The Commander in Chief is endangering Canadians

Perrceptions by Gerry Warner
“Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came” was the title of a forgettable 1970 movie that ironically seems to have some prescience now as Commander in Chief Stephen Harper prepares to expand our Iraq misadventure into an even larger war in Syria.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe Syria has declared war on Canada.
In fact, Syria is embroiled in a five-year civil war that shows no sign of ending and is, therefore, in no position to declare war on anyone, little alone us. But this minor detail doesn’t bother our brave Commander in Chief, who’s so eager to get into an even bigger war that he hasn’t even bothered with the diplomatic niceties of telling the Syrians he’s declared war on them, something that’s supposed to be done under international law and the United Nations in the vain hope that it will cause the country declaring war to have second thoughts.
That technically makes Canada an international war criminal, but our eager Commander in Chief doesn’t worry about technicalities even though our US partner in this dangerous venture took the time to inform the Syrians.
And what was the Commander in Chief’s justification for expanding this dangerous venture that has already taken the life of one Canadian? In the past, he said Canadian F-18’s would only go into Syria with the “clear support” of the Syrian government. But Tuesday in Parliament, he said: “The reality is that the Assad regime does not have the will nor the ability to counter the Islamic State in Syria.” In other words, the Syrian government, led by Bashar al-Assad, is in such dire straits from the civil war that it’s incapable of fighting back.
Obviously we have a very brave Commander in Chief.
Our brave Commander also likes to stoke the fears Canadians understandably have about ISIS, the fanatical, jihadist, terrorist group that has overrun parts of Iraq and Syria and committed ghastly beheadings in the name of a perverted brand of Islam that the great majority of the world’s Muslims don’t support. But the PM ignores this in a brazen bid to enrage his core supporters into supporting a holy war against a small but blood-thirsty band of Islamic fighters capable of causing havoc in the volatile Middle East, but with no capacity whatsoever to harm anyone in North America.
Does ISIS have missiles capable of hitting Canada? No.
Does ISIS have an air force that could drop bombs on us? No.
Does ISIS have a navy capable of shelling our shores? No.
Then what are we doing in Iraq and Syria attacking ISIS? Good question!
Unfortunately, ISIS does have a sinister way of harming us thanks largely to our Commander in Chief’s so-called “strategy,” which is playing exactly into their blood-stained hands. Remember the good ol’ days when Canadians were known internationally as peacekeepers? Now, thanks largely to Canada’s participation in the wars in Afghanistan, Libya and now Iraq and Syria we’re no longer seen as international good guys. We’re now seen as another Western, imperial power riding on the coat tails of Uncle Sam dropping bombs indiscriminately on Muslim believers in the Middle East whether they are jihadists or not. And so they hate us and out of that hatred and thanks to the Internet they’re able to recruit “lone wolf” terrorist wannabes in our own ranks that in a few isolated cases have succeeded in killing us. That’s the tragic consequences of what Harper’s bellicose, war mongering strategy is doing to us. Yet, if the polls can be believed, a majority of gullible Canadians support him.
Surely expanding this war in the most war-torn part of the world has deadly consequences we can hardly fathom. Don’t you think it’s time then to hit the re-set button on Harper’s folly?



Gerry Warner is a retired journalist that has lost all respect for the Commander in Chief,

