Phil Makes the List

Phil made the list of Conservative candidates who chickened out of an all-candidates debate!

Brantfordians should be proud. Not only do we have an MP who takes his job for granted, we also have a Prime Minister who is chicken-scared wholesale of talking to the public and the media.

Phil Has No Compassion

The Burford United Church held a different kind of "debate" last Sunday – one that "had an emphasis on compassion, creativity and a positive vision for Canada." What a wonderful idea in an age of increasingly negative campaigning.

Nora Feuten talked about how to mend the increasing gap between the rich and the poor.

Mark Laferriere talked about a community garden project that contributed to the food bank.

Lloyd St-Amand talked about land claims and duties owed to Aboriginal peoples by non-Aboriginals.

Phil McColeman didn't say anything because he didn't attend.

Phil McHypocrite

Somebody call the waaahmbulance – Phil's been complaining about the cost of an "unnecessary" democratic election again:

"They're upset about having an election that's costing $300 million especially when it's the fourth election in seven years."

Well, Phil, let's crunch some numbers…

• $1.5 million: Annual cost of the gun registry that Phil wants to scrap.

• $3.1 million: "A lot of money" in "small town Ontario" Brantford, Phil says.

• $27 million: Cost of all those Economic Action Plan signs.

• $300 million: Cost of an election.

• $1 billion: Cost of hosting G8/G20 summit, including tens of millions of unaccounted-for spending.

• $2.7 billion: Conservative estimate of cost of "tough on crime" agenda, though the actual amount will likely be billions more.

• $28.5 billion: Cost of F-35 stealth fighter jets that Phil wants taxpayers to buy.

• $55.6 billion: Canada's current annual deficit.

It's extremely doubtful that Phil will address these numbers during our "unnecessary" election: