On a current trip to Iraq, US President George Bush hailed progress in the war that will ultimately define his presidency. A war in which 4,209 soldiers have perished and over $500 billion worth of taxpayers money spent. He also got a size-10 reminder of his unpopularity when a journalist threw both shoes at him, barely missing his head. The video can be seen here:

It scares me when Canada is called a safe haven for terrorists by many other countries. For years, terrorists have been setting up shop in Canada by taking advantage of Canada’s liberal immigration laws and lacking screening process. Once in Canada, they are able to operate freely in any part of the country, mainly as a result of weak law enforcement. Terrorists find it easy to enter Canada by posing as refugees and crossing the unprotected US-Canada border.

In fact, there are currently 40 recognized terrorist organizations operating in Canada according to Public Safety Canada. Some well-known players on the list include: Al Qaida, Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Tamil Tigers and the Palestinian Liberation Front. Our very own intelligence service stated, in a report from August 2002, that aside from the US, Canada hosts the most international terrorist organizations in the world.
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper & Finance Minister Jim Flaherty

On Thursday, November 27th, the Conservatives are expected to announce a plan that would slash public funding for political parties beginning next year. Jim Flaherty, Canada’s Finance Minister, will make the announcement in his fiscal update – a proposal that is seen as a declaration of war to opposition parties.

Currently, all political parties receive a public subsidy of $1.75 per year for each vote they receive in the most recent general election. This subsidy has cost taxpayers approximately $28-million in the past year.
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Stephen McNeil, Nova Scotia’s Liberal leader, thinks the province should lower the legal voting age to 16 in an attempt to increase youth participation at the polls. He claims there are no fundamental reasons 16 year olds should not be allowed to vote. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there are!

Firstly, compared to a typical adult, most issues that define elections don’t affect this age group.
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On November 22nd, APEC leaders vowed not to raise trade barriers over the next 12 months to the delight of PM Steven Harper. For the past few weeks, Harper has been discussing the issue with world leaders in an effort to keep free trade alive during the economic downturn. He’s also managed to sign a free trade agreement with Colombia just this week. Harper maintains the leading cause of the Great Depression was a result of bad decisions made by policy-makers, one of which was shutting down borders to trade in order to protect domestic jobs.

So how will the Obama administration react when in takes office in under 2 months time? It’s no secret that throughout the 2008 election campaign, Obama promised to restrict free trade agreements which he blames for the loss of US jobs due to outsourcing. He also mentioned renegotiating major trade agreements such as NAFTA. At the same time, currently serving President Bush advocates the exact opposite – keep borders open and allow free trade to continue.
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The tragedy that occurred on Election Day still bugs me to this day – Canada recorded the lowest voter turnout rate in history with only 59.1% of eligible Canadians casting their ballots. According to Elections Canada, a total of 13,832,972 votes were cast nationally of the 23,401,064 registered electors. This is undoubtedly a huge blow to Canadian democracy that can’t be overlooked.

Another similarly tragic record was also set on Election Day. A political party received the highest number of votes in a federal election without claiming one seat in parliament. That, of course, was the Green Party, which received just under 1 million votes and 6.8% of the overall popular vote.

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The Big Three

Just a month and a half after the financial sector in the United States received a $700 billion bailout package, the U.S. auto industry is begging for it to be their turn. U.S. auto executives are seeking $25 billion to save an industry on the brink of collapse. And Canada wants in. Industry Minister Tony Clement will be traveling to the United States to try and set the framework for a joint deal. But is another bailout plan using taxpayer’s money really justified? I’m not fully convinced.

There’s a lot of data that seems to indicate a bailout plan for the automotive industry is an absolute necessity. GM, Chrysler and Ford employ nearly 250,000 people in the United States, and affect nearly 4 million other jobs including suppliers, dealers and rental companies. Up to 70,000 of these people are Canadians, as automobile parts often cross back and forth through our border up to 7 times prior being installed into a vehicle. A filing for bankruptcy by any one of the Big Three could have catastrophic consequences for our already fragile economy. These facts seem to suggest that a bailout of the industry is crucial and an absolute must.
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