More of that Liberal Party democracy in action

The best way to not worry about the results of a vote is not to have one.

Showdown in Ottawa West-Nepean

Mr. Pratt had said he was ready for a nomination fight, but there won't be one. Following an unusual interview session with the Liberal riding association executive, its members recommended Mr. Pratt, 53, as the candidate with the best chance of winning back a seat the party held for 16 years until losing it to Mr. Baird.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Pratt got the nod from the national party -- casting aside would-be candidates Adriano Guzzo and Nour El Kadri, who had been campaigning for the nomination for months.

Mr. El Kadri, in particular, said he wanted an open nomination meeting, where the candidates' efforts to sell party memberships and build names for themselves could be put to the test.

Laidlaw's Election Prediction?

Maggie Laidlaw carries on at the Election Prediction Project:

08 08 26 Maggie Laidlaw

I can't believe that people actually think the Conservatives will win this riding! We have the Brent Barr issue. The Conservatives will be lucky to come in third. This race will be between the Liberals and the Greens. Many Guelphites I speak to can see that a Green vote will be a vote for everything that regular Canadians believe in, and will allow Green party leader Elizabeth May into the televised debate to wipe the floor with Harper.

I don't know about you, but for some strange reason I don't picture Maggie Laidlaw speaking to too many Conservative supporters. The "many Guelphites" she's speaking to may make for great hype, but not an election result do they make. Not voting Green? Then you're not a "regular" Canadian in Laidlaw's world.

On a related note, lest everyone continues to labour under the fallacy that the Green Party is the last defender of democracy in Canada, let's not forget Elizabeth May's decision not to allow a candidate to run against Stephane Dion in exchange for no Liberal running against her.

Update: the wife just pointed out to me that there is no way to know if it was actually Guelph Councillor Maggie Laidlaw who posted that comment at the Election Prediction project. I guess I got a little carried away without thinking that one all the way through. I apologize to Councillor Laidlaw if the post is not actually hers. If it is, then everything stands.

Tell us what you really think

I see Maggie Laidlaw's not afraid to get her fingernails dirty in this by-election. From her Editorial piece in today's Mercury:

A Green party win would be a real green shift for Guelph
Progressive Conservatives in Guelph tend to be environmentally minded. They will not support a Harper Conservative/Alliance candidate, and they are looking for a suitable alternative.

That was really classy Maggie. Is this an example of all that love and cooperation around the Council horseshoe that everyone refers to lately?

I think there's definitely a horse involved somehow, but I don't think shoes come into play, unless you're wiping them off.

Gloria and Health Minister Tony Clement

Rogers First Local report on Health Minister Tony Clement's visit to Guelph in support of Gloria Kovach

Guelph Chamber of Commerce By-Election Survey: Update

Frank Valeriote has now submitted his answers for the Guelph Chamber of Commerce By-Election Survey. NDP candidate Tom King and Green candidate Mike Nagy are still missing in action.

One interesting thing to note about Frank Valeriote's answers is that it seems he continues to drink from that same big cup of Liberal Kool-aid that the remainder of the party does. His answers contain no less than 6 different references to the Economic Update/Mini-Budget of 2005 that was voted down, triggering the January 2006 election.

The Liberal arrogance of "we're right and everyone else is wrong" continues to live on in Frank's answers, despite the fact that the Liberals lost both the vote and the subsequent general election.

Next up I'm sure we'll be hearing that old standard that it's all the NDP's fault for helping bring down Paul Martin's government.

Guelph Mercury "Jumped the Shark" yesterday

The Mercury certainly jumped the shark yesterday with their publication of the KLR VU poll. The front page banner and story left out a few details.

Fortunately CanWest National reporter David Akin (a Guelph native) has done the research that should have been completed in the first place. The methodology used in this poll is certainly unorthodox and not generally accepted.

The KLR VU poll in Guelph: Dirty tricks or business development?

A poll came out yesterday purporting to show the voting intentions of people in Guelph, Ont., a medium-sized city where a by-election is underway.

The pollster said that, based on his survey, it appeared that the incumbent Liberals held a commanding lead. Liberal Brenda Chamberlain retired in the spring and now, Frank Valeriote wants to take her place. With the vote set for Sept. 8, this poll would suggest he has nothing to worry about.
The poll also showed that the Green Party is doing surprisingly well and is in third place in the riding, just ahead of the NDP. (The Greens, you won't be surprised to learn, are thrilled.) The Conservatives, who are running city councillor Gloria Kovach, are a distant second, the poll says.

So if you're a Liberal here, what's not to like, right?

Apparently plenty.

See the complete post at David Akin's Blog

The Mercury was in such a hurry to print the poll that they failed to do even the most basic research. A simple Google search should have at least set off a few warning bells.

After being contacted by former Green Party Leader Jim Harris, the Mercury changed their online headline and posted some further clarification on the Guelph Votes blog. After Akin's thorough fisking, the Mercury should be not only backtracking they should be doing the 100M dash backwards.

Guelph Chamber of Commerce By-Election Survey

From the Chamber of Commerce website:

Candidates from the four major parties in the 2008 Federal Bi-Election that received more than 5% of the votes cast in Guelph-Wellington in the previous election were asked a series of questions by members of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. The questions and their responses are listed below.

Gloria Kovach

Frank Valeriote, Tom King and Mike Nagy seem to be missing in action so far. Clicking their links leads to "No response has been received to date".

Election Prediction Project update

It seems like the general consensus so far is that the by-election in Guelph is Too Close To Call (TCTC), which is reflected in the project's own ranking that has yet to change.

The typical partisans for both the Liberals and Conservatives are posting, but they are being out-voted so far. Since the 28th of July the count is 10 TCTC, 5 Liberal and 4 Conservative.

In the absence of any polling, I suspect the prediction is going to remain this way until election day.

Liberals fear Don Valley West by-election will hurt their efforts in Guelph

Back in August I posted about John Godfrey delaying his resignation for an additional month to benefit the Liberals. By delaying his resignation, he allowed the Liberals to focus all their Ontario resources in Guelph. This theory was widely ridiculed by various Liberals.

