Canada's Military: Liberalism Hot Air

Latest example of  why lazy journalism could use more fact checking and less bias.

Liberalism in Canada has NOT been good for the military or the most vulnerable at home or overseas. The liberal media may wish to turn a blind eye and the rewrite history of the previous Liberal administrations. Some of us understand the importance of presenting information from more sources and letting the reader make their own choices.

Governments must make priorities and those choices have consequences.

Michael Ignatieff visited Trinity College, Ireland in 2005 delivered a honest speech about American exceptionalism and the failures of Liberalism. He overlooked and made some factual mistakes about our peacekeeping role but his speech should be revisited and discussed. He was critical of the role of Canada and how we traded away our capabilities and chose to build a socialist welfare state instead of paying the bill and being a responsible international citizen. A Youtube clip is available the bottom of the post that covers his audio.

Correction: Ignatieff assertion about trading on our Bogus reputation for 40 years as a peacekeeper.

The UN responded with mixed results in order to bring some form of military peace as well as humanitarian aid to the stricken people. No fewer than 36 separate UN operations were begun from 1988, when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the UN for its peacekeeping operations, to 1998. Canada played a role in most of these operations, making up about 10% of the total peacekeeping forces. As of 1999, Canadian peacekeepers were active in Croatia, Bosnia, Haiti, Minurca and several other trouble spots.

As a blogger my bias is clear and my links are open for scrutiny.

The Ottawa Citizen questioned the $1.7-billion figure. A Public Works recount found four more contracts totalling $869.5 million that weren't counted. The biggest was a deal with Boeing in 2007 for four new airlift planes for National Defence.

The Liberals were NOT prepared to walk the talk when it came to our role in NATO or rapid disaster relief. Canada was a joke if our delegation would excuse themselves to use the washroom when donations were being sought.

Today, Canada led by a Conservative government is no longer the butt of jokes for their lack of rapid response on the global scene in humanitarian aid. Our Canadian Government has increased foreign aid eight per cent on an annual basis and reached the five billion per year ahead of plan in spite of the Global recession. Conservative led Federal Government did NOT cut foreign aid unlike the Liberals led by Chretien-Martin during their reign. They made choices and the poorest and most vulnerable were NOT asked to pay for mismanagement of government policies in Canada.

Actions define Conservatives, while the Liberals prefer to hold meetings and discussions on how appear as the rightful party of power.

Strategic Lift Capacity for Canada

The Canadian Forces presently possess some strategic airlift capacity in a fleet of five CC-150 Polaris aircraft (A310-300 Airbus), which have the capability of traveling long distances without refueling. However, these aircraft are limited as strategic transporters by their inability to transport outsize equipment1 and a lack of defensive tools, which makes them easy targets in volatile areas. Moreover, one of these aircraft was converted to a VIP transporter in the early 1990s, and it was recently announced that two others would be converted to strategic air-to-air refueling aircraft.

(Liberals bought air-taxis and an Air-limo) Choice Real Money for Real Strategic Lift capability: Denied by Liberals.

On January 13, 2009, Ralph Goodale politicizes the Earth-quake in Haiti about the twenty-four hour response capabilities of  D.A.R.T.. He further alleges our response is hampered because it is tied to parliament being prorogued which is destroying the functioning of democracy in Canada. (You can't make this stuff up) If Ralph had spent a few minutes making a few phone calls instead of appearing on CBC to politicize the earth quake, criticize our government he would have been realized this Conservative led government had already made the necessary decisions and D.A.R.T. was already in the air. Even the CBC were aware of the quick response time. 

On December 26, 2004 Liberalism failed the Tsumani victims as our first responders took a week to arrive via a rented plane from Russia. How many more lives could have been saved if Canada had their own strategic lift capabilities?

Prime Minster Paul Martin announced Jan. 2, 2005, that DART would be sent to Sri Lanka. The Canadian government was criticized at the time for its decision to send DART to Sri Lanka rather than to a more severely affected area, such as Indonesia, and for its perceived slow response to the crisis.

