Ross Rebagliati is preparing for a new kind of competition

Constituents in the British Columbia riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla may be in for a good old-fashioned Western showdown leading up to the next federal election.

That’s because on Monday snowboarding’s first Olympic gold medalist, British Columbia Sports Hall-of-Famer and Kelowna resident Ross Rebagliati, was officially nominated the new Liberal candidate for the riding.
His Conservative opponent? Veteran politician Stockwell Day, a former leader of the Official Opposition, current Minister of Foreign Trade, and a nine-year incumbent whose political popularity in the Okanagan speaks for itself.

And there ain’t enough room in this town for the both of ‘em.
(more…)

Prince of Pot Marc Emery, in a familiar pose

We Canadians can all sleep a little bit easier at night.

That’s because Marc Emery, Vancouver’s Prince of Pot and officially one of the DEA’s most wanted kingpins, is off the streets and in prison, awaiting extradition to the United States on drug and money-laundering charges. His capture represents a major victory in the War on Drugs.

For ten years now, Emery has corrupted the very fabric of our society by selling marijuana seeds and donating virtually all of the after-tax proceeds to cannabis-friendly organizations with a mind to “overgrow the government.” A pot activist and retailer since 1994, Emery has had many run-ins with the law. 10 arrests, in addition to police raids in 1996, 1998 and 2005 of his Hemp BC headquarters would have crippled a lesser evildoer, but Emery (and I ask that my readers forgive the analogy) is as resilient as a weed, unerring in his insubordination.
(more…)

NDP Leader Jack Layton was the guest of honour at a fundraiser last night in Woodstock, Ontario. Layton showed up almost an hour late and was seen as a little disoriented. Here is the excerpt of his speech:

Ladies and gentleman, people of the free press, my brothers and sisters, dudes and chicks, comrades and all you other freaks out there,

“It is real…..groovy to be here tonight to fight for the right to smoke weed, man…uh um…for medicinal purposes. I support this cause with all of my MOJO. Because you know, just today I came down with a serious headache…and I was not avoiding my lady for some sugar, you dig….but when I get a nagging noodle ache or my moustache starts to drip because of my nose, there is nothing like a little Mary Juanna to smoothen things out and to take me on a different plane. Can I get an “AH YEAH!” from the audience?
(more…)

With the resumption of parliament only a few days away, most people are at the edge of their seats awaiting the new budget to be announced by Harper. To avoid a vote of confidence, we are expecting as much as a $30 Billion deficit, with spending on infrastructure, tax cuts, and employment insurance. Considering only a few months ago, Harper denied the allegations of Canada even being in a recession; this will be a major step towards fixing the economic hardships which we are all enduring. The idea is to put government spending towards the growth of the lower and middle classes to ensure consumer spending, thus kick-start the economy.

Thirty-billion dollars is a lot of money. What happens if this deficit occurs and no change is done to our economy? Worse, what happens if with this major spending and deficit, our country goes further into recession? Where is this money going to come from? Will Canada spiral further into debt? Could we face the ever growing fear of another depression?

While these questions linger on everyone’s mind, infrastructure plans need to be perfected, spending must occur, but at the same time futile transactions must stop; jobs need to be created. Money must be put into the hands of the consumers. Confidence in not only the economy, but also the corporations and companies that keep it running, must grow. How do we go about doing that? Economists from around the country are working around the clock to figure out plans to ensure the growth of our economy, but they are – in the end – trapped within a box of their own creation, unable to take a step away from it, to gain an outside perspective on things.
(more…)