The Legislature Raids

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BC Mary comment:  The "news" these days ... it's hard to know when it's humour, when it's true, when it's obfuscation, when it's an outright lie, or when it's history repeating itself. For example, I understand that the Harper-Cons got themselves a get-outa-jail-free card yesterday by saying light-heartedly, "Oh yes, we lied. We knew Irwin Cotler wasn't quitting. We just wanted to make his constituents think so." And the Speaker of the House whose job it is to rule on legalities, actually recognized the lies and called them "reprehensible" but  said, on the other hand, Harper-Con lies would be accepted as a good enough reason to interfere with the democratic process. See what I mean? Do we laugh, or call the cops?

Then there's Lord Acton's hoary old warning which never goes out of date. He pronounced: "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Perhaps not everybody noticed that we're seeing history repeat itself. Shift gears from federal to provincial, and turn the clock back to 2001 to the scenes of cowboy chaos we saw in British Columbia when the democratic process brought in 79 so-called BC Liberals (actually, Reform/Socreds - Harper-style) facing a 2-person Opposition which did their best ... but ... well, 79 to 2 = Absolute Power. So among the priceless public assets we lost, we saw Canada's 3rd largest railway slide out of public ownership under that lying, cheating regime of absolute power.

Today, Justin Trudeau brought home a similar image of absolute power riding rough-shod over the democratic process. Justin Trudeau has me wondering if discussion is pointless, when so many Harper-Cons are setting their hair on fire over a precise home-truth he shouted across the House of Commons: a tiny, common noun. There's no doubt in my mind now, that Peter Kent the so-called Environment Minister is a piece of sh!t, as are the rest of the Harper Gang for what they've done to Canada and Canada's reputation world-wide. Did we notice when the Harper-Cons dumped Atomic Energy of Canada, and with it, Canada's position as a world leader in that field, from mining to building the laboratories to creating the finished products? World leader. It was a classic obfuscation, shutting down the laboratories, firing the key managers. Then virtually giving AECL away for peanuts. The BC Rail process.

But for today, let's just consider:

The Harper Gang “For the first time ever ... refused to accredit any members of the Opposition for the COP 17 conference in Durban,” Mr. Trudeau told The Globe in  an email, while Question Period was still continuing. “This was extremely difficult for my friend Kirsty Duncan, our Environment Critic, who tried, unsuccessfully, to pay her own way to get to Durban.”

He said that the rationale from the government was “we have a majority, we don't need to bring dissenting voices.”

“So when Minister Kent got up and dared say ‘if the member opposite had been in Durban...’ I lost my cool,” he said.

About Mr. Trudeau’s heckling, Ms. May said: “It took my breath away that Peter [Kent] would say to Megan Leslie that ‘if she had been at Durban’ as though she passed up a chance to go.”

Ms. May paid her own way to the conference, as did NDP MP Lauren Liu.

“So even though the slur was against an NDP MP, it was appalling. My jaw dropped. (And I am not prone to yelling and never heckle). Fair to say Justin just lost it. And he did jump up to apologize (not that excuses it),” she added in an email.

Nor should we allow ourselves to be fooled by the uproar over use of the word "shit". It's a clumsy attempt to draw attention away from the outrage of double-crossing everybody trying to protect the nation (and the world) from the ravages of pollution. Have a look at a few of the comments following The Globe and Mail story on Justin Trudeau's "terrible" deed:

Link:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/durban-dust-up-spurs-justin-trudeau-to-swear-at-environment-minister/article2271211/

SOME COMMENTS:

Elder Gonzo wrote:  I agree with Justin Trudeau 100%!

tj1808 wrote: Peter Kent would be called much worse if he were to walk the streets of Europe, Japan, or even China or India.

DisingenuousHarperRegime wrote: Kent deserved it. He did not accept the apology either. What a toad.

BackroomBob wrote: Justin just became the most popular opposition figure in Canada.

Can't believe it wrote: That's not swearing!!! It's a very apt description of the minister of "OZONE"!!!

