So Very Sad

Mario Laguë

1958 - 2010

Such a tragedy. He was a lovely, generous man.

Much more information here and more photo's here.

Tony Clement Got New (Ridiculous) Talking Points

Well, here is latest, ridiculous, excuse from the Government, specifically, Tony Clement on the idiotic change to collecting data in this country...yes of course I mean the mandatory long form census.

“Yeah, there are groups that are upset about that. Hey, listen, they had a good deal going,” Mr. Clement told reporters after the Conservative caucus meeting Thursday in Ottawa.

“They got good, quality data and the government of Canada was the heavy. We were the ones who were coercing Canadians on behalf of these private businesses, or other social institutions, or other governments and provinces, for this data.”

Is it me, or did you just hear Tony admit that the data was good, reliable and that by making it voluntary will compromise that? Oh and, hey, the government isn't responsible for providing the country with this data.

Wait, it gets better.

Mr. Clement said opponents are free to spend their own money to gather the demographic data they need in others ways.

Translation? Hey...you want information? Free market have at it! Forget altogether that government is the most secure, most efficient way to gather that information...go for it! Decades of data? Pshaw..means nothing. This government is out of, well, just about everything. Defense, Crime...oh, we're there. All else? Get off your duff and fend for yourself!

It's not that he doesn't understand what the Census gathers and it's importance to the country, it's that he does, that is so galling. Willfully admitting and denying it, in one breath. I can hardly breathe reading it.

Think people. This has been the agenda that media mocked and insisted on calling 'hidden', but it never was. The media's role however is for another post. Harper set out to do this and is doing it with the following of a small number of sycophants. What a way to run a country!

More Clement:

“All these provincial governments and these social institutions and private businesses – we'll get them some data that will be useful and reliable,” he said.

“If they don't want to use that data, it's up to them. They can pay for it another way. There are lots of other ways to gather data from Canadians that is legal and verifiable. You don't have to rely on the government of Canada.”

Note the 'lump in' there. Provinces and those...social institutions? Ahem! Tony obviously has a short memory. And...we'll get them data? Flawed, unreliable data that we are going to spend more money gathering, type of data? You betcha!

That our government has really become this bereft of intelligence should be a surprise to no one.

Making It Up As They Go Along

I can't keep track of how many reasons we've been given for this government's ridiculous decision to scrap the mandatory census (long form), but Stockwell Day certainly topped them all today.

I confess, this presser, was one of the most incoherent I've ever witnessed.

Not only did he not make any sense when articulating the rationale for the decision, he made matters worse by going on about the alarming rate of unreported crime, which is about the oldest tactic in the book for explaining increased spending and tougher crime legislation.

Furthermore, the last stat's available on unreported crime were from 2004.

The full presser is available through the link in the second paragraph, but here is a small portion that was particularly funny...or sad really, when you consider that this is the calibre of Minister we seem to have running the country.

Coming to My Senses v My Census

Before one of my staunchest detractors accuses me of choosing a photo that has either been doctored, or meant to represent the person in the worst light, let me say that Tony Clement has plenty of bad photo's out there. This isn't one of them and was only chosen because it shows him sitting so 'right' of centre, he leaves the frame.

With that out of the way, I'm focused on tomorrow's Committee on Industry, Science and Technology meeting. It risks being too long, resulting in a lot of banter, but I'm not clear where it will come out. By that I mean, the case against the government decision is pretty hard and fast. Their (the gov't) defense is beyond weak, so where will it net out?

To underscore how weak the government argument is, you have only to recall their defense on the issue and how many times that has changed. Too intrusive, 1000's of complainers, other countries have abandoned it and of course the ever popular, government coming for you in the middle of the night...jail...threats...jackboot...there are more.

Not one of their stances has stood the test of time...and by time, I mean weeks here. Telling? Yes, I think so.

The questions are not intimidating, nor intrusive and to make it more delicious, government Ministers have been lying as to what those questions are.

Oh, and the countries they cite as having abandoned the long form, or the census all together? Well, that is true but what they omit is that they are far MORE intrusive and data mine from cradle to grave. And then there is the fact that no one has gone to jail, nor has anyone been pulled out of bed, in the middle of the night.

In short, there is no sound rationale for the decision. There is plenty of ideological rationale for it and I'll get into that after the hearings at committee, but to defend this choice? Sorry, there is no defense and those who do sound ridiculous.

I would argue in fact, if you offer a defense for this specific choice, you simply do not understand the census. That became very clear today reading articles, listening to interviews and hearing 'infamous' talk radio. And if you aren't one of those, you are an intelligent person that argues from ideology...yes Jonas I'm looking at you.

My reading tells me the majority of those who defend, haven't a clue. Nary one. The intelligent arguments are only made by those who have the 'small to no government' lean.

It's an argument to be had, but the Conservative government under Stephen Harper did not have the courage to do that. He never does. His choices come down by fiat...a completely arbitrary decision. Sorry people, Kings of old ruled this way as they thought they had absolute authority.

This is not how our country works. Harper is now trying to get in what he can, but stuffing this policy now, when you think no one is looking, is about the dumbest way to do it. Hello? Media looking for news?

I'm hoping this has exposed him once and for all. Media and your own eyeballs, will tell the tale. Watch or listen if you can.

See you tomorrow.

Taking Leave of Their Census

Well, the latest group to come out against the government's decision to scrap the mandatory participation in the long form census is none other than the Premiers. While every group that has come out is important, this development puts a bit of a new spin on it.

You see until now, the government has insisted that those who oppose the decision are liberal flacks, which is asinine, and when that doesn't work, they default to loons who answer the religion question as 'Jedi'. For the uninitiated, there actually is a church of Jedi, and one that has encouraged their members to fill out their census forms claiming as much, in an effort to have the government recognise them as a church. Crazy? Well, yes of course! A massive movement that should derail scientific data collection, aggregation and dissemination? Obviously not.

The question that is being asked at the moment is why the government went in this direction. Most seem to suggest that they were appealing to a portion of their base that they hadn't spoken to in a while. Specifically the Libertarians. While I understand why you'd make that argument, it seems to me that Hoeppner's private member bill to get rid of the long gun registry did that in spades. So at this point, I'm not buying.

More likely for me, is what data the 2011 census would be accumulating. Of course it would be used, in a sense, to examine/dissect the policies that Harper has or has not, brought to bear. Given that we see most policy driven by populist notions, this could present a problem. Further, most if not all, policy has flown in the face of evidence and fact. The government, specifically on Environment and Crime, has ignored all the data.

Oh they have done it elsewhere too, but all of that to say, if you have to keep fighting stat's to get your policies through, why not eliminate or distort the data beyond use? Wouldn't that make life easier?

Harper won't be in power by the time this data is collected and sorted, but I suspect that he and his advisers are covering their bases here. Should he be in power, no data is good for him. If he is gone, his legacy will not be tainted by facts that prove all his theories wrong.

Clever, but not very smart.