Free Dominion :: Home: "The NDP are just a different type of Liberal party waiting to happen -- less corrupt, more misguided. The trade-off is not attractive. Their idea of a role model is Svend Robinson -- 'nuff said.
The new year usually brings a mood of realistic appraisal and the hope for meaningful change. Those attitudes, so long as the national media don't manage to spin this election totally beyond recognition, should guarantee a steady rise for the CPC in the polls. Anything else would say very ominous things about the common sense of the electorate. I would go this far -- any riding, any community which supports the Liberals now will forever shame themselves before the nation. There is no excuse for anyone, not even Toronto, not even Halifax, not even Vancouver, to support this criminal conspiracy. Every Canadian citizen needs to take the time to think this over -- the political parties exist to serve the nation, and not the other way around. It's time for the voters to make this clear on January 23rd."
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Free Dominion :: Home
Free Dominion :: Home: "
If you want to do something, copy this and send it to your local newspaper. Put your own name to it if you like, I am sure we all think roughly the same way about this election. If you live in a contested part of the electoral landscape, then it's particularly important to speak up and make sure the local voters understand that they should not take anything the Liberals say at face value, or seriously. They have lied so many times since 1993 that whatever they say now must be assumed to be a cynical lie, and if the truth were known, the only real objective of this party is to stay in power and divide the surplus among their support factions.
Some say, 'but the Liberals are good managers, and good for the economy.' This is also vastly inflated. The Liberals have been increasingly poor managers of large national projects. They have failed with their useless gun registry. They have diddled and fiddled on the actual agenda of clean air, hiding behind meaningless Kyoto promises. They have screwed up the softwood lumber file and now they are trying to run against George Bush who has almost nothing to do with it. They have named an obvious incompetent to be governor general. They have made corruption synonymous with their party name and our country's reputation. They have decimated the armed forces. And they have dumped a pile of bad legislation in our midst regarding same sex marriage and freedom of speech surrounding the issue. This is not good management. This is crazy government, out of control, really able to do two things only -- give away our money to their friends, and wave enormous Canadian flags and tell us this is why we should vote for them (they have these big flags, and ...)
Well my friends, it is going to take a lot more than a bunch of giant Canadian flags to get this country some decent government once again. A lot more, indeed. This is what it's going to take -- a Stephen Harper majority govern"
If you want to do something, copy this and send it to your local newspaper. Put your own name to it if you like, I am sure we all think roughly the same way about this election. If you live in a contested part of the electoral landscape, then it's particularly important to speak up and make sure the local voters understand that they should not take anything the Liberals say at face value, or seriously. They have lied so many times since 1993 that whatever they say now must be assumed to be a cynical lie, and if the truth were known, the only real objective of this party is to stay in power and divide the surplus among their support factions.
Some say, 'but the Liberals are good managers, and good for the economy.' This is also vastly inflated. The Liberals have been increasingly poor managers of large national projects. They have failed with their useless gun registry. They have diddled and fiddled on the actual agenda of clean air, hiding behind meaningless Kyoto promises. They have screwed up the softwood lumber file and now they are trying to run against George Bush who has almost nothing to do with it. They have named an obvious incompetent to be governor general. They have made corruption synonymous with their party name and our country's reputation. They have decimated the armed forces. And they have dumped a pile of bad legislation in our midst regarding same sex marriage and freedom of speech surrounding the issue. This is not good management. This is crazy government, out of control, really able to do two things only -- give away our money to their friends, and wave enormous Canadian flags and tell us this is why we should vote for them (they have these big flags, and ...)
Well my friends, it is going to take a lot more than a bunch of giant Canadian flags to get this country some decent government once again. A lot more, indeed. This is what it's going to take -- a Stephen Harper majority govern"
Free Dominion :: Home
Free Dominion :: Home: "
I hope to gain the attention of the Ontario (meaning national) media on this rather subtle point -- the Liberals are yesterday's bad news, and only a nation of complete idiots would vote for them again. I don't care how the Globe and Mail, the CBC and CTV spin this, I don't even think the Toronto Star has human employees at all so who knows how to reach them, but the fact remains that the Liberals must go if Canadian democracy is to mean anything at all.
This must be the theme of the campaign from January first to the last frozen day before election day. Forget 'the Liberal campaign,' because that is already as meaningless as the military orders given out by Herr Hitler in April, 1945. There is simply nothing that the Liberals can say or do that would have any credibility with an informed voter now. The challenge for the Conservatives, then, is to create an informed electorate. This election has to be placed into some kind of international or historical context. This is not just any old election, although perhaps the same dynamics applied in each of the last four elections. This is one of those very important and far-reaching decisions that, in this case, determines whether a nation has integrity or just a suicide complex.
