this country, and yes, politicians do have to be nice to them. Is this news? Next.
- Pointing out that Harper is using the attractive and female Rona Ambrose and the attractive and ethnic Rahim Jaffer as campaign props to demonstrate diversity within the Conservative caucus. Again, is this news? But of course, enter fake outrage, and all of a sudden he's a racist and a sexist. Right. So it's not racist or sexist for Harper to blatantly use Ambrose and Jaffer as campaign props, but it's racist and sexist to point that out?
- He said Dalton McGuinty and Michael Ignatieff look like Martin Landau and Anthony Perkins. Okay, and we're outraged about this why? They DO look like Martin Landau and Anthony Perkins. I wasn't aware that pointing out similarities between politicians and actors was worthy of a full-frontal assault.
- He pointed out that cowboy hats make Stephen Harper look "gay". Many people, including Paul Martin at the Press Gallery Dinner, have pointed this out. Did we all see Harper in that ridiculous village-people get-up? Oh, just to inform you - village people? Gay poster boys. Shocked? Cowboy get-up has been a primarily gay subculture for decades now. Yet this is an indication that Klander is homophobic. Oh, make me laugh and gag at the same time. This has got to be the most pathetic line of attack I've seen from Conservatives ever. Okay, so it's "homophobic" to make a humourous observation about someone wearing a cowboy costume (and it is a costume, let's be serious here, there are no real cowboys left) makes them look "gay". (Well, DUH.) And yet, Stockwell Day calling homosexuality a mental disorder, John Williams saying gays are "repulsive", Art Hanger calling it a "repudiation of nature", Dave Chatters saying "society has a right to discriminate against them", and Myron Thompson calling gays "unnatural and totally immoral", is completely acceptable!? Who are these people trying to kid? The Conservatives have no business calling anybody homophobic. Conservatives, let's not forget, are the only party running on a platform that seeks to deny gays their constitutionally-determined civil rights.
- Pointing out that if Irwin Cotler, John Efford, and Chuck Cadman hadn't had funerals and medical procedures, they would have been in the House to make a tie out of those pseudo-confidence motions back in May.
- Elaborating on well-known Liberal strategy of promising an election 30 days after the Gomery report.
Did I miss anything?
Well, honestly, it seems to me that what Mike Klander was most guilty of was giving the Conservatives ammunition to fire with their fake outrage guns, unforgivable during an election campaign, but just fine any other time.
Half of that stuff shouldn't even be controversial (like comparing Dalton McGuinty to Martin Landau appearance-wise), and the most of it is blown out of proportion (like comparing Olivia Chow to a funny-looking dog.) The rest of it just seems to be the random musings of someone with a foul mouth and a politically incorrect sense of humour. I'm not ashamed to say that I fit that definition, and frankly, seeing Klander assaulted the way he has been makes me wonder whether or not people like me have any place in the political discourse, or if we'll always be attacked with manufactured outrage every time we say something "offensive".
Quip of the Day (aka Quote it!)
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Squirrels don't cheat on their partners.
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humour and
quips.
Quip of the Day Campaign Debates
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Nous avons, en francais, une expression qui dit que dans le royaume des aveugles, le borgne est roi. Eh bien,
Dans le royaume des "debats" canadiens, Martin est roi.
humour,
quip,
federal politics
Why Stephen Harper is Winning the Race
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We're midway through this electoral campaign, now, and Stephen Harper and the CPC are far and away leaders in the race. While many are expecting the campaign to degenerate into personal attacks and negative campaigning beginning January 2nd, policy is currently the sujet du jour. As it should be; politicians should be elected on the basis of their platforms. Votes should not be based on a candidate's hairstyle (Layton or Harper for PM!!) or whatever personal issues might be brought up. That said, Harper is winning the leadership race as he has been the leader on policy.
Since the beginning of the campaign, the Conservatives have announced new planks in their policy on a near daily basis. They've also been the party with the most attention grabbing announcements, and the ones promising the most change. A few examples can help illustrate this point.
1)The 2% reduction in the GST was a grand announcement that made front-page headlines across the country.
2)$1200 for daycare fees (per child, if I'm not mistaken) grabbed more headlines. It even made the three point play when Liberal bigshot Scott Reid made his now infamous
"beer and popcorn" comment alleging that Canadian parents would spend the money on junkfood rather than their kids.
3)Decentralizing power and giving provinces a presence on the international scene. Being a Quebecker, I can assert with confidence that that resonated here, and the newspapers loved it (though it didn't do much for the CPC in the polls). Tied in here somewhere was dealing with the fiscal imbalance, which was also a big play here.
>The Liberals promised to reinforce their day-care system (newspapers: "yawn, boring.") and ban handguns that are already mostly banned. Nothing earth-shaking.
Now I don't endorse all of what Harper's promising, let's be clear on that. The 2% cut apparently does nothing for poor and middle class Canadians, which is most of us (though I unfortunately have only read the newspaper analysis, and readily admit I haven't done my own homework beyond that). It costs $5/day for day-care here in Quebec, which is heavily subsizidized. The Charest government announced a price rise to 7$/day. Regardless of what price you look at, $1200 doesn't pay for 261 days of daycare, which would be everyday of the year except weekends. Throw in 8 weeks of vacation (more than what most people really get), and it still doesn't work out. And prices are apparently the cheapest here in Montreal, according to
CRS. Scott Reid, though he didn't phrase it right (kinda sucks when your communications guy can't communicate, huh Paul?), made a good point that this is basically just a tax cut dressed up as child care. Decentralizing power might be nice, though I wonder how the Americans will react if the PQ take power. A provincial PM who's a gay separatist and former cokehead talking internationally? Granted they can't stop Andre Boisclair being an gay separatist ex-junkie, but giving such a person the potential to speak on more international platforms... not such a good idea.
