Harper coverup...drip, drip, drip

Stephen Harper knows all, sees all, controls all in his government. His coverup of political mistakes continues to unravel.
This is not about the Canadian military. In fact, the Koring article below shows that our troops were trying to do the right thing in 2006, in spite of the political decisions that delayed Harper government action to improve prisoner transfer protocols.
This is about Stephen Harper, his Ministers and their own mistakes, which were followed up with an on-going attempt to keep the facts from Canadians. A hiding of facts which was, originally, part and parcel of the Harper desire to extend the mission until 2009.
His Ministers, no doubt with the approval of the all-controlling Prime Minister, are now being caught out in the Harper strategy of coverup. From the last couple of days:

Proof of detainee abuse exists, despite MacKay's denials
Paul Koring
Globe and Mail
Published on Sunday, Dec. 06, 2009 10:30PM EST
Sworn testimony by senior Canadian officers and rare uncensored documentary evidence contradict Defence Minister Peter MacKay's repeated assertions that no proof exists of even a single case of a Canadian-transferred detainee abused by Afghan security forces.

In one well-documented case in the summer of 2006, Canadian soldiers captured and handed over a detainee who was so severely beaten by Afghan police that the Canadians intervened and took the detainee back. Canadian medics then treated the man's injuries. The incident is documented in the field notes of Canadian troops, recounted in a sworn affidavit by a senior officer and confirmed in cross-examination by a general.

Colvin portrayal not fitting the bill
Embattled diplomat far from lone voice on detainee abuse
By David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen
December 5, 2009
He's been portrayed by Defence Minister Peter MacKay as a Taliban dupe and other Conservative ministers have criticized how he did his job in Afghanistan.

But as government documents regarding Afghan detainees continue to be released, the picture emerging of Foreign Affairs official Richard Colvin appears far different.

In those records, obtained by the Citizen, Colvin is shown trying to push National Defence and Foreign Affairs to fix a flawed detainee process as Red Cross representatives in Afghanistan complained several times about how Canada was handling prisoners.

And contrary to the government's portrayal of Colvin as a lone voice of dissent, records show he consulted with other diplomats and military officers about his reports and e-mails before they were sent to Ottawa.

MacKay on detainees
Sunday, Dec. 06, 2009 11:06PM EST

Defence Minister Peter MacKay responding to allegations that Canada transferred prisoners to Afghan custody knowing they were at risk of being abused.

* "There has never been a single, solitary, proven allegation of abuse of a detainee, a Taliban prisoner, transferred by Canadian Forces.” Dec. 2 in the House of Commons
* “Mr. Speaker, there has not been a single, solitary, proven allegation of a prisoner being abused that was transferred from the Canadian Forces.” Nov. 23 in the House of Commons
* “We do want to hear from individuals who can bring forward credible, proven allegations, not just recitations of what was heard, what was passed on, what was read in reports, or what was disclosed by Taliban prisoners themselves. That is what the evidence is so far. We have not seen a single scintilla of proof.” Nov. 23 in the House of Commons
* “There has never been a single proven allegation of abuse involving a prisoner transferred by the Canadian Forces, not one.” Nov. 23 in the House of Commons
* “Not a single Taliban soldier turned over by Canadian forces can be proved to have been abused. That is the crux of the issue.” Nov. 22 in a press conference
* “There has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian forces.” Nov. 19, in a press conference

