Cutting back on the fuels

I remember last winter (or maybe two winters ago), the Progressive Conservative Party of PEI wanted to help people make their homes burn less energy, providing assistance for the less fortunate to purchase caulking and having energy use assessments and what not completed. They also said turn the temperature down a degree or two and wear a sweater. Naturally, this enraged the left-wing parties, who believe in handouts before progress. Whether a family saves, for example, $200 a year because they insulated their house better, or because the government just handed a cheque to the oil company, makes no difference financially.

However, I see many advantages in improving fuel efficiency: it decreases your consumption, which is linked to the cost. It also releases less carbon dioxide, and decreases the dependence on fossil fuels, which is good for the environment. Your savings will be transferred from year to year, so the government can move on and help other families, eventually being able to deliver aid right across the board. An overall decrease in fossil fuel consumption will then lead to a theoretical collapse in prices, which OPEC will merely counter with reduced production, but the benefits will still be felt.

I think a great Coup that the Harper government could stage would be to make the R2000 Standard a mandatory one in new house construction, and work with the provinces to help retrofit older homes (especially those owned by the less fortunate) to more modern standards of heating and insulation, replacing whole systems, when necessary. Only through these bold, and potentially costly steps can we truly reduce our GHG emissions. Canada can, and must be a leader in this field. It may take a tax reduction on everything that saves energy (the NDP will hate that, 'cause "Only the rich could afford that stuff anyway"), or it may take laws setting new standards, but we can do this!

What prompted my third post of this fine November evening, you may ask? While sifting through the vast wealth of articles on the CBC News website this evening, I stumbled upon a cry for help from the Nova Scotia wing of the Salvation Army.

"We know about a lot of families who are separated because they don't have heat or they don't have lights," said Megan Leslie, the lawyer representing the lobby group.
-CBC

Broken families have been shown to lead to increases in drug use, violence, theft, criminality, poor education, and other things that keep the poor poor, and the happiness down. So, helping the environment may help these families stay together, a success that anyone would have difficulties not supporting.

Pakistan in the Commonwealth, soon to be (again) a thing of the past?

Harper has proposed to boot Pakistan from the Commonwealth of Nations (53 Countries, mostly former British Colonies), since President Musharraf has declared emergency rule, and continues to lead the country despite being the head of the military (wait, QEII is the De Facto head of the Canadian Military, and the Head of State, and by the powers vested upon her in the constitution, she can have them do her bidding, as can Harper, MacKay, and Jean). Infringing on the Democratic Process is the main concern here, as Harper is worried that Musharraf isn't representing the views of anyone else in the Commonwealth.

This would be the second time Paskistan is booted out, the first was in 1999, and lasted nearly five years.

Congratulations once again goes out to our fearless leader, Stephen Harper, who is once again showing Canada's leadership on the world stage. Perhaps he will also help remove Russia from the G8 if they continue their quasi-Reign of Terror?

Gordon Brown is, however, a little iffy on the whole matter:

"He has assured me that he will do his utmost to lift the state of emergency in time for free and fair elections to be held and to give up his military rule and responsibilities as soon as possible," Brown said.
-CBC

There is still a chance that Harper's wishes will be carried out, however, the best outcome would be scaring Pakistan into quick realignment with most of the world.

Mulroney-Schreiber Affair

Not knowing how to proceed with this post, I have finally received some inspiration and decided to write it. The question of whether Mulroney took money doesn't matter. He admitted he took it. The issue is currently on the timing of the transaction.
Now, the Liberals and NDP are clamouring for a witch-hunt, which I fear will be close to a Canadian version of the Conrad Black trial. The Liberals are doing everything short of bribing Mulroney's enemies with the use of threats of turning them in for things that aren't illegal, in order to convict Mulroney on something that isn't illegal. Heck, he almost did it in another country too! The proper way to go on this is to stand idly by. The government doesn't really have a reason to get involved, since we have a legal system for a reason. Only after wrongdoing by a (then) sitting member of Parliament is found should extra taxpayer money be shelled out for this. Because two or three taxpayer funded investigations into one case is right up there with wasting money (Maybe because it is.).
So,

Dear The Honourable Stéphane Dion, PC,

Your attempt at creating a witch hunt in order to prosecute a former nemesis of your political party is not only reckless for your reputation, but it is also setting a dangerous precedent to open up another huge scandal in Canadian history (which, I remind you, your government, while you were in Cabinet, swept under the couch as quietly as possible), Shawinigate, or the Grand-Mère Affair, or whatever else you want to call it. If you are, however, willing to put your former boss under a very careful microscope, and have his potentially suspect private dealings perused, then go ahead, dare our current Government to launch a full investigation into a matter that has already been resolved on one level, but was reopened by a wanted criminal awaiting deportation back to Germany.