In short, Stephen Harper is leading the race right now because he's getting people hyped and interested in his campaign with bold policy announcements. That isn't to say they're necessarily smart policies (though I have yet to research them thoroughly enough to say), but they're grabbing the headlines, and that's key. He may not have been more than ordinary in the so-called "debates," but besides some shouting and posturing between Martin and Duceppe, those are forgotten in the main. It should be noted the far-right of his party has been mute, and so the Liberal attacks on social values don't make such an important impact. Within the next day or two I'll post analysis of his free vote on gay marriage, and social policies.
Quip of the Day (aka Quote it!)
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Punks wear black clothes as a rebellion against the established order.
Related posts are in the categories of
humour and
quips.
Quip of the Day Euphemism
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People have a way of using language to make things more acceptable. Today's QOTD is:
"Sweatshops"? We prefer "intensive-exercise factors of production"
humour, quip, euphemism,
Double Quip of the Day
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Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay's budget was voted down, and Paul Martin isn't doing too well fighting the separatists, so today's quips are:
Tremblay can't clear the streets of Montreal 'cuz he doesn't have the budget for it!
With the exception of Quebec, Martin wants to keep Canada united.
humour,
quip,
canadian federal politics,
Mount-Royal Riding Update
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The Conservative candidate has agreed to participate in the debate. He was mentioned in a Suburban article last week, which mentioned that the McGill-educated lawyer will be competing against his former professor, Mr. Irwin Cotler, for the Mount-Royal seat.
Neil Drabkin
My initial email to the Bloc went unanswered. I've gotten the candidate's own email (you'd think they'd have posted all his contact information on his page...), phone number (which is alternately not answering or out of service?) and his address (in NDG?). I'll keep you posted on developments.
The Dipper candidate has had an article written about him in the Mount Royal Weekly. In addition, his exams are done, so he's campaigning full time, and his signs are up, after an initial difficulty with technical printing issues.
Quip of the Day DOUBLE: Von Dutch, Dyslexia
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Sorry I've been negligent and missed posting one yesterday. Here's a double dose for you.
"I’m not wearing Ugg boots and Von Dutch to belong."
"Officer, I ran through the red light because I’m dyslexic."
humour,
quip,
dogmatism
Duceppe Hits Back
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Bonjour, je m'appelle Ryan. I have another blog,
BlueGrit. I will also be contributing here. So let's get to it:
Gilles Duceppe finally got to
respond to Paul Martin's rhetorical flourish during the English debate, during which he attacked Duceppe head on - in the brave fashion of attacking someone bound and gagged by the idiotic format of that debate. Duceppe said, "'If you're so proud of being a Canadian, Mr. Martin, why did your ships use flags of convenience? Why did your ships fly a Liberian flag, a Cypriot flag?'"
Good one. He continued, "[Paul Martin is] like Jean Chrétien without the courage. Because Jean Chrétien, at least, was willing to engage in debate."
It really speaks to the fundamental weakness of Paul Martin - that is, he can't debate. The Liberal leadership debates between Martin, Manley and Copps featured the candidates sitting down, with little direct interaction between them, and held on weekends when no reporters would be around. Clearly, that format was chosen by the Martinites, who lest we forget controlled about 95% of the party at the time. This weakness was further highlighted in 2004, when Paul Martin got smoked in both the French (by Duceppe) and English (by Harper) debates. The reason for that was that he had to actually debate with the other leaders, something he very clearly can't do. So this time around, the Liberals were sure to demand a debate format where Martin could attack without having to defend. Frankly, it's cowardly. I hope Martin wins the election, but Canadians are done a disservice when they go to watch their political leaders debate, and end up seeing a two hour campaign commercial. Even the Bush-Kerry debates were better than these ones, and that's saying something.
Duceppe very clearly agrees with me, as he wants a
change. I couldn't agree more. I'm just as sure a change in debate format would be better for Canadian voters as I'm sure there's no way Martin would ever agree to a change in format.
Canadian Porkbusters
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Hello,
Our neighbours south of the 49th Parallel have come up with a pretty smart idea, and its name is Porkbusters. The idea is to identify wasteful programs, ask the appropriate Congressman/Representative to say whether or not they'll approve of cutting the pork, and then post the response. The details are over at
instapundit's blog.
What I would like to do is have us northerners start our own version of it. I invite all Canadian Bloggers with an interest in this program to help out. I address myself in particular to the Non-Partisan Alliance of Blogging Canadians, Progressive Bloggers, and each party, province and territory's association of bloggers.
Under the
Access to Information Act, we should be able to
request whatever information is necessary to uncover such foolish programs and spending designed to buy votes.
I don't have the capacity to host the information on this, like they've done at
TTLB, so if anyone has the website to do this, it would be greatly appreciated if you could offer your services.
Double Quip of the Day: Stupidity, Presidential Campain
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Today's QOTD:
Your defies comprehension stupidity.
and a supplement for missing yesterday's:
Most popular 2004 Presidential campaign slogan: "Your beliefs are different than mine. You’re stupid."
humour,
quip,
dogmatism
Bashing Americans is NOT "Progressive"
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Yesterday, I saw results of about 51% in favour of bashing Americans for political gain, in a poll at the progressive bloggers' website (I can't link to it, it's too embarassing). Today support is at 30%. If support is greater than 5% by the time the poll closes, i.e. it's not just a fringe phenomenon, I hereby renounce my position in the "progressive" bloggers.
There are a number of intelligent, thoughtful people with PB, but I refuse to be associated with such shameful stupidity as US-bashing. If that's what PB ends up in support of, I'm out.
