Happy New Year...

...may it bring a new government!

Tories' French Ads...

...telling Quebecers that there isn't just a choice of either the Liberals or the Bloc, are fairly standard fare, until you get to the final frame, where the following text appears (and which the announcer simultaneously reads):

"Autorisé et payé avec de l'argent propre par l'agent officiel du Parti conservateur."

(Authorised and purchased with 'clean money' by the Conservatives' official agent)

Cute.

Bloque Quebecois

...the site "Bloque Quebecois" is hilarious. It even revives the infamous Gilles Duceppe "cheesehead" photo from the 1997 election!

Bless those Quebec Liberals--as demotivated, hopeless, and sullen as the party apparatus might be, they still have a sense of humour. I suspect that with the level of creativity going into the site, one would have to have some connection to a half-decent marketing firm.

(HT: Cherniakblog)

The Irony of Anti-Globalisation

The protest du jour emanates from Hong Kong, where 9,000 individuals have staged an anti-World Trade Organisation protest, in advance of a summit to be held there Tuesday.

While I appreciate that a summit's location has never deterred anti-globalisation activists from, um, heading across the globe to protest trade policies, there's something ironic about the latest venue. Hong Kong, an island outpost with no natural resources, became one of the most prosperous jursidictions on the planet *precisely because it has relied on trade (and liberal economic policies to boot)*.

Without the "global integration" and "trade" that these activists decry, Hong Kong would be a mere economic cub instead of an Asian tiger.

"We Must Ban Steak Knives"

There are many reasons why the proposed Liberal ban on handguns is absurd, not the least of which is the fact that the only legal owners of handguns in this country are collectors and target-shooters, both of whom must comply with restrictive safety regulations (and whom are likely going to be exempted from the proposal anyways).

What is even more absurd, however, is the proposition that handguns should be banned because they might be stolen from legal handgun owners. Besides being a case of criminalising the victim for the robbery of the assailant, if this an issue, why stop at banning guns: there are plenty of other materials in the household which are dangerous and prone to theft during a break and enter.

See the revised version, below, of Toronto Mayor David Miller’s op-ed entitled We Must Ban Handguns, published today in the Post.

We must ban steak knives

David Miller, National Post
Published: Saturday, December 10, 2005

Steak knives have no place in the kitchens of Toronto or anywhere else in this country. This is a deeply held Canadian value and one that sets us apart from our neighbours to the south.

Over the past decade, citizens from across Canada have been calling for legislators to impose an outright ban on steak knives and I join them in lending my support to Prime Minister Paul Martin's promise to choke off the supply of deadly, sharp steak knives that wreak so much havoc.

Toronto is a safe city and we will continue to invest in our communities and our youth to give them opportunities and hope for the future. But all governments must now work together to reclaim neighbourhoods afflicted by steak knife violence. No one can act alone.

In Toronto, statistics show that almost every kind of crime is down. Yet when it comes to steak knives and the murderous carnage they have visited upon the city this year, the numbers are up. As I've said before, steak knives turn punks into killers. And it is for this reason that we must focus our law enforcement efforts on the firearms that have brought so much fear and tragedy to so many neighbourhoods in Toronto and elsewhere.

Where do the steak knives come from? Toronto Police have told me there are two main sources. About one half come across the border from the United States, some legally and some not. Some have been purchased from infomercials on American late-night television and are shipped to Canada—I’m thinking here of the Ginsu World Class variety. Most of the others are stolen from steak knife owners—such as chefs and housewives—in and around the city. For example, two years ago in Toronto's Malvern community, there was a break and enter where 39 steak knives were stolen. Twelve of those steak knives were subsequently used in the commission of crimes. At least one of those crimes was a murder.

This has to stop. We must get at the supply of steak knives. And there are only two ways to do it.

First, we have to stop the steak knives coming in from the United States by tightening border security and making every effort to bring some common sense to steak knife control south of the border—this includes cross-border steak knife shipping precipitated by the proliferation of late night programming being beamed across the border, as well as the glorification of steak knives in American entertainment. Those shows on the Cooking Channel come to mind, the North American dubbed version of Iron Chef being the worst.

But secondly -- and just as crucial to this initiative -- we must wipe out the supply of steak knives right here in Canada. The situation is extremely serious and we must act now.

