Your Singhs today (Canadian election edition)

One week into the campaign -- just four left -- and things are not looking good for the pinko NDP (New Democratic Party, which is neither "new" nor "democratic"). Under the leadership of Jagmeet Singh, it has sunk to single digits in the polls -- right down there with the Green Party, the People's Party of Canada (too bad, Max!) and None of the Above. 

To make matters worse, the Knee-Dippers are already out of money. Changes in election financing law some years back put a stop to the cash flow from union checkoffs, and the blue-collar types who used to vote NDP have left it to the Volvo progressives, who drive Volvos because they don't give their money away.

So Jugmeet Singh and his advisors have had to come up with a new fundraising scheme. Here it is.

Sikh mothers across Canada (especially the many in Brampton ON and Surrey BC) are being used to donate at least one of their daughters for the good of the cause. "One girl more or less, makes no difference. Plenty more where they came from!" 

Note from Ed.: Before you run out to report Walt to the Anti-Racism Police, take note of today's date.

VIDEO: Canuck socialist leader dreams BIG!

Some things are still funny, even in Canuckistan, the wokest country on earth. [Seriously? Woker than Britain or France or the USA? Ed.] The House of Commons, the lower house of the Canadian Parliament, is about to take its annual two-month Christmas vacation [should read "Winter Holiday vacation". Ed.] but there's still time for a little give-and-take during the daily Question Period. 

Here's a clip showing Canuck solons in high spirits [about a quart, I should say. Ed.] listening to the Hon. Jugmeat Singh, leader of the pinko New Democratic Party, trying three times to ask Prime Minister Blackie McBlackface a simple question.  

Dream on, Mr Singh. But don't forget to order your parachute -- a pink one, perhaps -- for after the next election. Maybe instead of aiming to be prime minister of all Canuckistan, you should be looking towards your homeland, Khalistan.They won't laugh at you there... will they? 

What is Jagmeet Singh saying?

Jagmeet Singh is fighting his first general election as leader of Canada's Not-so-new Democratic Party. The socialists (for that's what they are) are struggling to hold onto third place in the polls, facing a serious challenge [seriously? Ed.] from the loonier left Green Party.

Mr Singh was in Toronto this morning, where he promised to put a cap on the amount telecoms could charge long-suffering Canucks for cellphone and internet service. Not that it matters, because the NDP has two chances of forming the next government -- slim and none. Anyhoo, following his speech, the turbanned tribune fielded some questions from the press. Adrian Wyld, of Canadian Press, snapped this photo.

Said photo appeared with the story on the CTV News website, around lunchtime (EDT). It also appeared on the CBC News website, where it remained for about 40 seconds before being taken down and replaced with a stock shot. Maybe the picture has a hidden meaning that Walt didn't get? What does that emoticon mean anyway? Answers on the back of a postage stamp, please, to the usual address.

VIDEO: People's Party candidate kills at Burnaby South debate

This is a follow-up to our quiz last Tuesday in which you were invited to spot the People's Party of Canada candidate in a pic of the six candidates contesting the by-election in the Canadian electoral district of Burnaby South. The PPC candidate is Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, who looks like a winner to me!

Today we have a video, posted to YouTube by a convert to the PPC, in which Ms Tyler Thompson debates the others on the topic "Can Canada survive Facebook?" -- the role on the issues of free speech and the censorship of politically incorrect opinions in the lamestream media. You'll enjoy seeing her eviscerate the pinko NDP candidate -- Jagmeet Singh, the one who the media say is going to win -- and the others. Listen to what this woman has to say. How could you not vote for her?!



The by-election will be held on February 25th. Walt isn't taking bets, because it's pretty hard for the candidate of a brand new party to win on the first go-round, but I'll sure be watching!

Quiz: Spot the People's Party of Canada candidate

Today Walt has a little quiz for you, related to a by-election to be held in the British Columbia riding of Burnaby South. [Explain, please! Ed.] Under the rules of the Canadian House of Commons, if a seat becomes vacant, a special election, called a "by-election" must be held after a time so the people of that riding (= district) won't lack a Member to draw a large salary for misrepresenting them. On February 25th, the people of Burnaby South -- a suburb of Vancouver -- get a chance to replace an NDP (= socialist) Member who quit to find a better job.

What makes this one interesting is the New Democratic Party standard-bearer this time is none other than Jagmeet Singh! [Who?! Ed.] Mr Singh is the poster boy for tribal politics and bloc voting, having marshalled a gang of Sikh people to elect him leader of the NDP, way back in 2017. Unfortunately for him and his party, Mr Singh didn't have a seat in the House of Commons, having quit his job as deputy leader of the NDP in the Ontario legislature to find a better job.