Harper prepares for his next glorious war

Perceptions by Gerry Warner
Stephen Harper is a war monger and he loves guns too! No wonder he’s preparing to send troops into Syria and telling rural Canadians to arm themselves because the Canadian countryside is unsafe.
What else can you conclude after Harper’s bizarre comments last week on the need for a rural arms race and his musing about sending our jets into Syria after what started out as a “non-combat” mission in Iraq. And he even brought his own wife into his dark discussion!
“My wife’s from a rural area and obviously gun ownership wasn’t just for the farm, but was for a certain level of security when you’re a ways away from immediate police assistance.” Harper told the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister didn’t say if Laureen kept a gun under the pillow while he’s away fighting the Taliban in Ottawa. But Harper’s remarks were troubling and ignorant on several levels not to say belligerent coming from the chief law maker of the land.
For starters, Canadian law does not give homeowners in urban or rural areas unfettered rights to blow away someone who unintentionally or intentionally happens to stumble onto your property in the dead of the night. “The suggestion that rural people have firearms in case the police cannot reach them in time is not really consistent with Canadian law on lawful use of force but smacks of American arming for self-protection.” said Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, in an email to the Ottawa Citizen.
It also smacks of taking the law into your own hands and vigilante “justice,” but this doesn’t seem to bother Harper and his core supporters, whom he was clearly playing to when he made his gun toting remarks. And with an election coming soon, there’s money to be raised for Conservative coffers as was made plain by Jenni Byrne, the party’s hard-bitten campaign manager and former deputy chief of staff in Harper’s office
“As someone who grew up in a rural part of our country, I was proud to hear what the Prime Minister had to say yesterday,” said Byrne in an email sent to Conservative supporters “Our Conservative party recognizes that guns play an important role in the livelihoods, recreation and safety of many Canadians. And we’re standing up for responsible gun-owning Canadians.”
The National Rifle Association in the US couldn’t have said it better.
And for those who bristle at Harper being called a war monger, have you ever considered how much of your tax money the Prime Minister spent on glorification of the almost forgotten War of 1812, which was actually fought on our behalf by
the British? Our spendthrift Prime Minister spent $28 million on the bicentennial celebrating the forgotten war, including such necessary adornments as a special silver coin, which cost $60-a-piece, a new national monument, funding for historical re-enactments, upgrades to historic sites and even a new mobile phone app! If you don’t think our Prime Minister enjoys a “good” war, you must think the Toronto Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup this year.
And then there’s Syria, a place Harper is obviously itching to go with an announcement expected in Parliament next week. The fact that Syria is not at war with us doesn’t seem to deter the Prime Minister nor the fact that the war would be illegal under International Law. But the US and its Middle East allies have been bombing ISIS in Syria since last summer and we know that legal niceties won’t
stop our Prime Minister from sucking up to Uncle Sam.
How sad! We’ve already lost one of our soldiers to “friendly fire” in Iraq and we lost 158 soldiers in 12 years of fighting in Afghanistan – and did not defeat the Taliban – while suicide took 178 Canadian Forces members over the same period.
Surely there’s a message here, but it seems to be lost on our war mongering Prime Minister.



Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who believes politicians should serve in the wars they support.

Canadian prime ministers: "Of necessity an egotist and an autocrat"

Sir Wilfrid Laurier

John Wesley Dafoe, arguably one of the most powerful and influential newspaper editors and journalists in Canadian history once wrote that "A prime minister under the party system as we have it in Canada is of necessity an egotist and an autocrat." 

In his essay on Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Mr. Dafoe added, "If he comes to office without these characteristics his environment equips him with them as surely as a diet of royal jelly transforms a worker into a queen bee".  

He was editor of the Manitoba Free Press, from 1901 to 1944  when it was among the great newspapers of the world, according to Wikipedia.  It became the Winnipeg Free Press.

During the past couple of weeks  Canadians have witnessed one egotist and autocrat Brian Mulroney, a former prime minister slice up the current occupant, Stephen Harper who also fully qualifies on both counts. Arguably Mulroney and Harper are members of the same political party, but rather than quibble over Progressive Conservative, Conservative or Reform, let's just say they are conservatives.  

  

Mulroney let loose his broadsides in an interview on CTV's Power Play, marking the 30th anniversary of Mulroney's big election win. If I had been him, I would have been annoyed too upon learning that the Harper Conservatives marked the occasion with a fundraising letter which apparently included no mention of Brian Mulroney or Progressive Conservative.  

  

  In brief here are the major points Mulroney made: Harper should not have got into a spat with the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada; Canada should not have lost its seat on the United Nations Security Council; the government’s foreign affairs policy “has to be enveloped in a broader and more generous sweep that takes in Canadian traditions and Canadian history in a much more viable way'.  

For good measure he also criticized Harper on his lack of a "pristine" environmental policy, and supported an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, something Harper so far has opposed.  

However, it may have been his comments about Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party that would have enraged Harper most.  “He’s a young man, attractive, elected two or three times to the House, attractive wife, beautiful kids — this is a potent package when you’re running in these circumstances,” he told Power Play, adding  “His program is that he’s not Stephen Harper.”  

