Sunday, January 22, 2006
Candians Will Wake Up to a Nice Surprise Tuesday
Windsor West
Winner: Brian Masse - NDP
2. Werner Keller - Lib
3. Al Teshuba - Conservative
Masse’s popularity in the former Liberal stronghold will be impossible to overcome for the other candidates. Tough luck Al.
Windsor Tecumseh
Winner: Joe Comartin - NDP
2. Rick Fushi - Conservative
3. Bruck Easton
This one is very tough to call. I hope I am wrong on this one (I voted for Fushi), but I think that Comartins support will squeak this one out. Bruck is not a factor, given his turncoat history and a pathetic national campaign.
Essex
Winner: Jeff Watson
2. Taras Natyshak
3. Susan Whelan
Watson will win by a landslide. Today at the Harper rally in Windsor the crowd was shouting “Jeff, Jeff, Jeff…” An honour non of the other local Conservative candidates received. Whelan’s campaign has been controversial with her being endorsed by the Buzz “bomb” and the question of her lobbyist activities have not been resolved. It wouldn’t surprise me is Watson gets the highest percentage of the vote this side of the Manitoba-Ontario border.
National
Conservatives - 158 seats (MAJORITY)
NDP - 56 seats
Bloq - 53 seats
Liberals - 41 seats
Liberal support is soft. People that say they will vote Liberal will not necessarily show up at the polls because they cannot bring themselves to vote for a corrupt Liberal party and cannot bring themselves to vote for anyone else. That will not be enough to hand a majority to the Conservatives. I see the undecided voters (12 to 15%) hooking up with the party that has all but won the election. Together these conditions will hand the Conservatives a majority, leaving the Liberals in a political wasteland to strip the deadwood from the party.
UPDATE: I just visited Blue Blogging Soapbox and they are predicting 158 also (WOW). I never looked at that before I posted. What a co-inky-dink! I actually had 161 down before I changed it at the last minute.
Confirmed: Ford to May Cut Up to 25,000 Jobs
Ford may trim jobs in Canada as revamp plan to slash 25,000
Friday, January 20, 2006 Posted at 11:13 PM EST
Ford Motor Co. is expected to trim jobs in Canada as part of a plan to slash its work force by 25,000 people that will be announced Monday [as was predicted], industry observers said yesterday.
[…]
If Ford takes an axe to its Canadian operations, the likely targets are the Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, Ont., with about 1,100 employees, and an assembly plant in St. Thomas, Ont., where 2,500 people work. Salaried job cuts that are expected as part of the announcement will also almost certainly affect Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd., which employs about 14,000 people at those two plants, other engine operations in Windsor and another assembly plant and head office operations in Oakville, Ont.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Did Whelan Violate the Lobbyist Registration Act?
During the eight week campaign it has come out that Whelan was working as a registered, paid, lobbyist (possibly earning over $100K), casting doubt on her motives. Through a back and forth with Whelan’s campaign manager, Keith Pickard, in the Essex riding forum on the CBC’s website, a startling revelation emerges:
Keith, Thank you for clarifying Susan Whelan’s lobbyist role in assisting the acquisition of $46 million on behalf of Chrysler. Why is it that you are forthcoming with this information in this forum and left these facts out of your “News” item (dated: 2005-12-08) on your campaign website? When you omit the facts it looks very much like you are hiding something.
One point that Keith and Whelan Friendly made is curious when you look at Susan’s lobbyist registration
Secondly, Ms. Whelan’s lobbyist registration filing indicated that Chrysler does not receive any other government funding. This is apparently another misleading statement because Chrysler receives millions of dollars from the federal government for its research and development activities in Windsor.
If these things are true, it suggests that Susan filed her lobbyist registration with misleading information. This would be a violation of the Lobbyist Registration Act*:
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14.(2) Every individual who knowingly makes any false or misleading statement in any return or other document submitted to the registrar under this Act, whether in electronic or other form, is guilty of an offence and liable
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; and
(b) on proceedings by way of indictment, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.
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The Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists takes these matters very seriously. Ms. Whelan is intimately familiar with the Lobbyist Registration act since she helped implement its current version when she was Chair of the House Standing Committee on Industry. Keith, will Susan voluntarily submit to an investigation by the Registrar General of Canada?
*I cleaned up the links, they were a mess.
Indeed!
The Liberal candidate for Essex has some explaining to do. It is early, but I find it interesting that the Whelan camp (Keith Pickard, who usually responds quickly) has not responded to this potentially explosive development. It is plausible that they are afraid of responding and digging a deeper hole.
I had a look at the Strategis website for Whelan’s lobbyist registration filing. After consulting the Yellow Pages, it was clear that Whelan was working out of the Paroian Law office because she listed their address, phone number and email address in her lobbyist registration information. It seems that Susan Whelan breaks and bends the very rules she developed to get paid handsomely with taxpayer money. This comes from a politician that has heavily criticized other candidates for alleged dishonest statements. If this turns out to be true, Susan Whelan will be the personification of everything that is wrong with the Liberal Party. The Conservative Party has vowed to clear up this sort of dishonesty and unfair lobbyist access in the federal government.