Star (navel) gazing

A year ago the Toronto Star was rhapsodizing over the ascension of Michael Ignatieff to the leadership of the Liberal Party. Today we see the second article in 5 days that talks of his demise.
On Wednesday it was Tom Walkom, making the case that because Bob Rae is doing his job in opposition, he is somehow running a leadership campaign. No concrete evidence, of course, was presented. Walkom gratuitously linked Peter DonOLO to the nascent plot of, as Walkom calls them FOBs, to have Rae as leader.Walkom is called a "National Affairs Columnist" and he seems more inclined to the Taber definition of such a role.
Today we get more of the same from the Star in the musings of Angelo Persichilli, Political Columnist. Once again, we see a journalist putting opinions to paper absent the type of concrete corroboration that they demand of politicians on a daily basis. No doubt working up an article on input from "sources", none of whom are ever named. We see "gotcha journalism" in full bloom, as chance meetings become part of a cabal. One is left to wonder who the editors are at the Star these days. Just using "quotation marks" does not a "direct quote" make. Attributing words to people, like Glen Pearson, does not mean that they were actually uttered. Indeed, Pearson has a pretty good dissection of the "column", and the style of journalism it represents, up already this morning. (UPDATE: Pearson has added a second thoughtful piece)
Persichilli should have been wary of the material provided by whomever his "source" might have been. The tip-off should have been the mere mention that anyone would be stupid enough to suggest to Bob Rae that Ralph Goodale should be dumped. Goodale supported Rae every step of the way through two (or at least one and a half) leadership precesses. Rae has a consummate understanding of personal loyalty. He would have ripped the head off of anyone who made such a suggestion...even in passing.
Persichilli should also get his Trudeau quotes right if he is going to invoke his name and words. Trudeau actually said, "When they are 50 yards from Parliament Hill, they are no longer honourable members, they are just nobodies." But, that would be fact-checking and that's another matter. Actually, Trudeau could just as easily have said, "When they are on Parliament Hill, they are no longer journalists, they are just busybodies."
Trudeau also said, “The essential ingredient of politics is timing,” and he once uttered Roy Chapin's belief to, “Be ready when opportunity comes...Luck is the time when preparation and opportunity meet.” I would be willing to bet that Bob Rae ascribes to both. He would also recall Trudeau saying, "If I found in my own ranks that a certain number of guys wanted to cut my throat, I'd make sure that I cut their throats first."

Climategate...puleeese

Can't help noticing and citing this...

by Mark Silva

"Climategate,'' they call it.

What a joke.

As if the hacking of some email in England exposing some overzealous scientists with a political agenda undermines the world's collection of scientific data on climate change.

Suddenly, it's time for Al Gore to surrender his Nobel Prize.

"Poor Al Gore, global warming completely debunked - via the very Internet you invented,'' chimes Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show. "Oh, the irony.''

Just like snow in Houston:

Proof, the Luddites insist, that global warming is nothing more than a modern interlude between the great Ice Ages and the human spewing of megatonnage of carbon into the atmosphere has nothing to do with it. All that shrinking Arctic ice cap stuff? Mere Photo-shopping.

The closing argument against climate change, critics contend, comes with more than 1,000 emails hacked in England involving climate research since 1996 that includes talk of combating the arguments of climate-change skeptics, harsh words for those skeptics, exclusion of scientists with contrarian views on the matter and destruction of data that might undermine evidence of global warming.

As if this is the only work in the world that has gone into the investigation of global warming and man's hand in it.

The United Nations has relied on the work of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Great Britain for its "alarmist'' action on climate change, FOX News Channel's Brit Humenotes. The believers in climate change and man's hand in it say the hacked emails from the CRU are being "taken out of context,'' Hume reports.

"There's a one-word answer to all of that: Please.''

As a U.N. conference on climate change in Copenhagen assembles next week, with President Barack Obama and other world leaders headed there for the conclusion of the conference on Dec. 18 - and Obama making his own journey to Oslo on Dec. 10 to pick up a Nobel Prize for Peace - purveyors of the 'Climategate scandal' would have it that some hacked email is cause for calling off the whole thing.

"The momentum for that was already declining, because global warming, climate change, has been dropping lower and lower in peoples' lists of priorities for a long time now,'' Hume has concluded "and doubts about whether man is causing it and the whole theory of it have been rising. This can only further that that.... Perhaps it may all even be a fraud.''

One word, indeed:

Please.

See original

All hail Chairman Steve

A nickname that fits and just might stick...too funny indeed... 