  

Wow! Nothing like a fight in the political family when one autocrat and egotist attacks another and praises the leader of a different political party who wants to be prime minister. My email is mj.morris@live.ca 

  

  

Canadians pick Pierre Trudeau, Medicare as Number One in online consultation process approved by Harpercons

MJM by Michael Pelzer

Just imagine that you were the prime minister of Canada and had approved a poll, paid for by the taxpayers, to come up with a Top 10 list of our country's greatest heroes, and you and your political party were essentially shut out by the almost 12,000 Canadians who participated.

Well that's the news Stephen Harper and the Harpercon government received recently as the result of an online consultation process over several months, conducted as part of the preparations for Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.

The Canadian Press announcing the results said that "Canadians have handed the Harper government a Top 10 list of the country’s greatest heroes, featuring some of the Conservative party’s greatest adversaries, past and present."

It is unlikely that the results would ever have seen the light of day had the Canadian Press not obtained them under an Access to Information Act request, even though, we, the taxpayers paid for the project.

In answer to a question "Which Canadians have inspired you the most over the past 150 years?" leading the list was none other than Pierre Trudeau, a name which would most assuredly have sent the Harpercons into a fit of rage. The former Liberal prime minister not only made the Top 10, he was Number One.

The rest of the Top 10 list in order were: Marathon of Hope runner Terry Fox; former NDP leader and premier of Saskatchewan Tommy Douglas; former Liberal prime minister Lester B. Pearson; astronaut Chris Hadfield; environmental activist David Suzuki; former NDP leader Jack Layton; Canada's first prime minister, a Conservative, Sir John A. Macdonald; hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and outstanding soldier and recently retired Liberal senator Romeo Dallaire.

To me at least, it looks like a pretty Canadian list, and I was really delighted that Don Cherry did not make the cut. The only Tory was Sir John A. If he was still around, it is highly unlikely he would make it into a Harper cabinet, much less become prime minister leading the Conservative Party as it is constituted today -- Liberal maybe?

Canadian Press reported that the consultation also asked which of Canada’s accomplishments of the last 150 years “make you most proud to be a Canadian?”

The results showed  that medicare topped that list, followed by peacekeeping, then the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms at No. 3.   The  rest in order were: Canada's contribution to World War II; the Canadarm; multiculturalism; contribution to World War I; bilingualism; space exploration, and the Constitution Act of 1982.

Again, although one may switch the preference order of the Top 10, a pretty Canadian type list of what makes us proud to be Canadian, although not exactly the Harpercon view for Canada.

As the Canadian Press story notes for example, the present government has "recently been buffeted by a series of Charter-based losses at the Supreme Court of Canada,  (and) did not mark the 25th anniversary of the Charter in 2007, nor the 30th in 2012."

In 2015, Canadians will judge the Harpercons at the polls. Personally, I am proud to be a Canadian, and generally agree with the Top 10 list of those who inspire me and the accomplishments that make me proud. Thanks to the Canadian Press for obtaining the results of the consultation and making them public. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

CAPP rallies become the national headline as thousands across Canada protest Harper's prorogation of Parliament

A quick check of the online version of major Canadian daily newspapers tonight shows that the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament rallies which attracted thousands of  protesters across the country is the lead story at all of them.

Thousands of Canadians from all walks of life and demographic groups attended rallies protesting the move by Stephen Harper, the prime  minister, to prorogue Parliament until March 3. The CAPP Facebook group, totally a grassroots movement, founded by Christopher White, a University of  Alberta graduate student, now with more than 212,000 members, called for the rallies for today, two days before Parliament was set to resume.

Despite an effort by Harper to take the headlines with his first news conference in over a year earlier today and flanked by four cabinet ministers, the CAPP rallies are the  major story tonight in Canada's news media.

Newspapers in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Toronto are all playing the rallies as top story.

Christopher White calls CAPP members "vocal majority" as rallies planned for January 23 across Canada

Christopher White, the founder of the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (CAPP) group on Facebook which is changing the way politics is done in Canada refers to his 201,000 plus members as the "vocal majority" as it prepares for rallies across Canada on January 23.

"Now we, the vocal majority, find ourselves to be the new power brokers in Ottawa. With rallies planned across Canada on January 23rd, all eyes will be on us,"  Mr White says in an article he wrote for http://rabble.ca/ today.  "We are not, as the traditional thinking goes, an apathetic people. We care deeply about our country, but for too long the increasing cracks in our political system have made it seem beyond repair, leaving people feeling frustrated and disempowered. Finally, we have an issue that unites us, one that we can wrap our heads around while keeping an eye on the eventual end game."