What about the rights of steak knife owners? Well, they can either use butter knives to cut their meats, or better yet, use spoons or forks. The rights of people to live in safety in our communities are paramount. Cooking with meats is a privilege and steak knife usage in the kitchen has become a very dangerous one.

But a ban on steak knives is only the first step. The judicial system must also take a harder stance.

If you're caught with a steak knife, the courts should treat it the same way they would if you used that steak knife to commit a crime. You don't get bail. You have your trial and, if you're convicted, you stay in jail. The way things are today, it's far too easy to be released from custody after you're arrested for possessing a steak knife. I think that's wrong. Steak knife possession is not being treated with the seriousness it deserves. As far as I'm concerned, sentences for having a steak knife should be on par with those handed down for using that weapon in the commission of a crime.

Complex problems require complex solutions. To work, increased enforcement -- like a ban on steak knives -- must be supported by investment in our young people and our vulnerable communities.

The time to act is now.


-----
We must ban handguns
David Miller, National Post
Published: Saturday, December 10, 2005

Guns have no place on the streets of Toronto or anywhere else in this country. This is a deeply held Canadian value and one that sets us apart from our neighbours to the south.

Over the past decade, citizens from across Canada have been calling for legislators to impose an outright ban on handguns and I join them in lending my support to Prime Minister Paul Martin's promise to choke off the supply of deadly firearms that wreak so much havoc.

[...]

In Toronto, statistics show that almost every kind of crime is down. Yet when it comes to guns and the murderous carnage they have visited upon the city this year, the numbers are up. As I've said before, guns turn punks into killers. And it is for this reason that we must focus our law enforcement efforts on the firearms that have brought so much fear and tragedy to so many neighbourhoods in Toronto and elsewhere.

Where do the guns come from? Toronto Police have told me there are two main sources. About one half come across the border from the United States. Most of the others are stolen from gun owners in and around the city. For example, two years ago in Toronto's Malvern community, there was a break and enter where 39 guns were stolen. Twelve of those guns were subsequently used in the commission of crimes. At least one of those crimes was a murder.

[..]

Complex problems require complex solutions. To work, increased enforcement -- like a ban on guns -- must be supported by investment in our young people and our vulnerable communities.

The time to act is now.

Tories' First Ads...

...are here. They're fairly standard fare focusing on the key messages from the last week (crime, accountability, taxes).

Thoughts?

Finally, The Tories Endorse Charter-style Health Care

Today was health care day for the Conservatives, as the party announced its plan for the reduction of wait times, promising a "wait-time guarantee", that would set maxiumum allowable wait times for necessary treatment. While this isn't notable--as all parties and most Canadian governments have acknowledged the importance of wait-time reduction--it is significant that Stephen Harper has mentioned that attacking lengthy wait lists is a requirement under the Charter of Rights:

This type of [wait-time] guarantee, Harper said, is "the only way that government can preserve the principles of the Canada Health Act and respect requirements of the Charter of Rights."

This should have been the party's message since the Supreme Court's landmark Chaoulli decision (on which this blog's contributors have commented ad nauseum), in which the Court ruled that Quebec's ban on private health insurance violated the Quebec Charter of Human Rights.

Arguing that excessive wait times (due in large part to government rationing) violate Charter rights allow the Tories to debunk the twin issues that have dogged them in previous campaigns--that they oppose bans on "private" health care (which the Court essentially ruled is unconstitutional), and that they are Charter-sceptics who "oppose judicial activism".

Looks like the Tories have awoken to the promise that defending the Charter in the context of health care has yielded--it forces the Liberals into a position where they must defend the status quo public monopoly (which through its regulatory instruments likely violate the Charter), while in so doing demonstrating that the Grits are not the defenders of the Charter that they have so successfully claimed to be.

Electoral Musings from a Washed-up Former PM (But not Joe Who!)

...Talk about coming out of the woodwork! Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell emerged from anonymity yesterday to criticise the Tories, prognosticating that they won't win this election. Something about 'frightening' voters.

You know, I would be more concerned if this wasn't the pontification of a failed statesman--who was at the helm of the worst electoral implosion ever in a Western democracy, partly because she was too busy 'screwing around with her Russian boyfriend'.