Almost Live....Latenight Edition

BigTentRockin' (andReelin'ALittleToo?)
VisionVancouverVille

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Update: Long form narrative now up (warning: for obsessives only) here....
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OK....

The longform will come soon.....went way late for reasons that will become obvious if you go over to FABula's for the hard numbers and the real (as opposed to impressionistic) analysis.

Here's the biggest story of the night for me (and I didn't know it would be going in - don't forget, I'm no insider)......

The desire in the room to see Eby make the cut was palpable....when Vision guy Mike McGee finally announced the Council numbers I was positioned high above the mainfloor at the top of the stairs....I had a clear view of Eby......It went not by vote number but instead alphabetically.....Chow........Deal..........Jang.......(And, here Eby visibly sagged and people started to push in against him).....Louie.......Meggs.....Reimer (her young daughter, who had been dancing up a storm with the Greek contingent on the stage was ecstatic, 'That's my Mom!' she cheered. Indeed)....Stevenson.....

Then the kicker....last two council slots will be recounted because they are separated by less than 1% (17 votes actually).....Eby....Dhaliwal.....darn!.....would rather have seen them BOTH make it, even if had been at the expense of an incumbent (I have one who is a least favorite)......oh well....

Again, the real Almost Live blogging will follow.....didn't take my stinkin' box 'cause I thought it would be In 'N Out Burgers, ha!......so I have a ton of transposing to do......think I just may feed it to you raw, otherwise I wasted a king heck ton of paper......

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One last thing......Sarah Blyth was the most nervous of anybody in the glitter dome.....all night long.....but she was the one who really rocked the joint.....straight to the top of the Parks Board charts.......NoFunCouver really is dead....and good riddance!
And Jumpin Junipers.....just noticed that the sitemeter has gone crazy!.....over a century in the midnight hour? Inconceivable! (and never fight a land war in Asia....or some such thing)
Ahhhhh......now I see it.....it's the magic wand that was waved this way, however briefly, by FABula.....
Note added in proof: Originally, I had some nonsense about slate stuff specifics in this post.....then I went back and waded through all that stuff again....and to tell you the truth I don't know what to make of much of it, so I took it all out.....folks with much better inside baseball knowledge will have to fill us in on all that later.....


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Almost Live......

ThatVisionThing
NotKING-TVille*

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Latenight Update: First Impressions, post number announcement.... here
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Hit the Vision nominating thing just before shutdown time @ 7pm and it was a madhouse....

Lots of folks heading in to vote.....but the real craziness was caused by the candidates and their surrogates/supporters swarming the place......

All the leafleting and pleading from the supporters was one thing, but what was really bizarro (and kind of fun) was running the gauntlet of folks standing in a line outside the door to get inside.....they were all candidates and they all wanted to shake your hand.....so I did.......and for just a second there I felt like I was the candidate doing the glad-handing....when I mentioned this to, I think it was Heather Harrison, her eyes came alive with lightbulb-like recognition.....

Inside the school (Charles Tupper, just a few blocks from where we live and just about smack-dab in the middle of town - now I get, maybe, why they chose it)...it was much more calm.....of course the lady at polling station in the twenties had a little difficulty finding me given that my surname is actually an almagamation that includes my screen name that always throws folks off, especially since my given name sounds like part of the last bit....so we got to chatting a little, the polling lady and me.....looking at her list we figured that at least a quarter of those eligible had voted, maybe more......she was happy to hear me tell her that there were still tons of folks outside to come.