Conservative Lies wrote: Isn't it ironic...that the Conservatives DON'T have to apologize for spreading lies about Irwin Cotler retiring, but the Liberals DO have to apologize for TELLING THE TRUTH!  Peter Kent is already considered a laughing-stock to the rest of the world. Imagine an Environment Minister for even a third-world country not knowing what 'ozone' is?  What an unqualified buffoon!!!

Bok Globule wrote: I'm surprised this is the first time. This is the most dishonest, hypocritical, and mendacious government I've ever seen in Canada. It's disgusting. Doesn't excuse Trudeau's cursing, but it doesn't surprise. My only exposure is through the media; if it was my day job I probably would have snapped long ago.

beefair wrote: Well said Justin, but Pat Martin said it better.

Its_My_Canada wrote: J. Trudeau was way too kind in his remark.

leaand wrote: That is the best description I have heard of our Fake Environment Minister yet. Time someone told the truth about this Calgary Oil Patch Puppet. He serves his puppet master well, and he doesn't serve the interest of the people of Canada.

Nanakanda wrote: Lets put kent, harper, mckay,toews all in jail permanently, they are all pieces of canuck sh!t

Truth First wrote: Congratulations to Justin Trudeau. I'm surprised more opposition MP's haven't done likewise. He hit the nail on the head with his remark. The only way to improve on it would be to call all members of this dictatorship canadians sufffer under sh!!s.

Eliza Grey wrote:  Can anyone remind me the last time a Conservative mp apologized for anything? Certainly didn't for Cotler, for joy riding in search and rescue vehicles. Anything anyone can remember?

Trudeau was wrong for swearing and he apologized, that is not a capital offense. As another poster noted, why did we even bother sending Kent, could have skyped him saying over and over again, no, no,no. Would have saved us all money and then perhaps someone who actually wants to see things improve could have gone on that dime.

shaun47 wrote: He shouldn't have had to apologise. He was just exercising his right to free speech. Besides, there have been rumours going around for years now that Peter Kent IS a Piece of S**t.

In fact, maybe they should do a poll in his riding: "Given that Peter Kent has been rumoured to be a piece of s**t, how will you vote in the next election?"

Happy & Safe wrote: Justin's description of Kent is validated when Kent fails to apologize to Kirsty Duncan, and since Steve is the only one giving orders in the Reform Party, Steve smells as bad as Peter.

I_Heart_Canada wrote: Pretty disgusting of Conservatives who are so desperate for seats that they fast-track minor celebrities like Peter Kent.

He was a horrible reporter and now he is a horrible politician doing the bidding of the American Republican party.

Nice going Justin!

mark Kluepfel wrote: Peter Kent follows the Peter principle, incompetents rise to the top.

"internationalist" wrote:  Eh Cons...get used to Justin Trudeau as Justin has balls!

George.91 wrote: Way to speak on behalf of your constituents and many Canadians!!! This Government is a PIECE of SH*T, let alone Peter Kent.

Sure his rhetoric and behavior was not appropriate for Parliament and disrespectful. But wait the Harper Government is a thousand times worse.

Allan Beveridge wrote:  What do you do when you are dealing with lying, cheating and contemptuous bullies? The CPC do act like classic bullies personified. They continue to act like grade school children and then are suprised when some people get a little fed up? I remember struggling to deal with this kind of attitude when I was younger, where one tries to play nice and fair yet gets pushed and pushed and pushed and inevitably something gives. Often it is the person who was bullied who pays the price even though they were not the ones in the wrong.

Just how much cr@p are people expected to take from these CPC cretin? The endless stream of bs from this government shows that the CPC are without integrity and honour and devoid of any moral character. They surppased any previous Canadian government in this regard a long time ago and now its shows in just about everything they do (the handling of the contracts for military vessels being one of the rare exceptions).

I don't condone what Justin did, but I do understand it. Frankly, I do not know what the opposition MP's can do to deal with this bunch of hooligans that is now our government, especially when they still enjoy the support of the MSM. But we must find a way to do something or else we are going to simply have to watch as they continue to abuse their privileges and trample on and degrade our democracy. [cont'd.]