954...Bill Clinton Honourary Degree From McGill

October 16th is the big day at McGill, the prestigious Montreal university that will confer an honourary degree on President William Clinton.

Fark.com comments that the honourary degree comes with a lifetime supply of poutine, a stripper of his choice and one free drink at The Village (good Monday to Thursday, 4-6 pm).

Ironically, reports the Canadian Press, President Clinton will make the trip just before another ex-president heads to Montreal. His successor, George W. Bush, will deliver a speech several days later at the city’s Queen Elizabeth hotel.

WFDS

952...When He Is Right He Is Right

Michael Ignatieff has said no truer words than those reported by the Canadian Press in a story just moved:

"'How do I explain to these people that I keep letting this government go on?' Ignatieff told reporters. 'And that's why, in my heart of hearts, after much reflection, we've decided as a party that we can't continue to give the government confidence in the House of Commons.'"

Jack Layton, the ball is in your court brother, your court.

"'We will do our job, even if they will not,' Ignatieff told the nearly empty Conservative benches in the Commons after detailing his list of government failings for more than 10 minutes."

WFDS

935...Now On To More Important Things

The party that should be running the show will be introducing a motion today to topple the Tory government today.

The Canadian Press reports that the Liberals will table a non-confidence motion in the Commons today and bring a vote on that Thursday. According to the story I am sourcing this is probably going to fail but at least, unlike, well, not to point fingers but, Jack Layton, hello, at least Mikey I talks the talk and walks the walk.

Gilles Ducppe, the Bloc Quebecois leader, says that he will support the Liberal motion.

This week we find out if the NDPers really are true to their convictions or going to hang with their friends in the Conservative Party. Like they did earlier this month.

The NDP's only Quebec MP Thomas Mulcair said today "...the important thing is to try to keep Parliament working so that we can do things that are in the public interest.'' He failed to mention that if the election is held this fall the NDP will get beaten like a rented mule.

WFDS

923...Weapons Of Mass Destruction In Edmonton

The Edmonton Eskimos, well, the headline from the Canadian Press on TSN.ca says it best:

ESKIMOS OFFICIALS TALK DOWN

SHOVEL-WIELDING PLAYER

Defensive End Xzavie Jackson was welcomed back on the practice field after a bizarre fight Thursday with teammate and Eskimo centre Aaron Fiacconi that led to Mr. Jackson going after him with a shovel.

Ah, that is the beauty of the Canadian Football League. Its weirdness.

The victim, Mr. Fiacconi, said that getting attacked with a shovel is all part of the wild emotions of a violent game, but noted, "We have to have some kind of control out there. It got away from us a little bit yesterday and it won't happen again."

Thank goodness for gun control.

WFDS

917...Huntsville Here We Come

Huntsville, Ontario, the town that was a huge stepping stone in the career of Shania Twain, is going to be on the world stage next June as South Korea and Canada hold the G-20 summit.

Canadian Press has the story that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and South Korean President Myung-bak Lee made the announcement today during the G20 meetings in Steelertown.

Say what you will about Stephen Harper but I think setting this event up for the new Prime Minister, Mikey I, shows a lot of class.

There is also a G-8 summit mixed in at the meetings in late June of 2010.

I don't know why we are co hosting it with the South Koreans but we are and I haven't quite wrapped my head around the difference between G-20 and G-8 but I do know one thing: Huntsville will have more tear gas rounds per capita in late June 2010 and more protesters per capita in late June 2010 and more police per capita in late June 2010 than any other place on the planet.

I am sure that the new Prime Minister, Michael Ignatieff, will hit it out of the park in Huntsville next year.

WFDS

911...PM Harper Repatriates Timbit

The biggest consumer of branded products I know, 93.1 CKCU's tic, will be proud of his Prime Minister this day.

Stephen Harper met with Tim Horton's executives today after shareholders of the multinational coffee chain voted to reorganize as a Canadian public company. The Canadian Press reports that the PM says that the reason Timmy's is moving back to our home and native land from the home of the free and the land of the brave is because of the Conservative policies of lower taxes that are attracting business to Canada.

Welcome home.

WFDS

906...I Love The Conservative Gov Of Canada

I really, really, really do.

Everyday they bring joy into my life.

If it ain't one t'ing it's another.

Today, according to the Canadian Press, a reputable group that, the help line introduced today by Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, a number that was developed to help Maritime lobster fishers in need of help about a short-term assistance program, turns out to be manned by "...a sultry-sounding woman [who] offers callers 'some tantalizing fun' from a bevy of 'nasty girls.'"

Sadly for lobstermen and lobsterlesbians in Newfoundland, Quebec and the Gulf, their toll free number is not manned by sultry women, 'tis merely a help line.