Voting Liberal will be the same thing as committing national suicide. Those who still want to support this corrupt and destructive party must be made aware that their vote is not a vote for Canada, as Martin says, but a vote against Canada. This Liberal party has no right to claim ownership of anything but its crimes and its debts. And these are enormous.
If you want to do something, copy this and send it to your local newspaper. Put your own name to it if you like, I am sure we all think roughly the same way about this election. If you live in a contested part of the electoral landscape, then it's particularly important to speak up and make sure the local voters understand that they"
I hope to gain the attention of the Ontario (meaning national) media on this rather subtle point -- the Liberals are yesterday's bad news, and only a nation of complete idiots would vote for them again. I don't care how the Globe and Mail, the CBC and CTV spin this, I don't even think the Toronto Star has human employees at all so who knows how to reach them, but the fact remains that the Liberals must go if Canadian democracy is to mean anything at all.
This must be the theme of the campaign from January first to the last frozen day before election day. Forget 'the Liberal campaign,' because that is already as meaningless as the military orders given out by Herr Hitler in April, 1945. There is simply nothing that the Liberals can say or do that would have any credibility with an informed voter now. The challenge for the Conservatives, then, is to create an informed electorate. This election has to be placed into some kind of international or historical context. This is not just any old election, although perhaps the same dynamics applied in each of the last four elections. This is one of those very important and far-reaching decisions that, in this case, determines whether a nation has integrity or just a suicide complex.
Voting Liberal will be the same thing as committing national suicide. Those who still want to support this corrupt and destructive party must be made aware that their vote is not a vote for Canada, as Martin says, but a vote against Canada. This Liberal party has no right to claim ownership of anything but its crimes and its debts. And these are enormous.
If you want to do something, copy this and send it to your local newspaper. Put your own name to it if you like, I am sure we all think roughly the same way about this election. If you live in a contested part of the electoral landscape, then it's particularly important to speak up and make sure the local voters understand that they"
Free Dominion :: Home
Free Dominion :: Home: "Cutting to the chase -- Liberals must go
by Peter O'Donnell
It's natural for those of us who are self-condemned 'political junkies' to care about the minutiae of an election campaign. To some of us, every speech, every photo op, and every debating point, inflates to take on enormous significance, supposedly deciding the fate of nations.
Sometimes nations need to take a valium and get a grip on the facts. In this campaign, Paul Martin could give a speech of Churchillian proportions, some party insider could reveal a devastating insight about Harper or Layton, or some policy announcement could rock the very foundations of Ajax (Omo cleans whiter).
And to all that, this observer, who lives three hours behind the real world in a part of Canada where snow is but a vague rumour, would say the following:
This is the Liberal Party of Canada you're talking about. Ya know, those crooks who stole forty million (and that's just Gomery's estimate of one crime scene) and don't plan to pay more than 3 per cent back.
In other words, like most western Canadians, I don't care if the whole Liberal cabinet does cartwheels down the main street of Medicine Hat in scarlet red jump suits, they are still the party that vastly deserves a time out in the deepest, darkest depths of opposition.
I am not talking about a slap on the wrist, but a punch in the jaw. If it was sensible for the Canadian voters to reduce the 1993 Conservatives from 180 seats to 2, then an equal amount of common sense would put the entire Liberal caucus on Hans Island, wherever exactly that may be, where they can fight the armed forces of Denmark for the next five years, since they have such a new-found interest in national defence.
Think about it: the Liberals are so obviously corrupt that even the NDP has noticed and are running on that issue themselves.
I hope to gain the attention of the Ontario (meaning national) media on this rather s"
by Peter O'Donnell
It's natural for those of us who are self-condemned 'political junkies' to care about the minutiae of an election campaign. To some of us, every speech, every photo op, and every debating point, inflates to take on enormous significance, supposedly deciding the fate of nations.
Sometimes nations need to take a valium and get a grip on the facts. In this campaign, Paul Martin could give a speech of Churchillian proportions, some party insider could reveal a devastating insight about Harper or Layton, or some policy announcement could rock the very foundations of Ajax (Omo cleans whiter).
And to all that, this observer, who lives three hours behind the real world in a part of Canada where snow is but a vague rumour, would say the following:
This is the Liberal Party of Canada you're talking about. Ya know, those crooks who stole forty million (and that's just Gomery's estimate of one crime scene) and don't plan to pay more than 3 per cent back.