The claims that your political party, the Liberal Party of Canada, is making are not only helping to further discredit your party (which I don't actually mind, but you are a better opposition then your bedfellows in orange), but are also setting a dangerous precedent for the usage of taxpayer dollars (we have better things to purchase) and opening up a wide avenue for investigating our last two Prime Ministers. Does Shawinigate ring a bell? Maybe Paul Martin really did help CSL while in office? The last time the Liberal Party of Canada led its electors into a "noble" pursuit of "justice" (replace "noble" with reckless and "justice" with "attempting to discredit (former) political opponents" to better understand), it cost the taxpayers of Canada $2.1 million (that's with six decimal place movements to the left. $2,100,000, it was the gun registry that went into billions, nine zeros, $1,000,000,000) plus legal fees for both sides, plus the undisclosed cost of having ridiculous numbers of RCMP officers investigating this "crime", and we also need to count the cost of crimes that went unsolved due to lack of resources during this same period.

Mr. Dion, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into. Canadian taxpayer dollars should not be used lightly (nor should they be used to support your political party, and yes, I fully support prosecuting every member (not only MP) from the Liberal party of Canada from 1996-2004 if you choose to continue the attempt at prosecuting political opponents) since Canadian taxpayer dollars are collected in order to be returned to them in the form of services, such as security, defence, energy, and other such wonderful things. When even your own MPs become disillusioned on this quest, perhaps the time has come to reconsider the position.

A wise man once said that anyone who believes their political opponents should be jailed, merely to advance your own ideals, should not lead a country. You've likely spoken with this wise man recently. Heed His advice, because He wields more power than you. (No, that wasn't god.)

So, Mr. Dion, here's you chance to do what your predecessors couldn't: Look after the Canadian public, and stop wasting taxpayer dollars,

Sincerely,

The guy who writes this blog.

Now that that's finished, the Globe reported last week that a Liberal MP is being sued over his comments in this (note to self: under the Canadian legal system (which is different from the American system), people are innocent until proven guilty. Saying otherwise IS libel)

Here we are,

"In the interview, Mr. Thibault said Mulroney had claimed he didn't know Schreiber and had no business relationship with him"
- Globe and Mail

Mr. Thibault is referencing a very specific question that Liberals love to misquote, a question taken from the proceedings in the 1996 settlement investigation. The question was regarding whether Mr. Mulroney and Mr. Schreiber had made a deal in regards to the 1988 purchase of Airbus jets for Air Canada, which was then a Crown Corporation. Mr. Mulroney replied that he did not meet or deal with Schreiber in regards to Airbus. The Liberals are of course ignoring the last four words. Other Liberals are saying worse, but it's not fair to quote without good sources.

The last topic that I'll take the time to point out is that the Liberals managed to get the ethics committee to conduct a parallel investigation to that of the RCMP and the Inquiry, however, it will be lacking any of the protection devices that such an inquiry includes. Mr. Thibault has redeemed himself a little today, however, denouncing the Liberals (his own party) for their actions.

"When you get into this kind of investigation, if you stray too far, you're duplicating the work of the inquiry without the resources of the inquiry and without the safety net for the people whose names may be brought forward in an accusatory way,"
- The Honourable Robert Thibault
CBC and Ottawa Citizen (no link available)

Well, it's a battle of the corrupt in Ottawa. Will the Liberals succeed in bringing down the Harper and his government over this issue? Will Karlheinz Schreiber be vindicated as a hero on the part of the Liberals? Will Mulroney's name be cleared? Who knows? So keep your eyes posted on the blog!

Canada Under Attack!

Since I personally consider any Canadian Military Base/Camp Sovereign Territory, today's attack on Peter MacKay was an attack on Canada. A deliberate attempt to bolster the position of the NDP (though I won't go as far as saying they want him dead, that'd be a stretch even for Layton) by the Taliban, luckily the rocket missed its target at FOB Wilson. MacKay was quickly whisked away by a Black Hawk helicopter (American, I assume) and escaped any harm.

"...the incident underscored the need to continue Canada's mission in Afghanistan and to secure the southern region."
- The Honourable Peter MacKay, P.C., QC, Minister of National Defence
From CBC

These attacks show that the Taliban are still out there, and that we need to commit more troops, equipment, money and emotional support to this war. The Taliban can and must be vanquished, and unfortunately, it may claim the lives of a few more soldiers, perhaps the next one could be my friend, but, to quote a popular movie, "Freedom isn't free, it costs folks like you and me." Perhaps next year I will join the military, and the promise of continued presence in Afghanistan will have a positive effect on that decision. Young men and women are lining up to fight the good fight, and the opposition not only wants the fight to end, but is constantly raining on the morale of troops. The media isn't helping either. They aren't giving our soldiers their due, the front page of any newspaper will sooner blast "Another Canadian soldier killed (or wounded) in Afghanistan" than "Canadian Troops have secured another sector or village x" there are many victories, and people need to realize that. The level of popular support for the war is greater than the NDP would like you to know, and, when presented with the facts, people tend to switch to the "extend" side.

This war is winnable. So show your support.