West Coast Can-Am Politics

West Coast Can-Am Politics: Liberals' Desperation and Polling Numbers

A new Ipsos-Reid poll shows a serious tightening of the polling numbers, with Liberals' support eroding and the Conservatives edging upward. My hypothesis is that Mr. Martin and his Liberal Party group are truly desperate to retain power, to the point that they may resort to the worst kind of negative campaigning ever seen in Canada. (Think of Lee Atwater's extremely shrill advertising campaign on behalf of George H.W. Bush in the 1988 U.S. Presidential election, which was effective in clobbering Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis).

Real Estate in Bellingham, WA: Peace Arch to Kick Out Residents Expansion of the hugely-congested Peace Arch border crossing facilities is creating some unhappy neighbors on the Blaine side. In order to double the number of lanes and generally increase the on-site facilities needed by the Homeland Security Department for properly administering inspections of incoming vehicles and persons, Uncle Sam is going to evict about a dozen homes from a neighborhood dating back to the early 20th century. It's a very uncomfortable situation for the City of Blaine and for the affected residents, although the residents have been anxiously concerned about possible Port of Entry expansion plans for some time. Blaine's Northern Light article on the subject points out the anxiety of neighbors, who have been kept waiting since the project's announcement in 1999. The slow pace in submitting draft Environmental Impact Statements and other regulatory aspects have not helped matters. One ver...

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has continued periodic activities monitoring the border between Whatcom County, Washington and British Columbia's bordering townships of Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford. A December 18, 2005 Bellingham Herald story describes the group's cordial and polite relations with local U.S. Border Patrol officers. There are many left-wing groups who oppose the Minuteman project, having the rather naieve view that border enforcement is unnecessary because (in so many words) people who are entering the U.S.A. illegally have a RIGHT to enter the U.S.A. illegally. Related note: on December 15, Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) reprimanded Mexican President Vicente Fox for Fox's unlawful interference in United States policymaking regarding border security. This was in rebuttal to President Fox's smart-aleck remark that the idea of a U.S.-Mexico fence was "disgraceful and shameful". Personally, I acknowledge some disappointment that the...

Here are some thoughts on Canadians' system of government. 1. A popularly-elected Governor General. There is no good reason why the nation's official head of state and ceremonial representative to the Monarchy should be appointed secretively and without public input. Canadians deserve nationwide elections for this post, just as many countries like Germany have elections for their largely-ceremonial President. The job should have a 3-year term of office, open to any Canadian citizen who wishes to take on the job, and a primary election should be held to "weed out" the field of candidates. 2. Residency Requirements for House of Commons and Senate candidates and office-holders. There is no good reason why candidates for MP or Senate positions should not be REQUIRED to have established bona-fide residency in the riding which they seek to represent. By standards of many other countries including the U.S., it is laughable and pathetic that political party leaders can...

In analyzing Canada's voting patterns in Federal elections, I've noticed an odd detail which has been overlooked by most other students of Canadian politics: 1. Most Canadian voters live SOUTH of the 49th parallel : Quebec City , Quebec 46° 49' 00" N - 71° 13' 00" W Montreal, Quebec 45° 31' 00" N - 73° 39' 00" W Ottawa, Ontario 45° 16' 00" N - 75° 45' 00" W Toronto, Ontario 43° 42' 00" N - 79° 25' 00" W London, Ontario 42° 59' 00" N - 81° 14' 00" W Hamilton, Ontario 43° 14' 00" N - 79° 57' 00" W Windsor, Ontario 42° 18' 00" N - 83° 01' 00" W Charlottetown, PEI 46° 14' 25" N - 63° 08' 05" W Moncton, NB 46° 06' 57" N - 64° 48' 11" W Halifax, NS 44° 52' 00" N - 63° 43' ...

In the past week, PM Paul Martin has offered some extraordinarily nasty slams against the United States government, and by inference against the American people. Quite aside from the political grandstanding involved, Mr. Martin is showing a cavalier lack of courtesy and professionalism in expressing his opinions. Rather than list a detailed recitation of Mr. Martin's remarks (particularly his sloppily-conceived attacks on the U.S. regarding greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution), I am expressing my concerns about Mr. Martin's toxic rhetoric and why I think he needs to re-evaluate the long-term impact of his rhetorical outbursts and claims. As most of the few-and-far-between readers to this blog realize (many of my readers probably being CSIS, RCMP, and Canadian and American diplomatic personnel), there are VERY FEW U.S. citizens who care about Canada. The amount of knowledge about Canada's unique society, people, government and institutions among Yanks is generally ...