In other words, like most western Canadians, I don't care if the whole Liberal cabinet does cartwheels down the main street of Medicine Hat in scarlet red jump suits, they are still the party that vastly deserves a time out in the deepest, darkest depths of opposition.
I am not talking about a slap on the wrist, but a punch in the jaw. If it was sensible for the Canadian voters to reduce the 1993 Conservatives from 180 seats to 2, then an equal amount of common sense would put the entire Liberal caucus on Hans Island, wherever exactly that may be, where they can fight the armed forces of Denmark for the next five years, since they have such a new-found interest in national defence.
Think about it: the Liberals are so obviously corrupt that even the NDP has noticed and are running on that issue themselves.
I hope to gain the attention of the Ontario (meaning national) media on this rather s"
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Monday, June 06, 2005
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Belinda's Statement
The following is the Statement with some personal notes in italics made by Belinda in Ottawa at a Press Conference with Prime Minister Paul Martin, Tuesday, May 17, 2005.
Thank you, Prime Minister ( for now ).
After difficult reflection, ( my head really hurts now ) I reached a conclusion. I cannot exaggerate how hard this was for me ( almost as hard as first year University ). The political crisis affecting Canada is too risky and dangerous for blind partisanship. I watch and listen and feel that the interests of individuals or parties are often placed above the national interests ( Don't worry I didn't write that, in fact I don't even know what that means ). The country must come first.
The current political crisis is too risky to enter into partisan politics ( which is why I am doing the most partisan thing possible by switching parties). I have observed, I've listened, and I believe that the interests of persons and parties have superseded those of the national interests. Our country ( and my ego ) must be our priority.
I entered politics in the first place ( because my daddy wouldn't let me really run his company ) both to be a strong voice for the citizens of New Market and Aurora, and to try to make my country stronger and better. To have healthy politics in Canada , we need the checks and balances of more than one strong and vibrant party ( which is why I am jumping to the party which has been in power for most of the last century) .
Over time, the Conservative Party will mature and grow to provide that option ( maturing is not really one of my strong points ). There are many good and talented folks that I have a great deal of respect for in the Conservative Party ( none of whom I respected enough to give any advance notice though ). But I find myself at a crossroads ( what a great movie; Britney is the Belinda of movies ) forced on me by the decision of the leader of the Conservative Party to try to force the defeat of this government this Thursday ( the same government I tried to vote down last week ).
It is now the moment to stand and be counted ( as opposed to last week when I was standing up and being counted on the other side ) because the consequences are serious ( yeah I might lose my seat in Parliament and have to go back to being a twice divorced single mother with no real employable skills ). I've been uncomfortable for some time with the direction the leader of the Conservative Party has been taking.
I tried to the very best of my ability to play a constructive role within the Conservative Party ( by undermining Harper every chance I got ) to advance issues that really mattered to Canadians in cities, to women, to young people, to many Ontarians.
But regret to say that I do not believe the party leader's truly sensitive to the needs of each part of the country and how big and complicated ( of course not as complicated as math which is really hard ) Canada really is.
Also, by forcing an election before the Conservative party has grown and established itself in Quebec ( despite all my efforts to fill rotten boroughs in the Conservative leadership race ), the hold over Quebec of the Bloc Québécois can only grow into the vacuum. The result will be to stack the deck in favour of separatism and the possibility of a Conservative government beholden to the separatists ( I wonder if Transport Minister Lapierre will show me the best shopping in Montreal ).
After agonizing, soul ( I bet you didn't know I had one of those ) searching, I just cannot support such a large risk with my country ( wait a minute that sentence doesn't even make any sense, oh well). I'm as offended as any Canadian by the arrogance of entitlement at the core of the sponsorship scandal ( not to mention the poor fashion sense of some of the government's members ).
Today, the Prime Minister has given me the chance to serve my constituents and my country by making a difference at a critical time. ( What the heck is the Department of Human Resources and Skill Development anyways?)
Among several things, he's asked me to take aggressive action on the lessons that will come from the Gomery inquiry ( first of all how to hide it better ), and to put priority on renewing the Canadian democracy ( by trying to keep the same corrupt party in power for another hundred years ).
Our political structures and institutions need renewal ( not to mention a nice face lift ). Canadians are crying for political stability ( and for me as their Prime Minister ). Only in this way can we direct the focus of government once again to growing a competitive economy that safeguards our quality of life.
Only when the people of Canada have renewed confidence and faith in the systems of government can we return to ethics ( tee hee ethics that's funny ) and civility ( I wonder if Peter has stopped crying yet, that not only did I stab him in the back but I did it over the phone? ).
