I used to stare at those pictures of Donald Trump preaching to his white working class supporters, and wonder how that old con artist managed to fool so many of them. Make them believe that a billionaire who sits on a gold plated toilet seat was on THEIR side. And that he would bring back their lost jobs, fight the elites and the special interests, go after the Big Banks, and Make America Great Again. I didn't believe a word he said, but his faithful followers did, and now they're already looking like suckers.
You might think Lisa Raitt and her Cons might stop attacking the agreement to enhance the Canada Pension Plan now that a deal has been reached. But no, Raitt is still on the offensive...
Now suggesting it's the work of Big Brother. While Big Business is calling it the road to economic ruin.
All over the world today some of its richest people are quivering in their boots. Because for over a month hundreds of journalists have been digging through the so-called Panama Papers, the more than 11.5 leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
Documents that have exposed how the wealthy are stashing their money in offshore tax havens. So they can become richer while whole countries and billions of people become poorer. And today is the day the names of many of those possible tax dodgers will be revealed.
Well it's not exactly a surprise. The Globe and Mail's editorial board has endorsed Stephen Harper's Cons in the last three elections. No matter what their reporters and columnists have had to say about him for the last four years. But this couldn't be more absurd.
Well I wasn't really shocked that somebody forgot to invite me to the Bilderberg meeting at that luxury resort in Austria. You know, the top secret conclave of the rich and the powerful, which has been called everything from the home of the New World Order, to the lair of the Fourth Reich. But I must admit I was disappointed. Because I've got three opinions on EVERYTHING, I absolutely LOVE shrimp cocktails, and I've always wanted to drive my Porche, or in my case my bicycle, into the lobby of a fancy hotel...
About half the young Canadians I know are either unemployed or have lousy low paying jobs. Jobs with no guaranteed hours, no job security, no benefits, no nothing. They are exploited like slaves in their own country, and are struggling to survive. So you can imagine how I feel about Stephen Poloz's idiot idea.
I'm pretty sure not many people in Ontario, let alone the rest of Canada, took time off from their busy lives, or Summer, to watch Kathleen Wynne's Throne Speech today. And neither did I eh? Because summer is too precious, life is too short, and since I'm flying to Britain soon, I've got other things to worry about. But it was an interesting declaration of faith in the power of putting people first. Premier Kathleen Wynne has rolled out a progressive, energetic agenda in her first majority Speech from the Throne. Vowing to lead from the “activist centre,” her Liberals appear determined to honour their campaign pledges to put people first, and then some. And what happens next could play a major role in the next federal section.
The two companies couldn't be more different. Wal-Mart, the destroyer of communities, that closed this store in Jonquiere, Quebec, after its workers voted to unionize. And after nine years of fighting to avoid having to pay them compensation, just lost its case in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of Canada has sided with the union representing former Wal-Mart employees who claimed the company violated Quebec labour law when it abruptly closed its store in Jonquière, Que., not long after the workers voted to unionize. And Heinz, that ran a factory in Leamington, Ontario, for 105 years, treated its workers with respect, and was a valued part of the community. But still closed its doors Friday for the last time.
Well there he was the other day, trying to run away from the Senate scandal, while claiming scandalously that his trade deal with the Europeans was bigger than Brian Mulroney's free trade deal. Prime Minister Stephen Harper touted the benefits of the Canada-EU free trade agreement to a business crowd in Montreal that included the architect of the Canada-U.S. free trade deal negotiated 25 years earlier. Even though we don't know what's in his new trade deal. Even though the Europeans are secretly bragging that they took Canada to the cleaners. And even though the Euro zone's economy is heading in the same direction as the Titanic.
Well it was quite a spectacle. Jason Kenney in the House of Commons, trying to limit the damage of the foreign worker's scandal. Desperately trying to make it go away. But the look on Peter Kent's face told the story, showed how much that scandal has hurt the Cons. And nothing Kenney said will make it better. For anyone who witnessed that absurd spectacle wouldn't have known whether to cry or laugh.
It's funny eh? When I see pictures like this one I see people standing up for their rights, telling a corrupt government to take their fascist bill and shove it, or just joining others to demand a better world.
But most of the Con media only seem to see a mob, dangerous terrorists, and above all GREEKS !!!!
When I see how the workers at Electro-Motive are suffering it breaks my heart.
From Lynda:
We have discussed the food bank. Worry that Paul will not be able to find another job that will pay our bills Now the worry that we will have no health coverage. The worry that we will have no future.
I'm sorry. I can't go on anymore with this. My head hurts and it is difficult to see right now. I'm going to try to lie down and sleep for a little while if I can.
From Tammy:
We are trying to fight with London Hydro so we don't lose our hydro in the next week. Our vehicle will more than likely be taken away in the weeks to come as well. How do you explain to your six-year-old that he can't have a cookie as there are only a few left and we need to save them for school lunches?
When I see how that shattered community is trying to fight back in a proud but humble way it makes me so sad.
First they were told they must agree to have their wages cut in half, their benefits slashed, and their pensions gutted. Then when they refused to get down on their knees, they were locked out.
Tonight they're worrying about how they are going to feed their families after their plant was closed down.
Even though as one worker said "we made damn good trains." Even though the Caterpillar hogs were making record profits.
Caterpillar revealed Jan. 26 it had record-high sales and a profit of nearly $5 billion US last year, up 83 per cent from $2.7 billion US in 2010. Profit per share was $7.40 US, up 78 per cent.
Even though the Harper Cons gave them juicy tax breaks, and now have the gall to claim that they are doing that to create jobs.
Golly. It looks like that fancy pajama party in Davos, has considered the state of the capitalist pig, and found its condition rather alarming.
For decades, this ritzy Swiss resort has hosted an annual celebration of capitalism where luxurious Audis ferry potentates and presidents between lavish hotels so they can bemoan the perils of socialism, high taxes and debt. And yet, this year, the veteran founder and Chairman of the Davos World Economic Forum, Professor Klaus Schwab, declares that "Capitalism, in its current form, no longer fits the world around us."
And is so shaken by the situation it's taking a page out of the Occupy movement. Just like Obama did last night.
For all the forced conviviality in the chamber, the most memorable parts of the speech were shaped not by shenanigans in Washington, but by the protests in the streets that have shifted the focus of the nation from debt and government-bashing to the enduring inequalities and inequities in American society.
Because they can see the writing on the wall, and the power of an idea whose time has come. Unlike Stephen Harper.
I couldn't make it to London, Ontario today. And I was so disappointed. For it must have been a stirring sight.
A crowd of more than 10,000 descended upon this city’s Victoria Park to support local workers who have been locked out of their jobs since the new year. They came from all over, from Timmins, Sudbury, and Pennsylvania in scores of buses. They came to protest corporate greed and Stephen Harper.
I would have liked to hear this angry message to Great Chicken Leader:
“We need you down here to support Canadian workers,” yelled London Mayor Joe Fontana. “Get your ass down here!”
Who was invited, but like the other three Con MP's from the area, was too scared to show up.
Golly. I don't think I'm going to have to consult my horoscope to find out where I'm going to be, and what I'm going to be doing on Saturday the 21st of January. Because I already know.
And why am I so excited I'm marching around my house beating my drum already? Because I believe this ugly lockout will be a turning point in Canadian history, and will mark the beginning of the real resistance to the Harper regime.