He explains that after Stephen Harper, the prime minister, prorogued Patliament, he started the Facebook group,  "with the simple idea of getting Canadians to write to their Members of Parliament and asking them to return to the Hill on January 25th, the day the session was set to resume. Honestly, I didn't actually think it would work.. .. My action, however, has snowballed into a movement encompassing Canadians from across the country and the political spectrum."

Referring to the upcoming rallies on January 23, Mr. White says "The upcoming rallies are not the culmination of our efforts, they are the beginning. Let's start with prorogation and use our inevitable success to push for greater reforms, ones that ensure that our government is accountable, transparent, and responsive to the demands of the electorate..."


You can read Mr. White's complete article at http://rabble.ca/
Thanks Chris for permittng  me to use quotes from your article to share with my readers.. mjm
Christopher White is a graduate student in Anthropology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He started the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, which now boasts moire than 201,000  members and is growing by the minute.

Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament facebook group passes 70,000 members as grassroots anger with Harper continues

UPDATE AT 10:45 P.M. ET  The Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament group has passed 76,000 members.


The facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament reached 70,000 members at about 5:40 p.m. ET today as Canadians continue to express their anger with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament.

The total number of members on five groups I have been monitoring stood at 98,084 at 5:40 p.m. ET today,  well within reach of 100.000 shortly as each continues to grow but at a slower rate than Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. This group had 26,460 members at 9:45 a.m. Monday.

Posts on all the groups continue to express their anger with the prime minister's decision to prorogue Parliament until March 3, instead of having MPs and Senators return on January 25.

In related news, last night the Liberal Party announced that its MPs and Senators will return to work on January 25.

An indication of the interest in the grassroots protest movement centred on facebook groups my blog, Michael J  Morris reports, has seen its highest daily traffic since I started it just over a year ago with my posts on the issue of prorogation. My stats show that visitors are coming from all regions of Canada, including the territories as well as from the United States and other countries.

Liberals will be back to work on January 25 as opposition mounts across Canada to Harper's proroguing of Parliament

The Canadian Press news agency is reporting tonight that Liberal MPs and Senators will return to Parliament Hill on January 25, the date they were  to resume work until Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament.

Apparently Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told his caucus Tuesday that he expects them to be back to work on January 25 even though Parliament is not to resume now until March, according to the Canadian Press.

Ignatieff may well be reacting to a grassroots movement sweeping the country on facebook where more than 75000 people have joined groups attacking the Harper government.

Facebook groups opposing Stephen Harper decision to prorogue Parliament gaining numbers

UPDATE AT 11:50 p.m. ET: The total numbers now on five facebook groups has reached 81,152 with 53,484 of the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament group.


UPDATE AT 8 p.m ET: The total members now on five facebook groups has reached 73,177, with 45,747 on the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament group alone, an increase of 19,287 since 9:45 a.m. ET today.

UPDATE AT 2:30 p.m. ET: The total members now on five facebook groups has reached 62,695.

Facebook groups opposing Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue the Parliament of Canada until March  are growing in numbers calling  for protest rallies across the country on January 23, two days before the parliamentary session was to resume, and sending letters to MPs urging them to return to Ottawa for a "mock: session starting January 25.

As of 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time today, I counted a total of 53,718 members on five groups. Here is the breakdown: Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, 26,460; Canadians United Against Stephen Harper, 21,616; Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament - Rally for the Cause, 3.223; Tell the Governor General No to Proroguing Parliament, 1,994 and Canada is a democracy not a dictatorship, 425.  The numbers change minute by minute so I will provide an update later today.

On December 30th, 2009, for the second time in as many years, Stephen Harper asked the Governor General to prorogue parliament. About a year ago, faced with the distinct possibility of a defeat on a non-confidence motion in the House of Commons, Harper asked the Governor General to prorogue Parliament, which Michaelle Jean granted.

Now he has done it again for different reasons, and it appears that Canadians are starting to express their anger with the decision using the popular social networking site to get the message out.