Chairman Steve

The Prime Minister is big in China.
The motorcade stopped, the Prime Minister and his wife Laureen alighted from a black limo, and as they made their way down the street hand-in-hand, a flurry of RCMP security, paparazzi and tourists followed. Across the road a few shouts of "Harper! Harper!" went up and the smiling Prime Minister [...]

News from the Visit-Ibbit front...Harper to return to Parliament

News from the front...from Just Visit-Ibbit...can only mean that Stephen Harper will be returning to Parliament (aka DMZ) some day soon...
Harper to visit DMZ 
Saturday, December 5, 2009 8:41 AM 

Climate change is in the eye of the beholder...or presenter

In the climate change "debate" the deniers have the upper hand. It is ever thus. Anyone with a "new" theory bears the weight of providing the "onus of proof" (and that is the crux of the current hacked emails tale). And, make no mistake, global warming is the new kid on the block, even though it may seem we have debating its very existence for ever. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was created in 1988. That is the blink-of-an-eye ago in terms of what is being discussed and it deals with comparisons of 20th century global activity to the entire past history of this old world. The 20th century represents another blink-of-the-eye in the eons of time.
It is understandable that some folks, even some within the scientific community, disagree with (a) the very idea of global warming, or (b) the science modelling on either side of the question. Indeed, even if scientists do accept the notion of global warming there can be debate as to the relative extent of that warming.
Having said that, we do have some other tools available to us that make it a little easier for mere mortals to enter this discussion. Satellite imagery generated over time provides a geothermal historical digital picto-gram and record that simply could not have been generated until the last 40 years. The same satellite imaging technology is being employed for oil exploration. So...for this poor little mite of humanity, at least...what can be observed from the sky is certainly providing some confidence that global warming exists.
Another modern day phenomena rests with the use of some old tools. Specifically, the human power of observation. Thanks to the eagle-eyed Inuit elders, like Evie Aninilianik, Inusiq Nashalik, or Elisapee Ishulutaq, we have practical knowledge that tells us of change to the Arctic climate. Sheila Watt-Cloutier is another Inuit, though not elder, who is able to tell the story. Just as surely as oil exploration in the north is made easier by the warming temperatures, so is the current way of life changing. Actually seeing the Greenland ice sheet, and others, crumbling in melt is another indicator to me that just in my lifetime things have changed.
Similarly, I know that when I look up at the sun during a Canadian day in 2009...it looks different than it did in my  youth. It is sharper in definition. It is harder to look at. The atmosphere shading me from it and softening the glare of the image has changed. I can see that for myself.
I don't need to engage in scientific debate. I am willing to accept observations that indicate this planet's climate has changed, is changing, in my lifetime. Antarctica has actually cooled over the same time period. Does that mean that global warming is a sham? Absolutely not. It is just proof that the climate is changing at the south pole, just as it is in every other continent.
What the world needs a whole lot less of is our media hyping the focus on the scientific debate, rather than what is really happening to the environment in which we live and that we must leave for future generations. A case in point is the article headline, and the point of emphasis in today's Ottawa Citizen titled:

The Canadians who changed the climate debate
Canadians Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick have discovered faulty calculations in some of the key scientific studies behind the reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. As Richard Foot reports, that's made them pretty unpopular in some circles.

No kidding! We need paragraph-length headlines now just to be sure that readers are headed in the right direction, with the appropriate pre-conditioned bias. You then have to read the entire piece to grasp that there is some pretty fair balance, both to it and to the overall debate about climate change. One of the stars, Steve McIntyre, is introduced in the first 87 words as a denier. It is not until 1300 words later, in the final 32, that he is quoted as saying, "I honestly don't know whether it is a big problem, a little problem or a medium problem. And I don't think the skeptics have proven that global warming is not a problem."
So...what we have here in reality is one of the people in the world who has been identified as a skeptic worldwide actually admits there is a "problem", but he just isn't sure of the scope. AND, he puts the ball into the skeptics court to disprove global warming. That should have generated a headline like:

Canadian not so "skeptical" of global warming after all
Canadian Steve McIntyre doesn't doubt global warming - he's just not sure of scope. He also doesn't think climate change "skeptics" have proven global warming not a problem.

