The NDP should
drop the word “New” from their name right after everyone starts referring to a certain Atlantic province simply as Brunswick.
Jul 14, '08
Categories: -New Democratic Party
FYI, back when Conservative MP Mike Lake presented a petition to Parliament to have Bigfoot declared an endangered species we learned that presenting petitions from their constituents is nothing more than a routine part of an MPs job.
Today in Canada, petitions are given to a Member of Parliament (MP) with a request that they be read in the House of Commons.
That’s why Libby Davies presenting a 9/11 petition in Parliament isn’t “huge news”.
It’s also not “huge news” that right whingers have the memory retention of a gnat.
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June 22nd, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Whingers
Dear greenboogers:
Give it a rest. Nobody is stealing the Green Party’s ideas because the entire Green Party platform is nothing more than a collection of ideas stolen from other parties.
You don’t own the environmental issue; the NDP has owned that for decades. You don’t own the tax issue; the Conservative Party has owned that for decades. You don’t even own the idea of stealing other party’s ideas; the Liberal Party has owned that for decades.
Greenboogers and their party have not come up with a single new idea to offer to Canadians. So please just shut the hell up until you do.
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June 22nd, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Whingers, -Green Party
So there’s a growing NEPII chant by the delusional chorus on the right.
Newsflash rubes. Nobody outside of Alberta cares one bit about the NEP boogeyman. In fact I can say for certain that if Dion were to go so far as to promise to send in the army to shut down the tar sands by force it would only take me about 0.3 nanoseconds to wave goodbye to Jack and say hello to Dion. I doubt I’m alone in this regard.
Even inside the province this fearmongering is meaningless. Alberta’s democracy is broken and shutting out all other parties comes with a price. Albertans have lost the leverage they would normally have with politicians from the other parties.
So howl all you want about NEPII. Nobody is listening and nobody cares.
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June 22nd, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Whingers, -Conservative Party
So Dion has challenged Harper to debate on his socalled carbon tax and the Libfloggers are swooning. Good grief these rubes have drunk deeply from the Kool-Aid pitcher. Lest they forget, Dion is not quick on his feet. We’ve seen the evidence of that.
“Do you think it’s easy to make priorities.”
“In 2008, I will be part of Kyoto, but I will say to the world I don’t think I will make it.”
I’m certainly not a fan of PMS but lets face reality. In a real head to head debate Harper would mop the floor with Dion.
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June 22nd, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Whingers, -Liberal Party
In 1991 Sweden introduced a carbon tax that their government claims has helped reduce the country’s ghg emissions.
The Swedish government estimates that CO2 emissions were 20 to 25 percent lower in 2000 than they would have been without the tax, indicating that the policy was a success.
While this might seem impressive in reality it isn’t when you consider how much of an actual reduction in ghg emissions Sweden has achieved over the past decade and a half.
Emissions are around 8.7 per cent below 1990 levels.
If one quarter of the 8.7% reduction is a result of the carbon tax it means the carbon tax is only responsible for a mere 2.2% reduction in Sweden’s greenhouse gas emissions. In order to achieve this minor reduction in ghg emissions however, Sweden had to price carbon at $150/tonne resulting in record high gasoline prices of $8.40 per gallon.
Since Dion is unwilling to copy Sweden’s carbon tax (pushing it up to $150/tonne, applying it to gasoline, removing the revenue neutrality forcing consumers to actually pay for their carbon consumption and spending the increased revenue on programs that will help Canadians reduce their ghg emissions) his won’t even achieve these highly expensive, minor results.
See also: THE 2% SOLUTION
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June 21st, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Carbon Tax
It looks like our recently signed free trade deal with Colombia is already paying off.
A Colombian paramilitary group has sent threatening e-mails to Canada’s embassy in Bogota because it provides asylum for former members, a leading newspaper says.
I’d send you over to the Blogging Whories for more info on this rightwing terrorist threat to Canada but it seems the absence of Muslims in the story caused it to slip under their terrorism sniffing noses.