For me as person who established a graduate college program in new media communications at College of the Rockies fifteen years ago, and fearlessly predicted at an annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Journalists that the internet would play a huge role in politics, this is one I will follow with great interest.

U.S. President Barack Obama is the best example so far of a politician using the internet effectively to get elected.  It will be interesting to see if the grassroots faecbook groups in Canada can effect political change.

Send me email comments

or

I am on facebook as michaeljmorris and twitter as michaeljmo

Van Loan uses 'complex mathematical formula' to decide if aid coming to Ontario tornado victims

Federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan says it's not a political decision that decides if an area like Vaughan, Ontario, hit by a tornado last Thursday will receive federal disaster assistance, it will be done using a "complex mathematical formula."

Really, I am sure the good people of Vaughan, where an estimated 600 homes were damaged in the tornado were reasured to learn that the Harper Conservatives would apply its complex math formula and give them the news at some time as to whether or not they were eligible for federal assistance in the future as they surveyed the damage in their community.

What in the world was Van Loan, the member for York Simcoe, and the former "Question Period cheap shot specialist" according to columnist Don Martin, doing there if politics is not involved. Van Loan, when he was Government House Leader was one of the most partisan political members in the House of Commons, as he spoke out on Harper's behalf.

In fact in its January 24, 2008 edition, Maclean's magazine referred to Van Loan as one of the "Harper 12" meaning he was one of the 12 most influential people in Ottawa.

One would think that given Van Loan's stature in the government of the day, the complex mathematical formula might work in favour of the people in southern Ontario who suffered loss from the tornado.

And that was the week that was ... Levi Johnston vs Sarah Palin and Harper in Europe

What can we expect in the dog days of summer but a media dominated by stories that range from the sublime to the ridiculous with Levi Johnston emerging at the end of the week as a reliable source on the Sarah Palin resignation as governor of Alaska. Levi, the hockey hunk and hunter from Wassila, who also happens to be the father of Palin's first grandchild, spoke out because people want to know why she is resigning, so says his lawyer.

At a news conference at his lawyer's office, Levi, who is now estranged from Palin's daughter Bristol, who is the mother of his infant son Tripp, said the governor wants to cash in on the lure of financial enrichments as the most logical explanation for the governor's sudden resignation.

A Palin spokesperson shot back that Johnston is also trying to land his own deals -- movie, book, modeling. But that is old news already reported in a major, generally favourable feature on Johnston in the July issue of GQ magazine. Meanwhile GQ's sister publication Vanity Fair comes out with an unflattering piece on Sarah Palin.

As many of you know, I was involved in small town hockey and politics for a long time, but the Palin saga, goes beyond anything that was ever in my wildest imaginings, and we were a pretty colourful cast of characters ourselves in Northern Ontario in the Seventies. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, on a much more serious note, if that's possible these days, Stephen Harper, the prime minister, almost missed his second photo op at a meeting of world leaders. But he made it as his peers started to call his name. Harper missed the photo op at a meeting earlier this year of G-20 leaders. Unbelievable. reminds me of that trip Joe Clark, another Tory prime minister took, and lost his baggage.

Then Harper sees an opportunity to lash out at Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff for remarks the Liberal leader allegedly made. Turns out that Ignatieff never made the remarks, and there we have our prime minister on the international stage forced to formally apologize to Mr Ignatieff.

Want to bet heads will roll in the prime minister's office very soon. Harper tries so hard to come across as a world leader and twice he's blown it. At the next election Canadians will decide if he goes too.

So there we have it. Lots of very important issues out there but it's much easier to bring you the latest on Levi vs Sarah, and Harper blowing it on the world stage.

Harper 'in the loo' when G-20 photo taken, BBC reports

The BBC reported that Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada, was 'in the loo' and missed the group photo of G-20 leaders at their conference in London. Chapleau native, now CTV News Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife reported that the PM's office is furious about reports that he was in the washroom, claiming he was meeting with his staff.

CTV News further reports that Harper 'became famous' at the meeting because he missed the photo-op. Apparently when he showed up US President Barack Obama went over and welcomed him.

A quick check of online news outlets shows that Harper's absence is making headlines everywhere today. CNN headline: "Canadian PM denies toilet break during photo op." One way to get some attention when you are appearing way off on the side in the group photo.