Thank you ( This speech thing isn't so tough ).
Belinda Stronach
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Monte Solberg, Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat
Monte Solberg, Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat: "My blogger friends inspire me
Thanks to my blogger friends, the vast majority whom I've never met, for their great work. A tip of my Cato University ball hat this morning to Kate McMillan at Small Dead Animals who drew my attention to an excellent post on Gin and Tonic.
This doesn't do justice to the post but it basically affirms the limited scope of the Gomery Inquiry. Here it is, 'k) the Commissioner be directed to perform his duties without expressing any conclusion or recommendation regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organization and to ensure that the conduct of the inquiry does not jeopardize any ongoing criminal investigation or criminal proceedings;'
In other words the Libs want you to wait for Gomery because they know he won't be allowed to draw conclusions about how dirty their hands are.
By the way you need to check out Kate's artwork on her main site. She is one talented girl, and with a sense of humour too. I was chatting with Ezra Levant at Civitas this weekend and we had a good laugh about that 'sleeping' gopher picture on Kate's blog. Blog on friends."
Thanks to my blogger friends, the vast majority whom I've never met, for their great work. A tip of my Cato University ball hat this morning to Kate McMillan at Small Dead Animals who drew my attention to an excellent post on Gin and Tonic.
This doesn't do justice to the post but it basically affirms the limited scope of the Gomery Inquiry. Here it is, 'k) the Commissioner be directed to perform his duties without expressing any conclusion or recommendation regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organization and to ensure that the conduct of the inquiry does not jeopardize any ongoing criminal investigation or criminal proceedings;'
In other words the Libs want you to wait for Gomery because they know he won't be allowed to draw conclusions about how dirty their hands are.
By the way you need to check out Kate's artwork on her main site. She is one talented girl, and with a sense of humour too. I was chatting with Ezra Levant at Civitas this weekend and we had a good laugh about that 'sleeping' gopher picture on Kate's blog. Blog on friends."
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Charles Adler - CharlesAdler.com - Charles Adler Online - Adler On Line Network Show - Adler on Global - Winnipeg Free Press Column - Corus Radio Netw
harlesAdlerOnline.com: "Subject: The Ant and the Grasshopper (famous fable) vs.
THE CLASSIC VERSION OF THIS FABLE - (THE ONE THAT MAKES SENSE TO US!)
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
THE CANADIAN MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate like him are cold and starving. CBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper, with cuts to a video of the ant in his comfortable warm home with a table filled with food. Canadians are stunned that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty. The New Democratic Party, the Canadian Auto Workers and the Coalition Against Poverty demonstrate in front of the ant's house. The CBC, interrupting an Inuit cultural festival special from Nunavat with breaking news, broadcasts them singing 'We Shall Overcome.' Svend Robinson rants in an interview with Pamela Wallin that the ant has gotten rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an i"
THE CLASSIC VERSION OF THIS FABLE - (THE ONE THAT MAKES SENSE TO US!)
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
THE CANADIAN MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate like him are cold and starving. CBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper, with cuts to a video of the ant in his comfortable warm home with a table filled with food. Canadians are stunned that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty. The New Democratic Party, the Canadian Auto Workers and the Coalition Against Poverty demonstrate in front of the ant's house. The CBC, interrupting an Inuit cultural festival special from Nunavat with breaking news, broadcasts them singing 'We Shall Overcome.' Svend Robinson rants in an interview with Pamela Wallin that the ant has gotten rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an i"
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Canada's global connections
Cover Story
Canada's global connections
by Judi McLeod, Canadafreepress.com
December 15, 2004
When it comes to global influence, Canada’s Montreal-based Power Corporation is an octopus with tentacles everywhere.
Both Prime Minister Paul Martin and his mentor Maurice Strong, senior advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, worked for Power Corp.
Martin’s immediate predecessor is former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, whose daughter, France is married to Andre Desmarais, son of Power Corp’s founding father, Paul Desmarais.
Desmarais Sr. is a major shareholder and director of TotalFinaElf, the biggest oil corporation in France, which has held tens of billions of dollars in contracts with the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.
As Canada Free Press (CFP) revealed last week, Paul Volcker, who heads up the Independent Inquiry Commission into the oil-for-food scandal, held a seat on Power Corp’s international advisory board.
Those are some of the ties of Power Corp., oil-for-food and Fracophonie’s Land of the fleur de lis.