Now that the Prime Minister has called the by-election for September 22nd in Don Valley West, we get a post claiming that Harper is being an "opportunist" by doing so. I guess it's not a surprise to find that Liberals want to have it both ways.

Harper’s calling of this by-election for Sept. 22 in Don Valley West (DVW) is no different. Of course it’s a fairly safe riding for the Liberals, but I think it’s clear why Harper has called it now: to siphon Liberal resources away from Guelph, St. Lambert and Westmount Ville-Marie. The Conservatives are 100% focused on Guelph and I’m sure Harper has no plans to make much of a push for DVW, but I’m just guessing that in Harper’s eyes taking away any Liberal volunteers that would have otherwise been in the other 3 ridings between now and Sept. 8th works to his benefit

It's really simple. If John Godfrey hadn't delayed his resignation for a month, collecting a pay cheque from both the private sector and the taxpayers at the same time, the Don Valley West by-election would be happening at the same time as the other three. The Liberals claimed at the time that they were ready to go and Godfrey's delay had nothing to do with resources, money or the party's readiness. Are we now to believe that this wasn't true?

Two more candidates in Guelph By-Election

Two more candidates have been approved by Elections Canada for the Guelph by-election

Philip Bender - Libertarian "engineer and independent telephone company owner, Philip Bender. This is his first try federally, but Bender previously ran in a nearby provincial by-election against provincial Progressive Conservative party leader John Tory." (Pundit's Guide)

Kornelis Klevering - Marijuana Party, "(Brother) Kornelis "Kees" Klevering of the Assembly of the Church of the Universe, once called a high priest of hemp." (Pundit's Guide)

Nominations close on Monday the 18th of August with the final official list being published on the 21st of August.

H/T Guelph Speak and the Pundit's Guide

Stop the Carbon Tax website

For your viewing pleasure this Saturday morning:

Stop the Carbon Tax

Make sure you take a few minutes to sign the petition while you're there.

H/T PomoChristian

Prime Minister Harper to visit Kitchener next week

I found this on Facebook. I won't be able to go because of a prior commitment (although I'm currently trying to convince the wife that a little re-scheduling wouldn't hurt).

PM Stephen Harper in Kitchener
Come meet the Prime Minister!

Time and PlaceDate:
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Time: 5:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: Romanian Cultural Centre
Street: 2150 Bleams Road
City/Town: Kitchener, ON

View Map

Contact InfoPhone: 519-748-6768
Email: silverwind828@gmail.com

Description
BBQ event with Prime Minister Stephen Harper this Tuesday August 19 at the Romanian Cultural Centre at 2150 Bleams Road in Kitchener.

Doors open at 5 p.m. and tickets are 25$ for adults and 70$ for families. Only pre-registered guests will be admitted. To purchase tickets and register please call 519-745-3100 by Monday, August 18th at 4pm or email Beth Corbett silverwind828@gmail.com before Sunday Aug 17th at 5 PM. Leave a message with your name, phone number, and full address and number of guests. A volunteer will call to confirm your registration

What he said

Alberta Aardvark on John McCallum's visit to Guelph.

Bet on Gloria

Have a little fun with the by-election. You can join Hubdub for free and then bet on who will win the Guelph by-election. Spread the word.

H/T Blue Blogging Soapbox

A win for Guelph

Conservative Immigration Minister Diane Finley announced the new Canadian Experience Class for immigration yesterday. As a University city, Guelph stands to benefit from this new class. Students on study visas and skilled or professional workers on work permits no longer have to leave Canada to apply for immigration.

When you combine this initiative with the one from 2006 allowing foreign students to work off campus, cities such as Guelph become an attractive destination for students to not only study but to eventually settle.

News Release
Canada’s government to help temporary foreign workers and foreign student graduates become permanent residents

Waterloo, August 12, 2008 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today announced the details of the Canadian Experience Class, a proposed new avenue for immigration for certain temporary foreign workers and foreign student graduates with Canadian work experience. Unlike other existing programs, this proposal will allow an applicant’s Canadian experience to be considered a key selection factor when immigrating to Canada.

The Canadian Experience Class will allow certain temporary foreign workers and certain foreign student graduates with managerial, professional, or technical or trade work experience to apply to become permanent residents, and eventually Canadian citizens. All applicants, depending on their occupational skill level, will be required to demonstrate either basic or moderate language skills. Proposed regulatory changes have been pre-published in the Canada Gazette for a 15-day comment period. Final regulatory changes will be published following this comment period.

“The Canadian Experience Class is one more measure this government is proposing to make our immigration system more attractive and accessible to individuals with diverse skills from around the world, and more responsive to Canada’s labour market needs,” said Minister Finley. “This new proposed avenue for immigration would also go further to spread the benefits of immigration into smaller centres across Canada.”

Temporary foreign workers and foreign students are generally spread out across the country and contribute to the growth of smaller communities as well as metropolitan areas. Individuals applying for permanent residence through this new avenue could apply from within Canada while continuing to work and continuing to contribute to their local communities.

The Canadian Experience Class comes after a number of recent initiatives the government has undertaken to help newcomers succeed and to help make Canada a more attractive destination for skilled individuals from around the world. These initiatives include changes to the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program; the establishment of the Foreign Credentials Referral Office; increased investments in language training and other programs and services aimed at helping newcomers successfully settle and integrate into their new communities; and, most recently, changes to the immigration system that would allow for priority processing of certain skilled applicants and reduced wait times for those wanting to immigrate to Canada.

Through the Canadian Experience Class, newcomers will be more likely to make the most of their abilities while undergoing a more seamless social and economic transition to Canada. And, in turn, their cultural and economic contributions will enrich Canada.

“Choosing newcomers based on knowledge of our labour market and experience within Canadian society would make Canada a more attractive destination for skilled individuals from around the world,” added Minister Finley. “International students and skilled workers would be more likely to choose Canada if they knew their time in Canada and contribution to Canadian society would assist in their eligibility to apply to stay permanently.”

For further information (media only), please contact:

Tim Vail
Press Secretary
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064

Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650

Green Shift to hurt Canadians drastically says Liberal Candidate Frank Valeriote

Frank Valeriote

Liberal party candidate Frank Valeriote said the Green party's tax shift "goes too far, too fast," and "it will hurt people financially immediately and far more drastically."