Harper Blazes on CBC Tonight
I tried to look at this through an unbiased lens to gauge what others, possibly undecided voters, would be thinking about Harper's performance. I thought he was weak in the foreign policy area and that he would initiate opening the gay marriage thing within the time of his mandate. I do not see the latter point as a priority. There are much bigger issues facing this country, we should not be revisiting this issue. Overall, I believed what Mr. Harper was saying, especially in running the government with integrity and accountability, and could easily see Stephen Harper as the Prime Minister.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
600 Ford Workers to Lose Jobs in Windsor
The interesting part of this story is that Ford will not be announcing these cuts until sometime shortly after the federal election. This is a curious decision to make when the layoff notices are being handed out now. Could it be that Ford management is trying to influence the election in some way? At this time I am at a loss to guess what purpose they would have for doing this other than to keep the news off the front pages, saving the Liberals another embarrassing campaign moment since the smoking hot economy is the party’s biggest attribute.
Locally, this would be bad news for one candidate in particular. Susan Whelan’s equity would be reduced because she has been shamelessly promoting herself as the saviour of the local auto industry because of a $46 million grant from the now defunct Technology Partnerships Canada program she helped acquire on behalf of Daimler Chrysler. Her motives for working on behalf of the automaker were less than altruistic. Ms. Whelan worked as a paid lobbyist for Daimler Chrysler, being paid handsomely for her efforts. Secondly, Whelan has been working hard to unseat Conservative upstart Jeff Watson since he defeated her in the last election. Apparently, it is not Windsor’s economy that Whelan is referring to on her website “…building an economy with unemployment at its lowest rate in thirty years…”
The Fact is Martin is Fundametally Doomed!
I was wondering if I could make the ultimate Martinism?:
"Let me tell you, the fact is that fundamentally Stephen Harper will make the best Prime Minster. I have to tell you, I am not making this up!"
The Cookie Returneth
Being offline for the better part of the week taught me that I am somewhat addicted to the internet. When I couldn't get on line I was irritable and very angry with "that stupid cable company". I went through all the stages of loss, arriving at acceptance around Friday. Getting back online was just as bad. I spent WAY too much time catching up with my favourite blogs and news sources. Now, I have to work my tail off to catch up on a few loose ends!
I have just arrived at my new years resolution (yeah, I know I'm a little late), I will make more of an effort to unplug, filling my time with other pursuits. I have a feeling that resolution won't last long.
Friday, January 06, 2006
A Scandal a Day Makes the Liberals Go Away II
Angry has all the details.
The Liberals have many hands and the cookie jar appears to be way to big and tempting.
Hint: Paul, Children Don't Vote
"Paul Martin explains to children how the state of Canada will take care of them now. Reaction was mixed."
Check out the kid at the top right. THAT is what I do every time Martin or one of his Liberal candidates/pundits is talking.
Captions people, I need Captions!
(desperate plee for at least one person to make a comment)
A Scandal a Day Will Make The Liberals Go Away!
- Ignatieff as a hand picked candidate, unwanted by local Liberal Riding Association
- "Beer and Popcorn" statement by Scott Reid and John Duffy (Senior Liberal Advisors)
- Mike Klander, executive vice-president of the federal Liberal party's Ontario wing, blogging about Olivia Chow.
- Sarmite Bulte - the Canadian Liberal Party MP for Parkdale/High Park is having her election campaign bankrolled by the Canadian entertainment cartel.
- Paul Martin's CSL tax avoidance.
- $8.5B of public money (yours and mine) alledgedly stashed away in secret funds and untouchable private foundations by the Liberals.
- The Abotech affair - Liberal MP David Smith adopted aboriginal status (his maternal great grandmother was Métis) so his company, Abotech, could get special access to over $1 million in government contracts.
- The RCMP's criminal investigation into the Income Trust Scandal
- The RCMP's investigation into Option Canada and $300,000 missing in taxpayer money. Liberals score a bonus on this one because it brings Adscam back to centre stage.
Sadly, I am sure I have missed lots of things at the local levels. It makes a foul stench and must be flushed!
GOLD!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to the Russians, they played hard and displayed awesome skill. It was very evident that these players are young. Many of the Russian players including their star Malkin and the goal came to tears after the game. Words of encouragement ring hollow for them right now...losing this game sucks! Period. Many of these players have bright careers ahead of them. In 10 years, a silver medal in this tournament will be a badge of honour!
