Cheque it out!

A lovely photo of Phil trying to purchase votes.
Notice that he signed the cheque with his own name,
even though the money is from the government of Canada
and belongs to the taxpayers, not him.

Making the List

Phil McColeman has made the list! The list, that is, of MPs who handed out cheques with Conservative Party logos on them, when that money actually belongs to the taxpayers of Canada.

Granted this list is from a Liberal website, and this blog is non-partisan. But let's face it, the Liberals do have a good point here.

Cheques and Balances

So it looks like Phil isn't the only MP handing out oversize cheques in a pathetic attempt to buy our vote. The entire country is in an uproar over the fact that Conservative MPs are handing out giant cheques with their names on them. Let's look at the facts:

a) Canada is in a recession, and we do not have much money.
b) Stephen Harper wasted the budget surplus, giving Canada a structural deficit. That means that even when the recession ends, we will still have a deficit.
c) Phil McColeman, and his friends all over the country, are handing out giant cheques like we have money to waste.


If you live in Brant you've no doubt received several taxpayer-funded mailouts from Phil McColeman, bragging about all the spending he's doing. (Same thing if you check out his website).

It's utterly shameless. The money is not there to be spent. We already have an aging population that will put a huge financial strain on this country in a couple years. We don't need irresponsible MPs like Phil McColeman increasing the national debt by spending money that they don't have in a sad attempt to purchase votes.

Phil's Flag Flap Comes to an End

Apparently the riding of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry has been proclaimed the most patriotic riding in Canada… or rather, the riding most willing to overlook their MP defacing the Canadian flag. Thank goodness that Brant didn't win that dubious title. Embarrassingly, we placed third.

There is still no excuse for using taxpayer dollars to deface flags with promotions for Conservative MPs. The flag is a proud symbol of our great country, not of partisan politics.

Phil Gets a Reality Cheque

Phil McColeman, who has shown an amazing lack of imagination in the past, has been called out along his Pork-Barrel Propaganda Parade for using the same oversized cheque at every single event. Read on…

Given the number of spending announcements at which the giant cheque has appeared, we figure, to use a hockey metaphor, we have a save percentage of over 90% -- as in, we've saved our readers from seeing this ridiculous prop that often.
…
Adding to the oddness is that it's the exact same cheque taken from announcement to announcement and doctored to suit the particular project.
…
As for the giant cheque, perhaps it could make a few fundraising appearances on its own, maybe even raise some money to help reduce the deficit that will result from all this free spending.

This last point is so funny I want to cry: we're going to be paying off Phil's follies for a long, long time.

Green Hope for Brant

If you really want Brant to become a "Green Hub," with sustainable long-term jobs revolving around environmentally-friendly technologies…


…you're not going to get any help from this political party.







.

Huffy Duffy Comes to Brant

Couldn't have said it better myself:

Duffy's Senate nod shows lack of integrity

The gall of Stephen Harper and his acolytes is beyond the pale.

I see that Mike Duffy is coming to Brantford (at $150 per person) to raise money for our MP and the local Conservative Party. Mr. Duffy is one of those Senate appointments that Stephen Harper promised he would never make as he believed only in an elected Senate. Having watched Duffy's so-called coverage from Ottawa for two or three years before his cash-for-life appointment, his fawning over all things Harper was obvious. His grovelling paid off with the Senate appointment.

Now he is being used to raise money for the Prime Minister and his MPs who promised us an elected Senate, not an appointed one. Longevity does not mean effectiveness -- Duffy was in Ottawa a long time, but his coverage of events became increasingly partisan and his loyalty to Mr Harper was rewarded.

Is there any integrity left in the Conservative Party?

-Rick Trebilcock, Brantford