As opposed to the Liberal plan which will hurt people slowly and less drastically.

Kind of like having your fingernails pulled out instead of chopping off your hand.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Green Shift

I know Frank Valeriote was initially against the Green Shift, flip-flop, and now he's for it, but you think he would at least include a quote from party leader Stephane Dion in his literature extolling the virtues of the Liberal's latest tax and spend program.

Instead, we find a quote from none other than Al Gore, he who invented the internet and generates enough greenhouse gas at home to equal TWELVE average American families. Gore does make a sort of kindred spirit to use on the Liberal literature piece, as they have something in common. Neither of them did anything on the environment while in power. Birds of a feather, as they say.

Is Frank too embarrassed about his leaders plan, performance or both to include him in his flyer? Was Michael Ignatieff or Bob Rae too busy to lend a quote or two to the piece?

PS. Look real close at the "Benefits" section of Frank's description of the Green Shift. See if you can find any mention of the single biggest benefit most Canadians would expect from a Green Plan expected to cost them $15 billion dollars - THE AMOUNT OF GREENHOUSE GAS TO BE REDUCED!

Rainbow over Guelph

After Saturday's downpour(s) in Guelph, a beautiful full rainbow put in an appearance.

Such a rare sight.

People all up and down the neighbourhood were out viewing and taking pictures of it.

I can't remember the last time I've seen such a full horizon to horizon rainbow like this.

Who's doing the right thing

I bookmarked this one the other day, but didn't get a chance to comment on it. Matt Shurie hits all the right points. The Liberals, with a weak leader and a tax and spend program masquerading as an environmental initiative don't deserve another chance at this riding.

Who's doing the right thing?

Guelphites have been without federal representation since Brenda Chamberlain's retirement April 7. However, ask anyone in the know and they'll tell you the riding lacked any real leadership for many months before that date.

Perhaps even more bizarre is the fact that Chamberlain, who refused to fulfil her role while being paid a tidy sum by taxpayers, has quietly emerged in the current byelection campaign serving as campaign co-chair for Frank Valeriote.

During the opening of Valeriote's campaign office last week it was Chamberlain who proclaimed her support for the Liberal candidate: "I am proud to support Frank Valeriote wholeheartedly; he is a strong voice for Guelph."

An impressive endorsement from someone who clearly understands what it is to be a silent voice for the people.

Decisions, Decisions

What's a body to do on Sunday?

Lakeside Bible Church or Church of Our Lady.

Tough call, especially during a by-election.

Liberal Spam

It's amazing what pops up with Google Alerts.

It certainly can't be a good thing when your party emails pop up on a website dedicated to publishing spam on the internet.

From Email Spam and Scams Stink! - info@liberal.ca

Update: Steve Janke's excellent post on the King of Liberal Spammers - Garth Turner.

The Real Green Shift - In Guelph

Here's the article that Liberals everywhere seem to be so afraid of people in Guelph reading.

Name lawsuit no game
Green Shift owner taking Liberal party to court, worried about brand confusion
August 08, 2008
Magda Konieczna

GUELPH

Green Shift has about 10 clients in Guelph, including Ouderkirk and Taylor, Artisanale, and Meals that Heal

Damn the Mercury. The audacity of them to actually report on things people might be interested in hearing about. Maybe the Liberals would be happier if they reported on the Liberal Candidate in PEI who resigned because he figured out he can't sell the Green Shift to local voters.

Did this happen? - Update

I blogged the other day about a post I found online claiming to have smeared red paint all over the John Galt statue on Monday, John Galt Day.

Magda, from the Mercury replied that although the statue wasn't currently painted, they would check into it.

Apparently it did happen. Guelph police are investigating.

Kudos to Magda on the follow-up and to City Staff, who obviously had this cleaned up very quickly.

To the so-called "anarchists" who did this - most protesters at least have the courage of their convictions to stick around and pay the price for their actions. Your "paint bomb" stunt is nothing more then petty crime.

How dare she?

That's the Liberal response to a Mercury blog post revealing that Green Shift owner Jennifer Wright would be visiting Guelph to speak with the Mercury. More of the same here.

Apparently the Mercury needs to justify why they are even talking to Jennifer Wright. Top Tinfoil Hat Award goes to the suggestion that this is somehow being orchestrated by the Conservatives or NDP. The Liberals create a situation and then try to lay off the resulting damage on someone else. How typical.

The Liberal Arrogance Express rolls on.

See Also: ABL (Anybody but Liberal)

Hmmm....

Thin skin or sour grapes?

Regardless of merit or qualification, criticize a Liberal and your opinions are nothing more than "chatter" and "gibberish".

Obama, American flags and empty rhetoric.

Silly me, and here I thought this was about Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Good thing haying season is pretty much over. They'll need all the straw they can grasp on to at this point.

ABL

Take some time and have a good read through Liberal blogger Jason Cherniak's post and the comments about the Guelph By-Election. Personally, the arrogance makes me shudder, but I'm used to it. Having read through this little bit of arrogant drivel I would encourage everyone to vote ABL - Anyone But Liberal. Vote Green, Vote NDP, Vote Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada, hold your breath and vote Conservative. Hell - vote Rhino if we can scare one up. (Where's Walter Tucker when you need him?)

Jason Cherniak said...

I did miss the possibility that a higher Liberal vote might be because people prefer a local business man and community volunteer to the Tory and NDP candidates.

Because the rest of the candidates in the field are nothing more than chopped liver in Liberal's eyes. Partisan politics aside, Guelph has fielded one of the strongest slates I've ever seen in recent years in a By-Election. Each and every one of these individuals could and would represent Guelph to the best of their abilities. No absentee Liberal MPs in this bunch! (We Hope!)

Tell us what you really think about the Liberal's Carbon Tax

Atlantic truckers oppose Green Shift

Published Wednesday August 6th, 2008
Carbon tax will 'create welfare instead of wealth': executive director

"The Liberal caucus should also recognize that Atlantic Canadians do not need a carbon tax to lead Canada on emissions reductions," he added. "We do not need Stephane Dion punishing us with a carbon tax that will return pennies to our pockets at tax time, yet take dollars out of our wallets year round."