Power Corp. now maintains controlling interest in BertelsmannAG, Germany’s large publishing empire--bigger even than Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
In February 2001, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, one of Belgium’s top 10 companies and 25 percent owned by Power Corp., acquired control of BertelsmannAG. Andre Desmarais, President and Chief Executive Officer of Power Corp., was named to the BAG board.
As it turns out, the publishing company controlled by Canada’s powerful Desmarais family has a less than honourary history. Indeed, during the days of the Third Reich, BertelsmannAG was the biggest publisher of Nazi texts, with production more prolific than the National Socialist Party’s own printing business. The Nazi chapter of BertelsmannAG began in 1933, but was only documented and disclosed by a historian Saul Friedlander in 1999.
Bertelsmann published the nefarious, The Christmas Book for Hitler Youth.
The publishing empire which employs some 80,000 workers in 51 countries, posted an overall cash flow of $18.3-billion in 2002.
Originally run by the Heinrich Mohn family, the company donated money to the SS and to various ecology Save-the-Earth factions of the Nazi movement.
Continuing to join the dots on Volcker and potential conflicts of interest is Volcker’s number two man on the IIC, Reid Morden. Morden has connections to Desmarais in his role of selling nuclear plants to China and others for companies dominated by Desmarais.
Although he is Canada’s former intelligence chief, Morden does not answer to the Canadian government.
As CFP letter writer Peter Herberg puts it, "Can you imagine the uproar if a former CIA chief did this and took part in a UN investigation that refused to cooperate with congress?"
From all reports, Prime Minister Paul Martin has no problems with Morden’s arm’s length relationship with the Canadian government. But then again Martin’s senior adviser is Annan pointman, Maurice Strong.
When you add it all up, contemporary Canadian influence abroad has all the intrigue of a fast-moving spy novel.
Andre Desmarais also sits on the China International Trust & Investment Corp (CITIC), described as the alleged investment arm of the PLA, the Chinese military.
Through its subsidiaries, the CITIC could be the largest manufacturer of weapons and arms in the world.
Maurice Strong, special ambassador to the UN, has publicly stated publicly his belief that China is the economic and ecological future of the world, a sentiment echoed only last week by Prime Minister Martin.
Iraq is awash in arms bought by Saddam through the oil-for-food scam and many of them originate from China, including the fiber optic air defense network installed by China.
China also sold arms to the Taliban and had a number of deals with them even post 9/11.
Li Ka-Shing, the owner of the Hong Kong-based Huthinson-Whampoa that now runs the Panama Canal Ports, is currently buying Husky Oil of Canada and plans on buying Canadian mining giant Noranda.
The Asian tycoon’s eldest son, Victor Li, a Canadian citizen, recently offered $48-million for a 28 percent stake in bankrupted Air Canada.
Li, incidentally owns Gordon Securities where Chretien used to work.
Operation Sidewinder, an American-Canadian operation set up to root out Chinese agents in Canada was shut down by former New Democratic Party Ontario Premier Bob Rae. Rae’s brother John was the campaign manager for Chretien and is a senior executive at Power Corp.
Paul Martin plans a China delegation early in 2005.
Chretien’s first trip after leaving office was to lead a delegation to China on trade deals. His next trip was to Iran on behalf of an oil company.
Last week Chretien was in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he made a speech criticizing the Russian government’s handling of Yukos Oil.
"It is no secret--my country, Canada has turned its proximity, next door to a giant, the United States, into a key economic growth. You are positioned between two giants--Russia and China," he told the Kazakhstan audience.
"I know through history that has not always been the most comfortable location. But these are giants that will continue to play a huge and important role on the world stage.
"In the case of China, we are looking at a nation whose economic and social growth will be THE big story of this century.
"Even in Canada, where we share a long, peaceful border with the United States, we have always had to consciously work to maintain our sovereignty and independence.
"As one of my great predecessors, Pierre Trudeau, once put it, we are a little bit like the mouse sleeping next to an elephant.
No mater (sic) how peaceful or good natured is the elephant, we feel ever single twitch and movement…And God help us if he should ever roll over in his sleep!"
Meanwhile, it’s not rolling over in his sleep that Canada should worry about, it’s perhaps if ever the sleeping giant should awaken.
Canada's global connections
by Judi McLeod, Canadafreepress.com
December 15, 2004
When it comes to global influence, Canada’s Montreal-based Power Corporation is an octopus with tentacles everywhere.
Both Prime Minister Paul Martin and his mentor Maurice Strong, senior advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, worked for Power Corp.
Martin’s immediate predecessor is former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, whose daughter, France is married to Andre Desmarais, son of Power Corp’s founding father, Paul Desmarais.