Have to wonder if they would have proceeded with the photo if if had been President Obama who was absent. Don't think so! Reports are they took a second one including Harper after his return from wherever he was.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20090402%2fG20_harperphoto_090402


Comments welcome as always mj.morris@live.ca or here

Marathon, Ontario: microcosm of global economic crisis

I started out this morning checking out some of the major media web sites to see how the Stephen Harper media blitz in New York yesterday was playing. My first stop was at thestar.com, the web site of Canada's largest daily newspaper.

Not a mention of Canada's prime minister and his foray into the United States. However, to me, the Star's top story brought home the grim reality of the seriousness of the economic crisis we are facing in Canada and around the world.

David Giuliano, the moderator of the United Church of Canada, and a minister in Marathon, Ontario, just down the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks from Chapleau, my home town, has issued a letter urging Canadians to come together and help each other in these difficult times.

In Marathon, he notes that Marathon Pulp Inc has closed and is under bankruptcy protection, a tale being told in so many communities across Canada today. "Everyone here," he writes, "builder to baker, teacher to preacher, works directly or indirectly for the mill or the already vanishing mines..." adding that it "feels like a microcosm of what is happening to the economy across the country and around the world."

See full story at http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/592083

Just yesterday I was in a grocery store in Cranbrook, British Columbia, where I live, and the cashier was telling me how the impact of the shutdown of the Tembec mills in the areas was starting to hurt. "People have no money," she said and very bad sign, "are starting to live on their credit cards." They hope the shutdowns will be shortlived of course but who knows.

Similar stories are being told everywhere these days.

The Toronto Star article goes on to provide other examples of how the churches are moving to help in this time of crisis, which to me is wonderfully positive news. For all of us it is a time when we need to focus on those things that bring us together rather than those that divide us, and that is really to do all we can for those in need.

Back to the so called Harper media blitz. It seems to me he is trying to play Barack Obama. Well, if he is, he should note that the American president returned home quickly from his visit to Canada and has been front and centre in working on plans to solve the crisis, and tonight Mr Obama delivers his first State of the Union address to the American Congress.

Kudos to Mr Guiliano for speaking out! The letter can be read at http://www.united-church.ca/

Please post comments and any ideas you may have to help out! Email me at mj.morris@live.ca

Obama opens White House door to Michaelle Jean

WOW! That was my reaction to the news that President Barack Obama has extended an open invitation to Michaelle Jean, the Governor General of Canada to visit him at the White House. In an unprecedented move in Canadian-United States relations, an American president is welcoming the appointed Governor General to visit.

For those who may not follow the Canadian system here is brief primer. In our parliamentary system, under the constitution, the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II is our head of state, but the Governor General, appointed by the Queen on the advice of the prime minister of the day, acts on her behalf when she is not in Canada -- hardly ever here ever for that matter. That`s quite a mouthfull but that`s the way it is.

It was obvious when the president and the governor general met at Ottawa Airport last week on Obama`s visit to Canada that they hit it off, and they had quite a long chat particularly about Haiti where Ms Jean was born. It was also very historic. The first black US president meets the first black Canadian Governor General.

The invitation also signalled that President Obama does things differently than his predecessors.

After meeting Stephen Harper, the prime minister, Obama actually steered him out to where he could acknowledge the crowd of Canadians who had gathered on Parliament Hill to catch a glimpse of him. As he was leaving he did it again. Both unscheduled events but important to those who came out on a cold Winter day in Ottawa, although Harper looked totally surprised.

Obama also said he would like to return to Canada when it is warmer. Goodness, Mr President, it can be very cold in Chicago.

And perhaps on his next trip, Canadians can make sure he attends a hockey game. He admitted in an interview he had never seen one.

Heading back to the airport Obama`s motorcade made another unscheduled stop at the famous Byward Market where he got an Obama Tail at the Beaver Tail Hut and some gifts for his wife and children. I am not even going to try and describe a beaver tail! Apparently Obama was even going to pay with a $20 Canadian bill but he was given his purchases free. (We can be sure that the RCMP and Secret Service were well aware of this stop long before it was made,)

I had my doubts about the American media coverage of Obama`s trip but it got wide coverage on television and the newspapers. Ed Henry, a CNN White House correspondent was in full flight as he talked about `thousands`of Canadians lining the streets to welcome the president. Well Ed, maybe not thousands and thousands!