Once I got my three little pieces of council, school board and parks board' papers I headed into the really quiet room and headed for a 'booth' (one of those little foldy cardboard things on a table - the guy beside me joked that it would be great if they had chairs so you didn't have to bend over as you poured over the lists and tried to pick out 'eight, four and four', no more/no less (that surprised me actually - if you didn't hit that exact number your ballot would be spoiled).....anyway, for a minute or two I couldn't find my scribbled list amongst the voluminous chunks of 'vote for me!' candidate literature I had amassed in the 10 minutes I had been hanging around.....in fact it go so bad that I started emptying my pockets and one of the poll watchers had to come over and ask me to put the literature away (as it could influence other folks, which was fair enough).....was almost ready to get my laptop out, which I had in my backpack because I was riding home from the lab, when I found the list folded into my BlackDog/MetaCritics video list (my best advice and most important tip I can give anyone is "never go to the video store unprepared", unless it is BlackDog of course, as the folks that work there actually know something about movies and, and this is the important part, they actually like helping people).....

As I headed out, who would be sitting on a chair right outside the door, notebook (real paper, not electronic) in hand, but FABula herself....she put the estimate at 4,500, maybe even 5,000 (go to her site for real liveblogging through the night).....most nervous looking person at the event had to be Geoff Meggs.....not sure he has made the transition from Pol to politician.....in fact looked like he was stuck in between trying to read the expression on peoples faces.....Ian Waddell was the opposite.....hardest working person there had to be Demitri Douzenis, who was a whirling dervish.....

Results, announced at the party at Science World, are supposed to come in about 10pm.......


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*With apologies to John Keister and the gang.

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Vision Nomination Last Two Hours!

AllTheLeftSpectrumThatFits
BigTentVille

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Update: Description of polling station funhouse here.....post vote party time, short form description here......long form (warning: for obsessives only) here....
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Yup, it's today and it runs till 7pm, so you still have time.

Folks I'd like to see nominated are....

Council
- Three of the Incumbents - Chow, Deal, Louie
- Eby
- Harrison
- Jang
- Reimer
- Umlas


Schoolboard
-Bacchus
-Chhina
-Gregson
-Lombardi

Parks
-Barnes
-Blyth
-Hundel


Just a note....I like Dhaliwal and Meggs too, but, well......I really like the Umlas pick because I think the Filipino community needs some representation 'round here (thanks to The Bear for that one)......and FABula figures they're coming out support him, Umlass I mean.....

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Vision Nomination Vote

Saturday September 20, 2008

Come out to Sir Charles Tupper High School and vote for your parks, school and council candidates.

Details

When: 10am to 7pm on September 20th

Where: Sir Charles Tupper High School (419 E 24th Ave.....just West of Fraser in King Edward Valley)



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There is also a post vote party at Science World which is wide open to everyone afterward.....will try to get down there for pictures....otherwise we're counting on WestEnd Bob.

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OK, Here's Something I Don't Quite Get....

TheNeverEndingStory
BigBankerBailoutVille


Seriously.

I honestly don't get it.

If the banks are going under because they are holding a whole bunch of bad loans that the citizenry (ie. the folks with all those mortgages on houses whose value is plummetting) can't pay, how is giving them, the banks I mean, a whole bunch more money to blow going to help things in the end.

I mean, sure, the markets will stabilize for awhile and all that.....

And maybe even more importantly, at least for the merchant class that made all these bad things happen in the first place (ie. not the folks holding the actual mortgages), the golden parachutes will keep opening.....

But here's the thing......

When all is said and done, even if the banks pull through, won't there still be a huge chunk of the citizenry staring at mortgages they still can't pay?

And won't that, ultimately, start the whole thing all over again (particularly as more of the bad guys' big bundles of booty come undone and more bad loans are discovered sitting in the safes of all those banks that used to hold the gold that was removed to thread all those golden 'chutes together)?

So, given all that, here's a thought.....

Why not give the money to them instead.

The citizenry, I mean.

And let the fat cat bankers chips fall where they may.

(ie. where we can spit on them)

OK?


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Or, put another way, why should we, the people, pay to help the Mr. Potters of this world win for no good reason at all?

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Name That Acronym!

RealPoopWithoutPuffins
CCRAPtactularVille


Late night craziness that, perhaps has the ring of truth about it?

****

Why looky there, over by the fuzzy sweater!

It's the.....

....Stephen........Harper..........Image.........Team!

De-coded and laid bare by Alison.