Desmarais Sr. is a major shareholder and director of TotalFinaElf, the biggest oil corporation in France, which has held tens of billions of dollars in contracts with the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.
As Canada Free Press (CFP) revealed last week, Paul Volcker, who heads up the Independent Inquiry Commission into the oil-for-food scandal, held a seat on Power Corp’s international advisory board.
Those are some of the ties of Power Corp., oil-for-food and Fracophonie’s Land of the fleur de lis.
Power Corp. now maintains controlling interest in BertelsmannAG, Germany’s large publishing empire--bigger even than Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
In February 2001, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, one of Belgium’s top 10 companies and 25 percent owned by Power Corp., acquired control of BertelsmannAG. Andre Desmarais, President and Chief Executive Officer of Power Corp., was named to the BAG board.
As it turns out, the publishing company controlled by Canada’s powerful Desmarais family has a less than honourary history. Indeed, during the days of the Third Reich, BertelsmannAG was the biggest publisher of Nazi texts, with production more prolific than the National Socialist Party’s own printing business. The Nazi chapter of BertelsmannAG began in 1933, but was only documented and disclosed by a historian Saul Friedlander in 1999.
Bertelsmann published the nefarious, The Christmas Book for Hitler Youth.
The publishing empire which employs some 80,000 workers in 51 countries, posted an overall cash flow of $18.3-billion in 2002.
Originally run by the Heinrich Mohn family, the company donated money to the SS and to various ecology Save-the-Earth factions of the Nazi movement.
Continuing to join the dots on Volcker and potential conflicts of interest is Volcker’s number two man on the IIC, Reid Morden. Morden has connections to Desmarais in his role of selling nuclear plants to China and others for companies dominated by Desmarais.
Although he is Canada’s former intelligence chief, Morden does not answer to the Canadian government.
As CFP letter writer Peter Herberg puts it, "Can you imagine the uproar if a former CIA chief did this and took part in a UN investigation that refused to cooperate with congress?"
From all reports, Prime Minister Paul Martin has no problems with Morden’s arm’s length relationship with the Canadian government. But then again Martin’s senior adviser is Annan pointman, Maurice Strong.
When you add it all up, contemporary Canadian influence abroad has all the intrigue of a fast-moving spy novel.
Andre Desmarais also sits on the China International Trust & Investment Corp (CITIC), described as the alleged investment arm of the PLA, the Chinese military.
Through its subsidiaries, the CITIC could be the largest manufacturer of weapons and arms in the world.
Maurice Strong, special ambassador to the UN, has publicly stated publicly his belief that China is the economic and ecological future of the world, a sentiment echoed only last week by Prime Minister Martin.
Iraq is awash in arms bought by Saddam through the oil-for-food scam and many of them originate from China, including the fiber optic air defense network installed by China.
China also sold arms to the Taliban and had a number of deals with them even post 9/11.
Li Ka-Shing, the owner of the Hong Kong-based Huthinson-Whampoa that now runs the Panama Canal Ports, is currently buying Husky Oil of Canada and plans on buying Canadian mining giant Noranda.
The Asian tycoon’s eldest son, Victor Li, a Canadian citizen, recently offered $48-million for a 28 percent stake in bankrupted Air Canada.
Li, incidentally owns Gordon Securities where Chretien used to work.
Operation Sidewinder, an American-Canadian operation set up to root out Chinese agents in Canada was shut down by former New Democratic Party Ontario Premier Bob Rae. Rae’s brother John was the campaign manager for Chretien and is a senior executive at Power Corp.
Paul Martin plans a China delegation early in 2005.
Chretien’s first trip after leaving office was to lead a delegation to China on trade deals. His next trip was to Iran on behalf of an oil company.
Last week Chretien was in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he made a speech criticizing the Russian government’s handling of Yukos Oil.
"It is no secret--my country, Canada has turned its proximity, next door to a giant, the United States, into a key economic growth. You are positioned between two giants--Russia and China," he told the Kazakhstan audience.
"I know through history that has not always been the most comfortable location. But these are giants that will continue to play a huge and important role on the world stage.
"In the case of China, we are looking at a nation whose economic and social growth will be THE big story of this century.
"Even in Canada, where we share a long, peaceful border with the United States, we have always had to consciously work to maintain our sovereignty and independence.
"As one of my great predecessors, Pierre Trudeau, once put it, we are a little bit like the mouse sleeping next to an elephant.
No mater (sic) how peaceful or good natured is the elephant, we feel ever single twitch and movement…And God help us if he should ever roll over in his sleep!"