The Citizen could have even saved 10 words in headline length...and it would have been a story that resonated around the world. There is nothing the media likes more than to roil this whole warmists vs deniers brouhaha, all the while ignoring real life events around them. What we need in Canada is something like the Pullitzer Center and their Untold Stories. Something like their latest creation, Dispatches from Copenhagen, would be useful in coming days to offer balance to the extremes of journalism.
We need to get away from debates over "2 degrees Celsius" vs "it's all a lie". Real people tell us of real change to their environment. The burning of fossil fuels is bad for our health. For Pete's sake, desperate humans inhale auto exhaust fumes as a way of ending their life. We need to stop using fossil fuels...for our health. PERIOD. The populations of the world need to tell their leaders to get moving...find alternatives and save our health. We've done it before to correct or control human excess (acid rain comes to mind) and we can do it again.

John Ibbitson...just visiting

John Ibbitson must be really worried about airfare home. He writes of Harper's China trip:
The point is that, despite his mauling by Premier Wen Jiabao over the Conservative government's tardy and reluctant recognition of the importance of the China-Canada relationship, the Prime Minister's trip is substantively a success.
He goes on to say:
How to balance trade and human rights on the China file has baffled every Canadian government. Most just caved, shoving the issue aside.
BULLSHIT! Others dealt with both quite well.
Kudos to Paul Wells for calling "Just Visiting Ibbitson" too...(and be sure to read the tags)

Excerpt from the Prime Minister’s Shanghai speech

by Paul Wells on Friday, December 4, 2009 9:18pm - 24 Comments

…”But China is doing more than just building itself a ‘hard’ infrastructure of roads and buildings. It is also in the process of building a ’soft’ infrastructure. A pillar of which is a modern legal system based on the rule of law.
“It is impossible to underestimate the significance of the rule of law in a modern society. It is a profoundly inclusive concept. One that subordinates all social, economic, political, and individual behaviour to an agreed set of codes and regulations. To have meaning, these rules must not be the exclusive preserve of a privileged few. They must be the common property of all citizens. They must be clear to everyone, taught to everyone and applied to everyone in a uniform way.
“No one can be above the law. And no one can be forgotten by the law or denied its protection. And to be applied impartially, the rule of law means that there should be a clear separation of the prosecutor from the person who will ultimately pass judgement.
“Of course, the rule of law is about more than just a dry set of rules. The rules themselves reflect fundamental values of right conduct.
“The Canadian experience, and that of countries around the world, is that these values, and the rights that make them specific, are universal. They are endowed equally to all people, everywhere. Not on the basis of any special power or privilege, but purely and simply because they have been given the gift of life.
“That is why we call them human rights. And they not only protect individuals from abuse. They empower them to contribute fully and creatively to building a stronger society.
“Canada believes that frank discussion among nations about human rights can foster wider respect for and entrenchment of those rights. That while circumstances and experiences may vary from nation to nation, we all share a sense of what is just, what is right.
“True friends are never shy about exchanging views on important issues.
“And so, as a friend, I must tell you that Canadians are concerned when they hear reports from China of interference in the right of free expression. Or that people are imprisoned and badly treated for observing their spiritual beliefs. These reports transgress our most deeply-held convictions…”

Tags: It's Jean Chrétien, Speaking in February 2001

At least we now can guess when Harper will be in Copenhagen...probably...

Obama shifts Copenhagen visit to boost deal

By BEN FELLER and DINA CAPPIELLO – 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday abruptly altered the timing of his upcoming appearance at an international climate summit in Copenhagen, hoping to capitalize on steps by India and China and build a more meaningful political accord, the White House said.
The move means Obama will be at the summit on Dec. 18, considered a crucial period when more leaders will be in attendance, as opposed to his scheduled stop in Denmark on Wednesday on his way to Nobel Peace Prize events in Oslo.