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And I don't know about you, but I sure am glad that she, Alison I mean, is on our team.
Oh, and for the record, according to the Technorattatouie, Alison last linked to this blog 14,142 days (ie. 38 and-a-half years) ago.....go figure.

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An Inspector In Every Plant....

MoreRegulationForALaissezFaireNation
PoliciesMatterVille


While it might not be a 'chicken-in-every-pot', the following, from Mr. Jack Layton leader of, as Ed Broadbent used to call it, "The NDP Party Party!" looks good to me:

OTTAWA Canadian Press, Sept 19/2008 — NDP Leader Jack Layton wants meat inspectors on the floor of every meat processing plant in Canada.

Standing outside Parliament today, Layton says it's the only way to prevent another disaster like the listeriosis outbreak that's been blamed for 17 deaths.

Mr. Layton also wants imported meats made subject to the same kind of inspections Canadian meats undergo.

Mr. Layton continues to blame the outbreak on the government, saying the Conservatives want to let businesses do whatever they want without oversight......

Now, given Mr. Layton's assertions, and the fact that his proposed policy change would clearly be different than that which is currently in place, you would think that Mr. Stephen Harper would want to respond and tell Canadians why his current policy, which the non-partisan Canadian Medical Association Journal has also disparaged, is better.

Or, put another way, you would think that, given that people have died because of the blooming of run-of-the-mill bacterial colonies deep within the bowels of filthy meat cutting machines in a processing plant in which government inspectors were removed due to Mr. Harper's policies that he, Mr. Harper, would want to set the record straight.

Wouldn't you?

Well, if you did you would be wrong.

Because, based on what we have learned from CanWest Campaign Trail correspondent David Akin , it would appear that the last thing Mr. Harper wants to do is even discuss his record, let alone set it straight.

OK?

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If WestJet Can Do It, Why Can't B.C. Ferries?

SurchargesUpTheYingYang
DaveyHahn'sLockerVille

CALGARY, Sept 18/08 Canwest - WestJet Airlines has dropped its fuel surcharges ranging from $20 for short-haul flights to $45 for longer flights, citing lower fuel costs as the reason for the change.

"As soon as the cost of fuel came down we said we would remove the fuel surcharge and that is exactly what we are doing," WestJet spokeswoman Gillian Bentley told a news conference at the Calgary airport on Thursday.

The change takes effect immediately, WestJet said.

Es-tu, Mr. Hahn?

BC Ferries president David Hahn said falling oil prices don't translate into an immediate surplus of cash for the company and there are no plans for immediate price cuts.

"I think the difference between BC Ferries and the airlines, is they can make those changes overnight," said Hahn.

That's funny..... If I remember correctly the first BC Ferries fuel surcharges were slapped on before Cinderalla even lost her slipper the night before oil prices skyrocketed.

Oh, and while we're (ie. me and G.A.B.) at it..........When we pre-book with WestJet, or just about any other transportation carrier you can possibly imagine, how come they don't charge us an extra 35 bucks for doing so.

For no good reason at all?

Huh?

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Mr. Akin Responds.......

WeHadQuestions
HeSuppliedAnswersVille


I'm in a big rush (have to teach this morning) so this will be pretty much cut and paste (for now).....

Last night I asked David Akin a pretty pointed question about whether he or any of the other Conservative Campaign Trail press had specifically asked Mr. Harper about who made the policy changes regarding the apparent change towards self-regulation in meat processing plants.

Mr. Akin has responded, and what he has to say, in my opinion, pretty much indicates that the Conservative Candidate, the man who wishes to obtain a majority mandate to run this country, will not talk to the media about substantive matters.

Given the fact that Mr. Akin responded to a direct question in a post to his blog, I provide it here also, in full, for the record:
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Conservatives react to Ritz: Not.

by DavidAkin on Fri 19 Sep 2008 09:08 AM EDT | Permanent Link | Cosmos

As the campaign buses pulled into a sweet little spa in Quebec's eastern townships, campaign advisors to Prime Minister Stephen Harper were saying that they expect more attacks Friday from their political opponents about the inappropriate jokes made by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

But they say they have no plans to change their campaign's focus or fight back with new attacks.
The Harper campaign is convinced that the leak that exposed Ritz made it into a reporter's hands from the Liberal war room.