Why did the Canadian liberal media turn a blind eye to the choices by the Liberals to purchase air taxis and an airline limo for V.I.Ps?

Are Liberals playing blame games or busy prioritizing something else regarding the military?

The US C-17 aircraft, the second largest carrier with a payload of 77 tons, is the most expensive of the three options being considered and would cost over US$250-million each to purchase and approximately US$45-million per plane, per year to lease - a price that would include training and maintenance costs. The extraordinary cost of this aircraft, which the Air Force had determined was the best fit for the CF in 2000, led then-Defence Minister McCallum to announce in 2003 that the CF would not be purchasing strategic lift aircraft.

Strategic Lift Part II: Liberal Priorities

Of the five Polaris aircraft flown by the squadron, four are configured as normal airliners, carrying 194 passengers at a top speed of 460 knots. Any one of these is, by choice, used by the prime minister and other members of the government. However, the remaining aircraft, No. 001, is configured as a VIP transport, and is used for the Queen and other high dignitaries. It has a spartan bedroom, sitting room, office space and a shower about the size of a small phone booth. It is not, by any means, a luxurious flying "Taj Mahal" as someone once dubbed it.

"It's no more luxurious than a good motor home", says Captain Yvan Veillette, the squadron's information officer. "It is very comfortable, and allows the VIP to relax, have a good sleep and arrive not only feeling good, but looking good".

The executive suite includes a satellite telephone, two computer work stations and a small refrigerator such as might be found in a mid-class hotel. The rear portion of the aircraft is a normal passenger cabin, which can be used to carry regular military passengers, members of the VIP party, or reporters.

http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/flight.htm

Liberalism in Canada is being rewritten by many apologists for the Liberal Party but the facts remain without the Conservative actions and response to prioritize the military, humanitarian spending Canada would have remained the butt of jokes on the international scene.

Michael Ignatieff in Ireland in 2005 made a very compelling and honest speech about the choices of European and Canadian Governments after the WWII.  The US, Britain made the hard choices and bore the brunt of keeping military defense spending up to remain capable of delivering humanitarian aid and being capable of stopping genocide. Liberalism is Europe and Canada failed to make the hard choices to be a global responsible citizen instead they chose to build roads and hospitals.

Today, Canadians are delivering on their promises being the robust international citizen  in the Global village. We are now starting to pay the bills instead of  bitching about our American neighbours to the south.

The Liberals and the Liberal media may not be proud of the priorities and tough choices made by this Conservative government. The thousands of victims saved as a result of those decisions to own their strategic lift capabilities has paid off.
While Liberals talk, Conservatives act. That is a big difference to be proud of.

Liberals, NDP Coalition: Share Anti-Americanism

The coalition of the Liberals and Democrats have some common traits they can build on.

• Both parties live to redistribute wealth through taxation.
• Anti-Americanism
• Liberals, NDP will abandon key planks to gain power

Paul Martin decided it was expedient to inflame the anti-Americanism during the campaign in 2005-06 at an International Conference held in Montreal.

PM Martin decided the U.S. lacked a "global conscience" for not adopting the Kyoto Protocol.

Frank McKenna in 2006 submission to the Liberal Party renewal commission.

Our relationship with the U.S. must be characterized maturity and confidence. Canadian political leadership must help form Canadian public opinion on the importance of the relationship. Our credibility will be greatly enhanced if we save our disagreements for matters of great importance. Picking a fight with our American neighbours for the sake of political expediency undermines our credibility and our influence on important matters. Report Drips with unspoken contempt

Jack Layton on PM Paul Martin
"We have one of the worst environmental records in the world. In fact, if you can believe it, our greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than those of George Bush's United States."

thanks Jack, you are correct to ignore China, every other country that have larger Greenhouse emmissions to single out Canada.