Questions...

A couple of questions (and perhaps some humour) pop up with respect to two recent Press Releases from the Harper Ministry of Information...

1. How many of the "more than 300,000 multicoloured lights" will be blue?

Dec 03, 2009 14:00 ET

Programming for the Passage of the Olympic Torch Through Canada's Capital Region Unveiled

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 3, 2009) - The Government of Canada and the National Capital Commission today announced the artistic programming for the celebrations marking the Olympic Torch relay's passage through Canada's Capital Region on December 12.
...
The 25th edition of the NCC's Christmas Lights Across Canada Program official illumination ceremony will coincide with the arrival of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay on Parliament Hill on December 12. This year, more than 300,000 multicoloured lights-including 200,000 LED lights on NCC sites-will illuminate the National Capital Region every evening from 4:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. until January 7, 2010. For more information on NCC celebration programming, visit www.canadascapital.gc.ca.

This news release is available on the Internet at www.canadianheritage.gc.ca under Media Room.

2. Will the local Member of Parliament be in attendance?

Dec 04, 2009 10:01 ET

Media Advisory: Mike Wallace, Member of Parliament (Burlington), Makes Announcement About Fort York National Historic Site

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 4, 2009) - On behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Mike Wallace, Member of Parliament (Burlington), will make an announcement about the Fort York National Historic Site on Friday.

This advisory is subject to change without notice.

The details are as follows:

Date:   Friday, December 4, 2009
Time:   12:00 p.m. EST
Place:  Toronto City Hall
        Committee Room 1 (2nd Floor)
        100 Queen Street West
        Toronto, Ontario

Harper proves he was wrong

Canada has finally gained "approved destination status from China." No doubt, Boss Harp and his minions will lay claim to this "achievement" (the Globe toes the line). In truth, the achievement is merely proof of Stephen Harper's China failures.
It could have happened a lot earlier...if Stephen Harper had made China/Canada relations a priority. These negotiations were close to fruition in 2005. So close...(if John Ibbitson wasn't just visiting he might have remembered this)...

Canada Granted Approved Destination Status by Chinese Government

BEIJING, China, January 21, 2005 — The Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry, today announced that the Government of the People's Republic of China has agreed to recognize Canada as an officially approved travel destination.
At yesterday's meeting of the Canada-China Strategic Working Group, both sides agreed that China would grant Approved Destination Status to Canada and that both sides would encourage discussions on greater tourism cooperation.
"We welcome the news that Canada has been officially approved as a travel destination by the People's Republic of China," said Minister Emerson. "China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and the recognition of Canada as an officially approved travel destination has significant economic potential for the Canadian tourism industry."
Approved Destination Status allows Chinese residents to travel to Canada using a tourist exit visa. Previously, only a few Chinese visitors traveling on business could obtain exit visas to Canada.
Since 1999, the Canadian Tourism Commission has been seeking Approved Destination Status for Canada with China. In 2004, Canada received 77 000 overnight visitors from China, and the World Tourism Organization estimates that by 2020, there will be 100 million Chinese tourists annually.

A Friday double, double?

Some Friday reading while enjoying the double, double (not a double dip recession just yet)...It is interesting to note that in the US the issue of JOBS is moving to the fore. It doesn't matter whether it is a discussion of deficit, stimulus or taxes. Jobs is a common factor for debate. That will happen here too...eventually.

Canada creates 79,000 jobs in November
This will be portrayed in the media as a big "positive" and "surprise". A "surprise" it may be...but...a quick glance notices these challenges behind the headline:

• Despite November's gain, employment was 321,000 (-1.9%) below the peak of October 2008.
  
• In recent months, the number of employees in the public sector, as well as the number of self-employed, has trended up, while in the private sector, the trend has been relatively flat.
• Almost all the employment growth in November was attributable to the service sector (+73,000), especially educational services.
• Compared with a year ago, average hourly wages in November were up 2.3%, the lowest year-over-year growth since March 2007.