An advisor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that, had the race been closer, the Ritz leak likely would have prompted a Conservative counter-attack.

But with most polls showing the Conservatives well out in front, the Harper campaign will ride out the Ritz storm and continue making what it calls small, affordable announcements targeted at specific voter groups.

"We will remain absolutely focused and drive this campaign right to the finish," the advisor said.

Harper himself seems relatively unfazed by the disclosure of Ritz's comments. Faced with similarly difficult situations in his first national campaign in 2004, Harper would often appear moody or angry and relations between the travelling press and his advisors deteriorated.
But now, on his third national campaign, he and his advisors -- many of whom are also on their third national campaign with him -- are showing little outward signs of distress. Indeed, the relationship between the press travelling with Harper and his senior communications advisors has likely never been better since he became leader of his party in 2004, despite a series of apologies from the campaign that have taken attention away from the party's daily message.

Some reporters, myself included, are still frustrated about some aspects of that relationship.
We are not, for example, kept informed about all that Harper is doing while travelling with us. He generally has a morning photo opp that is kept a close secret even from the pool photographers who are the only journalists allowed to accompany him.

We are not getting to put questions to him with the same frequency that we did in the 2006 campaign. On that campaign, every reporter travelling with him got to ask at least one question a day. This time around, his staff is restricting us to 10 questions a day -- eight from the press travelling with him and two for reporters from the region we are travelling in. Because there are more than eight national reporters, we must rotate and, as a result, we get just one question -- no followup -- every other day.

Some, like a commenter here, urge us to ask followups on certain issues. We would love to but, again, with just one question every two days, it can often be difficult.

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Again, as I've said before, Mr. Akin is always fair and reasonable in his dealings with lowly amateur bloggers such as myself when they make requests that are also fair and reasonable. Here, however, I would like to suggest that he has gone beyond the call of duty.

I'll have more on this later.......

OK?


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Are The Media Dropping The Ball To Follow The Shiny Ritz?

AllTheTriviaThatFits
DeflectorSpinVille

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Update Friday morning Sept 19/08.....Mr Akin responds......here
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I dunno for sure, but a post from David Akin detailing how the working press pushed Stephen Harper hard regarding the identity of the person, or persons, who leaked the information about the bad listeria death jokes uttered by his Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, suggests that it just might be the case.

As a result, I left the following query on Mr. Akin's comment thread in the hopes that he can clarify the situation.......

Thanks for this Mr. Akin,

But as a follow-up, might I ask if you, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Weston or any other member of the media present at the press conference asked Mr. Harper, specifically, who was involved in crafting changes to CFIA policy that led to the removal of government inspectors from meat processing plants after Nov 2007?

Please accept my apologies if you have dealt with this subject elsewhere, but I felt I had to ask because, in my opinion, it is the identity of the person or persons who made that public health policy decision regarding self-regulation, not the identity of the person or persons who squealed on a Minister who clearly has issues with self-control, that Canadians really need to know about such that they can make truly informed choices when they vote on Oct 14th.

Thanks again.


I await Mr. Akin's response.


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I am not in any way attempting to impugn the work of Mr. Akin here. I just really want to know. And besides, to his great credit, Mr. Akin has been nothing less than fair and reasonable when he has dealt with this lowly amateur blogger in the past.


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The Bourne Identifies.....

......Who He Does Not Want To Be A Heartbeat Away From The Presidency.

Which begs the question......

Would Mr. Damon be happier with Sarah Silverman instead?

Because, all things considered, I know I would be.

Especially if she picked Ned Shneebly as her running mate.

OK?