Ah, the Tories. Anything for a laugh and bit of slap and tickle.

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899...The Next Prime Minister Speaks The Truth

The Canadian Press reports that in a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade earlier Monday the next Prime Minister of Canada said that upon taking office he would open the books and conduct a full audit of public finances.

Michael Ignatieff said that the Conservatives have made a mess of Canada's economy and that his party will be the one to clean it up.

After four years of Stephen Harper's Conservative reign of error Mr. Ignatieff suggests that we ask the question "Are we better off than we were four years ago?''

WFDS

893...Speaking Of Heat

The Canadian Press' Murray Brewster passes along the news that the next Prime Minister is making Jack Layton squirm. The heat was turned up on the Dippers yesterday when Mikey I declared that they'll soon have to make a choice whether they are true believers in Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the minority Conservative government.

Principles or pensions is the question at the New Democratic Party's federal caucus meets these days.

The NDP spin is that "Instead of playing games, Mr. Ignatieff should look at his record," these words emerging from the mouth of spokesman Karl Belanger Sunday. "He propped up Stephen Harper for 79 confidence votes in a row and got nothing in return. The NDP is making Parliament work, trying to get a billion dollars to help the unemployed."

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885...The Headline Says It All

NDP support for Tories sign of broader strategy, analysts say (NDP-Switcharoo)

The Byrds sang Turn, Turn, Turn in 1965; Jack Layton sings Spin, Spin, Spin in 2009.

After a gazillion years of not supporting the anathema that is the Conservative Party of Canada the NDP did a nice 180 degree turn this week propping up the Stephen Harper regime so they, the Tories, can fight another day and shape Canada in the Conservative image.

The above Canadian Press headline is reflective of the both the spin "...broader strategy..." and reality "...Switcharoo...".

The broader strategy is the Dips strat to rule the country by being more practical and accessible and acceptable to Canuckistanians in the same way Premier Darrell Dexter appeals to the Nova Scotians.

The switcharoo is their selling their souls to save their thirty plus seats, a number that will go way, way, way down [Julie Van Dusen on CBC Radio Friday mentioned the magic number could be crazy, as in eight] if we hit the polls this fall.

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869...Sports Is The Opiate Of The People

I sincerely believe that if Karl Marx had have written Das Kapital in 2009 as opposed to 1848 he would have changed the line "Religion is the opiate of the people" to "Sports is the opiate of the people". And in much of The Great White North you could say that "Hockey is the opiate of the people".

In my town, Ottawa, the government could fall, the sky could fall with it but if the Ottawa Senators made a big trade, ala the Dany Heatley deal, in the same news cycle as the previous two stories they, the Sens, would be front page news in the Ottawa Sun and Le Droit and above the fold in the Ottawa Citizen.

Case in point. Prime Minister Harper is in Washington to meet with the President of the United States. The first story being fired out of the meeting is not about trade or war or jobs it is about hockey as referenced in Post 792 "Blame Obama If The Habs or Senators Lose".

In that post I wrote how the law would make travelling for the Canadian teams extra difficult by not allowing their charters to hop from one U. S. city to another. Here is the cut and paste from the Canadian Press about an hour ago addressing that topic:

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the U.S. and Canada have reached a tentative deal to resolve a dispute over charter flights that threatens to disrupt the upcoming professional hockey season.

The U.S. prohibits carriage of passengers or cargo for compensation or hire by a foreign airline solely between points in the U.S.

Yet Canadian teams could have difficulty playing back-to-back games in the U.S. if they are forced to return to their home country between each game.

Harper said Wednesday: ``We think we're very close to resolving that ... I think we have some kind of a tentative agreement in principle and we're working to finalize that in the next few days.''

He spoke in an appearance with President Barack Obama.

The first story from this meeting between our guy and the most important guy on the planet and the topic is Go Leafs Go.

What a country.

WFDS

834...Well It Could Hit The Fan Next Friday

According to, among others, the Canadian Press, the vote that could decide whether or not Canadians have an election this fall, comes down Friday.

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824...Stephen Harper Makes A Video

And Andy Blatchford at the Canadian Press reports that the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada did not impress his fellow leaders.

The next Prime Minister, Michael Ignatieff said that the leaked video taped comments show the real PM, a man who doesn't like the other political parties in the Great White North nor does he like the social institutions and justice system that we have developed in this country.

Gilles Duceppe, the captain of team Bloc Quebecois, says that the behind closed doors Mr. Harper sounds like a leader on the fringes of the Republican Party in the States. The BQ is particularly vexed by the fact that Mr. Harper takes pride in blocking leftists from being appointed to the judiciary and other public institutions.