Nelson predicted the proposed carbon tax will remove billions of dollars from the Atlantic Canadian economy and that using carbon tax windfall in social programs will "create welfare instead of wealth."

H/T to Wilson in the comments of yesterday's post for the link to this article.

H/T to Reaction for the graphics

Green shift more a wealth shift

With each passing day, more and more people are wising up to what the Green Shaft is really about. The following is a great Letter to the Editor of the Kingston Whig Standard:

Green Shift more a wealth shift

The Green Shift is supposed to be about reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, yet most of the meeting was spent enticing people with talk about tax cuts and expanding wasteful entitlement programs that have done nothing in the past to reduce poverty.

Dion had no problem stating a specific target for reducing poverty by using the money raised from taxing everyone on everything they need every day, but where is the target for reducing carbon dioxide? Without knowing how much CO2 will be reduced, we can't know whether the benefit will be worth the pain of higher living expenses.

Dion has also indicated he's in favour of carbon taxes in the short term, and cap and trade in the medium to long term. Both measures have been applied in the European Union yet there has been a complete failure to meet Kyoto targets for CO2 emissions. As of 2004, European Union countries were 4.4 per cent above 1990 emission levels, and in 2006 emission levels increased a further 0.68 per cent.

With all the numbers included in the Liberal's Carbon Tax program, the one thing missing is exactly how much CO2 emissions will be reduced by implementing their plan. For $15.2 billion dollars in taxpayer's money, you think they could give us at least a ballpark figure. The fact that they can't or won't demonstrates that Carbon Tax plan is nothing more than a Liberal Tax and Spend program wrapped in nice green paper.

Did this happen?

I received this via a Google Email alert:

Guelph, Ontario: Anarchists paint bomb statue of John Galt
Tuesday, August 05 2008 @ 02:32 PM CDT
Contributed by: Anonymous
Views: 132
In the wee hours of the morning of August 4 anarchist settlers used a ketchup bottle to apply red metal paint to a statue of John Galt in front of City Hall. August 4 was Guelph’s first ever John Galt Day. The town was awash in festivities and celebrations honouring John Galt and the plan he developed for the founding of the city of Guelph back in 1827. But who is this John Galt character?

I haven't heard anything about this. Did it happen? Was it cleaned up before anyone could notice?

New Candidate in Guelph By-Election

From the Elections Canada website:

Karen Levenson (Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada)

By-Election Polling

As we haven't seen the typical avalanche of polls (yet) from the Globe, Star, Sun Media and all the other usual suspects, I thought I would look around and try to find some other polls that might be relevant. This is one I found on the Mercury site:

mercury web poll

May 24, 2008

Would you support a national carbon tax?

Yes: 18 per cent (88 votes)

No: 82 per cent (412 votes).

Visit GuelphMercury.com to vote on this week's poll.

Note: I wonder what happened to last week's poll that asked if Guelph should "invest" in some art for display in the new Civic Square. As I remember, the poll was running around 70 to 30 against such an investment. I looked through Saturday's issue and couldn't find it published anywhere. That poll had the smell of someone's trial ballon. When it went over like a lead ballon, I guess it makes sense to just make it disappear.

The REAL Green Shift

The real Green Shift

Jennifer Wright, National Post
Published: Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Put yourself in my sandals for a moment.

Having put the past 10 years of my life into growing a successful mission-based environmental company called Green Shift, I was furious when an official from Liberal leader Stephane Dion's office called me one evening a month ago to tell me that the following morning, the Liberal Party of Canada would release its proposed new environmental tax program under my trademark. She said we would benefit from the confusion they were about to foment.

I was beyond livid when I realized that, despite my very vocal objections, during the coming general election, 308 Liberal candidates would be promoting an election platform whose environmental tax program would carry the hijacked name of our company.

Green Shift

A project, funded by a fair trade business structure, to help Shift the economy to a dark shade of green. We work with various industries and help the genuine to be strong leaders, in order to help set a precedent that others will follow.

You can join the Official Green Shift group on Facebook. Company founder Jennifer Wright pulls no punches in her fight to claim back Green Shift from the Liberals:

The REAL Green Shift needs your help!

The Liberal Party of Canada has hi-jacked our name and we want it back.

Brief synapse: On June 23rd the Liberal Party of Canada proposed a National “environmental” tax program called the Green Shift.

We, the real Green Shift have stated on its website for over 5 years that Green Shift is as much a concept as it is a company. In essence - an environmental program, developed almost 10 years ago and expected to continue well into the future.

Companies and institutions who are a part of the real Green Shift earn the right to use this name to represent that they are a part of the environmental leaders, and thus naturally we cannot risk people instead thinking that their participation in Green Shift is somehow affiliated with a political party.

As an organization we have gone to great lengths to see that environmental protection supercedes any and all barriers and thus we do not nor cannot have our name associated with any political agenda.

Although we are going to fight this in the legal system - they are a big machine and this is thought to have been well thought out - inc. calculating how much we could afford to fight. Well, we are pretty determined to see justice prevail, and we believe where there is a will there is a way. That being said, we really could use your help as the court of public opinion is what we care most about.

If you are interested/able to help us to fight the machine, please write to Stephan Dion (at DionS@parl.gc.ca).and ask that he please stop using our name for his environmental TAX program.

Thank-you in advance,

Sincerely,

Green Shift

Jennifer and Green Shift also got a boost for their lawsuit recently from Montreal Communications firm Influence Communications. Their research shows that Stephane Dion isn't being very truthful when he claims that "Green Shift" is a common term and the Liberal's use won't affect GreenShift.ca

Influence Communications completed an exhaustive 12-month scan of all newspapers (14 000+) in 159 countries to discover that ‘green shift’ as a term has been encountered in only 62 occasions; this from over 15 million articles/editorials directly or indirectly related to the environment/climate change...etc. This contradicts recent affirmations expressed by certain political leaders.

Best wishes to Jennifer Wright and GreenShift.ca. My wife's parents are small business owners so I can understand the frustration she is feeling at having her business' identity stolen by Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party of Canada.