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The Heart Of Harper's Darkness

SometimesAJokeIsJustAJoke
AndSometimesItIsSomethingMoreVille


Regarding all this "Ritz and Clement were only joking" stuff about the illnesses and deaths that occurred due to listeria outbreak.....

Well, Dave, he of The Galloping National Symbol, gets right to the heart of the matter:

The "joking" however, is a trait of this bunch. These are right-wing authoritarian scumbags. To them the misfortune of others is always funny. We shouldn't really be surprised.

Strong language, and even stronger sentiments.

But, based on the evidence at hand, it is hard to argue against.

Especially if you consider what Adam Wherry had to say over at the Macleans Blog:

Would Gerry Ritz still be the Agriculture Minister if he’d been caught joking about 17 Canadians dying in a bus crash? What about if it was the deaths of 17 Canadian soldiers? Or if the deaths had simply been more centralized around a single place (a la Walkerton)? If the answer is no to any of those scenarios, what makes this situation different?

Later… What’s remarkable about this is not that it’s a controversy, but that it’s so minor, or misdirected, a controversy. And how difficult that is to reconcile with the facts.

Let’s review. Seventeen Canadians have died. A leading medical journal has cited government negligence. And the government minister leading the response has been caught joking about the situation.........

I would only add to Mr. Wherry's comments that the "leading medical journal" cited negligence that was based not of 'errors' or 'accidents' or 'slip-ups' by an apparatchik, but instead because of specific, POLICY CHANGES instituted by the Harper government.

And despite all that, the only thing our increasingly Wurlitzered-Up Media works on with anything even approaching dogged tenacity at all is the vindictive Minister's bad jokes!

I, for one, think that is a real shame.

And a real disgrace.

Not to mention the fact that this relentless media focus on the trivial (ie. jokes do not kill people, bad public health policies do) is only encouraging Mr. Harper to follow his heart of darkness, safe in the knowledge that, when the chips are down, he will be able to once again unleash his ratf*ckers with impunity to roam the political landscape looking for polling point bumps that can be humped in a furious frenzy over and over and over again before, pardon the awful pun, coming to a merciful end on Oct 14th.

*****

As I said the other day - I no longer wish to debate with these people and/or their followers.

Instead, I want to stop them.

OK?




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And please do not forget: Mr. Clement was part of the government that helped make Walkerton, and everything truly awful that followed, possible.

Finally (boy, am I worked up!), Scott and especially Steve, who has been on this thing from the beginning, have the goods on just how far the Collective Hearts of Darkness that make up the Harper Government really want to take this 'get rid of all the regulators' thing.


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Forget About Gerry Ritz......

SayingStupidStuffIsOneThing
DoingStupidThingsIsAnotherVille


....Because it is the bad policies of Stephen Harper, not his loose cannons, that really matter.

To wit:

Last November (2007) the Canadian government instituted a strategic review of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Among its outcomes was to transfer inspection duties for ready-to-eat meats from the government inspectors to the meat industry. Cabinet decided to “shift from full-time CFIA meat inspection presence to an oversight role, [thereby] allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks.”

In practice, the new policy meant that CFIA inspectors would rarely enter meat plants to test for bacteria and testing was left mostly to companies. Self-inspection came largely to substitute for, and not just to supplement, government inspection......

Note the date, bolded above.

OK?



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The quote above is from an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that was published, online, Tuesday (pdf). I'll have more to say about that editorial (which goes way, way past the listeria outbreak in its criticism of Harper Gov't policies that are, in the view of the signatories, are hamstringing, or even reversing, progress on important public health initiatives) later.

Gerry Ritz is not just your run of the mill loose cannon reformatory. He is Mr. Harper's Agriculture Minister and he let fly with some very, very bad jokes about deaths due to listeria, "including a Prince Edward Island death he said he hoped was PEI MP and Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter."

