Category: Uncategorized

I was pretty disappointed to see this:

Ottawa poised to axe scholarships
Esteemed Fulbright program at risk
Tory senator calls decision `calamitous’
Jul. 28, 2006.
GRAHAM FRASER
NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER

OTTAWA—The Harper government is poised to cancel federal funding for Canadian international academic programs, including Canadian participation in the Fulbright program, one of the most prestigious international scholarships.

The Treasury Board issued a decision on June 21 saying that instead of extending funding for academic relations at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for five years, it would do it for only one.

This means that $13.5 million in funding for international academic relations programs will expire on June 21, 2007.

Programs at risk include: $5 million for Commonwealth Scholarships; $600,000 for the Fulbright Foundation; support for the Canada-China Scholars Exchange Program; a program encouraging Mexican students to study in Canada; and all funding for Canadian studies programs abroad.

Treasury Board officials would not comment yesterday on the reasons for the decision.

However, Treasury Board President John Baird, a former Ontario cabinet minister, has in the past stressed the importance of keeping the federal government out of areas of provincial responsibility, and education falls under provincial jurisdiction.

Stengthening Canada’s international position will take much more than simply increased Canadian Forces funding and hard stances taken on controversial world issues, it’s also about reaching out and exchanging ideas, understandings, and personal experiences on an individual and academic level.

If Stephen Harper’s Conservative government truly wants to strengthen Canada’s position abroad, important public diplomacy and academic programs such as study-abroad and the Fullbright Scholarship are key.

A couple of things…

– Ann Coulter thinks Bill Clinton is gay because he has a lot of hetrosexual sex. Makes perfect sense to me.

– Political convention extraveganza! Kevin Taft‘s Alberta Liberals had a sucessful policy convention in June, the Alberta Greens had their convention the same weekend, the Alberta New Democrats will be having a convention in October, and the Alberta PC‘s will be having their leadership convention in November(ish). Not that this is huge news, political parties have political onventions, but just a note.

– Political guru Ken Chapman has started a blog. Chapman is close with the Dave Hancock Campaign for the Alberta PC leadership and was also a campaign strategist for former Liberal Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan in Edmonton Centre. Thanks to Allie for pointing me towards Ken’s blog.

– CalgaryGrit is having an amazing summer contest. Check it out!

The Alberta PC Caucus has allowed former Infrastructure & Transportation Minister Lyle Oberg to rejoin their noble ranks today.

After being very very publicly sacked and booted from the Alberta PC Caucus in March, Oberg was forced to humilitatingly sit as an Independent MLA behind Alberta Alliance MLA Paul Hinman in the Legislative Assembly.

Oberg, a candidate in the Alberta PC leadership race, will most likely be swept from one deep and dark corner of the Legislature to another as he will most likely dwell with the deepest and darkest corner of the backbenches of the Tory Caucus.

Following up from my Separatist Party of Alberta post yesterday, here’s part of a rant from the clearly dillussional Alberta Republicans.

As I clearly enjoy making fun of these silly people, please feel free to read this incredibly ridiculous rant….

The Road To Alberta
By: Alan Clark

People have told me that I must impress on my fellow Albertans that independence is nothing to fear. “Let them know that Alberta will be the same tomorrow as it is today.” Well that may be but not if I had my way.

Canada, more than any other country, is grounded in Marxist fundamentalism. Surely, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and even America to a certain degree have their share of socialist planning. But those countries have long histories and vastly more experience than Canada. They have all known periods of great liberty. The greater the liberty, the greater the nation. It’s no coincidence that the last two great powers, the United States and Great Britain before her, were the greatest libertarian nations of their time.

Canada’s formative years were at the height of socialist fundamentalism. Our system of government could have been written by Karl Marx himself. Every aspect of a Canadian’s life is planned by the government. From the cradle to the grave. You are born in a government owned hospital. Delivered by a government employed doctor. Parked in a government subsidized day care. Educated in a government funded school by a government employee. The weight of your cereal box is scrutinized by government as is the printing on the box. The radio you listen to comes via government controlled airwaves from a station which has government approval to broadcast. The books you read are vetted by a government censor. Your job is regulated by government agencies. Notwithstanding the genocide of the Jews, there is simply no functional difference between being a Canadian and being a German under Hitler.