Comment on Anti-Americanism
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I see this all the time, both in the media, at school, and in everyday life, and it's simply pathetic. Everyday Canadians feel it's the cool thing to do to bash Americans. All you ever hear about are these fat, arrogant imperialists south of the border that are destroying the environment.
I grant you that there are Americans like that. And obesity is a problem (see my post on
Obesity and Portion Sizes). However, there are many more Americans who are kind, friendly, humble people who want to help others.
Here are a
few statistics that prove my point, courtesy of NCCS. As it so happens, the US donates more to charity than we do. It doesn't matter that their GNP or GDP or whatever is bigger. They give the most.
Furthermore,
Canadians are just as obese, if not more, than their counterparts below the 49th parallel.
"In Canada, more than 6 million people between 20 to 64 years old are overweight and another 2.8 million are obese. Together they represent 47% of the Canadian adult population."
Oh, and pollution? Let me tell you a little anecdote, one that the newspapers are just beginning to catch up on (read
Tommy Schnurmacher of The Suburban's analysis of Kyoto. I disagree that Kyoto's useless, but some interesting info on who the big polluters are (hint: those terrible, arrogant Americans think these polluters live in igloos, and these igloo-dwellers' politicians are campaiging)). My brother lives out in Calgary. Until just a few months ago, he was working in an energy firm buying "pollution credits" from other countries so that we could continue polluting. Respecting Kyoto? The right to criticize the Americans on the environment? Makes me think of the maxim "practice what you preach"...
How's about some Canadians highlighting that the US is one of the few countries that has the courage to stand up for Israel at the UN, when everyone decides to let terrorists off the hook and blame Israel for everything? A moral courage, I would point out, that Canada is just beginning to emulate.
How about Canadians being humble enough to remember that it was at least in part due to our lackadaisical security guards, staff and law enforcement that terrorists hit the US?* I know that the next time I hear a fellow canuck bawling about the US war on terror I'll tell him to go petition Harper and Martin to pledge monies to our intelligence agencies.
If I had the time (it's half past midnight here), I'd go on, but you get the point.
"Americans? My role model said they’re evil, so they obviously must be [evil].
-Yeah, and did you know the world is flat? Really, it is. I'm telling you.
* Pursuant to
Pogge's accuracy comment, I retract the part saying the Ts came through Canada. I stand by what I said about our intelligence/security services being weak. Thanks, P.
Quip of the Day
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I have a problem with self-righteous kids, so today's Quip of the day/Quote it! is:
"I’m gonna fight those big corporations, just like my daddy, the Senior Accounting VP..."
humour,
quip,
dogmatism,
hypocrisy
Portion Sizes Linked to Obesity, Centrerion tells Time Magazine
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I was pretty happy last week when I got an email telling me a letter of mine would be published in the prestigious Time. Being the skeptic and Murphy's law sucker that I am, I waited to get it to believe it. It's really there, though! (But only in the Canadian edition; my sister in NY didn't see it in hers.)
So what could I possibly have had to say that was remotely important? I couldn't find the original letter I sent Time, because for whatever reason, it isn't in my gmail Sent Mail folder, but I'll post what they published. The gist of what I wrote is here. What they cut is that I found these things out by researching eating habits and obesity with my friend Matthew Rosenberg, and the names of a few of the researchers whose work Matt and I studied (which I guess would'nt be interesting to the general population, in hindsight).
"Time reported that a Cornell University study showed that big portion sizes can lead to overeating, even if the food isn't particularly appealing [Nov 21]. The Cornell findings confirm previous research noting a correlation between serving size and how much is eaten. Although correlation does not imply causation, an important part of the solution to the increasing obesity of North Americans would be to encourage restaurant chains to reduce their servings to nutritionist-approved sizes. Adhering to such standards could then be touted as corporate social responsibility. Whatever the solution, the information about portion sizes has been known for a while. It is a shame that nothing has been done to make consumers more aware of the relationship."
Being my own worst critic, I note that I forgot a comma in the first sentence (the one that's in this post wasn't in Time, and I presume I did not write one there), which makes it a bit of a run-on sentence. Also, where it says "would be to encourage..." it would have flowed better with my idea to write "Could be". Lastly, I don't for some reason recall having written the last sentence, and conclude from that absent memory that I'm getting alzheimer's early. Or just a bad case of stupidity... whatever.
Hope you guys liked that.
I'm going to post the research review Matt and I did, for those who are interested. Just not tonight. I'm going to forget to do it,
tonight.
*Update*
I've since posted the research. You can read it here:
Portion Sizes and Obesity - The ResearchA (very long) annotated bibliography that goes into much depth.
Portion Sizes and Obesity: The Variables A relatively short (4 double spaced pages) discussion of variables studied and the research Matt and I planned.
Quip of the Day anti-Americanism
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Here's today's QOTD.
I’m clever and intellectual, so I hate Americans. It reflects on an, I'm ashamed to admit, markedly
Canadian way of thought.
humour,
quip,
anti-americanism,
dogmatism
Quip of the Day
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Today's "Quote it!":
Nike owns Converse. Wearing Converse doesn't make you a rebel; you’re a sheep.
humour,
quip
Liberal AdScam Vol II
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Guess what the Liberals are being accused of, and who they're working with, these here days in Quebec?
1) Stealing from ordinary Canadians.
2) Old associates involved from Adscam vol I.
The Liberals' ads in Quebec are modelled along the lines of popular local improv-comedy show, the Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation, or LNI for short. In a miniature sports-style arena, members of two teams debate an issue and then people vote on who said the best things, awarding points to the funniest group.