Now, I know that some will say that the Ritz story is important because it is something that the 'media' has finally siezed upon regarding the imbecility, and worse, the meanness, of the Harpoonistas but me, I hate it when the shiny, spinning objects become the story rather than those that are doing the real evil deeds behind the curtain? Why? Well because even shiny, objects that turn 'round and round can ultimately be used as 'deflector spin' by those hiding behind the curtain.....Extreme Example: Rumsfeld and the 'digi-cams' -"Who knew!"

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Will The Flyiing Segretti Squadron Shoot Down This Messenger Too?

SometimesSelfRegulationIsWorseThan
NoRegulationAtAllVille


The Canadian Medical Association Journal (ie. a journal published by real doctors) has just published an editorial that places the de-regulation ethos at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency squarely in the lap of Mr. Stephen Harper's government (warning: pdf):

Last November (2007) the Canadian government instituted a strategic review of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Among its outcomes was to transfer inspection duties for ready-to-eat meats from the government inspectors to the meat industry. Cabinet decided to “shift from full-time CFIA meat inspection presence to an oversight role, [thereby] allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks.”

In practice, the new policy meant that CFIA inspectors would rarely enter meat plants to test for bacteria and testing was left mostly to companies. Self-inspection came largely to substitute for, and not just to supplement, government inspection. Self-inspection mechanisms have worked effectively in other countries, but in Canada something went very wrong. One troubling sign is that even now, months after the policy change, the CFIA’s required sampling procedure remains under development.....


Now.

Here's the thing, when it comes to listeria outbreaks, because that is what the CMAJ is focussing on here.

They are most definitely not caused by by anything as exotic as a superbug-like Andromeda Strain that requires people to run around in hermetically-sealed hazmat suits.

Instead, they are caused by a run-of-the-mill gram-positive bacillus (bacteria) that, in the case of the recent outbreak, apparently bloomed within filthy meat cutting machines that were not being cleaned properly by a company that was "self-regulating" sans government inspectors.

Which means, in my opinion, that the policies that Stephen Harper's government instituted, at best, did not help prevent the outbreak.

And at worst?

Well, if the filth that led to the blooming of the bugs was facilitated by Mr. Harper taking inspectors out of the plant without appropriate auxillary oversight and sampling such that.....

Well......

Would that not mean that Mr. Harper's policies directly contributed to the outbreak that has so far killed 17 people?


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I don't know for sure if they even know who he is, but I have to wonder if those frisky fellas in Mr. Harper's 'War Room' who like to smear people so much would think that Donald Segretti is their kind of political 'operative', regardless.
The entire CMAJ editorial is worth the read as the MDs make it clear that, in their opinion, which is based on verifiable facts, Mr. Harper's policies on de-regulation put us at risk in many other public health spheres (again, be forewarned, it's a pdf, but it's not big).


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One More Reason Mr. Campbell Doesn't Want Question Period?

We'veGotQuestions
Who'sGotAnswersVille


We already have a big list of potential reasons why Gordon Campbell doesn't want crazy things like Question Period in the British Columbia legislature this fall.

However, one thing we don't have on that list were questions about new developments in the 'Trial of the Century', mostly because it is a trial that has not yet actually started.

Well, it looks like that may have changed today in the Mdme Justice Bennett's courtroom on Robson St. today.

Bill Tieleman, who was there, has the story:

"B.C. Liberal MLA Dave Hayer was under police investigation as part of the B.C. Legislature Raid case defence lawyers for two former ministerial aides facing corruption charges alleged in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday.

Michael Bolton, representing David Basi, former aide to ex-Finance Minister Gary Collins, told Justice Elizabeth Bennett that new disclosure of documents to the defence revealed that Hayer was investigated on allegations that he and Basi were attempting to have “assessments or collections” of money owed to the Insurance Corporation of B.C......


Mr. T. has more

Much more, including updates involving all the 'no comment because the matter is before the courts' stuff from the principals.


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I Don't Want To Debate Them....

InvokingTheGilliardDoctrine
SavingCanuckistanVille

.....I Want To Stop Them

In my opinion, Vancouver's safe injection site, InSite, must be kept open as long as our system is skewed against comprehensive drug treatment.