Thursday, January 05, 2006
So I Have Plenty of Time To Cover My Tracks
Donald Black is a good friend of Ralph Goodale and was present at a secret meeting just before the fateful announcement on November 23rd. Mr. Black is not your run of the mill friend, he gave half a million dollars to Ralph's 1993 campaign. I would say that one would have to have pretty strong ties with the Liberals at the highest levels to pony up that kind of dough. Ethics seem to be in short supply in the Liberal stratosphere."
Last night, Donald Black was interviewed by Mike Duffy (CTV), during which Mr. Black had a huge mouth fart:
“I hope if they (RCMP) ever investigate me, they announce that publicly, so I have plenty of time to cover my tracks.”
Here's the video.
So this is the typical response of a Liberal being investigated by the police. "To the shredders, to the shredders!!" I wonder if the RCMP will be acquiring some court orders to seize files and other evidence before it goes unexplainably missing?
CBC Adds More Poll Data
BTW...the CBC has added another poll to this feature. Ekos has Conservatives at 36% and the LIberals at 30%. Sweeet! Time to double our efforts and bring this puppy over the goal line.
Canada Goes for Gold

Catch the action on TSN at 7pm EST.
RTC Blog Upgrade Finished (for now)
I apologize to all the folks who came here and found things a little off. Apparently, Blogging Tories kept me at the top of the list because of the constant updates. Hopefully you stuck around for a bit of a surf.
If you have a second, please let me know how you like the look. I think the comments are working, but nobody has left one yet.
I am not new to blogging, I am just getting my site moved. I plan on porting most of the old posts over, leaving the stinkers behind.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
CBC Unwilling to Face Reality
I wonder why the CBC (the media outlet for the Liberal campaign) would not want to update their 'Canada Votes' feature? The cynical side of me believes that the CBC is waiting for a poll that is more favourable to the Liberals. They may be waiting awhile because the SES polls during the campaign have consistently had the Conservatives well below other polls. I am sure there is another explanation for it. Here is the latest:

Check here to see if the they have updated their poll tracker yet.
Update: 4:51pm - they now have the current SES poll data included. There were a lot of visits from Toronto after this was posted...I wonder...yeah right!
Black is Depressing
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
$8.5B Secretly Stashed Away by Liberals and Ignored by the MSM
I added this to the comments:
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One other piece of information on CSL, the company regularly violates Canadian environmental laws.
http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2005/09/sweepingitunder.php
“The ship’s master would swing the boom out over the water and pass Macdonald the word to have the electrician start the conveyor belts. The belts would whir into motion, and the sweepings would pour off the boom into the waters of Lake Erie for half an hour, leaving a trail of iron-ore dust in the ship’s wake—the only visible sign of the environmental degradation.
It was a routine task but, even though he was a seasoned sailor, it never sat right with Macdonald. He is certainly no tree-hugger, but thinks there must be an alternative. “It’s been a bone of contention for me for years,” he says. “They call this spillage. I love the term.”"
[...]
“Canadian and US shipping companies pump an estimated 2,500 tons of cargo residue into the lakes each year during 11,000 ship transits, according to a 1999 report by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Data from a study commissioned by the US Coast Guard in 2003 suggests that 80 percent of the dumping takes place in shipping lanes that pass through sensitive-species habitats. Its numbers imply that 45,000 to 64,000 tons of cargo—the equivalent of 6,000 to 9,000 garbage-truck loads—has been dumped into the lakes since the practice started. And nearly all the discharges qualify as pollutants under guidelines of the Ontario government, according to a 1993 study commissioned by the Canadian Coast Guard.”
Another example of how rules don’t apply to Liberals.
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Monday, January 02, 2006
Bruck Easton's Deep Liberal Links
While Bruck’s website left much to be desired on the form and function scale, I was quite interested in the content. Most notably, the biography. One section in particular struck me as odd. While I see that Bruck was trying to establish his Liberal pedigree, he succeeded in tying himself to the old guard of the Liberals:
"A celebrated tax and commercial lawyer, Mr. Easton practices with the firm of Belowus Easton English. He was born and raised in Windsor and his late father Robert Easton, also a lawyer, was a partner of both the late Paul Martin, Sr. and William Cowan, the father of Sheila Ann Martin, the wife of Prime Minister Paul Martin."If Bruck is elected, nothing will change for Windsor-Tecumseh. Liberals have proven for the last 12 years that they are more interested in helping themselves and their friends than they are in serving their constituents. What does Bruck Easton know about helping the average person in this riding? Nothing: Bruck is a lawyer in an ivory tower and lives on Riverside drive.
BTW...isn't it strange how the Bruck connects himself to Paul Martin Jr. Bruck's Dad was partner's with a guy names Cowen who was the father of Paul Martin's wife. "Six Degrees of Separation tp Paul Martin"
RTC is moving
Please avoid modblog and check here for my sporadic posts. My 20 to 40 visitors a day will be interested to hear that I plan to be posting a lot more now that the election has entered phase II. I am working on a few posts that may cause some trouble for local (Windsor and area) candidates.


