Canadian Prime Minister Harper rips President Obama and Libertarians in private speech to right-wing former Reform Party conservatives

By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA – Stephen Harper made two very different sales pitches for his economic plan this week: one a public pep talk to jittery Canadians, the other a private smoothing-of-the-feathers for uneasy conservatives.
The marquee speech Canadians saw on television Tuesday or read about the next day was about how the economy [...]

Carbon tax: a conservative concept, not the Liberals

By: Werner Patels
Jonathan Kay raises interesting points about the carbon tax and posits that it’s actually quite a “conservative” tax. I’d like to refer readers to Kay’s article, in which he makes a number of very valid observations – apart from the fact that Stéphane Dion should be sacked, he also reminds people that conservatism [...]

Statscan Censorship?

An interesting post on The Progressive Economics Forum
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Once again, there seems to be a heavier hand in editing Statistics Canada’s releases.  This morning The Daily reported that:
“Spending on research and development in the higher education sector amounted to $9.6 billion (current dollars) in the fiscal year 2006/2007.”
but there was no word on whether this was an increase or [...]

Tories widen their lead. Is Canada becoming more conservative or do we just like Harper?

A new poll suggests the Conservatives have solidified a substantial lead over their closest rivals, thanks at least in part to a lack of confidence in Liberal helmsman Stéphane Dion. The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll, conducted Sept. 10-13, gave the Conservatives 40 per cent support across Canada, followed by the Liberals at 26 per cent.
read [...]

Why the Conservatives and the PM need an election now to save themselves.

Some high profile Conservatives are not seeking re-election. Do they see the title wave coming? Are they afraid? The real reason the federal Conservatives are calling for an election now is that they really do not have a choice. What do I mean by that? Let’s make just a few points.

The longer they wait, the [...]

Harper calls election for Oct. 14, ignores own fixed-election date law

Bruce Cheadle, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The move sends Canadians to the polls for the third time in four years.
Against the backdrop of a weakening economy, Harper asked Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean to dissolve Canada’s 39th Parliament so that a national vote can be held Oct. 14 – the day after Thanksgiving.
Harper said this election will be [...]

Snap election all but certain: Harper

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper portrayed a snap election as a virtual certainty Tuesday morning and hinted it will likely be triggered next week.
read more | digg story

Fledgling party targets John Tory detractors – Reform Party?

The fledgling Reform Party of Ontario is appealing to Progressive Conservatives disillusioned with party leader John Tory to join their right-wing ranks. In an email appeal apparently sent to thousands of Tories in recent days, the new party claims Reform is “the new home” for people who support the policies of former premier Mike Harris.
“Mike [...]

Dalton McGuinty’s increasing centralization of power

Premier Dalton McGuinty insists he is not rattled by apparent dissension in his Liberal ranks. In a move that even loyalists now concede was ill-advised, McGuinty ordered all staff members to leave the Liberal caucus room on May 13 then criticized MPPs for speaking out of school.
The MPP said the ensuing one-hour discussion, sparked by [...]

Is replacing John Tory and going neo-consertive a bad move in Ontario? Yes!

As I have mentioned before if the PC’s decide to go the “neo-conservative” route, and it plays out in the public eye as an “internal turf” of their leader, it maybe many years before they ever hold the seat of power in Ontario again. Insiders have also said that the people who want John Tory [...]

Everex delivers $198 Google-friendly PC (Google OS)?

Everex has teamed up with open source players to create a $198 PC (sans display). The Everex Green gPC TC2502 runs a Linux OS and is loaded with (or has links to) free applications, including Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, Google Product Search, Google Blogger, Google YouTube, Google Maps, Google News, Meebo (instant [...]

How about Microsoft investing in OLPC and releasing a low-cost laptop for the masses?

Now here is an interesting question. Since Microsoft is dealing with bad PR, in relation to Vista, what would happen if Microsoft put its full support behind OLPC and installed a version of Windows XP? XP SP2 is pretty much a solid Operating System and it really would not cost much for Microsoft to even [...]

Everything is proceeding as Dalton McGuinty has foreseen

“Everything is proceeding as Dalton McGuinty had foreseen”. John Tory was supposed to lead Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives to certain victory over the “supposed” dark side; however he led them instead to a resounding defeat. Emperor Dalton McGuinty became the province’s first Liberal leader in 70 years to claim a second straight majority government. Albeit, one [...]