Enjoy John Galt Day

John Galt, novelist, poet, Uncle to Edgar Allan Poe, founder of Guelph, Ontario. You can find some of John Galt's work online at Project Gutenburg

John Galt - Wikipedia

John Galt - Library and Archives Canada Biography

John Galt - the other "John Galt"

John Galt Day reflects history
August 01, 2008
Nicole Visschedyk

GUELPH

The life of Guelph founder John Galt will be celebrated Monday with historic games, a parade and canoe hockey.

Galt, a prominent Scottish author, founded Guelph in 1827.

Monday, Aug. 4

11:30 a.m.: Flag raising ceremony at Guelph City Hall, 59 Carden St.

Noon: Picnic and events at the River Run Centre, 35 Woolwich St.

John Galt, from the Autobiography of John Galt, page 58,59

It was consistent with my plan to invest our ceremony with a little mystery, the better to make it be remembered. So intimating that the main body of the men were not to come, we walked to the brow of the neighbouring rising ground, and Mr. Prior having shewn the site selected for the town, a large maple tree was chosen; on which, taking an axe from one of the woodmen, I struck the first stroke. To me at least the moment was impressive, -and the silence of the woods, that echoed to the sound, was as the sigh of solemn genius of the wilderness departing for ever.

The doctor followed me, then, if I recollect correctly, Mr. Prior, and the woodmen finished the work. The tree fell with a crash of accumulating thunder, as if ancient Nature were alarmed at the entrance of social man into her innocent solitudes with his sorrows, his follies, and his crimes.

I do not suppose that the sublimity of the occasion was unfelt by the others, for I noticed that after the tree fell, there was a funeral pause, as when the coffin is lowered into the grave; it was, however, of short duration, for the doctor pulled a flask of whisky from his bosom, and we drank prosperity to the City of Guelph.

Godfrey's long $100,000 goodbye

Looks like today's Calgary Herald editorial agrees with a point I made in yesterday's post - Godfrey finally resigns.

Godfrey's long $100,000 goodbye

A July 1 resignation as promised by Godfrey would have forced the Liberal party to pony up even more scarce staff, political workers and resources. But that would have been the Liberal party's problem. Godfrey should have resigned July 1 as promised, if not earlier, and let the electoral chips fall where they might.

One thing the editorial highlights is that when Godfrey first announced his intention to retire in November of 2007, he stated that it would be effective July 1st. I didn't know that little fact. I guess Godfrey and the Liberals hadn't counted on Brenda Chamberlain resigning. At least Chamberlain announced her resignation and then promptly left, although it could be argued she was barely there before her resignation.

As you head to the polls to vote on September 8th, keep Liberal MP John Godfrey's "sacrifice" in mind. By delaying his resignation by one month he ensured himself a $12,500 bonus while helping the cash strapped Liberals focus most of their efforts on the riding in Guelph.

Taking one for the team - Liberal style!

Update: I just noticed that my post from yesterday was selected as the Daily Blogger post at Jack's Newswatch. Thanks Jack! That made my day. (although the wife says I still have to do the dishes tonight - celebrity or not. I get the feeling that my lovely wife doesn't appreciate blogs like other people do.)

Update 2: Visit Jason Cherniak's blog for a view from the Liberal Twilight Zone

Doing the right thing!

Before and during the by-election each candidate has been hosting fund raisers as well as soliciting funds for their campaigns through email, regular mail and personal appeals. I thought it would be interesting to see which candidates support their party personally. I searched through the Elections Canada Database for both local and national donations during the last reporting period ending December 2007.

Conservative Gloria Kovach: Local - $295.00 National - $236.00 Total - $531.00

Liberal Frank Valeriote: Local - Unknown, the 2007 Liberal EDA return has not been processed and posted online by Elections Canada. National - $0, Leadership Campaign - $0 Total - $0

NDP Tom King: Local - $0, National - $0 Total - $0

Green Mike Nagy: Local - $0, National - $0 Total - $0

I don't know about anyone else, but I would have a hard time supporting a candidate who doesn't support either the local or national party. Hopefully Frank, Tom and Mike have had a change of heart in 2008. I guess Frank can point and say he's just following his leader's example. Stephane Dion didn't donate anything to the Liberal Party last year either. For that matter, he hasn't bothered donating to his own Leadership Campaign. That's leading by example!

PS. For all those Liberal Leadership Fund Raisers, Frank is ripe for the picking for an $1100.00 dollar donation. I know you could all use it - desperately! (Psst - contact details here for Frank)
C'mon Frank - DO THE RIGHT THING!

Note: to save everyone searching, Stephen Harper and Jack Layton both donated the limit of $1100.00 dollars, Elizabeth May donated $725.00 dollars.

Godfrey finally resigns

Don Valley West is now vacant, one month later than what it should have been. Had Liberal MP John Godfrey resigned last month, the riding would have been included in the current round of by-elections.

When you look at the miserable Liberal fundraising numbers, it's not hard to understand why the Liberal MP hung on to his job for another month (collecting two pay cheques, one from his private sector employer, the other from you, the taxpayer).

By having Godfrey delay his resignation and miss this round of by-elections, the Liberals can save around $80,000.00 dollars, roughly what they would be allowed to spend to support a campaign in Don Valley West. The spending levels for the other three ridings will probably be in the range of $250,000.00 total, which the parties can choose to split up any way they wish amongst the ridings.

The last thing the Liberals want to do is fight for another seat against opponents that are better funded and prepared than they are. I think they're planning on spending the absolute minimum amount possible in support of their candidates. My guess is that they'll come in it at around the $75 to $80,000.00 dollar mark. A close watch on the party's various media buys over the course of the campaign should tell an interesting story.

With a $2 million dollar loan at 9% interest helping keep party operations afloat, the cash-strapped Liberals have little choice but to tighten their belts and hope for the best.
Right now their focus has to remain on fundraising, not spending on campaigns.

Barker does a little fortune telling today

Gerry Barker's column in today's Guelph Mercury should be bookmarked for the future:

One of Murphy’s lesser known laws: the 50-50-90 rule. Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there’s a 90 per cent probability you’ll get it wrong.