It looks like the crazies running the Separation Party of Alberta are looking for a new leader to lead them on their crusade to free Albertans from our now Alberta-based oppressive Federal government… only nutjobs need apply….

Weirdly enough, I found the Separation Party logo on Battle River-Wainwright Tory MLA Doug Griffiths website… maybe he’s shopping around?

Yes, that’s right. July is the Official American month of Iced Cream:

Proclamation 5219—National Ice Cream Month and National Ice Cream Day, 1984
July 9th, 1984

By the President of the United States
of America

A Proclamation

Ice cream is a nutritious and wholesome food, enjoyed by over ninety percent of the people in the United States. It enjoys a reputation as the perfect dessert and snack food. Over eight hundred and eighty-seven million gallons of ice cream were consumed in the United States in 1983.

The ice cream industry generates approximately $3.5 billion in annual sales and provides jobs for thousands of citizens. Indeed, nearly ten percent of all the milk produced by the United States dairy farmers is used to produce ice cream, thereby contributing substantially to the economic well-being of the Nation’s dairy industry.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 298, has designated July 1984 as “National Ice Cream Month,” and July 15, 1984, as “National Ice Cream Day,” and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of these events.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 1984 as National Ice Cream Month and July 15, 1984, as National Ice Cream Day, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eightyfour, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:32 a.m., July 10, 1984]

From yesterday’s Edmonton Journal, here is the breakdown of how the Alberta PC leadership race is going to work. Notice the part that says “No rules on how much money can be raised, or any disclosure of donors…”

LEADERSHIP RACE RULES

When campaign begins: Most leadership candidates have been unofficially campaigning for years, but the PC party will officially fire the starter’s pistol in September, once Premier Ralph Klein hands in his resignation letter

Who can run: Any party member who files nomination papers by late September, along with signatures of 500 fellow Tories and a $15,000 non-refundable deposit (although some figures could change before official start)

Who can vote: Anybody who buys a $5 PC Association of Alberta membership. Must be Canadian citizen, 16 years or older, and have lived in Alberta for at least six months

How vote works: On first ballot, each party member selects one candidate. If nobody gets a clear majority, the top three contenders advance. On second ballot, members mark their first two choices. If no clear winner emerges on first choice, counters tally the second-choice picks of the person who finished last. Eventually, a new leader is crowned

When is the vote: The first and second ballots will be held on either Nov. 18 and 25, or Nov. 25 and Dec. 2

Campaign finance rules: No rules on how much money can be raised, or any disclosure of donors.

First ballot in 1992 race:
Nancy Betkowski – 16,393
Ralph Klein – 16,392
Rick Orman – 7,649
Doug Main – 5,053
John Oldring – 2,798
Lloyd Quantz – 1,488
Ruben Nelson – 1,250
Elaine McCoy – 1,115
Dave King – 587

Second ballot in 1992:
Ralph Klein – 46,245
Nancy Betkowski – 31,722

(Third-place Orman withdrew)

Wow, I know it’s been a while since I’ve been to the westend of Edmonton, but jeez, when did it enter a glacial period?

As mentioned by my good friend Bart, it seems that only one of the 11 Federal Liberal leadership candidates has yet to comment on the current Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon.

Most surprisingly, said candidate is none other than international scholar and intellectual Mr. Michael Ignatieff…

I find it very interesting that Canadians have yet to hear from such an authority figure on international issues. I’m sure Mr. Ignatieff has an opinion on the current situation. Is it because his campaign doesn’t think that Canadians will like his answer? Maybe. Maybe not.

But these are the sort of issues that Mr. Ignatieff is going to have to get used to answering if he wants to be Leader of the Official Opposition and eventually Prime Minister of Canada.

Good lord…

This summer’s legislative session, originally slated to begin Aug. 30, will now start Aug. 24. The Conservatives announced the session last week in order to approve spending on education, schools and a new remand centre.

Klein cancelled an official trip to Asia to attend the session, but asked that it be changed so he could go fishing at a private lodge he co-owns near Prince Rupert, B.C.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to take the position of strongly backing Israel in the current Israel-Hezbollah ( -Lebanon? -Syria? -Iran?) conflict is startling to me. Why is the Canadian Government picking sides in this conflict?

