MakingNiceWithTheStupid
ElectionsCanadaVille
The lede of 'that' story from Fred Lum of the Canadian Press:
A pre-election chill has descended over some environment charities after Elections Canada warned them that discussing the dangers of climate change during the coming federal campaign could be deemed partisan activity.
An Elections Canada official warned groups in a training session earlier this summer that because Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, has expressed doubts about the legitimacy of climate change, any group that promotes it as real or an emergency could be considered partisan, said Tim Gray, executive director of the advocacy group Environmental Defence...
Gosh.
Does that mean the Pacific Gazette will be in trouble with Elections Canada if it points out that leaving state secrets in biker moll apartments is not necessarily good policy?
The curtain came down yesterday (May 27, 2008) on the brief and embattled cabinet career of Canada's Foreign Minister after a scandal involving his relationship with a woman who was once linked to criminal biker gangs.
The gaffe-prone Maxime Bernier – who promised to send Burma aid on a plane that does not exist and was sworn in with the so-called bikers' moll on his arm –will likely be remembered for longer than he served as his exit cast fresh doubts on the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The resignation came only hours before a television interview with the Julie Couillard, 38, was due to be broadcast. Her life and loves have become a staple for the Canadian press as they have raked over her supposed live-in mobster lover who was murdered, her subsequent marriage to a biker and her latest relationship to the man who became Canada's Foreign Minister...
{snip}
...Mr Bernier was forced to walk the plank just before Ms Couillard revealed on television she had discovered secret Nato documents in her apartment after one of the minister's visits. Within 24 hours of the classified documents being returned, Mr Bernier was out of a job...
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Mnusical interlude
1 hour ago
5 comments:
Canada charter of rights and freedoms might be a good defense.?
We still do have freedom of speech do we not.
Elections Canada may have their opinion, but I'd suggest about all that could happen is charitable organizations, might loose their charity status if some one went after them.
So with the elections Canada rationale, are we to not object to racist comments by politicians because some of them are racists or like to hang out with racists or make racist comments. We may have politicians who believe in white supremacy. Are we to refrain from speaking out on that.
Elections Canada: get a grip. You are not the thought and speech police. Bernier is a menace to society with his anti immigrant position. Canada is still a democratic country with a charter of rights.
Bernier is a bit of an idiot, in my opinion.
Should the Fraser Institute now have to worry about it’s tax status? Agreeing with Bernier on the issue would indicate partisanship as well, would it not? If so, I believe Elections Canada will soon pull in its horns on this ill-conceived warning.
On another note, the CPC will now be losing a good portion of the RWNJ votes it used to count on to the PPC. Which is a good thing.
It is doubtful the Fraser Institute will loose its charity status. as you may recall during the Harper years, Revenue Canada declared war on churches, social groups, bird watcher groups, etc. and audited them to see how much of their funding was being spent on "political" affairs. I remember the bird watcher group because their budget was $16k a yr and were audited. At the time Revenue Canada was withdrawing "charity status" from any number of groups which opposed Harper and his ideology. Fraser Institute, not so much. It would be interesting to know who exactly decided to have a run at environmental groups or anyone espousing climate change theories, might be a hold over from the Harper years.
This may also be a sign that some consider the Green Party a threat to the current status of some political parties in Canada.
The logical extension of this ruling by Elections Canada is that any political party can shut down any discussion on any topic by expressing doubts about it. Great. Some democracy that we live in....
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