Taxpayers have to be relieved that spending $102 million on various projects in one section of the city will not cost them huge increases in taxes. If you believe that, read the previous paragraph.

I'd add that if you think the final cost is going to be $102 million you might be suffering from a touch of heat stroke.

Higher taxes and more debt - a future to look forward to in Guelph.

No takebacks on the Internet

Liberal blogger "The Liberal Bag" posted a blog on Wednesday about a personal experience in the Montreal riding of Westmont-Ville Marie, where the Dion appointed candidate Marc Garneau is supposed to win an easy victory.

Apparently Dionistas don't take well to criticism. After doing a virtual dance all over the Liberal Bag, he removed the post and posted an apology.

Thanks to Google cache (and Stephen Taylor), you can read the offending post for yourself.

What the hell are we doing in Westmount-Ville Marie?

So while the Liberal campaign in W-VM is seemingly stagnant for possibly a whole week in a critical riding we must hold, an enthusiastic NDP campaign is, at the very least, not literally turning away volunteers who show up already wearing party buttons, and at the most is knocking on doors with a strong team. While up in Guelph, whenever the topic of Westmount-Ville Marie came up, any comparisons to Outremont were largely dismissed, with the consensus being the riding was simply too Liberals to fall, and while the NDP would finish second, it would be a distant second. I included myself in the category of people who said this, but after my day in Westmount-Ville Marie, I am definitely no longer sure. This should be a wake-up call.

Complete post courtesy of Google Cache

Perception trumps reality in today's Liberal Party of Canada. Truth must be rudely stamped out in favour of the greater goal of winning, regardless of the cost.

Kinda makes you wonder about the whole Green Shaft thing.

Valeriote Campaign Down in the Dumps

Or at least several dozen of his signs are!

It's been a tough week for Frank's campaign. While Frank, Scott Brison and various other Liberals have been playing with their mud-pies the Liberal Mole decided to make another appearance.

Stephen Taylor has the scoop not only on the upcoming Liberal Green Shift Newsletter but Liberal Staffer's extremely poor taste in humour with their own version of the newsletter.

I guess it's not hard to figure out where Frank and his team get their examples from.

To round things off, the 2nd Quarter Party Financial reports are out and they reveal that Liberal fundraising is as anemic as ever. Angry in the Great White North has two good blogs along with Blue Blogging Soapbox.

"Doing the right thing" sounds good on paper and maybe by the end of the by-election Frank will have figured out what it really means.

Being Frank...

Another interesting little tidbit I learned on Sunday night.

If you look at Frank Valeriote's bio page , his Fast Facts page or his Community Involvement page, a couple of things stand out.

First off is the regurgitation and repetition between the three pages. If there's anything these pages highlight is the fact that it's all about Frank and his well-deserved reputation as a board-sitter.

Secondly, Frank takes great pains to highlight his service to the Catholic School Board, and by extension the Catholic community as a whole. While there is no doubting his service to the Catholic community in the past, it's strange that none of these pages disclose that Frank is no longer a Catholic, or at the very least a practicing Catholic. I've checked every page of his site and can find no mention whatsoever of Lakeside Bible Church, his current house of worship. If you look at his Wikipedia page, it still lists his religion as Catholic.

As far as religion and politics go, I couldn't care. Personally I'm an Anglican who hasn't stepped foot in a church since I was married and probably won't again until I'm ready to be buried. On the other hand, I'm not running for office in a city with a significant Catholic population who believes that I'm still a Catholic.

Frank is right to be proud of his Italian-Canadian Catholic heritage, but is being somewhat disingenuous when he fails to disclose that all is not what it was before. Many people in Guelph might be ready to vote for Frank simply based on his Catholic faith and would be very shocked and disappointed to learn, after the fact, that he's no longer a practicing Catholic.

So a simple question. Which is it Frank, Church of Our Lady or Lakeside Bible Church? Inquiring voters need to know.

A different by-election question

If Gloria Kovach is successful in this Federal By-Election (of which I have no doubt), then she will be required to resign her seat as Ward 4 Councillor for the City of Guelph.

Past tradition would see Guelph City Council appoint Cam Guthrie, who finished in third place in the last Municipal Election.

The question is - is it time to break with this past practice? Should a by-election be held to replace Gloria Kovach in Ward 4? While there are cost implications to a by-election, that is but one factor. Look at it this way, if this practice was in place at the Federal level then Brent Barr would be your new MP.

Have your say in the poll on the right.

Start spreading the news

Yesterday's Mercury editorial tried to set the tone for the ongoing by-election:

A good byword for the byelection
July 28, 2008
GUELPH MERCURY

The Guelph candidates will do themselves no favours with voters if they move into attack mode and indulge in personal slanging matches instead of involving themselves primarily in fervent discourse and debate with their opponents on the things that matter most to voters.

There's no reason to think that civility won't be the byword in the Guelph byelection. On this score, we hope the candidates don't disappoint.

When it comes to blogs, as the Mercury's own Guelph Votes demonstrates in many of the posted comments, the exact opposite is often the norm. For the most part, the partisan back and forth is generally ignored by the greater public and the media.

The infamous Oliva Chow dog posting by Liberal official Mike Klander demonstrates the part that isn't ignored. Liberal blogger Steve Valeriote serves up another example today with his post entitled Arf Arf.

Generally this type of puerile posting is chuckled at by some and ignored by most. When the blogger is a relative of the Liberal Candidate, Frank Valeriote, the perception is a little different.

I don't think Frank should be responsible for what everyone in his family does. It's obvious Steve Valeriote has no respect for Gloria Kovach, despite her impressive record of local, national and international work, but you would think he would show some degree of respect for Frank Valeriote and the difficult campaign he faces. Juvenile antics from a relative of the candidate certainly won't make that campaign any easier.

H/T Christian Conservative

Under the L for Lawsuit? Part Two

It looks like calmer heads have prevailed over at the Mike Nagy Green campaign. A post I previously blogged about that called Prime Minister Harper a "white collar crook" no longer exists on the site.

Someone must have been reading yesterday's Mercury Editorial.

H/T to the Nagy campaign for dumping this post.