I agree that Israel, like any state has the right to defend itself, but why on Earth would Harper want Canada to get involved in such a long-standing conflict like this one?

A long-standing conflict in which everyone involved is in the wrong to some degree.

And a conflict that has the potential to escalate very quickly.

I believe Harper made the wrong decision – the Canadian Government should be calling for a ceasefire on all sides.

Not surprisingly, Harper’s stand strongly echo’s the right-wing party line from Washington D.C. where U.S. President George W. Bush is backing the Israeli attack on Lebanon. The Bush administration is also refusing to call for any sort of ceasefire in the conflict.

For those of you interested in vacationing in the lovely Lebanese Riviera, I wouldn’t advise it at this point in time. But just in case you don’t follow my advice, according to Expedia.ca an Edmonton-Calgary-Frankfurt-Beruit flight, care of Air Canada and Luftansa, will cost you upwards of $3,700 Canadian Dollars (one-way).

I find it surprising that Expedia is acutally still selling flights to Beirut seeing as how the Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport was bombed by Israeli Missiles the other day.

What an awful situation. Let’s hope for peace soon.

(Check out Lebanese Bloggers, a site I found on Idealistic Pragmatist’s blog)

(Also, check out this article from The New York Times which speculates on Israel’s strategy – props to Brad’s Brain for the link)

Here are some interesting reports that have come out recently….

– From the Institute for Research on Public Policy comes two reports on political partisanship:
The Shifting Place of Political Parties in Canadian Public Life by Kenneth Carty of the University of British Columbia and Are Canadian Political Parties Empty Vessels? Membership, Engagement and Policy Capacity Dr. Lisa Young from the University of Calgary.

– From the UK-based Demos comes a new report:

Attempts to reform public services will only succeed if they focus on the experiences of service users and become more ‘customer friendly’, according to a new report from the think-tank Demos. The report, The Journey to the Interface argues that reform of schools, hospitals and other public services have focused too much on competition and contestability, at the expense of the experience of users.

Following my triumphant return to Edmonton last Friday, I have a couple of things to say about Lethbridge:

– It’s windy.
– The Lethbridge Lodge is very nice.
– The people in Lethbridge are better looking than the people in Calgary 😉
– The University of Lethbridge has a nice campus (and a very very long hallway).
– It’s windy.

There also seems to be a semblance of political diversity in this fine southern Alberta municipality… Here are the results from the two Lethbridge ridings in the 2004 Provincial General Election (results from Elections Alberta)…

Lethbridge East
Bridget Pastoor, Alberta Liberal – 5,338 (41%)
Rod Fong, Alberta PC – 4,703 (37%)
Brian Stewart, Alberta Alliance – 1,472 (12%)
Gaye Metz, Alberta NDP – 606 (5%)
Erin Matthews, Alberta Greens – 360 (3%)
Darren Popik, Social Credit – 252 (2%)
(turnout: 48.4%)

Lethbridge West
Clint Dunford, Alberta PC – 4,411 (41%)
Bal Boora, Alberta Liberal – 3,639 (33%)
Mark Sandilands, Alberta NDP – 1,357 (12%)
Merle Terlesky, Alberta Alliance – 913 (8%)
Andrea Sheridan, Alberta Greens – 385 (3%)
Scott Sawatsky, Social Credit – 375 (3%)
(turnout: 45.5%)

Just for fun, when you combine the total party vote between Lethbridge East and Lethbridge West, here’s what the results look like:

Alberta PC – 9,114 (38%)
Alberta Liberal – 8,977 (38%)
Alberta Alliance – 2,385 (10%)
Alberta NDP – 1,963 (8%)
Alberta Greens – 745 (3%)
Social Credit – 627 (3%)

Here’s a letter from the disgruntled ol’coot letters section in Sunday’s Edmonton Journal. I think this senior Alberta really missed the mark on what she should be advocating for. It sounds like her beef is the Alberta Old Age Pension Program rather than everyone else who isn’t her.

The future is now

Putting surplus money away for future generations is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. My future is right now.

I am 80 years old and my only source of income is the old age pension. I need all the help I can get right now, so if Albertans have no use for a rebate cheque, send it to me.

I will make good use of it buying food, gasoline, heat, electricity and clothing.

Jeane McDonald, Stony Plain