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June 19th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Terrorism, -Colombia
The long awaited Liberal Green Shaft plan is finally here and just as I said earlier it’s nothing more than a sleight of hand tax cutting plan that will do nothing to curb GHG emissions.
More to come later.
Update: After reading over this socalled plan to curb GHG emissions I think I can safely say it’s even more phony than anything the Conservatives have come up with. From what I can tell the plan boils down to this:
1) Tax carbon.
2) ?????
3) GHG reduction.
I have to wonder if the Underpants Gnomes will be pressed into service to collect the carbon tax.
Update II: If this is supposed to be a plan to reduce ghg emissions in Canada then why are there no estimates on how much of a reduction we can expect to see for our money?
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June 19th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Carbon Tax
Courtesy of Jon Stewart, my new favourite word is
Baracknophobia; defined as an irrational fear of hope.
Jun 17, '08
Categories: -Elections, -United States
Heh.
The number of new trucks (which includes minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses) sold in April edged up 0.2% to 68,280 units.
The consumer altering behaviour of a carbon tax is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Update: What is Dion’s carbon tax really about? This provides a clue.
Stephane Dion will deploy Canada’s auditor general to backstop his claim that a Liberal carbon tax will be revenue neutral, not the massive tax grab depicted by the Tories.
Revenue neutrality is the central pillar of the Liberal leader’s complex plan, to be unveiled later this week, for putting a price on carbon.
If Dion was as concerned about stopping GHG emissions as he claims then he’d promise to deploy Canada’s auditor general to backstop his claim that a Liberal carbon tax will work to reduce GHG emissions. But he didn’t. In fact, he, along with most every libflogger out there, is more concerned with promoting the tax cut aspect of his plan.
That’s what Dion’s carbon tax boils down to. It’s nothing more than a sleight of hand trick to deliver another round of tax cuts.
Update II: I want to address a few of the questions that have been raised in this series of posts on the ineffectiveness of a carbon tax.
The first is about inflation. In 1998 the price of gasoline was approximately 52 cents/litre. Adjusted for inflation this raises it to 65 cents/litre in today’s dollars. Since the actual price of gasoline is now more than double that, inflation is not enough of a factor to warrant its inclusion in the discussion.
The second question is about population growth. Some people are clinging to the belief that population growth is responsible for the rise in overall consumption and that per capita consumption of gasoline is decreasing. In 1998 Canadians consumed approximately 38 million cubic metres of gasoline. In 2007 they consumed approximately 42.5 million cubic metres of gasoline. An increase of nearly 12%. In 1998 the population of Canada was approximately 30 million. Today it is approximately 33 million. An increase of just 10%. Since overall consumption is increasing faster than the population growth this means per capita consumption of gasoline is also increasing.
See also: PRICE DOESN’T MATTER — PART VI
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June 16th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Carbon Tax
Via They Call Me Mr. Sinister is yet another reason why our troops should be brought home.
Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been ordered by commanding officers “to ignore” incidents of sexual assault among the civilian population, says a military chaplain who counsels troops returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The chaplain, Jean Johns, says she recently counselled a Canadian soldier who said he witnessed a boy being raped by an Afghan soldier, then wrote a report on the allegation for her brigade chaplain.
In her March report, which she says should have been advanced “up the chain of command,” Johns says the corporal told her that Canadian troops have been ordered by commanding officers “to ignore” incidents of sexual assault. Johns hasn’t received a reply to the report.
It’s time to end this fiasco that is nothing more than an exercise in ego gratification for the warmongering right.
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June 16th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Afghanistan
The first carbon tax in Canada came into effect in the province of Quebec in October of 2007. In the first 5 months from Oct./07 to Feb./08 Quebecers shrugged it off and consumed more gasoline than they did in the previous year.
Click on image to enlarge.
It’s clear, a carbon tax won’t work.
