Media Alert

Scheduled on The Bill Kelly Show CHML Hamilton's 900 radio at 10:45 esp. Topic: Tory attack ad.

STV RIP

Looks like the Single Transferable Vote initiative went down to defeat last night in British Columbia.

In fact, only 39 percent of BC voters supported the idea.

Perhaps STV supporters will now call for it to be implement in 39 percent of the province.

Tory TV spot misses the mark

Well the Tories have unleashed their first anti-Michael Ignatieff TV ad and here it is:




I don't like it.

First off, it's the first attack ad I've ever seen which attacks the other guy for using attack ads! Talk about hypocrisy.

Secondly, the ad actually reproduces the Liberal message "Tory times are tough times" in the spot!!! That's like giving the Liberals free advertising.

Thirdly,the overall message -- Michael Ignatieff lived outside the country for 34 years -- is incredibly weak.

So what if Ignatieff lived outside Canada? That doesn't make him a bad person or a bad leader.

What will make him a bad leader are his ideas.

So instead of focusing on simplistic, nationalistic nonsense, the Tories should explain why a Liberal government will be bad government.

H/T Stephen Taylor

STV?

Some friends of mine are really gung ho about the Single Transferable Vote proposal that British Columbians will be voting on tomorrow.

I am not too sure about the concept.

The conservative in me doesn't like the idea of radically changing a voting system which already seems to be working just fine.

The libertarian in me says instead of focussing on new ways to elect government we should be concentrating on ways to dismantle it.

The political part of me is worried STV will mean endless socialist/green coalition governments.

And no part of me understands how this convoluted system actually works.

Celebrating the Iron Lady

Check out my latest posting over at the Women's Post.

It's my take on Margaret Thatcher, who this week celebrated the 30th anniversary of her taking office as Prime Minister.

Star Trekmania

In honour of the new Star Trek movie coming out this week, here are my picks for the top five episodes from the original series:

1. Balance of Terror
Yes it was a rip off of Run Silent, Run Deep but it features cool sci-fi-style combat.

2. The Corbomite Maneuver
That freaky alien dummy gave the creeps as a kid.

3. The Doomsday Machine
Captain Kirk must battle a giant bugle and guest star William Windom's overacting.

4. The Trouble with Tribbles
The tribbles were so cute!

5. Arena
Features classic hand-to-hand combat between Captain Kirk and a lizard man.

Sinking the Bismarck in song

The best war song ever.

Union Dues and Politics

When I worked at the National Citizens Coalition, I always made sure to push for the rights of unionized employees who objected to union bosses using their forced dues for political purposes.

I am glad to see the Fraser Institute is picking up the fight.

New site pushes for Senate reform

Check out this new website which has been set up to help promote the idea of an elected federal Senate.

The goal of the people behind the site, Betty Unger, Link Byfield and the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy, is to have Senate elections in all provinces by 2017.

Media Alert

I am scheduled to be a guest on Newsline with Joe Easingwood, (CFAX Victoria) today at 1:30 PM EST.

Topic: Liberals

Liberal spot hopelessly hokey

The Liberals need to get some better PR guys. I mean seriously, check out this video from the Liberal convention.

It rates a 9.5 out of ten on the Nicholls Puke Meter.

First off it's hopelessly cutesy-wutesy, secondly it suffers from the "how many visible minorities can we squeeze into this spot" syndrome, third off it offers nothing but a bunch of hokey platitudes.

Well that's not true.

It also features an important reason to support Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff: He once had his photo taken standing next to Barack Obama.

Liberal convention survey

Check out my extremely scientific poll on on the Liberal Party convention.

Media Alert

I am scheduled to be a guest on Adler Online, this afternoon at 4:10 PM EST.

Topic: Liberals.

Poor Dion

Here's my latest posting over at the Women's Post, I explain why I feel sorry for Stephane Dion.

Professor Ignatieff learns a Liberal lesson

Check out this column I wrote in today's Toronto Sun -- it examines the drawbacks the Liberals face in having an egghead leader.

Books, breakfast and Civitas

Attention everyone out there attending the upcoming Civitas conference in Toronto.

I will be part of a special Civitas panel on Saturday morning May 2nd called Books for Breakfast.

And no that doesn't mean we are eating books for breakfast; it means me and other authors will have a chance to talk about our books -- in my case Loyal to the Core -- and answer questions.

Oh, I might even have a few copies of my book to sell.

So if you are attending Civitas and you want to say hello be sure to drop on by.

Harper vs libertarians

Terence Corcoran reminds us in today's National Post of how Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while speaking to a Manning Centre gathering last month, essentially excommunicated libertarians from the Conservative Party.

I was at that speech and what struck me as odd was that Harper even mentioned libertarians.

Why go after them? Why single them out?

What makes it even odder is that Harper was once more or less a libertarian himself, at least on fiscal issues.

Corcoran wonders if it's because libertarians pose some kind of threat to the Harper Conservatives.

That seems unlikely.

The more likely answer is much more simple: Harper doesn't like libertarians because we represent his guilty conscience.

Visualizing spending

This video does a great job of putting government spending in perspective.



H/T Paul Tuns

Media Alert

I am scheduled to be a guest on the Dave Rutherford Show (CHQR radio) today at approximately 1:00 PM EST.

Topic: Is Quebec getting more than its fair share of cash for Canada Day?

Pork Report

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has come out with a report exposing the wasteful spending practices of the Western Economic Diversification department.

Called 22 years of pork barrel spending, the CTF report explains how much of the WED spending is more about politics than it is about economic diversification.

It's just the nature of the beast.

And by the way, the Conservative government plans to create two more regional development funds agencies — one for Northern Canada and for Southern Ontario.

So that means taxpayers can expect to roll out even more pork barrels.