Perhaps the success of the presdident`s first official visit to a foreign country was summed up in his own words, ``I love this country.`` WOW!!!!! Let`s all hope the romance continues.

Please feel free to comment.

Barack Obama is heading to Canada

Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Canada on February 19, making it his first official visit to another country since becoming president of the United States on January 20. Some Canadian journalists are calling it a 'fly by' as Obama will arrive in our capital city Ottawa in the morning, spend time with Stephen Harper, the prime minister and have lunch, answer a few questions at a news conference, then head back to the airport and likely be back in Washington before his children go to bed.

His trip may or may not get a mention on the major American news broadcasts, but at the news conference, Canadian journalists get two questions --- one in English, the other in French. The other two are for the U.S. traveling press corps, according to reports.

What will President Obama and Prime Minister Harper discuss. Obviously the economy.

The U.S. president is hugely popular in Canada with about an 80% approval rating but he will not be making a major address to the Canadian people. In fact the Canadian parliament is on a break this week.

It is difficult to really say how the president and the prime minister will get along but given the dire state of the global economy and the importance of Canada - U.S. trade let's hope all goes OK. I can recall the disastrous relationships between President John F Kennedy and Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and President Lyndon Johnson and Prime Minister Lester Pearson.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien and President Bill Clinton became golfing buddies.

I have my doubts if Obama and Harper will ever break out into song like President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney did with the rendition of 'When Irish Eyes are Smiling' but making a connection for a positive relationship between the two countries will be sufficient.

Harper must be looking forward to the photo-op with Obama, the world's political rock star, hoping it will give him a boost in the polls.

Perhaps President Obama will have much more in common with Official Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff who he plans to meet at the airport. Both attended Harvard University, and Ignatieff headed the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy there during the time that Lawrence Summers was Harvard president. Summers is now the head of Obama's National Economic Council based in the White House. A good friend to have in Washington and Dr Summers is apparently accompanying the president to Ottawa!

Please feel free to leave comment. Email me at mj.morris@live.ca

Harper 'on probation' as Barack Obama plans trip to Canada

Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal leader, ensured the survival of the minority Harper government by agreeing to vote for its budget as long as it agreed to provide regular reports to the House of Commons. The government agreed and Ignatieff says, Harper and company are "on probation."

Reaction: Jack Layton, the NDP leader was not at all pleased with Ignatieff's decision, and says there is now a Liberal-Tory coalition. The one his party entered into with former Liberal leader Stephane Dion, propped up by Gilles Duceppe, and the separatist Bloc Quebecois died. Duceppe more or less shrugged at Ignatieff`s knowing that in politics you do what you gotta do!

Layton is obviously very angry that his bid to become a cabinet minister through the back door failed with the collapse of the coalition. The NDP would have had six seats in a 24 member cabinet. The NDP has launched radio ads attacking Ignatieff. Nasty, nasty Jack!

Politics makes strange bedfellows: Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, a Liberal is gushing with praise for the Harper government's budget, while Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, a Conservative, and Quebec Premier Jean Charest, now a Liberal but former leader of the national Conservative party (then called Progressive Conservatives) are unhappy. Only in Canada!

But the REALLY BIG news is that US President Barack Obama is coming to Canada on February 19, his first official visit to another country since becoming president. He will meet with the prime minister and other important people. All want to at least have a photo op with Obama. He has an 80% approval rating among Canadians, much more popular than any Canadian politician. President Obama will not be staying overnight -- he arrives in the morning of the 19th, and will likely be back in the White House before his children go to bed.

Enjoy your day

Coming Soon.. "Professor" Michael Ignatieff

The Harper government had its chance yesterday and seems to have brought down its version of an everything for everybody budget for Canadians -- by one count, 109 different goodies!

Today Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, the former Harvard University professor and writer has his turn at centre stage as he lets us know the intentions of his party. Will it bring down the Harper government by joining the NDP and Bloc Quebecois who have already said they were voting against it. Or will he present amendments to the Conservative plans -- the good old Canadian compromise trick in return for letting them stay in power.

If the government falls, Governor General Michaelle Jean will make what will likely be the biggest decision of her lifetime: call upon Ignatieff to form a government or call an election!!

Stay and please feel free to comment!