In the Liberal ads, members of a Liberal team are seen discussing important issues, while their separatist opponents are stuck repeating the word sovereignty over and over.
So? (The following is paraphrased from Tristan Peloquin's article in today's La Presse).
The shit hit the fan a few days back when members of the LNI claimed they didn't know what the Liberals had rented their premises for. "The Liberal party never indicated that it wanted to make ads using the LNI's space, " said Yvon Leduc, the LNI's co-founder. The LNI people recognize having rented the place, but they complain that the Liberals are violating their real rights (real rights are property rights opposable to third parties, as opposed to personal rights, which only bind someone in particular) in the intellectual property. "Renting a place does not equal acquiring the rights [to the intellectual property]," Leduc said.
Other LNI people were equally furious. "It's pure theft," said Luc Piche, an LNI board member and bigwig. He added that the LNI leases the rights to its idea to groups in Europe.
Andre Noel of La Presse also found that people formerly employed by GroupAction, one of the adscam companies, were responsible for the LNI-ad idea. The man in question is Marc-Andre Rivard, a former VP at GroupAction. Interestingly, the ad was carried out by Turbo Marketing, which was devoid of employees and resources until quite recently. Noel's newspaper article also reveals that a number of other Adscam tainted companies were involved in the creation of these ads.
With this background, stay tuned for yours truly and
Decision Canada 2006's review of ads during week 2 of this federal election campaign. Andrew's (of DC 2006) invited me to join the panel, and we're going to have a crazy post for your on the week's ads!
Update on Candidates' Debate
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Here's an update on the
debate being organized down here in Mount Royal.
The Green Party's candidate for the riding, Damien Pichereau, has agreed to participate in the debate. His posters "are coming soon," he noted, adding that he's not officially registered yet. In an email dated from this past Sunday, he said that he should be registered by 3:30 today.
The New Democratic Party's candidate for the riding, Nicolas Thibodeau (who speaks non-accented English, whatever the French-Canadian last name might make one think) "would be pleased" to participate in the candidates' debate. At the same time, the UQAM student (University de Quebec a Montreal - University of Quebec in Montreal) has begun his own blog, over at
nicolasthibodeau.blogspot.com.
Contact Information for these two candidates is as follows (the other candidates info will be posted as they agree to participate):
-Damien Pichereau-
Candidat du Parti Vert dans Mont-Royal
Green Party candidate in Mount-Royal
Email: dpichereau@partivert.ca
-Nicolas R. Thibodeau-
Candidat du NPD dans Mont-Royal
NDP candidate in Mount Royal
Tél./Tel. : (514) 590-0036 ou 1-800-843-8598
Fax: (514) 590-0555
10 Ave Wicksteed
Mont-Royal
H3P-1P7
Centrerion Joins Decision 2006
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The good folks over at
Decision Canada 2006 have invited yours truly to join their panel reviewing each party's ads. And we're not even getting paid to do this!
These will constitute more Analysis of the Campaign posts.
Plugging My Sister's New Bid'niss
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Digressing from the political commentary and Quips for a moment to bring you guys the low down on my sister's new costume jewelery business. The line is called House of Mirth (I guess 'cause they make you happy, because my sister's such a wisecracker, and because her name starts with an M). She's already sold pieces to stores on Montreal's trendy and upscale Green ave., and is talking to the good people over at Birks as well. Check out pictures of the one-of-a-kind, handmade pieces over at www.flickr/photos/houseofmirth2006.
Quip of the Day (aka QOTD aka Quoted aka Quote it!)
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Today's QOTD:
I’ve heard of the common fool but really, you’re exceptional.
Again, as a reminder, I'd like these quips made into stickers that can be purchased for charity. If you know who could make these stickers,
email me.
humour,
quip
Centrerion Looking to Organize Candidates Debate in Mount Royal
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Given the candidates are having trouble letting us know who they are and what ideas they stand for, yours truly has decided to help them (and obviously residents of the riding of Mount Royal) out. The Green Party's candidate, as well as aides in each campaign, have so far expressed interest in the idea. I'm going to try and organize a candidate's debate here in my riding. Read on for more information, or to lend a hand , email me.
Here's the outline of the idea. None of it's set in stone.
-A list of topics will be selected, partly in conjunction with the candidates.
-A hall/auditorium with mics, a sound system, and hopefully video cameras, will be set up to host the event.
-After introductions ("instead of telling us about yourself, tell us a story that illustrates your character, and something important to voters...') moderator will broach each subject, and ensure that all candidates have an equal amount of time to speak.
For example, moderator asks: What is your personal position on subject X? Does the status quo need to be changed, and if so, how? Candidate A will begin, has 4-5 minutes. Candidate B goes for it. Then once they've all gone, A responds, B responds, etc. Next subject candidate B starts...
-The moderator, obviously, is a neutral, unaffiliated party.
-After x time of this roundtable questioning, part 2 starts. This would consist of open time to criticize problems each candidate perceives in the others' platforms. Candidates can answer each other and cut one another off.
-Finally, part 3 would consist of open questions addressed to all candidates by members of the audience. These questions would be written down and submitted during parts 1 and 2, and the most pertinent ones in the moderator's judgement would be read.
-The footage from the debate would be uploaded here, along with a transscript, and links to any newspaper articles on the debate. Of course, I would post my own analysis of the event here too.
-Each candidate would contribute part of the money required to rent the hall and audio-visual equipment.
-The debate would be bilingual, though candidates would be advised that most of the riding's residents speak English as a first language.
-A translator or two might be needed.
-Besides staying within one's alotted time, the other rules that would be necessary would be not to interrupt, (during parts 1 and 3), and no personal attacks. The moderator would enforce these rules, and reduce violators' speaking time accordingly.