Five years later, the NDP still blames Canada's contribution that is just over two per cent of the global greenhouse gas emmissions. (1.9% 2005- 2.3% in 2009 an increase of 0.4%)

What about China Jack?

The country built 114,000 megawatts of fossil-fuel-based generating capacity last year alone, almost all coal-fired, and is on course to complete 95,000 megawatts more this year.

The Liberals and Democrats deserve each other. They ignore reality for cheap shots.

Professor Johnson, who expressed surprise that the case for global warming was so weak, systematically examined the claims made in IPCC publications and other similar work by leading climate establishment scientists and compared them with what is found in the peer-edited climate science literature. He found that the climate establishment does not follow the scientific method. Instead, it “seems overall to comprise an effort to marshal evidence in favor of a predetermined policy preference.”

Socialism Retreating: Europe & North America

The left are deeply divided in Canada on how to steal power and suck more taxes from the productive members in society.

Our Democractic tradition of plurality (first past the post) vs for proportional representation (PR) is again getting publicity by our socialist engineers who are unhappy. Voters have rejected making changes in PEI, Ontario and BC.

The public soundly rejected the platform of the other leaders (three stooges) in a General election on October 14, 2008. Six weeks later, they tried again by foisting Stephane Dion as PM. The panic from their friends in the media inability's to reverse the slide is evident.

Bob Rae is not aging well and is in denial on what is important to Canadians, much like his rival Ignatieff. The Coalition was a bridge to nowhere.

...a flurry of polls late last week showed the exact opposite: an Ekos poll had Conservative support at 44 per cent, an Ipsos poll pegged it at 46 per cent, Praxicus placed it at 47 per cent, and Compas had the Conservatives at 51 per cent--with a massive 31-point lead over the Liberals.- December 9, 2008

The friends of socialism are busy trying to undermine the need for fiscal restraint by propping up the idea of another coalition of stooges with a new leader. The media are demostrating how out of touch they are with Canadians. They can keep pushing Iffy, Bobby as their next great white hope, to slay the evil right wing theocracy but Canadians are much smarter and have tuned out the noise. An election map would be evidence, but the friends of socialism don't actually bother themselves with inconvenient facts.

One Bailout too many. The left are always demanding taxpayers come to the rescue and support their friends.

By giving money to the banks, the governments, first of all, do not allow the financial system to become healthier, and secondly, they strengthen their own debt, and, thirdly, exacerbate the situation with the debts of financial sector. State leaders have forgotten the simple truth, that you cannot save the private sector at the cost of the bankruptcy of the state. - Death of Socialism or Death of Europe

In the U.S., Britain public support for the AGW apologists have taken a massive hit along with the media outlets. Many in the traditional media outlets have ignored, downplayed  the conflict of interests in the activities of politicans, bureaucrats regarding the Carbon Market Trading Scheme.

The traditional media has failed in appearing objective or unbiased with their own agenda. The internet has seen many websites replace the first place for fact checking and information.

Germany, Italy, Spain have begun to announce spending cuts in order to avoid the public loss of confidence and state bankruptcy.

The Czech Civic Democratic Party and others that pledged to cut spending won the most votes in parliamentary elections as Czechs chose budget restraint amid the European debt crisis.- Bloombery May 30, 2010 An interesting publicity stunt was done to increase the vote was done here.

The same is taking place in Canada and the U.S. with polls showing the public want their government to excercise restraint in dealing with the debt and elimination of sweetheart deals of corporate-union welfare.

The  political parties that get in the way of restraint, less spending will be joining the other political parties in the dustbin of history.