BULLETIN: CTV News Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife, (a Chapleau boy, folks!) is reporting now that Ignatieff will support the budget with conditions. http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/the-day-after/#clip134181

p.s. If any wish to contribute a piece on this issue, just let me know.

God, the king, the country and ME!

As I wait for the Harper government to present its budget in the House of Commons today, my mind wanders back to a much simpler time in my life. At least as I look back 60 years or so, it sure seems that way. Notwithstanding the reality that my father was killed while on active service with the Royal Canadian Airforce in World War II, life was pretty good for me growing up in Chapleau, a small community in Northern Ontario.

I had a wonderful Mom, and grandparents. along with my aunt and uncle on Mom's side and cousins who constantly bugged me, and my other aunt, my Dad's sister who fascinated me because she had moved from home and lived in such exotic places as Calgary and Toronto.

I had my friends with whom I spent countless hours playing children's games often centred near the huge rock on the "back river" across from our house on Grey Street adjacent to the Roman Catholic Cemetery. I also had my tricycle which enabled me to patrol the streets of Chapleau, and head off to visit Maw and Grandpa, my Dad's parents who lived on the "other side of town."

Enough already, you say. What does all this have to do with the Harper budget, and God, the king, the country and me. In a way everything, because back then despite great differences on political and religious issues, we knew where we stood. I don't recall ever hearing that Canadians did not trust the prime minister, to me a very serious allegation indeed.

For example, family came first of course, and by extension that included all members of the community when any were in need. I think it was Cervantes who first noted about the small community that people cared about each other! And they did. And I am sure they still do.

In my home, after I was all growed up so to speak I could look back and say unequivocally that God, duty to serve country and community, love of family and friends were the guiding principles in my early life. This also meant support of the Anglican church, the Progressive Conservative party, and loyalty to the king (George VI at the time.)

All these years later I am a lapsed Anglican, (although God certainly remains), no longer a Conservative and after Stephen Harper, in my view abused power by going to the Governor General to have parliament prorogued rather than face a vote of non confidence in the House of Commons, a convert to the abolition of the monarchy in Canada. I still love my friends and family.

I think of the poem 'The Second Coming' by William Butler Yeats as I sort out where I stand today

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming!

Link to the poem: http://classiclit.about.com/library/weekly/aa031701a.htm

Please feel free to post your comments or email me at mj.morris@live.ca

Stephen Harper: "a victim of his dark side"

The Toronto Star quotes Tom Flanagan, a long time Conservative party strategist as saying that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may have become "a victim of his dark side" as he attempts to survive politically.

The article by Richard J Brennan and Bruce Campion-Smith lays out several ways that Harper seems to have betrayed his "conservative" principles in a bid to stay in power.

They quote Flanagan, a former Harper campaign organizer and strategist, as saying that Harper has been "transformed from a conservative ideologue to a political survivor, but remains a victim of his own dark side.

'Both sides are real ... but what you see more and more is the political Harper,' said Flanagan, author of the acclaimed Harper's Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power, " according to The Star story.

Full story: http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/577188

One expects that the Toronto Star would be critical of Harper, but it surprised me greatly that Flanagan. who I have watched defend the Conservatives many times would say the prime minister has become a victim of his dark side, where political survival is more important than his principles.

As Canada`s parliament resumes today with a speech from the throne and a budget tomorrow, this is no time for survival games by the prime minister or for that matter the leaders of the opposition parties. Their responsibility to all Canadians must go beyond their own lust for power, and for once in their lives, let them put the country first.

I have been following Canadian politics since Louis St Laurent was prime minister, and I have seen a lot of things happen, but this is the first time I think we should be concerned about the truth of Lord Acton`s famous dictum that `power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolùtely.

Therefore. let the House of Commons resume. Let there be a healthy responsible debate on the budget presented by the Harper government, and then let there be a vote on it. No games!

If the government is defeated in the House of Commons, the prime minister goes to the Governor General and gives advice. The Governor General has two options: call upon the leader of one of the opposition parties to see if his party can get the confidence of the house and form a government or dissolve parliament and call an election.

However, before we get to an election, or another party leader being called upon to form a government, throughout our history we have perfected the art of compromise to keep the country together. Given the economic climate today let each and every member of parliament say: CANADA FIRST!

Please feel free to comment here or email me