A twelfth question for Peter Kent: do Guelph students deserve to have their freedoms extinguished?

As we have seen, in 2006 Peter Kent, current Conservative candidate in Toronto Thornhill, served as a Director and on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies. The President of CCD at this time was Al Gordon, well known for his inflamatory commentary on matters international and domestic.

On April 4, 2006, Al Gordon, President of the CCD wrote the following on CCD's website:

The gutless Guelph students deserve to have their freedoms extinguished for capitulating to Islamist thugs. What snivelling, cowardly little nebishes.

Given that Peter Kent was a member of the CCD's executive, as well as a director, at the time, and given that this opinion was expressed by the President of the Coalition for Democracieson its official web-site, another question for Mr. Kent:

Presumably you disagree with Mr. Gordon's sentiments. Did Mr. Gordon express these opinions at Executive Committee meetings or opinions similar to these? What did you do? Will you denounce them now?

Earlier questions for Peter Kent:

• Ten questions for Peter Kent, CPC candidate for Thornhill
  
• An eleventh question for Peter Kent (CPC candidate Thornhill)

Update. Dr. Dawg has another question (which I will call the 13th) for Peter Kent about outrageous quotations emanating from the CCD website.


Update. See now my Handy Peter Kent (Thornhill) controversy index

Head of skate: the Palin movie

This is funny.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

h/t Andrew Sullivan

Cathy McLeod, the invisible Conservative candidate in Kamloops

The Galloping Beaver has a very interesting post on Cathy McLeod, Conservative candidate in Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo. Apparently she has all but disappeared from the campaign and is a complete unknown in her riding.

An eleventh question for Peter Kent (CPC candidate Thornhill)

The learned Dr. Dawg has Ten questions for Peter Kent, CPC candidate for Thornhill concerning his relationship with the anti-Muslim group, Canadian Coalition for Democracies. Now that we have seen that Peter Kent served as a Director of that group and on its Executive Committee in 2006, more questions arise.

• Are you presently a member of the Canadian Coalition of Democracies? If so, what is your official function within the group? Are you still a Director?
  

Other questions for Peter Kent (updated):

• Ten questions for Peter Kent, CPC candidate for Thornhill
  
• An eleventh question for Peter Kent (CPC candidate Thornhill)


• A twelfth question for Peter Kent: do Guelph students deserve to have their freedoms extinguished?

Update. See now my Handy Peter Kent (Thornhill) controversy index

More evidence on the Peter Kent (CPC Thornhill) and the CCD

As we have seen, Peter Kent is a senior member of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies, a group that has taken many controversial positions, as can be seen in Dr. Dawg's recent post, "Ten questions for Peter Kent, CPC candidate for Thornhill".

More evidence of Kent's involvement with the CCD should be the groups website. At one time, they had a page listing their personnel at http://canadiancoalition.com/who.shtml. That page was removed sometime within the last year.

Thanks to the Wayback machine, however, it's possible to see what that page looked liked on various dates.

Peter Kent is listed as a member of the CCD's Executive Dommittee and Board of Directors from August 2006 t0 at least the end of October 2006 (screen shot, below), and a Director from February 2007 until July 2007. Then the page was deleted.

Here is what the page looked like in October 2006, when Peter Kent was on the Executive Committee and a Director.

Update. Questions for Peter Kent arising from his relationship with CCD:

• Ten questions for Peter Kent, CPC candidate for Thornhill
  
• An eleventh question for Peter Kent (CPC candidate Thornhill)
• A twelfth question for Peter Kent: do Guelph students deserve to have their freedoms extinguished?

Update. See now my Handy Peter Kent (Thornhill) controversy index

Return of the 42: Peter Kent and the Canadian Coalition of Democracies

Dr. Dawg points out that Peter Kent is a senior member of the Canadian Coalition of Democracies:

a group that appears to enjoy fomenting anti-Muslim hysteria. The organization even sucked in that indefatigable anti-Muslim campaigner and promoter of campus snitch lines, Daniel Pipes. Pipes was forced to retract comments he made about Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, which had been based upon misinformation received from CCD. (Pipes refers in his screed to Ezra Levant's further smears of Alghabra, which I dealt with some time ago, and makes additional defamatory remarks that need not concern us here.)