Wars of Choice, Wars of Necessity
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Here's an
excellent column by Charles Krauthammer, formerly of the New Republic, now with Time Magazine.
In consideration of this, it puts to shame all the people who would would have Canada and other pressure the US to leave before the job in Iraq is done.
The Economy of Nova Scotia
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Dear Blog Boy: What's your fave beverage, and will you consider keeping a running total of consumption of same? - M.H.
When not drinking a healthy, protein-rich shake that I never actually drink because I prefer beer, I drink beer. Keith's. Scott Reid and I have a couple Keith's wherever we go. Except the Kremlin. They didn't have Keith's at the Kremlin. But during the last campaign, it wasn't long before the flight attendents had the Keith's sitting and waiting for us when we boarded. This prompted a few of our colleagues to roll their eyes and gaze upon us with looks of scorn, possibly because it was 10:30 a.m. As for keeping a tally, it might be a useful exercise, if only to precisely calculate the full extent to which the two of us are powering the Nova Scotia economy.
I know a few Nova Scotians who are not going to like that one.
Jean Lapierre, Calgary Grit
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Yet another reason I like the
Calgary Grit's blog: he's a grit, yet he still posted about
these videos of Jean Lapierre, a supposed Liberal lieutenant in Quebec, who's shown in these videos supporting sovereignty back when he was part of the Bloc. Notably, he thanks the people from the Bloc who never wavered in their support of the sovereignty movement. Ironic, I know.
CG does it again a bit later, discussing the insider trading stuff in his party (albeit a tad defensively, which is understandable, I suppose).
Liberal,
Bloc Quebecois,
Jean Lapierre,
politics club
Popdex and other directories
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As part of Centrerion's promotional efforts, we're linking to
Popdex. It's an index of what's popular in the blogosphere. Interesting site, worth a peek. If the link there doesn't work, try this one:
http://www.popdex.com.
I've also signed up for a number of other directories. I can't remember them all at the moment, but if you find a directory where centrerion isn't listed, please post it, and use the description in the upper right hand side, or else something along these lines:
title: Centrerion
url: http://www.centrerion.blogspot.com
description: Canadian centrist politics. Site features analysis, commentary, and smart-ass quips on federal politics, all from a centrist point of view. It also offers a weekly newsletter with the best of thes site's content for the week, for those who can't check the site on a daily basis.
keywords: canadian centrist analysis commentary humour federal politics non-partisan unaffiliated quips
Thanks to
anyone who works to get us more links and postings in directories.
website development,
promotion
Announcing Tongue In Cheek
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A while ago I wrote a bunch of smart-ass quips and such (all copyrighted, and all rights reserved). From now until the end of the election campaign, I'm going to post one of those quips, or something similar. I'd also like to have these made into stickers to sell for charity, so if any of you are good at graphic design and/or drawing, let me know.
The first Tongue In Cheek is:
Join the chaos club organization today!
Update: this series has since been retitled Quip of the Day. It might also be found in the archives as "QOTD" (the acronym for quip of the day) or "Quote it!" which is a homonym for "QOTD" that lets you know I'd be happy for you to reference these.
humour,
quip
Foreign Affairs and the crazy Scandinavians
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Two scary items in the news today: the passing of an ultimatum deadline concerning four hostages in Irak, including two Canucks, and Mohammed El Baradei's winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
The first item is scary because, obviously, it means that the hostages are in even graver peril than they were prior to the passing of the deadline. Considering also that Canadian diplomacy is ridiculously ineffective in helping Canadians detained abroad, as
this man's story shows, and that the NGO they were affiliated with, Christian Peacemaker Teams is merely seeking to appease the terrorists with sympathetic press releases reminiscent of the
Stockholm Syndrome, these people are in a really crummy situation.
The second item is the trend towards making the Nobel Peace Prize insignificant. Mohammed El Baradei has called for Israel to give up its nukes, or its capacity for building them (Israel neither acknowledges nor denies it has nukes, in an effort to deter its enemies from attacking, all while not giving them a justification for building their own).
Israel has been invaded several times by its neighbours, in a series of unsuccesful attempts at destroying it. The Arab League has called for its destruction (as had the PLO and the PA, formerly headed by Yasser Arafat, another Nobel Peace Prize winner...).In other words, El Baradei wants Israel to put itself at the mercy of its enemies, by getting rid of its deterrent - the Nuclear Ambiguity policy. When you have a fool like that getting the Prize, it makes you wonder what the people up in Oslo (i.e. the Nobel Awards Committee) are thinking.
Oslo and Stockholm... there's something about the far northern climate that makes people think funny.
foreign affairs,
nuclear weapons
Italics Mine
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Italics MineExcellent spoof liberal poster on display. Check out this fellow Non-Affiliated Blogger a.s.a.p.
politics club,
humour
Link from Way Down Here; Blogrolls
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Bob, of
Way Down Here has added Centrerion to his links. The man's got a good blog, and he's up for the Canadian blog awards, so he's worth a peek. Thanks again for the link, Bob.
-
In other news, I'm figuring out how to set up my own blogroll properly, so please bare with me if the sidebar gets a bit messy, or if the link I promised to your site isn't immediately up.
The blogroll of associate/friendly websites (based on having interesting (usually political) content, and a link back here) so far includes Way Down Here and a couple of others. I've also joined the
Blogging Alliance of Non-Partisan Canadians.
I've applied to join Progressive Bloggers, and will probably stop there, though I am looking at the blogging tories, dippers, and libs.
Categories: Canadian federal politics, politics club
Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer
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This blog is best viewed in web browser Mozilla Firefox (available at www.mozilla.com). For reasons unknown to me, Internet Explorer displays my column way below my sidebar. Yet another thing Microsoft can't do right.