Service Sector ISM Back In Contraction; Stimulus Fades Already
(H/T Mish, et al)

Job Cuts Loom as Stimulus Fades
WSJ

Oil slips on US jobless fears

Youth Climate Leaders Talk Time Lines & Targets At White House
Huffington

Jim Bunning Does Not ♥ Ben Bernanke
The Big Picture: Tim Iacono

Hey Obama, Here are 9 Big Ideas to Beat Unemployment
Atlantic Business Channel

Prentice flip...flop...flip...flop

Either I was naively premature, or Boss Harp got on Jim Prentice right away, but apparently Jim Prentice wasn't serious when he "dismissed conspiracy theorists". Typical of the Harper government that just says whatever comes into their minds, and loves to keep the vista hazy so that no one knows what they are really up to, almost in the next breath Prentice was opining that Canada may have been a target of the CRU scientists.
How can he expect anyone would believe the rumour that Canada will abandon "intensity" targets? It was just a few days ago that Stephen Harper indicated that his climate plan would not change much just because he changed his own plans not to attend the Copenhagen conference.
Which reminds us...As the deniers of climate change continue their attack on science in general, and climate science in particular, this makes a good read over at Media Matters:

"Decline" in email -- written 10 years ago after warmest year on record -- does not refer to actual global temperatures

"Decline" refers to unreliable tree ring data, not actual global temperatures. In a November 26 article, The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania, reported that Penn State scientist Michael Mann -- whose "trick" was referenced in the email Hemmer cited -- "said his trick, or 'trick of the trade,' for the Nature chart was to combine data from tree-ring measurements, which record world temperatures from 1,000 years ago until 1960, with actual temperature readings for 1961 through 1998" because "scientists have discovered that, for temperatures since 1960, tree rings have not been a reliable indicator." Jones has also stated that it is "well known" that tree ring data "does not show a realistic trend of temperature after 1960," and the CRU has said that "[t]he 'decline' in this set of tree-ring data should not be taken to mean that there is any problem with the instrumental temperature data." In a November 20 post, RealClimate.org's staff, which is comprised of several working climate scientists, including Mann, similarly stated:

As for the 'decline', it is well known that Keith Briffa's maximum latewood tree ring density proxy diverges from the temperature records after 1960 (this is more commonly known as the "divergence problem"-see e.g. the recent discussion in this paper) and has been discussed in the literature since Briffa et al in Nature in 1998 (Nature, 391, 678-682). Those authors have always recommend not using the post 1960 part of their reconstruction, and so while 'hiding' is probably a poor choice of words (since it is 'hidden' in plain sight), not using the data in the plot is completely appropriate, as is further research to understand why this happens.

Jones' email written 10 years ago, after warmest year on record and prior to warmest decade. Hemmer's claim that the emails show efforts to "hide evidence of a decline in global temperatures over the past, say, few decades" is undermined by the fact that Jones' email was sent in 1999, following the warmest year on record, 1998. Jones sent the email November 16, 1999. According to the UK's Met Office Hadley Center, 1998 was the warmest year globally. Moreover, eight of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred this decade, and the 20 warmest years have occurred since 1981.

Harper's "first instincts" on display

Stephen Harper's "first instincts" are on display in China. He is never one to take the diplomatic or conciliatory route as a first choice. We see it regularly in his practise of domestic politics. Today in China, the Canadian Prime Minister was chided by his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, for taking too long to visit the world's most populous nation.
The Globe provides this version of the the Chinese Premier's remarks and the Harper response.

“This is your first visit to China and this is the first meeting between the Chinese premier and a Canadian prime minister in almost five years,” Mr. Wen told Mr. Harper through an interpreter.
Mr. Harper listened, stone-faced, in front of Canadian, Chinese and international media.
“Five years is too long a time for China-Canada relations and that's why there are comments in the media that your visit is one that should have taken place earlier.”
Such a public scolding is unheard of in a meeting between heads of government.
“I agree with you Premier that five years is a long time,” Mr. Harper said in response. “It's also been almost five years since we had yourself or President Hu in our country.”