PM David Cameron PM Stephen Harper : Lib-Dem Cries Heard In Both Countries

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday welcomed the appointment of David Cameron, a fellow Tory, as Britain's next prime minister-AFP

They have met earlier. On April 03, 2009 Prime Minister Stephen Harper met David Cameron. Canadian Conservative officials also held talks at UK Tory HQ to exchange campaign ideas. The meeting concluded a busy round of international bilaterals for the Tory leader, all on the margins of the G20.
British politicians could learn a thing or two from Harper. At a time when virtually every incumbent government is suffering from the recession, his Tories might increase their numbers. Not bad when you remember that, in 1993, Canada's Conservatives were left with just two MPs. So how did Harper do it?


Well, he stopped fretting about the handful of Liberal-Tory floating voters, and went after the 40 per cent of Canadians who had stopped voting altogether. He shed his party's Establishment image, and embraced an anti-politician, decentralist, tax-cutting agenda. His party duly lost support in the posher parts of Toronto, but more than made it up in suburban and rural Canada - including Quebec. ("There are guys out there who listen to French talk radio and French country music", Harper's chief strategist told me).

The result? Canada is becoming less like Scandinavia, more like the rest of the Anglosphere - though, anticipating the charge of being American patsies, the Tories have adroitly picked a fight with their neighbours over the Northwest Passage. Canada's Conservatives, in short, have made their country freer, richer and safer. It's about time the rest of the world noticed -The First Post

The British and Canadian Press has some fun with suggestion Patrick Muttart of Mercury Public Affairs was involved in the Cameron campaign here and here.

Macleans Who are the important people Stephen Harper's cabinet

The Brand Man: Patrick Muttart
As the story goes, Patrick Muttart was in Australia this fall to observe the campaign of prime minister John Howard, a conservative from whom the Harper brain trust drew many lessons for its own 2006 election run. When Howard lost, after 11 years in office, Muttart found himself surrounded by the vanquished. "Patrick was taken aback by the fact that here were all these people who suddenly lost their jobs and were feeling rather despondent," a Conservative insider says. "And his reaction was that he never wanted to feel that way."

Muttart, a deputy chief of staff responsible for "strategic planning," is essentially charged with just that--ensuring this government never knows defeat. Where others deal with the day-to-day news cycles and controversies, Muttart is responsible for building a sustainable and successful Conservative brand. It's no small responsibility. Muttart is one of three advisers--along with director of communications Sandra Buckler and chief of staff Ian Brodie--whom the Prime Minister is known to call any time of the day or night.

When he arrived in Ottawa, he was hailed as a boy wonder. He is now, seemingly, connected with everything--from the Conservative party website (used, as it is, to endlessly mock Stéphane Dion's poor posture) to the fact the stage on Parliament Hill for Canada Day was blue. "One of the things that analyses of the past have shown to Team Harper is that the Liberals appropriated key symbols and brands--they would argue the flag, they would argue the Canada watermark," the Tory insider explains. "The more of a brand imprint you can make, the more significant the impact can be. And this is what Patrick is there to do."

As Tom Flanagan explains in Harper's Team, the University of Calgary professor's account of the last Conservative campaign, Muttart is well-suited to the job. "We had never had someone like Patrick on the campaign team--a high-level strategist with an ability to think in visual terms and dramatize policy," Flanagan writes. "[He] has an eye for colour schemes, photo ops, sound bites, advertising and all the other things that bring political communications to life." Muttart is said, for instance, to have influenced the government's mini-budget, determining which voters the government needed to reach and how specific tax cuts might best be sold.
He is also, by all accounts, a voracious student of politics. For the 2006 election, he drew on the campaigns of Richard Nixon in 1968, Margaret Thatcher in 1979, Newt Gingrich in 1994 and the aforementioned Howard in 1996. But he doesn't just study the winners. After the Conservatives lost in 2004, it was Muttart who co-authored what's been described as a "brutal" memo to party leadership, including Harper, that helped shape the successful run in 2006. "Patrick deserves credit for many things, but one of the things I think he deserves credit for that he doesn't often get is understanding why people have lost and addressing, constructively, mistakes that have been made," says the Conservative. "That's rare in political people. People like to look past mistakes."

So, who is laughing now?