Categories: website development
Mount Royal Riding Uncontested ??!
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I live in the riding of Mount Royal (Pierre Elliott Trudeau's former riding). After a ridiculous municipal election which saw my city plastered with signs, it now appears that no one is contesting Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's seat. I haven't seen any posters, nor has there been much in the papers, save for Harper dropping by yesterday (I can't recall if he was accompanied by his candidates or not).
Where are the NDP, Greens, Bloc, and Conservatives? I know a year and change ago the Conservative candidate came a distant second (maybe because he only got a handful of signs up, and a mere few days before the election at that), but this is just plain sad. Sure Cotler's a great guy, but just giving him the riding? Are the other parties saying their candidates don't seriously want this seat? Similarly, I've seen hardly any signs in Snowdon or downtown, save again for the Liberals' Lucienne Robillard, and the people running in a provincial by-election for Outremont (which includes Snowdon as part of the riding).
This is total nonsense, and if things stay this way, I'm going to look at entering the contest as an independant, merely to offer voting citizens a choice.
UPDATE
The Bloc, NDP, and Conservatives each have a candidate in the riding. The dipper doesn't have his pic on the NDP's site, while the Bloquiste is some kid from the field of programming in CEGEP St-Laurent (they reaaaaally don't care about this riding ... don't see how Duceppe's going to get rid of the Liberals in Quebec with this sort of candidate campaigning for them). The CPC guy has a reasonably decent background, and can claim to have at least run as a Conservative in every election since 93. But then, that just means this dude's a big loser.
So much for the competition.
Categories: federal politics, LPC, Montreal
Update on Martin's Gun Control
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Turns out he's pretty much restating the status quo with the ban on handguns, because almost all handguns are already banned. Nonetheless, the tiny percentage of handguns legally out there should be illegal too. I see them as contrary to public order.
Here's what I propose the law looks like:
A Law Establishing a Ban on Handguns
1. A handgun is defined as any gun that fires bullets, and can be held in one hand.
2. Handguns are hereby prohibited in Canada to anyone but law enforcement agents, such as municipal police, the RCMP, and the Canadian Armed Forces.
Categories: federal politics, LPC, handguns
Editorial Rehashes Centrerion
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An editorial by the name of www.negligence.gc.ca was published today in La Presse. Guess what they were saying? That our politicians aren't addressing Canada's chief security concern: terrorism. The Montreal metro example was cited... Sounds a tad like what yours truly wrote several days ago, when Harper and Martin announced new money for the military:
http://centrerion.blogspot.com/2005/12/cpc-lpc-to-boost-military-spending.htmlThe editorial can be read at
mathieulaberge.blogspot.com.
Categories: Canadian federal politics, terrorism, online politics
Canada a Secular Country?
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They say Church and State are separate here. I don't understand Christmas being a public holiday, nor Easter and so on. Has it occurred to anyone that maybe people who are not Christians might care to work on those days? That the nation of Canada is multi-cultural, and inherent in that and in our freedom of religion, is the fact that there may be more than one religion observed in this country?
In the Speech From the Throne, given by the Governor General, the concluding words are as follows.
" Honourable Members of the Senate and Members of the House of Commons:
As you carry out your duties and exercise your responsibilities, may you be guided by Divine Providence."
Divine Providence? Yeah, I'm sure any MPs or Senators who are atheist feel the need for Divine Providence.
...
Canada endorses no religion. It follows that laws, regulations, and yes, even the Speech From The Throne, need to be ammended in that light. There is precedent for this in the abolishment of Sunday legislation (often called "Lord's Day" legislation) which prohibited work on Sundays. I challenge the principal national parties to broach this subject, and put forth concrete proposals to resolving it.
Categories: Canada, Church and State, religion
Fuddle Duddle
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Fuddle DuddleThese kids are the official mouthpiece of the Young Liberals. Funny that they should mention health care, and sections 91 and 92 of the constitution, to say that Martin can't touch health care, because he'd be breaking the law to advance his political career.
The following quote is from the CBC. They aren't very competent with surveys (see post below), but as a public service, they only show a moderate amount of bias in favor of the Liberals. Anyways, as the national news outlet, here's what they had to say.
"Provinces cautious of Liberal's multi-billion dollar health-care plan
Last Updated Thu, 27 May 2004 8:16:39
COBOURG, ONT. - Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams gave the Liberal's health-care promise the thumbs-up but some premiers are suspicious the plan will have the federal government infringing on provincial jurisdiction." - http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/05/25/canada/health040525
Billions on health care? Isn't that a provincial jurisdiction?
More... from the PMO'S OFFICE!
"Mr. Martin [...], invested in health care and other key priorities and put in place the largest tax cuts in Canadian history." - http://pm.gc.ca/eng/bio.asp?id=38
That bit about the tax cuts is also funny because
the Young Liberals' blog is demonizing Harper for looking to cut taxes. Not that I agree with the cuts, really, but it's ironic how hypocritical this blog is.
Categories: Canadian federal politics, online politics
CBC Rates Centrerion
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Here's where I stand in Canadian federal politics, according to the CBC.
Social Authoritarian 9.1% Economical Authoritarian 47.7%
Not too sure what these authoritarian references mean, but on the marketing diagram (I learnt about these in marketing but forget what they're called - they place you on a map based on your perceptions), they have me as a democrat somewhere in between the Bloc, the Liberals, and the NDP.
I'm surprised I didn't come out further up, frankly. My conclusion is that each subject weighs equally in their computations, which isn't exactly realistic. I've considered voting for each of these parties, but the truth is I'm much likelier to vote Conservative or Liberal, and have discounted voting for the Bloc because I can't support sovereignty. As for me being close to a totalitarian ... yeah, uhuh ... sure (rolls eyes and sighs at the CBC's incompetence).