Those who have been paying attention have not been surprised to see the group, or its principal spokesmen, speaking on issues concerning the Middle East, terrorism, and security.

The group did appear, however, in an unexpected context during this past summer.

Many will remember that Brian Rushfeldt's Canada Family Action Coalition filed a complaint to the Judicial Council (pdf here) demanding that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Beverley Maclaughlin, be impeached for having chaired the committee that awarded the Order of Canada to Morgentaler. The petition was widely condemned as ridiculous, first because of its ignorance of the process and its disrespect for due process. As the Globe and Mail pointed out:

Accusing the Chief Justice of judicial misconduct … suggests these activists are merely looking for publicity. [...]

If the Canadian Family Action Coalition is concerned about the constitutionality of the provision under the Constitution of the Order of Canada requiring the Chief Justice to chair the advisory council, the group should challenge the requirements of the law. This complaint to the CJC about the Chief Justice's alleged misconduct is a cheap shot, and unconvincing.

The list of organizations supporting the Rushfeldt's petition also became a laughing stock once it became clear that it was padded by the presence of private businesses, micro-organizations, transparent astroturfing shells, and much double- and triple-counting (see here).

(The complaint, unsurprisingly, was dismissed as being without merit.)

Among the organizations supporting the petition, however, was the Canadian Coalition for Democracies. (It is 11th in Rushfeldt's list.)

The question that needs to be asked is whether Peter Kent, who is a senior member of the Canadian Coalition of Democracies, had anything to do with this ridiculous charade.

Update. See now my Handy Peter Kent (Thornhill) controversy index

Peter Kent (Toronto Thornhill), senior member of the Canadian Coalition of Democracies

The Conservative candidate in Toronto Thornhill is a "senior member" of the Canadian Coalition of Democracies.

The evidence?  In an article in the Toronto Star, January 08, 2007 (quoted on the CCD's own web-page):

To promote what Raghubeer called "a robust foreign policy that deals with the world as it has changed in the post-9/11 era," the Canadian Coalition for Democracies formed in 2003.

Senior members include broadcaster and former Conservative candidate Peter Kent and David Harris, former chief of strategic planning for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The group is multi-ethnic and multi-religious, said Raghubeer, whose family came to Canada in 1984 as refugees from the former British Guyana, now Guyana.

More to come.

H/t Dr Dawg.

Update. See now my Handy Peter Kent (Thornhill) controversy index

What every household needs

The Conservatives know that Ryan Warawa is a problem, apparently

To judge from my logs, the Conservatives now know that Ryan Warawa's blog posts have resurfaced.

Now what will they do?

Ryan Warawa on Belinda Stronach smoking Clinton's cigar

A couple days ago J-rad.ca pointed out that Conservative candidate Conservative candidate Ryan Warawa has "disappeared" his blog, apparently because its contents, which include arguing for legalization of drugs and prostitution, would not reflect well on a Conservative candidate.

And yesterday Big City Lib pointed out that among the hidden posts is one in which Ryan Warawa very probably defamed Keith Martin by suggesting a connection to drug money.

There are, however, other problematic posts. Remember the reports of that Bill Clinton and Belinda Stronach were acquainted. Consider Ryan's salacious reporting of that news:

Now, it is the case that many conservative commentators have said some unkind things about Stronach, her politics, and her change of party. But this goes much further than even her harshest critics.

It is not just the prurient interest, but the leering innuendo. This is beneath what one would expect of a candidate for political office.

(If you want to read this in context, you can see a screen-capture of the archive of that month in the link to the left.)

Ryan Warawa: Another problematic candidate?

The internet has become a problem for a series of candidates this year.  Next on the list might be Ryan Warawa, the Conservative sacrificial lamb in Vancouver East.  

The problem?  It seems that Ryan Warawa belongs to the Warawa Report, a Conservative blog that's been going for years. And over the years enough potential embarassments have accumulated that the blog has been taken down.

What are some of the embarassments?

• Big City Lib points out that Ryan Warawa has very probably defamed Keith Martin by suggesting a connection to drug money; 
• J-rad.ca points out Ryan Warawa's support for legalization of prostitution.

There is presumably more to come.  So stay tuned.