Not being an MP, Mr Singh couldn't participate in the deliberations of the Commons, or do very much else except stand at the door and look hopeful. With the NDP at its lowest ebb in the polls (not to mention fundraising) in decades, he was given an ultimatum by the remaining members -- all three of them -- that he'd better get himself elected right sharpish, so threw his turban in the Burnaby ring.

Mr Singh may have expected that the ruling Liberals would show him the courtesy of not putting up a candidate to oppose him, particularly since the pundits say the pinkos would fare worse, in the October general election, with Mr Singh at the helm than they would with ABS (Anyone But Singh). Alas, it was not to be.

The Liberals nominated a nice Chinese-Canadian lady, who made the mistake of speaking honestly and directly about the ethnicity issue, telling her copatriots that they should vote her because she's one of them and Mr Singh is, errr, a Sikh. As Walt reported in "Most Canadians think Islam, Sikhism bad for their society" (WWW 17/11/17), most Canadians think... [We get it. Ed.]

For telling the truth, the Liberal candidate was forced by her own party (Just In Trudeau, Prop.) to step down. However, the local Liberals showed a bit of backbone and nominated another Chinese-Canadian, one of the three gentleman shown in this picture, taken a couple of days ago just before an all-candidates debate.

That would be Richard Lee, the one in the grey sweater. The debate moderator, at the far left, is explaining the ground rules to Mr Lee and all the other Burnaby South candidates, including Jagmeet Singh -- the one wearing the turban and the most expensive suit. [I thought all socialists dressed in tweed jackets and corduroy pants. Ed.] So now you know who two of the candidates are. Of the remaining four, two are independents, one is a Conservative, and one represents Maxime Bernier's new People's Party of Canada. Today's quiz: Which one is the PPC candidate?

If you guessed it's the only woman in the crowd, you're right... and so is she! She's Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, who has a pretty good shot at making a race of it, given that Canada's Conservatives are just a hair to the right of the libtards. Jay Shin, the Conservative, is on the right only in the picture. The independents, left to right, are Terry Grimwood and Valentine Wu.

Ed. has told me that we don't have any prize for this one, other than the satisfaction, if you're a supporter of the PPC [and if you aren't, why not?! Ed.] of knowing that you instinctively chose the kind of candidate you'd be right to vote for!

Where's Walto?

Ed. here. Walt is on assignment, as they say in the meeja, observing what looks like being an interesting election in Ontario (Ontario, Canada, not Ontario, California).

Kathleen Wynne, proud lesbian and Premier of the province until tomorrow night has already thrown in the pink towel, conceding Saturday morning that there's no way she and her Liberal Party can be returned to power. Walt says they will be lucky to hold onto two seats in the 124-seat legislature.

The real contest is between the socialist(ish) New Democratic Party, led by Andrea Horwath and the oxymoronical Progressive Conservative Party, which, under new leader Doug Ford (brother of the late mayor of Toronto) is emphasizing the second half of its name rather than the first. Walt has endorsed Mr Ford, but is more than a little unhappy with his decision to reject the candidacy of Tanya Granic Allen.

The latest polls show the PCs with a thin margin in the popular vote, but a substantial lead in the projected number of seats, enough to form a majority government, after 15 years of Liberal misrule. I expect a report from Walt on Friday, DV. Stay tuned.

Memo to voters in Niagara Falls, Canada

Poor Len Canayen here. Walt is out of town today. He's gone to the capital to attend the Bar Association's annual Mann Act Dinner-Dance. But he asked me to pass on a message from Agent 3 to the voters in the Ontario riding of Niagara Falls, concerning the by-election to be held on Thursday.

Agent 3 thinks the only one of the three major parties' candidates who will stand up for the ordinary people -- not special interests -- is the NDP candidate, Wayne Gates.

Walt endorses Wayne Gates. So do I. Send a message to Queen's Park. Get out and vote for Wayne.

Memo from Ed.: Walt has indeed read and endorsed this message. We have (alas) not been paid anything for posting it!

Farewell, Jack Layton

Agent 2 wonders when Walt is going to say something "splenderiferous" about Jack Layton. Mr. Layton, sometimes known as "Taliban Jack" or (more recently) "Bon Jack", was the leader of Canada's pinkish New Democractic Party. He led the NDP to its best-ever showing in the May federal elections, thus becoming Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. He passed away on Sunday after a terrible and very public battle with cancer.

Jack Layton was one of those rare politicians who seemed always to have plenty of convictions (meaning "beliefs" or "principles") and the courage to stand by them, rather than changing with the fashion of the times. In this he was the opposite of the (perhaps mythical) Irish senator who said, "Those are the principles on which I stand. If yez don't like them, I've got others."

Layton was also extremely well-liked, not just within his own party but by those, including Walt, who would have had little or nothing to do with his "social democractic" principles. Thus his "orange crush" sweep of Québec in May was more a vote for "Bon Jack" than for the NDP candidates or the platform on which they ran.