Categories: fedpol, media
CalgaryGrit's take on the Handgun ban
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CalgaryGritCouldn't have worded this stuff about the handgun ban any better myself. People will likely argue, as they always do with gun legislation, that organized crime won't be affected, only honest gun owners.
That may be true, but the proposal is actually protecting gun owners, and people who live in their environments, because many shootings are accidents. Yes, I realize that sounds pretty dumb, but people do accidentally shoot each other, and believe it or not, themselves (kind of makes me think of the Darwin Awards.)
Categories: federal politics, crime, handguns
Links from Centrist Coalition, North American Patriot
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The following blogs have agreed to link to this blog, and I ask you to check them out.
www.centristcoalition.com - The starting point for anyone interested in American Centrist politics. (link in lower left sidebar)
www.northamericanpatriot.com - A conservative blog with strong content, up for a Canadian Blog award, and a Weblog award.
Categories: centrist politics, Canadian politics, website development
Libs calling Cons right-wing crackpots ... Election Update
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"Les conservateurs sont ce qu'il y a de plus a droite." (Translation: The Conservatives are on the extreme right." - Liberal Deputy for Honore Mercier, in a recent La Presse Op-Ed.
This was published the day after I wrote my previous post, Focus on The Family and the Conservatives' Cowardice. uhhh.. toldjaso?
In other news, Layton was against Clarity Law, and now he's for. Lysiane Gagnon commented that it was easy to be tolerant when sovereignist threat appeared distant, last year, but now that it looks stronger, he needs to bash em. I won't guess what motivated him, but learning this tarnished what I think of the guy. The simple facts, bare of any inference and such, show that:
a) He's wishy-washy
b) He was against the Clarity Law? How can you have a problem with insisting a referendum question is clearly worded? Odd... especially in light of this next item:
Pierre Foglia, a popular and controversial columnist at La Presse, wrote today about findings showing as many as 9 million Canadians are illiterate, or have a bare-bones level of literacy. In Quebec, it's even worse, he notes, with a higher percentage of illiterates. There were four levels, four being the best, and three being acceptable ... 12% of people with a university diploma couldn't reach category 3. Sadly, the media have hardly covered this.
I'd like to personally note that when Universities came to my CEGEP, the lowest entrance requirements were for people looking to study education. N'importe qui peut faire 'la pedagogie transversale' as Foglia mockingly remarks about Quebec's terrible education reform, which emphasizes 'transversal competencies'.
In the same issue of La Presse, it was reported that young Quebeckers are amongst the most likely to vote.
So people who can't read the papers or understand the parties' platforms are going to be voting, and where people are less likely to understand, they're more likely to vote... sigh.
Which brings me back to my first point: Canadians need a credible federalist alternative to the Libs. The NDP can't win power, so the responsibility is on the Tories ... and if they allow themselves to be painted as nutjobs - something you can understand/learn from the Grits (LPC) even if you can't read and understand 500 words - Canadians will be even worse off than they currently are.
Categories: federal politics, federalism, CPC, LPC, education, illiteracy
Focus on The Family and the Conservatives' Cowardice
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I saw in the papers (La Presse) that the CPC out in BC are working with Focus on the Family. The Liberals are going to have a ball pointing to that to paint the CPC as extremists, and Ontario and Quebec are going to buy it. For a shot at a handful more seats in the West, the CPC are going to condemn their campaign to achieving the status of a numerically strengthened OPPOSITION, instead of having a chance at becoming the governing party.
Know who's going to bite the bullet for this short-sighted campaigning?
Yup, us Canucks.
The issue at stake here isn't whether or not Harper gets the keys to 24 Sussex. The issue is that Canadians have a viable alternative to the Liberals. When the Conservatives ally themselves with a group that is perceived as being as far right as Focus on the Family is considered; when they campaign on a free vote on gay marriage (though in some weird twist of logic, should gay marriage be repealed, the Cons would maintain those that have already been consecrated); Canadians see a bunch of spooky evangelists out to convince them that their eternal souls are gonna burn for having pre-marital sex. 'Nucks see people out of touch with their (majority) view.
The NDP, the Bloc, and especially the Liberals see an opportunity more golden than becoming Bill Gates' adopted son. "You know those mean old baddies from Out West," will say the Ls. "They're gonna do real nasty stuff ... just look, they worked with the Bloc. They're working to repeal gay marriage. Next thing you know, they'll make abortion illegal [again? - my question]."
The NDP: "Yeah they're gonna crack down on criminality. That means they're gonna throw gays into prison, next to immigrants and unionists."
Most scarily of all to most Canadians, is what the Bloc might say...
Duceppe: "They're great guys! Really! I've worked with Stephen plenty of times; take my word for it."
Like it or not, and regardless of whether its an ethical tactic, the other parties will taint the right as nutcracks representing regional [read minority, non-Ontario/Quebec] interests. It's a canadian alliance of questionable value. Who do
federalists in the
center vote for, if both the Liberals (by means of the sponsorship scandal), and the Conservatives (by means of allying themselves with F on the F, and the Bloc earlier) can't be trusted? The Conservatives, even if it doesn't guarantee them a majority in Ottawa, "doivent tenter le tout pour le tout", as they say in French ... they must give it their best shot. Marginalizing themselves with Focus on the Family is a cowardly move aimed at gaining more seats while remaing comfortably responsibility-free in the opposition.
The inhabitants of MacDonald, Laurier, and Trudeau's country are centrists. Canadians need an alternative to the Liberals, and teaming up with Focus on the Family prevents the Conservatives becoming that alternative.
Categories: Canadian federal politics, Focus on the Family, CPC
CPC, LPC to Boost Military Spending ...
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The CPC and LPC are set to boost miliary spending. Both the Conservatives and the Liberals have made this promise, though it's more credible coming from the Conservatives. It was Liberals that over the past decade slashed military spending (that would have been Paul Martin's doing as Minister of Finance, if I'm not mistaken ...) to the point where the military is today one of the CBC's favourite jokes (... Canadian military? What Canadian military?).
According to La Presse, a leading French newspaper mainly read in Montreal, the parties' spending priorities are in conventional warfare: planes, ships, personnel ...
So the military's finally going to get some up to date weapons; good. It was pathetic having to hitch a ride to Afghanistan from the US, because we couldn't fly our own troops (though you could argue it's a positive thing having a military whose fighting capacity is limited to a defensive role by its inability to travel abroad).
HOWEVER, the most pressing issue in the area of national security today is not conventional warfare. It's terrorism.
Our spies need money. The CIA was in Time magazine recently stating that it intended to get back to good old fashioned spywork, and is emphasizing human resources. Funding CSIS (Canada's spook network) to become a world-leading agency is paramount, because we're already world leaders in hosting foreign terrorists. Hamas, al-Qaida, and other groups are present here, and it is only a matter of time until we get blasted. Foreign agencies have found plans regarding Montreal's metro, and studies of other Canadian targets. Furthermore, a significant portion of our military spending should be spent on R&D to develop techniques of fighting terrorists, infiltrating their cells, their infrastructure, their financing, etc.
Spend money on defense, but don't just spend it for the sake of "spending on the military." Spend it in the best interests of national security, by putting the money into the counter-terrorist struggle.
Categories: federal politics, military spending, CPC, LPC
Musings/Thoughts on Jack Layton, partisanship
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I have to say that normally, the NDP and co. are too far left for me.
However, I observed Layton a couple of times in Parliament, and the man is serious. In question period, while everyone else was being a goof, he was raising valid points (it looked like Goodale was also doing a decent job during question period, incidentally), and doing work for Canadians.
Regardless of his views, I'm happy he was making an effort to serve Canadians, instead of getting bogged down in petty name-calling and stupidities (like the Conservative whip was doing, calling Martin a drunken sailor in regards to Martin's shipping lines...). Layton has my respect, though I don't agree with him on many things.
Politicians: you're put in office to serve Canadians, not your parties.
Categories: federal politics, NDP, Jack Layton
Liberals on Health
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I went over to Liberal.ca, and took a look. They too are promising shorter waiting times, and more doctors. Good.
However, the following is mere talk:
"Since the signing of the 10-year plan, the Liberal government has announced additional investments to reduce wait times, improve the health of Aboriginal peoples, integrate internationally educated doctors and nurses into the health care system, and improve data collection and reporting on health system performance."
The Aborigines in Kascheshewan can attest to the lack of proper health care, and I would be so bold as to say that my understanding of the issue (though admittedly I have not researched it thoroughly) is that the Aborigines are in poor health, across Canada.
Also pathetic is the effort made at integrating doctors. First of all, doctors are unionized provincially, so it isn't really federal jurisdiction who gets into the union. I know this firsthand because several people I know have to work in grey areas because they can't be recognized as M.D.s, without going back to CEGEP and all sorts of ridiculous requirements. These are people training new medical staff, yet can't be recognized themselves. That needs to be addressed in this campaign, and once the pols return to Parliament.
I didn't notice anything at the Conservative website about this, so they get a failing grade on this subject, too.
Categories: federa politics, Liberal Party of Canada, health care
Where's the CPC Campaign?
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Google '"official campaign" "conservative party of canada"' and you know what turns up? A Liberal blog. Plain pathetic from the CPC. And the closest thing on Google's listings is a Conservative blog.
On the one hand, there's a certain democratization of the political process to be seen here, when blogs are becoming mainstream and more people have a voice. On the other hand, one could argue that it's becoming a tower of babel with all
the blogs, and that hardly any of them are really getting heard. I don't think it's asking too much for official sites to pop up first though?
I finally found the CPC's website at
www.conservative.ca.
They have there some interesting material, though the statement of policy issues is the barest of ideas. They ought to have links from the platform pages to the concrete manifestations of their pledges. It's not enough to say they're going to crack down on crime (because the other parties -with the possible exception of the Liberals- aren't?), the CPC has to say how it's going to do that.
-I like this stuff about supporting the trades by subsidizing tools and apprenticeships. That seems like a good idea. When a power drill costs 180$ though, you wonder what tools they expect people in the trades to buy on 500$?...
-This business about cutting wait times is also good to hear, and I'm suprised also that Harper is explicitly coming out against private health care ("Reforms have been taking place — especially in alternative, private delivery of publicly insured services — despite the denials of the Liberal government.*).
-The 'family' platform link has nothing about the gay marriage issue. I hope that it won't show up there, and that this issue will be left where it is. So long as you aren't forcing any religious denomination to perform gay marriages, I see no problem in recognizing its existence.
-Allan Cutler's video is pretty impressive. Good candidate, it looks like.
*
Stephen Harper pledges patient wait times guaranteeCategories: federal politics, Conservative Party of Canada, online politics
Centrerion
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I was looking at political blogs, and it seemed to me they were all either right or left. Centrerion is two kings left on the chess board: the third solution.
I also post to
www.thegiftofbag.blogspot.com, but that site will be more focused on my newspaper articles and music posting, while this will be oriented towards Canadian politics (federal and provincial).
Hope you enjoy it,
Cheers,
Centrerion
Categories: website development, centrist politics, Canadian Politics