The NDP called the remarks "...low politics that undermine Canada's justice system."

Interestingly nothing from Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party who, as has been observed, tends to not be particularly current.

She's probably waiting for the movie.

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783...Straight Talk From Gilles Duceppe

Gilles Duceppe held a press conference in deepest and darkest Quebec
yesterday, in a town called Bois-de-Fillion and,
as reported in the Canadian Press, he said that he is open to voting
with the Liberals to topple the Tories.  He is also
open to voting with the Tories to stop a fall election.

Mr. Duceppe's priorities are very consistent:
"If it's good for Quebec, we vote for it."

Tail wagging the dog for certain but if you can pull it off,
and the Bloc Quebecois
has been able to pull it off for years upon years, props to you.

WFDS 

770...The Arctic Is Secure

The Canadian Press is running a story that says that, on the down low as it were, last month the Danish defense chief Admiral Tim Sloth Jorgensen got a tour of the Canadian Arctic, the Arctic that his tourmates Stephen Harper, he's the PM, and Peter McKay, he's Belinda Stronach's ex BF, are letting slip away.

But props to the Tories, having the Danes and their multi man army on our side says something.

I am not sure what it says but it says something.

WFDS

690...Does Cow Tipping Exist?

May be yes, may be no.

What does exist is Smart Car tipping. You know, those little two seater cars that get a gazillion miles to the gallon, warm up in a minute in the winter, cool down in a minute in the summer, are perfect for the city and short trips. And tip.

Yesterday the Canadian Press rolled an article that a man in his 40s in Edmonton has been charged with tipping a Smart Car on its side on Whyte Avenue, a key bar street in Edmonton. The owner, Kevin Spaans, was understandably pissed by the whole debacle; even more so by bystanders posing with the flipped car while their mates snapped Polaroids.

Ken Lust, who sells the car through David Morris Fine Cars in Edmonton, was a victim of the prank himself three years ago and is on the record a being against it.

Still, if it doesn't happen to you, it is kind of funny.

WFDS

596...NDP Poised For Big Breakthrough In Alberta

That is what Jack Layton, federal leader of the NDP, is quoted by the Canadian Press as saying yesterday in Edmonton, Alberta.

Of course, what you expect him to say?

The NDP got a career high one [1] [une] [uno] seat federally in the Wild Rose province last time out.

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582...EU Approves Seal Product Ban

I have said it before and I will say it again.

Let's ban the seal hunt and pay everyone in the industry a nice big chunk of change to retire from the bidness.

Then the World Wild Life Federation and People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals can move on to some other, loftier issue.

I still wonder why they, WWF, PETA, Bridgette Bardot, are so vexed by the seal hunt, seals being killed by the thousands, yet have no problems with lambs, who are killed by the tens of millions. Reference Post 17o for more information.

Lambs have souls too. Plus they are cuter.

My little rant comes on the heels of a Canadian Press report that the European Community, over the objections of member states Denmark and Romania, has decided that they will ban seal products from the EU.

WFDS

581...Liquor On The Sly

Five finger discounts are up at the LCBO, Ontario's liquor monopoly.

Let those last two words soak in.

Liquor monopoly.

That means if you are a desperate person and you steal from the only game in town re booze you cannot go into that place and that would mean you would have to move elsewhere, like another province or state.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario says that shrinkage, the industry term for shoplifting, is up revenue wise, close to a million. Six point five mill of booze is unaccounted for in the system. That represents about .18 per cent of the gross for the LCBO. The industry standard for shrinkage last year, outside of the booze biz, was 1 per cent.

Dean Beeby, Canadian Press, reports that 651 thieves were nabbed red handed leaving the store without paying.

WFDS

558...Tories And Gays And Montreal

Jennifer Ditchburn, Canadian Press reports that the Montreal Gay Pride thingy, Divers-Cite, has been refused funding, they wanted less than 200 000 shekels, 155 k to be precise, in part one would presume because of the fall out over the federal government, also known as the Conservative Party of Canada, got over giving Pride in Toronto money.

Ironically, in the hoo haw over Toronto Pride, Divers-Cite incurred the wrath of many in the gay community by stating that they had never been treated with anything but respect by the Tories.

Until now that is.

Paul Girard, the marketing director for the event, was told that all his ducks were in order and that the file had been sent to Minister Tony Clement's office for approval. Tuesday he was informed ixnay to the oneymay aulpay.

The event, which happens next month, features Latin American singer India, Marjo from Quebec and from the Pittsburgh Pirates 1979 World Series Champions, Sister Sledge.

But don't expect Stephen Harper, our beloved Prime Minister, to cruise down Ste. Catherine Est for Divers-Cite.

WFDS