Canadian Politics: The Harper Era

[rockkid]

qui

[Dr. Drum]

So what's with O'Connor's invitation to the Americans yesterday to invite us to come back to the table on missile defence? Sure to be voted down in Parliament and, if it somehow wasn't, complete political suicide for the Conservatives in Quebec.

[rockkid]

Everything I’m hearing screams that they’ve just blown the dust off Mulroney era doctrine.

[Dr. Drum]

Yeah, and I have a feeling some of the old Reformers are in for a little more disillusionment yet before this one is done!

[phil]

Pity ! So far they were doing so great ... ! !

[rockkid]

Smart ass ;P

[Dr. Drum]

Anyone catch this sorry little spectacle last evening? If people like Geldof and Bono exemplify a form of substantive, focused celebrity activism, this is surely the other extreme. Heather kept literally shrieking over Danny Williams every time he made a point and Paul was not only misinformed and clueless, he didn’t even know which province he was in – Williams invites him to come to Newfoundland to get his side of the story; Paul huffily replies, "Thanks for the invitation, but we're here. We're actually in the studio here. We are in Newfoundland." Only he’s not – he’s sitting in a hotel room in PEI.

Premier faces off against ex-Beatle
JANE ARMSTRONG
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

St. John's — The noisy, emotion-filled voices on the Larry King Live show last night came from Canada of all places, where the topic on the popular CNN show turned to baby harp seals.

Paul McCartney, superstar ex-Beatle, billionaire and vociferous vegan, squared off against Danny Williams, the fast-talking millionaire premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and staunch defender of his province's three-century old practice of hunting seals each spring.

Wearing a beige sweatshirt with "Canada" emblazoned on the front, Sir Paul called the annual seal hunt a "brutal" practice. His wife Heather said the baby seals are "clubbed to death" before they ever get a chance to swim.

"I think it's a cruel practice that should be ended," Sir Paul told Mr. King, adding that he's been disturbed by the hunt for more than four decades.

The couple spoke to the talk show host from Charlottetown.

However, Mr. Williams, an admitted Beatles fan, emerged from a St. John's television studio last night looking like a prize fighter who scored a knockout.

"It was a wonderful experience," Mr. Williams told reporters after the early evening taping. He said Mr. King was "very fair," although he thought Sir Paul and Lady McCartney cut him off too frequently. He added that both are misinformed about the seal hunt.

The premier agreed to appear on the talk show, which has an audience of nearly 60 million worldwide, because he was "peeved" at the succession of international superstars who traipse to Canada's East Coast every couple of years to protest against the annual seal hunt.

The hunt so reviled by animal activists, he argued, is a legal, humane practice -- not unlike a slaughterhouse -- that employs about 5,000 Newfoundlanders.

Sir Paul and Lady McCartney arrived in Canada earlier this week to protest against the hunt, which the pop star described as "stain on the Canadian people."

The couple flew to St. John's, then Charlottetown and later travelled by small plane to an ice pan north of the Iles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to watch the seal pups close up.

Sir Paul said the scene on the ice was wondrous. "It's a fantastic spectacle. It's a beautiful, wildlife spectacle. And it's the kind of thing that people should just respect and love."
However, he added: "It was terrifying to think that in probably three weeks time, the sealers will arrive with clubs and pick axes and with guns and will kill a huge amount of these baby seals."

Ms. McCartney said the couple researched the issue before arriving in Canada and concluded that Canadian sealers can earn a living in other ways.

Mr. Williams and scores of other East Coast fishermen would disagree. Most seal hunters are fishermen looking to subsidize their incomes in the off season.

Mr. Williams said he believes the couple zeroed in on the seal industry because it's not powerful and, unlike chickens and cows, seals are highly photogenic.

"They target us because we're a smaller province, it's a small industry. They're not going to take on the beef industry. The seal pup makes a great photo op."

Mr. Williams said the show ended with the McCartneys urging Canada to end the seal hunt, noting that international boycotts have hurt sales. Mr. Williams replied that the boycott is based on faulty information. However, he invited the couple to visit Newfoundland.

During their trip this week to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the McCartneys were photographed alongside a white-coated baby seal, which, Mr. Williams noted, are illegal to hunt.

The Newfoundland Premier said he respects the ex-Beatle and loves his music, but believes the couple are misinformed.

"There are a lot of Beatles fans in Newfoundland and Labrador, but to see them come in as international superstars and see them be used to promote something that is incorrect, then it is incumbent on the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada ..... to counteract the information."

When CNN called the Premier's office Thursday, Mr. Williams jumped at the chance to debate.

"I see this as a tremendous opportunity. I asked for a private meeting with Paul McCartney. I have one now with approximately 50 to 60 million people in the room with us."

The debate did not change anyone's mind, he said.

"Mr. and Mrs. McCartney are vegans," Mr. Williams said. "And what they stand for is the complete elimination of the killing of anything that is breathing."

Sir Paul is following in the footsteps of other international celebrities who have come to Canada tow to protest against the seal hunt, including Brigitte Bardot Pamela Anderson.

Sealing in Canada dates to the 1700s and is worth an estimated $20-million annually.

In the late 1970s, the European Community banned the importation of white-coat pelts.

In 2003, Ottawa introduced a three-year management plan allowing for 975,000 seals to be hunted.
Mr. Williams said the seal hunt is supervised and regulations are enforced.

Newfoundland has between 4,000 to 5,0000 sealers. Earnings from the annual seal hunt, which begins in March, comprise nearly 30 per cent of their annual incomes.

[phil]

So ! Who will champion
the poor baby cods
eaten alive by the seals ... ?

...


Ringo ??

[rockkid]

Saw it & was totally disgusted by it. The McCartney’s attitude was smugger than smug right from second one of the show.
It 's hard for me to have any empathy towards someone’s POV when they are going through the holier than thou facial gymnastics the whole time.
And you bet they are misinformed. So many changes all ready made to the hunt post Bardot era.
Fuck I guess it’s easy to strip a livelihood when a million to you is like 50 cents.

[phil]

Funny thing is nobody gives a damn
when the ones being clubbed to death
look like this ...

[Rit]

McCartney is a douche.

[rockkid]

No caption needed IMO.

[Dr. Drum]

PM makes top-secret visit to Kandahar

Kandahar – Stephen Harper made a top-secret military landing in southern Afghanistan Sunday, pledging to boost support for soldiers trying to rebuild the country but facing the heightened prospect of terrorist attacks.

tinyurl.com/ggou2

A "top-secret" visit that was leaked a month in advance and is now splashed on every front page and TV news channel going. No in and out Cheney-Blair thief-in-the-night style for our Stephen, eh?

[Rit]

Drum, are you involved with politics in any capacity?

[Dr. Drum]

These days just volunteer work for the NDP at election time. With minority governments federally and provincially in Nova Scotia recently, that’s been enough – 5 elections in 7 years. In the past I also served on my provincial riding exec.

In my foolish youth, I was also a union local president. Different kind of politics.

Why do you ask?