Hacks & Wonks

I remember watching a hapless - but happy just to be there - Japanese women's curling team play at the 95 Worlds in Brandon.

Nice to see them make the playoffs this year.   I couldn't be happier with the playoff line up.  Canada, the two Asian teams and Switzerland, which means I get at least one more chance to check out their smoking hottie third.

One of my more prouder political moments was helping buddy Liam O'Brien at the policy convention.  He moved, and I seconded, the motion which specified that the party would support the seal hunt.

Passed easy.

Have a drink tonight Liam.

Anyone else think there is a chance that Premier Doer intentionally strung out his Provincial Park solution for Upper Fort Garry so that he could play savior at the last minute when the emotions were getting the highest?

Are we really going to believe that this option *just* got put on the table?

In the end, you knew that something was going to happen and that the "Which Way Is The Wind Blowing?" leadership in the province wasn't going to let it fail, but I'd wager anything that five to ten years out from now, people will have a "This is It?" attitude about the place.

Ridiculous.

[link]

 

The Chinese players let out yelps of excitement, and one of them even tossed her broom in the air. That gesture didn't set well with members of the Jones foursome, which suffered its first loss of the tournament.

"I don't think the broom was necessary," said Canadian third Cathy Overton-Clapham. "But they were quite excited to sweep the rock to win the game, so..."

Canadian second Jill Officer said the Chinese reaction caught her off-guard.

"I was a little bit surprised, to be honest," said Officer. "I felt like I had just lost a final.

 

Grow up Team Canada.  This is a big deal for a non-curling country like China.  Just pick up and beat them in the playoffs.

Toronto Star: Green vote moves a shade closer to becoming a major player

 

And to answer Susan Delacourt's question:

Does this mean that Greens leader Elizabeth May should be guaranteed a spot in the televised leaders' debates in the next election?

No.  The extra body doesn't improve the debate and May's stunt of running against Peter Mackay almost guarantees that the Greens will fail once again to win their first seat.

Free Press: Ledohowski offers to buy convention centre

 

I would have loved to seen the Mayor's face when he heard this.

 

From my in-box, forwarded from a couple of people:

March 14, 2008

To: Members of Executive Council

From: K. Brent Pooles


As the 2008 Annual General Meeting is quickly approaching, I am
writing to inform you that I have decided not to seek re-election as
President of our Party.

As many of you are aware, my business has been growing rapidly, to
such an extent that I am out of the Province at least twice a month. As
a consequence, I believe it is in the best interest of my family, our
business and our Party, that I not seek re-election.

I have enjoyed my years as President, and we all can look back over
the past few years with satisfaction of a job well done, on many fronts.

• Elimination of our Party’s debt

• Successful Leadership contest, under the one member – one
vote format

• A successful fundraising and expense/ model used in the last
election

• A new direct mail program

• A new CEO for our Party

• A professional business model for Board meetings

These successes could not have been accomplished without our
dedicated team of MLAs, Party Headquarters, and our countless
number of volunteers, throughout Manitoba.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our Party.

As we move forward, I am excited about the future.

Our Leader, Hugh McFadyen, is assembling a dedicated team of
MLAs, candidates and party supporters. We are also attracting new
people, who have not been involved in the political process, but want
more for Manitoba.

Friends, we have the Leader and we have the Team to lead us into
the future.

It has been a pleasure to have served.

It has been an honour to have served.

I have been actively involved with finding a successor.

See you on the hustings!



Brent

Disappointed in Brandon for last night's completely unsurprising vote on the casino referendum.  I would have supported the measure - mostly because I'm a gambler - but also because I've been to Moose Jaw before and have seen how a casino really tied nicely into their downtown. 

Yes, there are costs to gambling.  I'm not for opening it up completely. Truth be told, if I could figure out how to stomach the closure of dozens of rural hotels, I would even support a VLT ban outside of the casinos and the race track.

But having lived for six years in Brandon, I know what the nightlife is like there.  A casino wold have helped that.  And if put downtown, it would increase traffic to an area of the city needing draws.  It could have become a tidy little lynch pin in developing other businesses around it.

Now, it'll just be a roadside stop.  That is shame.

...If he has concerns with the PM, then I must be wrong about the PM on many fronts and Prime Minister Harper is doing something right.

Because if Joe Clark is consistent about anything, it's consistently being on the wrong side of the most important issues.

I'm back in the "No 2008 Election" camp, angry at myself for leaving it briefly when I thought the Liberals couldn't bend any further backwards over Afghanistan.

Wells has a good explaination why the next big sabre rattling scare isn't likely to result in a trigger, but what I loved the most was his punchline:
 

Finally, if I were another opposition party and my goals included keeping the Liberals on the wrong foot, I might decide that whatever they finally get up the gumption to vote for, I might want my caucus to vote against. This would be cruel. Therefore the Liberals will not plan for it.

You would have thought that having a Canadian serve so high up in the UN could have served as a big source of pride.

But Louise Arbour's decisions and actions were far too often foolish, naive, contradictory and insulting.  I'm glad to see her go.

The only thing I fear is that the UN is very capable of appointing someone worse to the position.

  

Spotted on the Free Press website:
 

Drivers in British Columbia put on the fewest kilometres on their vehicles [in summer of 2007], at 3,340 kilometres per car and truck.

 

That might explain why it was easier for the BC Liberal gov't to lead the way in the nation with a carbon tax.

Of course, I've begun advocating for a carbon tax here and have called out the Doer gov't for all their environmental self-congratulating, when they would rather lower mileage by raising speed limits and pretend that they are offsetting those transportation losses by offering tax rebates to people who don't need them instead of actually doing something that would be most effective, if a little politically costly.

But when we talk about the NDP in Manitoba, we're really talking about Gary Doer and it we have seen anything over these last nine years, we've seen that Premier Doer doesn't like using political capital.

And a fuel tax doesn't play well when we go back to that article:

 

Manitobans owned the roads last summer, driving more kilometres on average than Canadians in any other province, according to Statistics Canada.

In a report released today, StatsCan said Manitobans were the heaviest users of cars and light trucks in Canada, driving an average of 5,385 kilometres per vehicle last July through September.

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But not to worry people.  531 hybrids will make an "amazing" difference and offset the increased fuel consumption the 110kph speed limit is sure to gobble up.

Yeah, you could say I'm a little to a lot baffled about the Alberta election results.  I've kinda been waiting to absorb the analysis of a few more folks before settling on my own take.

Honestly, I don't get the results whatsoever.  They really are inexplicable.

Not a penny over $350K.

 

(And if you really want to remain at $325K, you'd have my support as well.)

"It has been amazingly successful," [Science, Technology and Energy Minister Jim] Rondeau said of the current program, which was intended to make hybrids more affordable to a wider audience.

*****
 

 

*****

Last year*, 20,216 passenger cars were sold in Manitoba, according to figures compiled by the DesRosiers Automotive Consultants and supplied by the Manitoba Motor Dealers Association.

 

 

[Link]

 

I gotta figure Policy Frog has got something hopping in relation to this article as well.