Harper preferred a "tit-for-tat" initial comeback, rather than putting diplomacy first. It is unfortunate that Mr. Harper's belief that the best defence is a powerful offence interfered in the initial diplomatic exchange between the two leaders. He just had to get a dig in at Mr. Wen. That is his normal instinct at work for all to see. It matters little in the world of international diplomacy that he recovered and went on to invite the Premier or President Hu Jintao to visit Canada in the future.
A more worldly and diplomatically savvy Canadian PM would have said something along the lines of: "You are correct Mr. Wen. Five years is too long and together we must ensure that our meetings are more regular in the future."
Fortunately, such an alternative exists.

How soon they forget!

The City Council of the Nation's Capital is going through their annual budget mud wrestle. In their attempts to convince everyone that they are doing their jobs the members of the Finance Committee of council recently made a number of cuts to budget proposals. As reported in the Ottawa Citizen, "The committee also voted 7-3 to make cuts to forestry and tree service, which would mean a reduction in tree trimming and elimination of stump removal." This morning, CBC Radio One in Ottawa is reporting on the impact this decision can have on tree cutting and suggesting that there might now be a 32 year gap between "trims".
Many, if not most, of this council was sitting in their current seats on August 14, 2003. On that Thursday, at approximately 4:15 PM the great Northeastern Blackout occurred.
How soon they forget!
One of the major causes of that Blackout was a failure to trim trees. Indeed, the press release at the completion of an international review of the Blackout stated:

...there are now four groups of causes of the blackout:
1. Inadequate system understanding;
2. Inadequate situational awareness;
3. Inadequate tree trimming; and
4. Inadequate reliability coordinator diagnostic support.

The final report of the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force is available for Ottawa Council review before their final budget decisions. It is safe to say that those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. It is also safe to say that this whole matter is an indication of the fallacy embodied in a budget process that sets targets and then makes square pegs fit into round holes in order to pretend that Council is doing their job.

David Mulroney today

You have to wonder if Stephen Harper is still enamoured with the diplomatic prowess of his friend David Mulroney, Canada's Ambassador to China...

Harper chastized for waiting too long to visit China

The Associated Press

Date: Thursday Dec. 3, 2009 6:49 AM ET

BEIJING — Prime Minister Stephen Harper received a diplomatic rebuke from his Chinese counterpart Thursday for waiting too long to visit China.
At their first ever meeting, Premier Wen Jiabao reminded Harper that he had not visited the country, adding that the last visit by a Canadian prime minister was five years ago.
"Five years is too long a time of China-Canada and that's why there were comments in the media that your visit should have taken place earlier," the premier said through an interpreter.

The years of neglect are coming home to roost for the Master Tactician.

First step on climate?

Jim Prentice appears to be embarking on an 12 step climate program. Even as the Harper Conservative's soul mate Republican deniers rev up their games in the US, our Enviro minister dismisses conspiracy theorists.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice dismissed the conspiracy theories attached to the "climategate" allegations, insisting global warming is real and Canada needs to cut emissions.

Hopefully, this is just step #1. We need a 12 Steps to Climate Change mindset (with apologies to the originators of the concept, this need not be religion-driven):

1. We admit that climate change exists - that our Planet is in peril.
2. Come to believe that real action could help us restore a sustainable Planet.
3. Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of this Planet.
4. Make a searching and fearless moral, scientific and financial inventory of our actions.
5. Admit to ourselves and to other human beings the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Are entirely ready to have these defects of action corrected or removed.
7. Humbly ask for help to remove our shortcomings.
8. Make a list of all of nature we have harmed and be willing to repair the damage.
9. Make direct amends to nature wherever possible.
10. Continue to take an inventory of actions and when wrong, correct it.
11. Understand that we owe it to humankind to make this a better world.
12. As we have successes, carry this message to other polluters.