A couple of MPs who also need to be replaced...

Around 2:00 this afternoon while watching Question Period on CPAC, Ron Cannan, a Member of the Conservative Reform Alliance Party rose to deliver a Statement or SO 31, (The House of Commons ritual allows for fifteen minutes of what are called "Standing Orders 31's" which permit members to read statements. Before Harper's team arrived they were reserved for members praising the achievements of a local school or athlete, remembering a distinguished citizen, or speaking out on an issue of local concern.) As the Hon. Bob Rae puts it best, "the hooting and hollering has returned, and so have the nasty SO 31's, timed just as the Leader of the Opposition is about to get to his feet. So instead of praising local achievement we have the worst kind of personal attack, cheap shot and character smear." Even though it had sadly become routine for Mr. McColeman's colleagues to attack the Hon. Stephane Dion, who has done more for Canada then Mr. McColeman and all his backbench cronies ever will or will read about... I was disgusted with today's line of attack by the Despicable Ron Cannan:

The Conservative MP—”The voice of Kelowna-Lake Country in Ottawa“—rose immediately after Liberal Maurizio Bevilacqua had delivered a statement on the earthquake in Italy this afternoon and announced to the House the following.

Mr. Speaker, I too add my condolences to the folks in Italy. Our prayers and thoughts go out to all those folks in Italy.

But there is an earthquake happening in our own country.

I would like to remind Canadians what the Liberal leader said on April 14th, just last week, and I quote, “We will have to raise taxes”. We thank him for honestly revealing the Liberal plan.

A lot has been blogged and documented in regards to Mr. McColeman being muzzled by his party, Mr. Cannan not only needs to be muzzled but should resign immediately. The earthquake in Italy is a serious matter and nothing our Parliamentarians say can be equated to the loss of life in L'Aquila, Italy. The shocking thing is that Mr. Cannan probably did not write his outlandish statement – it is common knowledge that the Prime Minister's office is usually in charge of writing the smear attacks and forcing some patsy to swallow their self-respect and read them in the House of Commons. This shameful action was well documented by Mr. Glen Pearson in March:

I was upset today - I admit it. The Conservatives have taken to denigrating Michael Ignatieff in their statements just prior to Question Period, much like they used to do with Stephane Dion.
…
Today’s developments almost bordered on irreverence. Prior to Ignatieff giving his statement, another Conservative clone rose in the House to speak of his unsuitability for leadership. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the Liberal leader got up and delivered a deeply reflective statement on the death of the three Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan yesterday.
…
Not sooner had Ignatieff sat down than another Conservative stood up for the last statement before QP and unleashed his torrent at the Liberal leader. To people of finer senses it was jarring. I know that Conservative. He’s a decent man and wants to help others. But he was told to get up and read a speech written by someone else. The entire House just wanted him to sit down and be quiet. His intervention was highly unsuitable and out of place. During one of our finer moments in the House, a man permitted himself to become a patsy for the party and demeaned a meaningful moment and the soldiers’ memory in the process.
…
And for my friend, the Conservative who permitted his party to defeat his own sense decorum, he’s just one of many in that place that can’t discern a sacred moment from a profane one. I will remember those speeches for some time to come and how they not only elevated the House but the memory of those faithful soldiers and a former Speaker as well. And I will recall how quickly one frivolous and partisan remark almost snuffed out a sense of enlightenment for the sake of the irreverent.

Mr. Pearson is too polite to point out the patsy by name, but a quick Hansard search revealed that the Member of Parliament was James Bezan,of Selkirk—Interlake in Manitoba.

The common link between those two jerks is that they are from really Conservative voting ridings, where even a brainless insensitive dimwit can get elected, they have won their ridings with over 50% of the popular vote, so it is up to the local riding association to replace or continue to re-elect these men. Case in point is the Conservative riding association in Calgary West:

Calgary West MP Rob Anders is an outsider even inside his own party. Raise his name with Conservative MPs and they wrinkle their noses like they've just taken a big whiff of the stuff spring uncovers in an off-leash dog park.

But five-term Anders is among the best MPs at winning Conservative nomination meetings in this all-Tory, all-the-time riding. And this week he'll have to fend off a challenge to replace the riding board of directors he controls from a potential rival's move to elect friendlier types eager to dump their incumbent MP.

If you are a resident of Brantford and the name Rob Anders sounds familiar, it is because Mr. McColeman relied on Mr. Anders to help him get elected. Mr. Anders' office sent multiple partisan flyers to Brantford months before the election was called last year. I do not recall if Mr. Bezan and Mr. Cannan sent flyers to Brantford but would not be surprised if they did. A quick dictionary search defines tacit consent as, unspoken consent or tacit approval indicated by smiling, winking or silence. Please email your local MP and articulate your disapproval of such despicable tactics, McColeman.P@parl.gc.ca.

