Bring the dustpan…Dion is cleaning house

Could a call by Dion for the government to stop disrupting committees if it goes against the government’s agenda really clean up Parliament? Will it change when the House resumes in the fall? It is highly unlikely looking at the past misconduct in this government that maturity and civility will be the conduct of Parliament in the future. Manipulation of opposition parties positions and comments only seems likely to continue as long as the conservatives hold power. I appreciate Dion’s stance on this issue, however it is unlikely change the government’s childish behaviour.

Hydrogen highway as much as a reality as a bullet train between Calgary and Edmonton?

The BC government wants to set up hydrogen fuelling stations from San Diego to Whistler to form a hydrogen friendly highway by 2010 to encourage Californians to come to the Olympics. Despite Campbell’s push to get more stations set up in the Greater Vancouver area and on the island, Governor Schwarzenegger believes that it will not be a reality until at least 2015. A major obstacle is that Washington and Oregon has yet to commit to a hydrogen future since there are no major fuel-cell industries in their states to promote. This will leave a substantial gap in the highway. Another major problem is that the North American car manufactures are not expecting to have hydrogen cars in showrooms for another decade.
Will Campbell’s dream become a reality by 2010 or will it become another bullet train dream that never makes it to the station?
The higway would be a significant step towards reducing our environmental foot print and to have the highway by the Olympics would bring about awareness to the issue. Although it might never become a reality there is no harm in attempting to achieve that goal. BC has already made significant gains in purchasing 20 hydrogen buses and developing hydrogen fuelling stations. Heightened awareness from the highway might create pressure to increase the development of hydrogen vehicles and place greater pressure on governments and the automakers to fund and develop hydrogen vehicles sooner.
Every dream has its goal; it just might take longer to get to Campbell's dream than he wants.

Alberta by-election: a precursor for a Chinook wind of change?

With the upcoming by-elections in Calgary Elbow (Klein’s old riding which has been held by the PC’s since 1971 when it was first drawn) and Drumheller-Strathmore an exciting time in the province of Alberta is upon us. We Albertans do not get much excitement with elections as we already know the outcome even before an election is called, however the proverbial Chinook winds of change has warmed our province as the ice-cold grasp of the provincial PC’s have started to melt.

Although the Drumheller-Strathmore by-election may be a long shot, the candidate is a great choice (little biased as I am good friends with his son). Calgary Elbow, as Rod Love stated today on CBC Radio Calgary, that Calgary Elbow will be a challenge for both parties and that it will be a snapshot of the approval of leadership for both Eddie and Taft.

With the PC government seemingly digging themselves into deeper hole everyday over their inability (or lack of desire) to grasp the concerns of Albertans, with the unfair treatment of Calgary with their broken promises of infrastructure monies, refusal to address the affordable housing crisis and their now supposed favoritism of UofA over UofC (this one gets me fired up as a UofC student), it seems as if this party is running itself right off the cliff at Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump.

The sad reality is when it comes to these by-elections and the future provincial election, will Albertans be able to change their habits and put a check mark next to another party? After 35 years of PC domination, will a change in government ever come?

There is hope however, with the changing demographics and the substantial population growth we have experienced here in Alberta over the past five years, the Chinook winds may come sooner and stay longer than us liberals in Alberta could have ever dreamed of.

Duceppe jumps in, but how big will his splash be?

Today, Gilles Duceppe announced that he will run for leader of the Parti Québécois, although not a surprise too many as there was speculation earlier this week that the leader of the BQ would enter the race.

With that question being answered, the next one we must ask is how much of an impact will his run for leader have on the PQ and on the BQ. Will Duceppe have enough pull to bring the party back from its disastrous third place finish in March’s provincial election? Better yet, will he be able to return to provincial politics victorious in the leadership race as just this week PQ members said that they wished to have a leadership race. A cakewalk for the BQ leader was rejected and the desire for a competition for Duceppe to compete in was expressed by many PQ's .

No doubt that this move leaves questions as to who might succeed Duceppe federally and what sort of advantages this may give Harper in his quest to claim victory in Quebec in regards to the sovereignty issue.
AAA

Make sure to wash your fruits and veggies

The Tory government is increasing the levels of pesticides in our food products to match that of the US. Their excuse? To prevent any trade disputes with the US over the levels of pesticides.

All of this after last summer when Environmental Minister Rona Ambrose said that the government was going to reduce the levels of carcinogens and other harmful toxins from products we use everyday. Even this past December the Tories announced their new Chemicals Management Plan which aimed at regulating harmful chemicals. “The plan takes immediate action to regulate chemicals that are harmful to human health or the environment.”

This is where I begin to get confused…studies have shown that pesticides have been linked to neurological damage, cancers and leukemia (in children).

I guess that they have to make up for the reduction of harmful chemicals that their environment plan will (supposedly) take care of by introducing the chemicals back into us by other means. This government does not know what its priorities are; they claim one thing and act on the other. The contradictions of this government are starting to give me a headache…could it be cancer caused by pesticides? The government is sacrificing Canadians health to benefit trade…and they called Liberals ‘soft’ on the environment?

Links:
Vancouver Sun http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c01d8141-839d-41cc-a8e1-2863bbc9ee36
Chemical Substances Website, Government of Canada http://www.chemicalsubstanceschimiques.gc.ca/communique_e.html
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment http://www.cape.ca/toxics/pesticides.html

“Sorry Mr. Speaker, I forgot to state that I support the troops…”

Since when did asking for more information on our military’s mission mean that you do not support them? (As long as the Tories have been in government) Why are MP’s constantly having to prelude their comments with, “We the Liberal party fully support our brave men and women…”

The Tories are using our troops as an excuse to avoid the issues and not face the facts. Since when did asking questions make me not a supporter of the cause? Questions allow for greater transparency, without it, you have nothing more than cover up, corruption and misleading principles. Last time I checked, I lived in a democracy not a dictatorship.

Will the Prime Minster and the Tory government ever stop walking around the bush with this issue, accusing opposition parties of being sympathetic to the Taliban and answer the questions? If there is nothing to hide then why do the Tories keep dodging the questions? The answer is clear—they have been caught red handed and instead of dealing with the problem they have allowed it fester and have created a greater problem for our military.

Don’t blame opposition parties Hillier for this problem; blame the government for not dealing with it when it first arose…it is their ineptitude that has caused such distress for our troops.

AAA