More Gerry Ritz blitzin'

I've already pointed out Impolitical's on-going and devastating accumulation of posts calling for the resignation of Gerry Ritz.  Meanwhile, her calls continue with two more posts:

• Where in the world is Gerry Ritz?
• Gerry Ritz should be fired, part IX: Privy Council Office edition

Well worth the read.  So go read them.

Putting on the Ritz

Many have been impressed over the last few weeks by Impolitical's on-going and thorough presentation of the listeriosis outbreak and the poor performance of Harper's government, especially Tony Clement, the Minister of Health, and Gerry Ritz, the Minister of Agriculture.

In case you've missed any of it, here is a handy index to her posts on the subject:

• Gerry Ritz's tangled web
  
• Gerry Ritz gets tripped up in his tangled web
  
• The independent review ploy wheeled out by Harper today
  
• Harper listeriosis investigation called out by union
  
• Political considerations above all else, even with the listeriosis outbreak
  
• Gerry Ritz should be fired
  
• Gerry Ritz should be fired, part II
  
• Gerry Ritz should be fired, part III
  
• Gerry Ritz should be fired, part IV
  
• Gerry Ritz should be fired, Part V
  
• Gerry Riz should be fired, Part VI
  
• Why Gerry Ritz's black humour matters
• Gerry Ritz should be fired, part VII
• Gerry Ritz should be fired, part VIII: "The team is falling off like snowflakes"

Chris Reid steps down?

According to BCL, there are reports that Chris Reid has stepped down as Conservative candidate in Toronto Centre.


Update. Now confirmed by CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/21/reid-candidate.html.

Conservative candidate, Chris Reid: Canadians are "a castrated effeminate population"

Over at BCL, Toronto center Conservative candidate, Chris Reid makes an appearance to complain about his coverage.

One thing that he doesn't explain, however, is his comments from this past summer when he mocks the passengers who escaped Vince Weiguang Li's rampage on that Greyhound bus in Manitoba.  He's since deleted the blog, but they can still be recovered from google cache (here):

Now, some might dismiss Mr. Reid's outburst as the result of watching too many action movies.  But let's leave that aside.

What is more striking is the sneery way he describes Canadians.  The "Canadian thing", he mocks, is to "flee in terror" and to muster no "courage or sacrifice".  And the way that he describes Canada's population as "a "castrated" and "effeminate".

Now, it is hardly surprising that this is the kind of view that a candidate would want to hide from scrutiny.  Before he became a candidate, apparently, his blog disappeared.  

But this raises another series of questions. Who decided to make the blog disappear?  Reid? or his Conservative vetters?  Did his Conservative vetters know about his views?  Do they know about them now?  Do they think that Reid is a fitting representative of their party?

Other posts on Chris Reid:

• Conservative candidate Chris Reid: "handguns for everyone"
  

Suddenly, it all makes sense

Houston BC is famous for two things. 

For its mayor, whose naked pictures are floating around the internet.  (See picture on the left.)

And for being the site of the world's largest rod, which as you can see in the picture to the right, is perched at a … um … provocative angle.

Coincidence?  I think not.

Palin and the Road to Nowhere

Apparently after the Bridge to Nowhere was cancelled, Palin build the access road to nowhere anyway.  

Why?  Because the Federal government earmark funding the access road was written in a way that did not allow the funds to be used for anything else.

Conservative candidate Chris Reid: "handguns for everyone"

BCL recovers some shocking quotes from the blog of Chris Reid Conservative candidate in Toronto Center.

Here's the highlights so far. On the Manitoba bus-stabbing:

This is where socialism as gotten us folks, a castrated effeminate population.

This is a perfect example of why we need concealed-carry handgun legislation in this country, so we can defend one another and deter horrible events such as this. But what are our politicians talking about? More government regulation and security.

On tax policy:

A flax income tax, or better yet, eliminate personal and business income taxes all together, and just have a consumption tax to promote investing which would raise people's living standards.

On abortion:

Ending abortion.

More to come, one assumes.

Other Chris Reid posts:

• Conservative candidate, Chris Reid: Canadians are "a castrated effeminate population"

The electoral college now and then (5)

h/t electoral-vote.com

Poop-a-scoop snoops go hi-tech

It was bound to happen:

PETAH TIKVA, Israel (Reuters) - An Israeli city is using DNA analysis of dog droppings to reward and punish pet owners.