EMAIL, we know how to use it!

Dear readers,

We have decided to open this blog up to YOU! If you have something you want to send us or want to submit a column, you are more than welcome to. You can even CC or BCC us when you attempt to contact our local Member of Parliament.
The email is: mulletphil@gmail.com

Dr. Phil’s Formula for Economic Recovery

Renovate houses.


That's basically it. And build some other things, like a few roads. Never mind that property values in Canada are falling as fast as Conservative poll numbers.

In his maiden speech in Parliament, Phil meandered on about his years spent working in construction, and how every Canadian wants a bigger house. Then he proclaimed the virtues of a new construction tax credit, and infrastructure investment. You could almost see the gears slowly turning in his head:

1. I like construction!
2. But housing sales are falling…
3. People can renovate their houses instead!!

Since then, Phil has been rushing around to get Brantfordians building. He went to Brantford city council and told them to 'pick an infrastructure project, any infrastructure project.' Then he did the same thing in Paris. He announced funding toward a new ice arena. He let us know that he's been having lots and lots of meetings with Infrastructure Minister John Baird (who must be pretty darn patient to put up with all Phil's pestering).

All of this is good news for Brantford. But if it stops there – and it does – it is not nearly enough.

In his Parliamentary speech, Phil noted a similar initiative in the early 1990s that kept workers working. It is true that in the recession of the 1980s/90s there was a lot of federal money coming into Brant projects – that's how we built the rail trail, for example. But it was a band-aid solution: Brantford continued to deteriorate throughout the '90s, the downtown crumbled, unemployment stayed high. Why? Because at the end of the day, when the federal money dried up, the workers had the same unmarketable skill-set, and the same reliance on heavy industry that continues to leave town.

What we need to do is invest in retraining our workers with marketable skills, not just keeping them busy for a little while. Invest in people, not just in edifices. We need a government that will invest in sustainable, long-term solutions, such as wind and solar energy manufacturing, and building more hybrid/electric autos. The Conservatives' unimaginative economic plan, on the other hand, says, "Here's a hammer, get to work until the money runs out again."

Brantford is less-educated and poorer than average. This is a huge turnoff for investors choosing where to place their money, and renovating houses isn't going to change this. Let us remember that the single greatest factor for downtown Brantford's turnaround was the construction of a university campus in 1998. That's the type of forward-thinking investment that's needed, in addition to building houses and roads.

In a weary voice, a downtown businessowner once told me, "Brantford's always been a day late and a buck short." That, in as many words, perfectly describes the economic plan of Phil McColeman and the Conservatives.

Tased and ConPHused...

What would happen if somebody had not died? Would they be alive? Would there still be a funeral? Would said person renovate their home?

At the February hearing of the Public Safety Committee on taser use, MPs had the opportunity to see if recommendations had been applied and their results. Our current Member of Parliament, Mr. Phil McColeman brought his palette of skills and experience to this committee.

He asked the insensitive and worst question one could ask at his committee:

"…is it a reasonable question to ask, in a debriefing situation, what the probable outcomes might have been had the taser not been used? "

So, is he asking if such a stupid question is reasonable or, what would have happened if the taser, that caused the untimely and tragic death of Mr. Robert Dziekanski, had not been used???

Commissioner William Elliot of the RCMP has the kindness and patience to not embarrass Mr. McColeman in front of his colleagues and everyone else for such sheer stupidity, kind of like when your parents play Hide-and-Seek with you and pretend that they don’t see you when you’re in plain sight.

Phil’s insensitivity and the inanity of his question was in plain sight that morning and "after McColeman finally winds down his impromptu monologue on what a good idea it would be to include all that wonderful alternate scenario information would be, Elliott has to remind him that, in general, it’s not always a good idea to focus so heavily on speculation although he agrees with the BASIC THEORY behind it."

Commissioner Elliot kindly responded:

“I think it is more appropriate and certainly more common for us to ask our officers to describe the facts and what they perceived, and to record them, and not generally to have them speculate what might have happened otherwise.”

This blog is sincerely embarrassed for Mr. McColeman who ironically had his victory party at the Polish hall in Brantford on election night. This committee is a very important one based on the debate that the taser incident at the Vancouver International Airport has caused. Mr. McColeman is truly out of his depth at this committee, which is a shame. Maybe someone who is familiar with the justice system and its procedures maybe has some law and committee background and who is also an eloquent speaker would have better represented the riding of Brant that morning…

Mr. McColeman thinks that he simply has to show up at Committees and the House of Commons and not put any actual work into being a Member of Parliament. Is Phil for REAL?

