Skip to content

Tag: Harper

OUR COUNTRY REEKS OF TREES

Obama and Friends
Credit to: OldMaison @ Flickr

The Olympics have come and gone and Canada has apparently won “The most medals Evar” by a host nation.  Which is nice I suppose.

With a price tag of 8 Billion and counting I hope that the balance sheet works out for Vancouver as the Recession continues unabated.  Right?  Around here I think people would be willing to literally shovel shit for work as the job market tightens into a tight ball like a potato bug and doesn’t show any signs of letting up; never mind the HUNDREDS of positions in the want ads.  If the news tells you that it’s poverty-aggeddon then you should behave like it is.

Good luck recouping those costs that have been laid out on your behalf;  by comparison the estimated cost (dollars) for each day in Afghanistan is approx. 3 Million (http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/news-nouvelles/2009/2009_02_25a.aspx?lang=eng)  with the expected total cost to be 11.3 billion.  Just think, for 3 Billion more Canada could have been saving Iraq too!  How exciting; huh?

All of that nonsense aside; the Winter Olympics have indeed brought out some nice nationalism in the Canadian people; allowing them to show again that even in the face of glorious victory they don’t destroy their own downtown in celebration.  I’m not naming names or anything; but at least one big fratboy neighbor on the Continent can’t really say the same.

Why the oddly specific number? Why?

Two Quotes about Chrysler and GM that stick out:

“I know this is difficult,” Mr. Clement said. “I know this affects real workers in real towns and cities across Ontario.

and

CAW president Ken Lewenza has called Fiat’s proposal to cut labour costs at Chrysler Canada by $19 an hour an “unreasonable” demand and has said it is “not going to happen,” arguing the CAW is competitive with unionized environments in the United States.

Why $19 and not a Percentage?  That’s a strange way of doing things.  It’s not like “cut them by 5%”; which would be the normal way to approach cuts.

Something stinks there.  Is there anyone inside of Fiat who can break their wall of silence and pass along the skinny on this?

Also; this again:

“I know this is difficult,” Mr. Clement said. “I know this affects real workers in real towns and cities across Ontario.

If there is something that can be said about Harper is that Canada lives between Alberta and Saskatchewan.  That’s it.  The rest of the landmass that we think of as Canada is “the Rest of it” and is dismissed very easily by the Snow-Texans of the West.

Some Interesting Reading on Tony Clement too (National Post)