Meanwhile, it’s not rolling over in his sleep that Canada should worry about, it’s perhaps if ever the sleeping giant should awaken.
Swansong
SwansongTHIS is the LETTER that CHUCK read on AdlerOnLine - EMBARRASSED CANADIAN
posted on March 2nd, 2005
Dear Charles:
I found this on a US web blog and thought it was worth passing along....
It paints a clear picture of our history and future.
What you see when you gaze north in my direction, My Friends, is the continual emasculation of a once proud and dynamic nation and its' people. I
honestly wonder what the future holds for Canada, but at this point I can
think of little more than an economically hobbled backwater completely
bereft of any identity and willingness to stand up for itself; a slow
decline into regionalism and eventually a national implosion. Years ago, up
until the late 1950's, Canada was a nation that believed it could do
anything despite its' small population. Our aerospace industry was the envy
of the world. Avro built and flew a multi-engine passenger jet years before
Boeing launched the 707 generating interest from airlines worldwide and keen
attention from the U.S. Military, not to mention building the Arrow, a
fighter jet far better than anything in the sky at the time. All of that
came to naught. Our telecommunications expertise was second to none, we
patrolled the skies over Europe and had a seat at the international table
far in excess of what one would expect from a nation of our size. A nation
that sends soldiers far beyond proportion to its' population gets that kind
of respect (1 million troops in WWI from a nation of only 10 million). No
more. I could go on but I'll spare the bytes. Now we don't even know who or
what we are, if anything.
It's tempting to lay the blame for this at the feet of Trudeau, but that's
too simplistic. The truth is far deeper. Socialist, and yes Communist,
infiltration of our unions and media in the 60's and 70's allowed
individuals intent on weakening the country by destroying its' identity to
rise and control these organizations, and the meek "lie back and take it
quietly" attitude of many Canadians compounded the problem. Canadians by and
large have a "subject" mentality as opposed to feeling like citizens who
actually own our own country. An over powerful government took more and more
taxes to support more and more socialist programs that employ so many people
that they become voting blocs and special interests unto themselves, with
the result being politicians too meek to confront them. Ordinary Canadians
gradually realized they had no real voice in the halls of power so they took
the defensive route and put their heads down and just focused on keeping a
roof over their heads in the atmosphere of ever rising tax burdens. Feeling
no one in Ottawa would listen the people stopped talking, and gradually the
national identity, very similar to the pioneering identity of Americans, was
lost. We now have no identity, and when you can't define yourself what
reason is there to protect anything?
Ask most Canadians what defines Canada and you'll hear the Liberal mantra:
Multiculturalism and National Health Care (soon to add National Child care
after yesterday's budget). Think about that for a minute. Our identity is
that we don't really have one and we're all so afraid of the future that we
need the government to look after our needs. Paranoid, self absorbed and
bereft of anything of substance we can grasp onto as a nation. In search of
anything to define ourselves some (by all means not all or probably not even
a true majority) substituted "we're not Americans" as a way of defining
ourselves. How mature. Since that is no definition of anything it lead to
the knee jerk anti-Americanism found in much of our media and cultural
institutions. This decision on missile defense is another example. If we're
not Americans we have to be different from them simply to prove our
independence, even if the position flies in the face of the national
interest. Martin is sooooo determined to look strong (in fact even Liberal
supporters are shocked at how incompetent he has shown himself to be) that
he apparently feels the only way to do this is to oppose the U.S. for
opposition sake. This isn't leadership, it's cowardice.
Canada stood to benefit mightily from open participation in the Missile
Defense Program, and at basically no cost. We have technology industries
that would have benefited, both from a technical and economic perspective.
Forget that now, I suspect. Much of the damage wrought by the fool Chretien
would have been put aside, now it will be compounded many times over.
Decisions have consequences and there will be big ones here. The destruction
of our aerospace industry in the 50's drove our best and brightest engineers
to flee to the U.S. where NASA and defense companies were happy to scoop
them up. Our socialized medicine has driven scores of doctors and nurses
south of the border to the point that our health care system is in slow
collapse. The growing navel gazing and self righteous U.S. bashing will
eventually result in more and more freedom loving Canadians who actually see
what's going on in the world to abandon Canada as lost and relocate to the
land liberty calls home.
I've been furious at our governors many many times, and this Federal
Government in particular, but today along with my anger I feel deeply
embarrassed to call myself Canadian. We're a nation that has lost it's soul,
lost it's way, and it increasingly seems that we've lost our collective
mind. The future is grim, I'm afraid. It's a shame, we held out such promise
once, but that I suppose was a long time ago in a very different Canada.