We can see why Fil is not in the Phoreign Affairs Committee or Phinance committee…

This post will be entered in this contest. Your constructive criticism is more than welcome!

Phil's "Visit With Agriculture"

On Phil McColeman's latest mailout which was covered yesterday in another Brantford blogger's website , titled:" Tory MP Phil McColeman's Taxpayer Funded April Fool's Joke "
Speaking of Jokes, Phil showed us pictures of him visiting with constituents, Green Briar students and AGRICULTURE. Yes, agriculture:

1. The science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock; farming.
2. the production of crops, livestock, or poultry.

See for yourself!

Phil's office is also in the business of selling popular books such as:

Agriculture Joe goes to the City

















and... the Agriculture's Almanac.

This blog got served!!!

Going through the archives, we came across this rebuttal against all of the letters sent to the Brantford Expositor questioning Phil's competence and criticizing his unresponsiveness to e-mails. It goes was so stinging in its logis that it feels like we got served in this battle of words, in this letter:

Brant's new MP has been the subject of recent letters to the editor. The letters seem to have a common thread of wishing the incumbent MP had not been defeated by a substantial majority last year.

In a short period of time, Phil McColeman has set up a riding office and has a talented staff on board.

I was impressed by his first constituency report, which dealt with legislative issues currently facing the government. He also solicited opinions and questions from Brant residents.

This was a welcome relief from the previous pap of an MP posing for multiple photo ops. Contrary to one of the recent letters, McColeman's communication reflects great respect for the intelligence of the electorate.

McColeman is a strong communicator with excellent people skills. I have been impressed with his eagerness to hear out and understand differing points of view. Brant is fortunate to have a man of his calibre as our representative in Ottawa.

Gordon Brain

I fully agree with Mr. Brain, Mr. McColeman's communication does reflect great respect for the intelligence of the electorate, Phil thinks residents of Brant are BRAIN-less. In another letter, which I can recall from early January but can not find the link, a writer defended and commended Phil for opening an office and staffing it. This was during the week where there was at least one letter a day complaining about Phil ignoring his constituents' concerns, no one was disputing whether Phil's office existed though. Having a constituency office is a basic requirement of any MP or MPP, it is not an accomplishment.

Back to Mr. Brain's "brainy" letter, he accuses our previous MP of posing for photo ops, which is completely false and a mere attempt at distracting the reader from the actual issues. Mr McColeman is constantly attempting to get in pictures with Cabinet Ministers, Justin Timberlake and even the Prime Minister! The worst example of this was when Stephen Harper visited Brantford during the illegal election. If you look below, Stephen Harper can barely shake a citizen's hand because Phil is trying to squeeze into the picture, shameless! Where are the mounties? Phil is definitely violating the Prime Minister's personal [arctic] sovereignty, how can we trust Stephen Harper to protect us from the Russians if he can't even tell Phil and his mullet to get out of his "grill"???

New Post - Phil's Office Season 1

Sorry about the lack of postings, and treating you like one of Phil's constituents, but we were waiting for Phil McColeman to do something good for a change, good thing we did not hold our breath! Just to recap, Mr. McColeman continues to not reply to letters in the Brantford Expositor, I typed in Phil McColeman in the Brantford.com and came across this link , in this end of year interview, "improving his office’s services are on the top of Brant MP Phil McColemans to-do list for 2009." Maybe Mr. McColeman thought that being a Member of Parliament meant that you get a cool-looking letterhead, free stamps to mail Conservative propaganda that comes out of Canadian taxpayers pockets instead of mailing Employment Insurance paperwork to those who need it immediately... oh and he got a cool new office in an isolated area of Brantford. For constituents who do not own cars or want to minimize their carbon footprint and use public transportation, it will take them two buses, an increase in their carbon footprint and take up more of their time to reach his office. A better idea would be to have the constituency office downtown within a reasonable distance of the central bus terminal, I hope our next Member of Parliament will make this decision after the next election. His provincial counterpart, Mr. Dave Levac's office is a short walk from city hall and easily accessible.
Back to Mr. McColeman improving his office services, does this entail having better candy at the front desk or a bigger and better picture of Stephen Harper ??? Mr. McColeman is trying to pass on the blame for his out-of-touch style on his office staff, we know better! We need to remind him that his office is not produced by NBC studios but paid for by Canadian taxpayers, and he will not be rewarded with an Emmy but with the distinction of being a one-term Member of Parliament!