Lowering the Barr

I have had a great deal of respect up until now for how Brent Barr handled his ouster as Conservative Party Candidate for Guelph. All that changed after Sunday. I was over at my friend T's for a BBQ Sunday evening and had a chance to catch up on everything that was going on while I was off on vacation.

While it was widely reported that Brent attended the Dion Green Shift event at the ICC, what wasn't reported was what Brent had to say when the reporters were not around. I guess Brent didn't realize that a Conservative supporter was standing not more than three feet away from him during the entire event. It's been the talk among various conservative circles in the city every since. The fact that he won't be "supporting or voting for that bitch Kovach" was one of the more pleasant things he had to say. Apparently he was also seen days later canvassing with Frank Valeriote, although there seems to be some dispute over that report. I guess it's possible they just happened to meet on the same street at the same time.

I think just about anyone would be bitter if they had experienced what Barr has, but politics is a long term game. Stephen Harper won't always be leader of the Conservative Party and the people running things today won't always be running things. I would suggest that running into the arms of the Liberals is not the best course of action for Brent if he wishes to continue enjoying the support of both small and large C conservatives.

The choice is Brent's, but for the sake of those who do still support him I think it would be wise if he were to take a consistent approach both in public and private. At least that way everyone knows where they stand and can make their own informed decision.

Stephane Dion, The Comedian

How else can you interpet this knee-slapper from Saturday's Guelph Mercury:

MK: Has it been difficult for you that the (election) call has been so drawn out?

SD: He had no choice, Mr. Harper. It was the last day (the byelection in Westmount-Ville Marie had to be called by today). He deprived the people of Guelph and Westmount-Ville Marie and St-Lambert of their MP for as long as it was possible for him. It’s time now to choose and I’m very confident the right choice will be Frank Valeriote.

Considering our former MP Brenda Chamberlain was virtually non-existent since getting re-elected in 2006, comedy is the only reasonable explanation for Dion's answer. On top of that, you can add John Godfrey's refusal to resign his Don Valley seat until August 1st, thereby ensuring it would not be included in this round of by-elections. Godfrey started his new job as headmaster of a private French school in Toronto on July 1st and is now collecting two salaries, one courtesy of Canadian taxpayers.

Speculation is that Godfrey delayed his resignation to prevent the Liberals from having to run two campaigns in Ontario in addition to the two campaigns in Quebec. The Liberal party is currently running on fumes, having to resort to a $2 million dollar loan at 9% interest in order to fund their operations. When you include the massive debts still carried by all of the leadership candidates, including Dion, the Liberals just don't have the time or money to fight 4 by-elections. They have to remain focused on debt-reduction and fundraising.

By-Election Mischief

It didn't take long for the games to start with various candidate's signs.

On my way to breakfast this morning at Angels I noticed several signs knocked down or damaged. I'm guessing that most of the damage was done after Saturday's night out for people. The worst one though, was at the corner of Gordon and Wellington St.

A Tom King sign there had a small Canadian flag inserted in the top corner. Duck taped to the centre of the sign was an American flag, obviously a dig at Tom being born in the US.

These election time games are ridiculous. Just once I wish they could catch someone doing this stuff and charge them with vandalism or mischief. Regardless of your political stripe, running for public office is a difficult, time consuming and expensive effort. Hundreds of volunteer hours are spent distributing signs. People's hard earned money is used to purchase these signs in support of the various candidates. It would be refreshing if people would show some respect and common courtesy for a change and refrain from damaging or defacing by-election signs.

If you notice someone damaging signs during this campaign, please consider calling the Police to report them.

I'll post a picture of the sign later on this evening (once I've found my camera cable!).

Update: Picture posted. Not the greatest, but I snapped it through the window as my car was going through the intersection)

Under the L for Lawsuit?

After making various allegations against Stephen Harper suggesting his involvement in criminal activities, the Liberal Party of Canada faces a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

I wonder how much Guelph Green Party candidate Mike Nagy is willing to put on the table for calling Stephen Harper "a white-collar crook"?

Are posts like this from Nagy a sign of things to come in the by-election?

Trust me...

Says Liberal leader Stephane Dion. Just elect us and we'll figure out all the nasty little details after the fact. About as good as "the cheque is in the mail" and all the other standard reassurances, given previous Liberal promises and their tendency to ignore them 15 seconds after being elected.

Dion touts tariffs for 'free-riders'
Liberal Leader proposes action against climate-change villains while hinting at a fall vote

BILL CURRY

July 24, 2008

OTTAWA -- Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said yesterday he would impose tariffs on imports from countries that Canada deems are not doing enough in the battle against global warming.

But a leading trade expert said the plan would run afoul of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization and would infuriate Canada's major trading partners.

While Mr. Dion's office asserted new tariffs could comply with Canada's existing trade laws, it said key details, such as which countries would be targeted, would not be decided until the Liberals are back in government.

On an unrelated note, I've finally finished sorting through the hundreds of emails that awaited my return from vacation, both at home and at work. Some good stuff related to the upcoming local by-elections. More tomorrow.

London Telegraph Editorial

This was published while I was on vacation. A friend of mine emailed the link to me to ensure I saw it. I just had to post it as I know it will make a bunch of left-wingers puff up and explode when they read it.

The world needs leaders at the G8 summit

Of all the leaders, only Stephen Harper - the talented but curiously neglected Canadian prime minister - is able to point to a popular and successful record in office.

Some will regard it as alarming that, in current times, world leadership should rest with Canada. But the Canadian Tories are a model of how to behave during a downturn.

They have kept spending in check and reduced taxes. They are playing their full role in world affairs, notably in Afghanistan.

Rather than canting about saving the world (Mr Harper, in his quiet and courteous way, is a Kyoto-sceptic) they have addressed themselves to curing remediable ills and, above all, to putting their own affairs in order.

If the rest of the world had comported itself with similar modesty and prudence, we might not be in this mess.

Sue-Ann Levy and vacation plans

I always enjoy reading Sue-Ann Levy's columns in the Toronto Sun. One of her favourite ways to refer to Mayor David Miller is "His Blondeness". Today's article features another winner - "Socialist Silly Hall".

I just might have to borrow that one in the future.

I won't be blogging for a week or so. It's vacation time and we're off to the cottage tomorrow morning. I just recently discovered that I could use my Blackberry as wireless modem for my laptop. I was considering taking everything with me. That thought died rather quickly after the wife informed me that I would be missing some vital body parts if I were to carry out my plan.

Next I considered leaving the wireless stuff behind and just bringing the laptop. I figured chances are good that sometime during the week I'll have to run into town for something, right? That plan died a quick death when 15 minutes later my wife popped her head into the room and said "... and if you're thinking about sneaking into town during the week and going online with your laptop, think twice ". Foiled again.

So we're off to spend a glorious (unplugged) week of fun and frolic.

Now where did I put that portable TV. :)

Note: New template today. I hated my initial template, but I picked a quick Blogger default to get things up and running. I initially wanted a 3 column template, but Blogger doesn't offer any in that format. A quick Google search and I found this site, with easy instructions to modify Google's default templates. What I like about this is you still retain the ability to add Blogger Widgets, which you don't always get with other custom templates.

The Guelph Funnies

I had a good chuckle when I read this post today at the Guelph Tax Revolt blog.

Personally, I think they went too easy on the Guelph Civic League, otherwise known as the Guelph Chapter of Tax and Spend Incorporated.

To me, the Guelph Civic League represents nothing more than municipal versions of the NDP and Green Parties, masquerading as a citizens group to skirt Ontario's prohibition of municipal political parties.

Don't believe me - check out the who's who of their supporters page featuring typical left-wing notables such as the Central Student Association University of Guelph, the Council of Canadians, CUPE Local 241 and the Guelph and District Labour Council. The League's Communication Coordinator, Tony Leighton did so well in a recent Mercury opinion piece that I think someone should nominate him for Outreach Coordinator as well. He's a natural.

Breaking News

Apparently there was some sort of bomb threat, complete with suspicious package at Gloria Kovach's election office on Victoria Road last night.

A friend of mine who lives near there called me this morning. He said the Guelph Police had the whole place taped off and the bomb squad from Waterloo was there.

I listened to CJOY news on the way into work this morning, but they weren't reporting anything about it.

I guess there's something about a message of lower taxes for everyone that just drives people crazy. You'd think people would be more pissed about Dion's massive tax grab Green Shaft program. On the other hand Frank Valeriote doesn't seem to be supporting Dion's plan in any way, so I guess Guelph has nothing to worry about.

Stay tuned.

Update: the wife just emailed me to let me know that it's front page news in the Mercury this morning. The story isn't online yet, but you can view the pdf of the Merc here.

Update 2: story online now.

Update 3: from GloriaKovach.ca

A good question

Mercury letter writer Stephen Lewis has a good question for Frank Valeriote.

What does federal Liberal candidate Frank Valeriote think of Dion's carbon tax?

I read that he doesn't like parts of what is in Dion's new carbon tax plan, he said so last year. Is this still true?

Even if he's changed his mind, does it not seem strange that while Liberals across the country are busy promoting this new tax plan, Dion's candidate here in Guelph is keeping quiet?

GreenShift.ca fights back

The company that the Liberals appropriated the name for their plan from, Green Shift, fights back.

Unwanted Politics

For the record, we were notified by the Liberal Party the evening before they launched their campaign. They presented it to us in a fashion that implied that we should be happy by all of the extra traffic that we would receive as a result. We immediately notified them that we would take action to protect the name and the integrity that we have associated with it, and that we were not interested in receiving misdirected traffic. We began by politely asking. After receiving calls from the media, we contacted the Liberal party to ask again that they please stop using a name that we have clearly associated with our environmental program, to prevent confusion. Only after they refused to stop, did we decide to send a legal notice. We never did call the media – we simply received a flood of calls, thanked all of the concerned businesses/individuals/institutions etc., and gave honest answers to any media that reached us with questions

From Linda Leatherdale's latest column - Dion Green Shift a Green Shaft:

But there are just too many holes in Dion's logic that we'll be better off with his carbon tax -- which was painfully obvious when he dropped by for a Sun editorial board meeting yesterday.

One equation his numeric wizardry forgot to include: Other levels of governments will be impacted by his new tax. And, like energy giants, they'll pass extra costs onto the taxpaying consumers.

Something to keep in mind. In Ontario they're already estimating that hydro costs alone will rise 20 per cent. When you factor in all the increased costs that governments themselves will have to pay, where is the revenue going to come from.?

With Guelph already looking at a 6.5% tax increase next year, what would Dion's tax grab add to your Municipal tax bill?

Hold on to your wallets!

Shifty Strategy

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's green plan seems to have hit a snag.

Firm takes action against Liberal 'Green Shift' brand

Updated Mon. Jun. 23 2008 8:59 PM ET

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- An environmental consulting and supply company in Toronto is firing off a legal "cease and desist" order to stop the Liberal party from using the firm's trademark name - Green Shift - for its new carbon-tax plan.

In what could become an embarrassing confrontation for Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, the owner of Green Shift says she is taking the legal step after earlier attempts failed to get the Liberals to drop the name from their environmental plan.

Environmental consultant Jennifer Wright, who has owned Green Shift since 1999 and registered the company name in 2001, said Monday she and a handful of other dedicated environmentalists who work with the firm can't afford to have its identity associated with any political party.

But efforts that began last week, when Dion unveiled the Liberal party's so-called Green Shift, have yielded no results. Wright said legal action may be the only recourse.

"We're just trying to ask them politely to do the right thing," she said in an interview. "We have asked them to stop using the name and we've asked them for a full public apology."

Off into the wild Blue yonder

I've long been a reader of blogs and have finally decided to take the plunge.

In my younger years I wasn't very interested in politics. All that has changed since my marriage. I certainly look at many issues differently these days, especially since the birth of my children.

I paid my own way through university and have paid off all my school debts. I work hard for what I have and save for what I don't have.

I decided the other day to start speaking up more after viewing Stephane Dion's Green Shift tax grab. Not only do I get penalized for working hard, my family is further penalized by the fact that my wife has decided to be a stay at home mother.

When I look at the never ending tax appetite of Municipal, Provincial and Federal governments I'm inspired to start speaking out and fighting back.