First of all, I’m writing this blog post from Microsoft Word 2007… I just found out I could blog directly from it! Another way Microsoft is slowly taking over my life.

Is anyone else sick of Harper and the Conservatives suing everyone? I’ve been quite busy lately, graduating from college, but it seems every time I turn on the TV I hear about a Conservative suing or giving legal notice over an allegation.

It started with Brian Mulroney suing a Liberal MP over the Schrieber affair. Then Harper serves legal notice to the Liberal Party over the Cadman affair. And now the Conservatives are suing Elections Canada. Next thing I know, I will be sued for writing this post.

Is anyone else concerned about what this means to our democratic institutions?

Parties should not be using our courts to settle political debates. Not only is it a waste of taxpayers money, but it also allows a party with a lot of money to scare other parties into being silent.

When you enter politics, you should expect your actions to be scrutinized. And you should expect to be accused of many different things, by many different groups. I’m not suggesting that baseless accusations are a good thing, but it’s not out of the norm in politics and you should be ready to defend yourself. Instead of suing, the Conservatives should be defending themselves to the public. Imagine if the Liberals sued the Conservative party over initial allegations of AdScam… we may have never gotten to the bottom of it.

We live in a democracy. Yes, when you make an allegation against somebody else you should have your facts straight. But you shouldn’t have to fear a lawsuit when you question authority.

Questioning authority is a right in a democracy.

With winter here, and no federal government announcement to extend funding for housing and homeless initiatives, Sault MP Tony Martin, the NDP social policy and poverty critic, pressed the government in Question Period Tuesday for a real plan. Here is the exchange.

Mr. Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie, NDP)
Mr. Speaker, since 1998 the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee declared homelessness a national disaster and 400 agencies from across the country agreed. The Liberal solution was to cut the funding for housing and the Conservatives have chosen huge corporate tax cuts instead of reinvesting in housing.

In Edmonton alone, 41 homeless people died last year. A homeless person died just this weekend in Montreal. This is a totally unnecessary disaster. When will the government establish a national housing strategy and when will it take these deaths seriously?

Hon. Monte Solberg (Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, CPC)
Mr. Speaker, the strategy of the government is to take steps that make a difference in the lives of people, which is why, when we came to office, one of the first things we did was to invest heavily in affordable housing. There is $1.4 billion in the housing trust today. The government is investing more in affordable housing than any government in history. We have also put in place the homelessness partnering strategy. We believe that a roof over a person’s head is the place to start to give them a hand, $270 million for that. We understand how important it is to make sure that people who are living in poverty get a–

Mr. Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie, NDP)
Let us be clear, Mr.Speaker, that money came from the “NDP budget”, when we forced the Liberals to cancel their corporate tax cuts. The St. Michael’s Hospital says homeless people die at a rate 10 times higher than people living in homes.

Meanwhile, all of the programs, federal homelessness, federal housing rehab and affordable housing are set to expire in a few months. The minister should visit the streets, talk to homeless people and get a dose of reality , because winter is here. Where is the plan?,

Hon. Monte Solberg (Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, CPC)
Mr. Speaker, I hate to break it to the member, but the NDP has never been in power so there was no budget from the NDP. I need to tell the member that the New Democrats have no monopoly on concern when it comes to looking after the homeless. Last week I was meeting in Vancouver with groups who work on the streets to help people get a roof over their heads, give them the helping hand that they need so they can ultimately get out of the situation they are in.

We are concerned about this. We are pouring resources in. It is more than just rhetoric with this party. We are getting the job done.

Harper’s environment plan can not be called a plan and certainly can not be labeled as environmental. Stephen Harper announced that the government will be implementing intensity-based targets.

You may ask, what are intensity based targets? Intensity based targets means that if the economy is growing, more greenhouse gases are allowed to be produced. Our economy is doing great right now, so that means our environment will suffer under the Conservative plan. An environmental plan should lessen our negative impact on the environment, but this just allows that impact to grow. This is not an alternative to the Kyoto accord and Canadians should feel insulted for being deceived. Let’s not wait for a depression or a stock market crash for us to lower our emissions, let’s protect the environment today and preserve it for our grandchildren!

I always get a little bit of a laugh when I read conservative-mad blogs. You know, the ones with ridiculous ideas and paranoid-crazed writers? Well today, I didn’t just laugh a little; I am literally rolling on the floor laughing out loud.

The blog that I found so hilarious can be found here. In this post, the writer indicates that his/her daughter came home from school one day and announced that they were sharing pencils at school with other classmates. Basically the teacher gathers all the pencils and places them in a box, for each student to take when needed and give back when done with it. Sounds like a smart solution to a problem. However the writer over at Officially Screwed calls it communism.

The writer asks “Am I being paranoid?” and the answer to that question is yes.

However more disturbing are the serious comments to the post on his/her blog. Here are some quotes that are emphasized by me and also a few of my own comments, to show the thoughts of some conservative bloggers.

Conservative comment: The teacher is corrupting her students with communist ideology. Obviously, the students with parents who can afford pencils deserve to get more out of their education. It’s just common sense: students who can afford pencils (and books and computers and tutors) will learn more and teachers should respect this natural advantage.

My comment: Being rich/poor is not a natural advantage. Our economy is neither natural nor fair. You neglect the poor and they will start a revolution.

Conservative comment: Of course they would take from the competent to give to the incompetent, they seem to believe in saving the weak at the expense of the strong.

My comment: Poor students are not incompetent; I was one of them at one point. You can’t even say all poor students’ parents are incompetent. The only thing that is incompetent in this situation is the economy.

Thanks to “where’d that bug go?” for letting me know about the pencil communism post.

Mark Cooper, a senior official in the office of Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, has announced that word “plan “ is no longer being used and it is being replaced with the word “approach” in regards to the environment. This is really no big secret, everyone has known for months that their was no plan. It’s good to see the Conservatives finally admit it.

Yet, this shouldn’t be taken lightly. In their election platform, the Conservatives promised a comprehensive plan on the environment. Looks like this promise is going onto the same list as reducing wait times in hospitals; a list of broken promises.

It has also been confirmed by Mark Cooper that Ambrose will not be raising the government intentions at the Commons environment committee today. Another sign that the Conservatives do not take the environment seriously.

“We’ve known for month’s there’s no plan,” said Louise Comeau of the Sage Climate Project. “What they’re planning is a series of announcements.”