See also: PRICE DOESN’T MATTER — PART V
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June 15th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Carbon Tax
Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton announced he
will retire in March. Let the leadership games begin. Who would you like to see take the helm?
Jun 14, '08
Categories: -New Democratic Party
An updated gasoline price/consumption chart.
Click on image to enlarge.
The increased data set in this chart establishes a clear trend line. Despite gasoline prices more than doubling over the past decade the consumption of gasoline in Canada has increased consistently over the same period of time. Clearly a carbon tax on gasoline in Canada will not work and casts serious doubt on the effectiveness of a carbon tax in general.
See also: PRICE DOESN’T MATTER — PART IV
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June 8th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Carbon Tax
This is rather silly but I’m intrigued by one aspect of it that the NDP should copy; placing advertisements based on this at gas pumps all across Canada.
Previous NDP ad I’d like to see.
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June 8th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -New Democratic Party
Will Colombia’s rightwing, terrorist supporting president ever leave office? All signs point to no.
Uribe, elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006 after Congress passed a constitutional amendment allowing a second term, is flirting with running again in 2010. This would require another change in law.
There’s no word yet if Prime Minister Harper thinks it would be a ridiculous position for Uribe not to extend his rulership.
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June 7th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Colombia
Just a quick update on how ineffective a carbon tax will be. Canadians responded to $1.30/litre gasoline by consuming 0.2% more of it in April/08 than they did in April/07.
Update: Here’s another fun fact–I plan to examine further at a later date–for those still living in denial. A decade ago the price of oil bottomed out at $12/barrel. Yesterday the price of oil hit a record $138/barrel yet the global demand for oil continues to rise.
If a staggering 1,050% (100%/year average) increase in the price of oil over a decade won’t change our behaviour what chance is there that Dion’s carbon tax will accomplish it?
See also: PRICE DOESN’T MATTER — PART III
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June 7th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Carbon Tax
Update: The post title has been altered to avoid confusion.
The price of gasoline jumped 6 cents/litre–from $1.289 to $1.349–overnight here in London. I doubt we’ll hear the hysterical right whingers screech about how this is going to wreck the economy like they do at the mere mention of a carbon tax (which I oppose because it won’t work) or a cap and trade system that will cause the price to rise by a lesser amount.
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June 7th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Carbon Tax
We must combat hate speech with better speech.
I bet you’ve heard that mantra, or one similar to it, recited thousands of times. I bet also, that most people agree with it.
So why are we combating hate speech by hiking up our skirts and running away from it? And why is the NDP the bad guy for wanting to confront it?
Boycotting the UN World Conference against Racism sends only one message to the hate speechers of the world; we are surrendering the field of battle to them. That is a message no Canadian should be proud of.
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June 7th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Bigotry
Caracas, Venezuela, like every other major city, is faced with a number of urban planning problems. Unlike other major cities around the world however, decades of rightwing aristocratic rule has left the country with a major shortage of skilled urban planners. In order to address this, Venezuela struck a deal with the City of London, England in 2007. In exchange for assistance from their highly skilled urban planners, Venezuela provided cheap fuel to the city’s mass transit system which allowed them to offer half price fares to the poorest of Londoners. In all, it was a pretty sweet deal for both cities.
Enter London’s new mayor, Boris Johnson, who, in a fit of rightwing spite, canceled the deal putting Caracas back to square one and leaving London taxpayers footing the bill for the subsidized transit fares. This provides an opportunity for Toronto’s mayor, David Miller, to step up and fill the void left by a London mayor who is clearly more interested in attacking socialist boogeymen than the well being of his city. Toronto, like London, also has highly skilled urban planners who are more than capable of tackling the problems Caracas is experiencing.
Mayor Miller should contact the Venezuelan government and strike a bargain similar to the one they had with London. TTC riders would certainly appreciate the mayor’s efforts to curb the transit system’s rising fuel costs that will inevitably result in higher fares.
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June 4th, 2008
Robert McClelland
Categories: -Whingers, -Economy And Taxes, -Miscellaneous World
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