By Stockwell Day Dec 20 2006 http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/
Wow. Check out the stuff we did this week (And full credit to all opposition MPs who helped make it happen). We passed bills establishing the first ever First Nations Education Act. We also finally passed (the toughest in history) Accountability Act which will lead to the cleanest and most accountable government operations ever. (No more ‘sponsorship’ scandals) We brought in tough laws on street racing and measures to deal with money laundering and proceeds of crime. The Softwood Lumber Agreement was finalized, bringing us seven years of stability and returning $5 billion to Canada’s industry which had been taken by U.S. interests. The real show stopper in the eyes of many though, was the Prime Minister’s bill to usher in a whole new era of democratic reality with his plan to have the citizens of each province, elect their choice for senators. This was historic. On a local note, looks like a ban on fun and chuckles in all my letters to you from now on. Yup. Seems like some local Libs set their hair on fire when I gave one of their favourite sons, Al Gore, a ‘love-tap’ in jest in my column two weeks ago. Same thing happened with federal Libs two weeks ago in the House of Commons when I pointed out that one of their keynote speakers at the Lib Convention was none other than defeated U.S. presidential candidate Howard (the Scream) Dean. Some of them turned purple with rage when I observed that Howie is also a poster boy for one of the American groups they love to hate, namely the National Rifle Association. Riddle me this. Why is it that our national media won’t whisper a word of wonder as the federal Libs worship at the feet of American politicians, yet they howl in editorial outrage if a Tory even mentions that something might exist south of the border? Aaaaanyway, it appears that local libs now send bits and pieces of my local columns to their favourite spear-chuckers down east who are quick to unleash a volley of indignation, which makes for good fodder back here at home. Fair game. That’s life in the cut and thrust of ‘gotcha’ politics. But out-of-context reporting limits the chance for reasoned debate and hopeful solutions which otherwise could emerge in our town halls or news pages on critical issues like global warming. And, bonus, seems that Maclean’s mag was so enthralled as they scanned my past columns that they are going to publish a whole page of my lighthearted quotes on a host of topics. Now I don’t want to get in trouble from the ethics comish so I can’t actually encourage you to engage in what could appear as a ‘kickback’ scheme by advising you to buy Maclean’s. But I will admit that I plan to sneak out under the darkness of night and scour the alleyways for a used copy so I can see which juicy items they chose to cut and paste. I will also assure you right now that I will not alter my messages to you on these pages in any way, out of fear of being misquoted or slammed for smiling. The majority of you tell me you like the style and substance of these weekly parliamentary reviews, even when we might not agree on a particular topic. (Some of my Tory friends for instance were upset that I gave credit to the new Liberal leader in this column two weeks in a row.) Even if you might not be happy with something I write you can now have the satisfaction of knowing that you are reading stuff on these pages first, before somebody whisks it off for the big national media outlets to see. So enjoy, and keep those cards and letters coming. I’ll always try to learn from my critics, correct my mistakes and hopefully improve. And maybe even have some fun in the process, if I’m allowed.
Wow. Check out the stuff we did this week (And full credit to all opposition MPs who helped make it happen). We passed bills establishing the first ever First Nations Education Act. We also finally passed (the toughest in history) Accountability Act which will lead to the cleanest and most accountable government operations ever. (No more ‘sponsorship’ scandals) We brought in tough laws on street racing and measures to deal with money laundering and proceeds of crime. The Softwood Lumber Agreement was finalized, bringing us seven years of stability and returning $5 billion to Canada’s industry which had been taken by U.S. interests. The real show stopper in the eyes of many though, was the Prime Minister’s bill to usher in a whole new era of democratic reality with his plan to have the citizens of each province, elect their choice for senators. This was historic. On a local note, looks like a ban on fun and chuckles in all my letters to you from now on. Yup. Seems like some local Libs set their hair on fire when I gave one of their favourite sons, Al Gore, a ‘love-tap’ in jest in my column two weeks ago. Same thing happened with federal Libs two weeks ago in the House of Commons when I pointed out that one of their keynote speakers at the Lib Convention was none other than defeated U.S. presidential candidate Howard (the Scream) Dean. Some of them turned purple with rage when I observed that Howie is also a poster boy for one of the American groups they love to hate, namely the National Rifle Association. Riddle me this. Why is it that our national media won’t whisper a word of wonder as the federal Libs worship at the feet of American politicians, yet they howl in editorial outrage if a Tory even mentions that something might exist south of the border? Aaaaanyway, it appears that local libs now send bits and pieces of my local columns to their favourite spear-chuckers down east who are quick to unleash a volley of indignation, which makes for good fodder back here at home. Fair game. That’s life in the cut and thrust of ‘gotcha’ politics. But out-of-context reporting limits the chance for reasoned debate and hopeful solutions which otherwise could emerge in our town halls or news pages on critical issues like global warming. And, bonus, seems that Maclean’s mag was so enthralled as they scanned my past columns that they are going to publish a whole page of my lighthearted quotes on a host of topics. Now I don’t want to get in trouble from the ethics comish so I can’t actually encourage you to engage in what could appear as a ‘kickback’ scheme by advising you to buy Maclean’s. But I will admit that I plan to sneak out under the darkness of night and scour the alleyways for a used copy so I can see which juicy items they chose to cut and paste. I will also assure you right now that I will not alter my messages to you on these pages in any way, out of fear of being misquoted or slammed for smiling. The majority of you tell me you like the style and substance of these weekly parliamentary reviews, even when we might not agree on a particular topic. (Some of my Tory friends for instance were upset that I gave credit to the new Liberal leader in this column two weeks in a row.) Even if you might not be happy with something I write you can now have the satisfaction of knowing that you are reading stuff on these pages first, before somebody whisks it off for the big national media outlets to see. So enjoy, and keep those cards and letters coming. I’ll always try to learn from my critics, correct my mistakes and hopefully improve. And maybe even have some fun in the process, if I’m allowed.
1 comment:
What an idiot!
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