I came to this opinion because of the science and because, as a scientist, I will give no quarter to anti-science.

Regarding InSite specifically, this duality is something I have written collaboratively about before (thanks again Cathie!).

But yesterday I came across something I had missed from a couple of months ago due to the good work of Jen, who is the proprietor of an excellent clearing house blog called Protect InSite.

****

The thing that Jen brought to our opinion was an opinion piece written by Liz Evans.

Now, just between just you and me, Liz Evans is an angel to many of Lotusland's sickest and most downtrodden.

Ms. Evans is also one of the nurses who helped found, and who now helps run, InSite, and in her piece she describes her treatment at the hands of Conservative Health Minister Tony Clement during the Parliamentary hearings that were held on the subject of InSite's viability back in June.

What I find most important about what Ms. Evans had to say is that, in addition to willfully turning his back on the science, Mr. Clement also made it clear that, because of his own ideology, he has turned his back on sick people.

Sick people that, when helped by folks like Ms. Evans, have a chance to stop hurting themselves and stop hurting others.

Which (ie. helping people in need, not turning one's back on them) is what my Canada means to me.

And for that reason I do not want to debate Mr. Clement, his boss Mr. Stephen Harper, or his followers on this issue.

Instead, I want to stop them.

OK?

*****

Here is Ms. Evans piece, originally published by the National Post, for the record, in full:

I am trained as a nurse, not a lobbyist, so perhaps I was naive to think when I was invited last week to address the House of Commons Health Committee, along with a team of health and policy experts from Vancouver, that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government would listen to the facts about Insite. Instead we were lectured by federal Health Minister Tony Clement about how those supporting Insite, not the government, were ideologues. Apparently, Tony Clement and Stephen Harper really care about drug addiction, whereas we are the ones who endorse suffering.

I have never been so offended on behalf of so many people. I wanted to weep at the implications of our government’s collective ignorance. The committee offered statement after statement that was plain wrong and a huge affront to the legions of researchers, public health officials, medical scientists, nurses, doctors and numerous international bodies (such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization) who have long endorsed harm reduction strategies as essential to assisting those with drug addictions.

OK, so they didn’t have to listen to me. But what about listening to one of the world’s most renowned doctors and researchers in the treatment of HIV and AIDS? Or the federally funded researcher who has produced more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers? What about the officer from the Vancouver Police Department, who explained that Insite and local police work together to limit public disorder? What about B.C.’s premier and minister of health, or Vancouver’s mayor and chief of police? And If not any of them, then what about the three out of every four people in the region surveyed in a recent Angus Reid poll who support Insite?

When first questioned about Insite, the Prime Minister said he would wait for word from the RCMP before commenting. When those results came in, they were not released because they were deemed to be too positive. Last year, Stephen Harper’s politically appointed expert advisory committee concluded that InSite causes no adverse affect on drug use or crime, that it acts as a deterrent to drug use and that Insite encourages users to seek detox and treatment. Eighty per cent of people interviewed thought the site should be expanded or retained and more than half of the police officers interviewed thought that Insite should remain open. How is it possible that the voluminous amounts of research and policy written over the years could be completely ignored?

Judge Pitfield of the B.C. Supreme Court, in his wisdom, understood something that Stephen Harper seems incapable of grasping: Addiction is a complex, chronic and relapsing disease. Justice Pitfield’s ruling to protect InSite under the Charter recognizes its essential role as a primary health care facility and a necessary access point to treatment for people who are clearly sick. The fact that Stephen Harper wants to appeal this decision shows he is continuing to ignore the evidence. The Harper government is displaying arrogance in the face of an issue they are clearly out of touch with.

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For those wondering about this 'Gilliard Syndrome' business, it rose, like a phoenix from the white hot word ashes left behind by the greatest five tool blogger I ever saw - the late, great Steve Gilliard.......In fact, Mr. Gilliard was so great that his friends are still doing a kinghell job of keeping both his words and his work alive.


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