Under a six-month trial programme launched this week, the city of Petah Tikva, a suburb of Tel Aviv, is asking dog owners to take their animal to a municipal veterinarian, who then swabs its mouth and collects DNA.

The city will use the DNA database it is building to match faeces to a registered dog and identify its owner.

Owners who scoop up their dogs' droppings and place them in specially marked bins on Petah Tikva's streets will be eligible for rewards of pet food coupons and dog toys.

But droppings found underfoot in the street and matched through the DNA database to a registered pet could earn its owner a municipal fine.

My only questions is when can we start doing this with politicians?

Todd Palin, aka First Dude

There's an interesting piece in Salon on Todd Palin.

Sarah Palin unqualified to be CEO: McCain advisor

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is a staunch Republican and has been actively supporting McCain, acting as his advisor and spokesperson on a number of occasions, even speaking at the Republican National Convention.

In this clip, she admits that Sarah Palin is unqualified to be CEO of a major corporation:

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you might be on CNN

The world might be collapsing around you …

Palin and book-banning

Those interested in the Palin-book-banning story may want to read the story at Salon.

The Economic Costs of a Carbon Tax (not too bad, apparently)

So. Despite all the dire warnings of the Conservative government about the economic disaster that a carbon tax would bring. It appears that their own study shows the economic costs of a carbon tax would in fact be negligible and, if done right, be economically beneficial.

h/t Challenging the Commonplace.

Wow. That was a traffic magnet.

My last post (here) on Sherry Whitstine's blog proved quite the traffic magnet.

As you may have heard, Whitstine has been blogging critically about Palin for some time, and there were reports in the media that one of Palin's aides had called her and demanded that she stop.

I blogged the link at about noon, and since then have had over 700 1200 hits. My traffic chart is above. And here's the map where it's coming from.

Here are the search terms from the last 500 posts:

Sherry Whitstine's blog

One of Sarah Palin's aides is reputed to complained about Wasilla Republican Sherry Whitstine's blog and told her to stop blogging.

Palin and those rape kits

This is a little difficult to fathom, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the decision to charge rape victims for their exams was Palin's.

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton interview

Sarah Palin's governing style

The NYTimes has an article describing Sarah Palin's governing style. Well worth reading.

YouTube video on MCain lies

There's a really good video on youtube on McCain's lies and distortions:

Everything you need to know about Sarah Palin's troopergate

For everything you need to know about Sarah Palin's troopergate, follow the link.

Update.  You can also see Palin's 'Grave' Trooper Scandal at Washington monthly.

Good news

The universe as we know it has not been destroyed by the Large Hadron Collider, which has now been turned on.  Just in case you were wondering.

McCain faces threat in key demographic

As always, the Onion leads the way:

Old, Grizzled Third-Party Candidate May Steal Support From McCain

Another example of the Liberal press out to get Sarah Palin

The competency of Sarah Palin's record as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, is questioned by that well-known Liberal rag -- the Wall Street Journal.

The electoral college now and then (4)

h/t electoral-vote.com

McCain team denies Palin once a secessionist

The McCain Team may want to deny it (here), but this video shows that the Alaska Independence Party thought Sarah Palin was one of their own.

Update. An Alaskan Independence Party official says she attended their convention:

Update 2. According to this, the AIP officials now admit that they may be mistaken, and that it was only Todd Palin (Sarah's husband) who was a member of the AIP, not Sarah herself.

Odds of Palin surviving are roughly the same as those of McCain not

Meanwhile, Intrade has opened a betting-pool on whether Palin will withdraw before election day.

So far, betting seems to be 5-to-1. Roughly the same odds as a 72 year-old dying during the next four years.

Palin was an Alaska secessionist?

According to an official of the Alaska Independence Party, Palin was once a member:

Update. It looks like the NY Times has noticed the secessionist angle: here.

Palin and Alaska secessionists

This seems a little reckless, in retrospect. She sent this video-welcome to the convention of the Alaska Independence Party.

Update. Apparently Palin once belonged to the Alaska Independence Party.