Pity.
_________________
The voice of one crying in the wilderness
posted on March 2nd, 2005
Dear Charles:
I found this on a US web blog and thought it was worth passing along....
It paints a clear picture of our history and future.
What you see when you gaze north in my direction, My Friends, is the continual emasculation of a once proud and dynamic nation and its' people. I
honestly wonder what the future holds for Canada, but at this point I can
think of little more than an economically hobbled backwater completely
bereft of any identity and willingness to stand up for itself; a slow
decline into regionalism and eventually a national implosion. Years ago, up
until the late 1950's, Canada was a nation that believed it could do
anything despite its' small population. Our aerospace industry was the envy
of the world. Avro built and flew a multi-engine passenger jet years before
Boeing launched the 707 generating interest from airlines worldwide and keen
attention from the U.S. Military, not to mention building the Arrow, a
fighter jet far better than anything in the sky at the time. All of that
came to naught. Our telecommunications expertise was second to none, we
patrolled the skies over Europe and had a seat at the international table
far in excess of what one would expect from a nation of our size. A nation
that sends soldiers far beyond proportion to its' population gets that kind
of respect (1 million troops in WWI from a nation of only 10 million). No
more. I could go on but I'll spare the bytes. Now we don't even know who or
what we are, if anything.
It's tempting to lay the blame for this at the feet of Trudeau, but that's
too simplistic. The truth is far deeper. Socialist, and yes Communist,
infiltration of our unions and media in the 60's and 70's allowed
individuals intent on weakening the country by destroying its' identity to
rise and control these organizations, and the meek "lie back and take it
quietly" attitude of many Canadians compounded the problem. Canadians by and
large have a "subject" mentality as opposed to feeling like citizens who
actually own our own country. An over powerful government took more and more
taxes to support more and more socialist programs that employ so many people
that they become voting blocs and special interests unto themselves, with
the result being politicians too meek to confront them. Ordinary Canadians
gradually realized they had no real voice in the halls of power so they took
the defensive route and put their heads down and just focused on keeping a
roof over their heads in the atmosphere of ever rising tax burdens. Feeling
no one in Ottawa would listen the people stopped talking, and gradually the
national identity, very similar to the pioneering identity of Americans, was
lost. We now have no identity, and when you can't define yourself what
reason is there to protect anything?
Ask most Canadians what defines Canada and you'll hear the Liberal mantra:
Multiculturalism and National Health Care (soon to add National Child care
after yesterday's budget). Think about that for a minute. Our identity is
that we don't really have one and we're all so afraid of the future that we
need the government to look after our needs. Paranoid, self absorbed and
bereft of anything of substance we can grasp onto as a nation. In search of
anything to define ourselves some (by all means not all or probably not even
a true majority) substituted "we're not Americans" as a way of defining
ourselves. How mature. Since that is no definition of anything it lead to
the knee jerk anti-Americanism found in much of our media and cultural
institutions. This decision on missile defense is another example. If we're
not Americans we have to be different from them simply to prove our
independence, even if the position flies in the face of the national
interest. Martin is sooooo determined to look strong (in fact even Liberal
supporters are shocked at how incompetent he has shown himself to be) that
he apparently feels the only way to do this is to oppose the U.S. for
opposition sake. This isn't leadership, it's cowardice.
Canada stood to benefit mightily from open participation in the Missile
Defense Program, and at basically no cost. We have technology industries
that would have benefited, both from a technical and economic perspective.
Forget that now, I suspect. Much of the damage wrought by the fool Chretien
would have been put aside, now it will be compounded many times over.
Decisions have consequences and there will be big ones here. The destruction
of our aerospace industry in the 50's drove our best and brightest engineers
to flee to the U.S. where NASA and defense companies were happy to scoop
them up. Our socialized medicine has driven scores of doctors and nurses
south of the border to the point that our health care system is in slow
collapse. The growing navel gazing and self righteous U.S. bashing will
eventually result in more and more freedom loving Canadians who actually see
what's going on in the world to abandon Canada as lost and relocate to the
land liberty calls home.
I've been furious at our governors many many times, and this Federal
Government in particular, but today along with my anger I feel deeply
embarrassed to call myself Canadian. We're a nation that has lost it's soul,
lost it's way, and it increasingly seems that we've lost our collective
mind. The future is grim, I'm afraid. It's a shame, we held out such promise
once, but that I suppose was a long time ago in a very different Canada.
Pity.
_________________
The voice of one crying in the wilderness
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