Some pundits have been quick to suggest that Layton's death will do no permanent damage to the cause of the left, or "progressivism", in Canadian politics. Why? Because the undoubted respect people had for Layton must translate to respect for the principles he espoused. Walt says not.

Nor is it good logic to say that one must respect a man because of his principles and his unswerving belief in them. If that were true, one would have to respect the likes of such extremely principled men as Mao, Stalin, Hitler, or Mussolini.

So... Walt bids ave atque vale to Jack Layton. He'll be missed by all Canadians. Not so his principles.

Jeffrey Simpson, writing in the Globe and Mail, has a good analysis of the likely impact of Jack Layton's death: "NDP’s future is unclear without Layton". He concludes with these words: "As Ted once said of his brother Robert F. Kennedy, so it might be said of Mr. Layton – that he saw wrong and tried to right it, and saw injustice and tried to heal it."

Doubting Thomas takes it back

Yesterday we saw a report in the Toronto Star to the effect that Thomas Mulcair, deputy leader of Canada's NDP, didn't believe the US military has pictures of the corpse of Osama bin Laden. This is what Doubting Thomas said: “I don’t think, from what I’ve heard, those pictures exist, and if they do I’ll leave that up to the American military.”

Most of us thought that, being an attorney and an experienced parliamentarian and debater, he meant to say exactly what he said, and meant us to take him at his word. Apparently not so.

Today's Star quotes Mr. Mulcair as saying, “You [reporters] work in a world of words and so do I. Sometimes they don’t come out in exactly the best order and I’ll take responsibility for that perhaps in the context of a very busy week and a very happy one.”

The words didn't come out in the right order? What order should they have come out in? "Those pictures exist, I don't think."? That doesn't sound anything like "I never doubted U.S. forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan on Sunday or that photos could prove he is dead", does it. More like a lamer version of "I misspoke myself."

Walt wouldn't be surprised if Doubting Thomas had a big dinner last night...a large helping of cold tongue from his boss, "Taliban Jack" Layton. Now that he's leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, Mr. Layton is at great pains to draw a line under his party's reputation for being both leftist and anti-American. Mr. Mulcair is not helping.

Osama Bin Laden's last ever FB post

Walt doffs his fedora to Agent 17 and Snipping Tool.

Update on the conspiracy: The Toronto Star reports that Thomas Mulcair, the deputy leader of the NDP -- now Canada's Loyal Opposition -- doesn't believe the White House (or anyone) has any pictures of Bin Laden's corpse. During an appearance on CBC-TV's Power and Politics, he said President Obama’s version of the death of the terrorist mastermind is "incomplete, if not untrue".

A spokesthingy for the White House said, "So who's Thomas Mulcair? Some pinko from...where was that again?"

Update on the update: Military intelligence has it that leadership of Al Qaeda has been assumed by a shadowy figure named Hassan bin Seeyun. Rumour has it that the mysterious Hassan has been hiding at 1698 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Canada to train Taliban, says Smilin' Jack

Following up yesterday's item about Iraqi soldiers accidentally (???) shooting their American trainers, Walt now poses the question: Who's training the Taliban? Answer: The Canadians will be taking care of that.

So says "Smilin' Jack" Layton, leader of Canada's leftish New* Democractic Party (NDP). Speaking at the University of Ottawa
(U of 0) on Saturday, the Smiling Face of Socialism said switching Canada’s military mission from fighting to training will only mean that Canada will train and equip many who will later join the insurgency.

He was quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying, "Every year, one in five soldiers walks out of the Afghan National Army for good. How many of these become Taliban fighters, taking their training and weapons with them? You think you’re training government officers, but then you’re really training insurgents as well."

At best, Layton added, Canada will be helping to create a military machine for a corrupt and distrusted Afghan President who is "very closely tied to rigged elections and rampant corruption", and discredited with his own people. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he added, is "reluctant to send another dime of aid money directly to Mr. Karzai’s government, but he’ll give him an army."

* Footnote: The NDP will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. When the huzzahs have died away, it will change its name to "the Old Democractic Party".

What the HSP will mean to Ontarians

The following comes from Agent 23. Walt is signing the petition and hopes all Ontarians reading these words will unite to fight a regressive tax that punishes those who can least afford it.

Next summer the Ontario Government of Dalton McGuinty and Dwight Duncan -- pushed and cajoled by "Call Me Steve" Harper and Jim "What Recession?" Flahtery -- is set to put into force its new harmonized GST/PST. Thus a 13% sales tax will be applied to virtually everything we purchase.

Things that were not previously taxed under the current Ontario Provincial Sales Tax (PST) will be taxed at 8%. The new 13% tax will therefore apply to things like your electric bill, your gas bill, your water bill, condominium fees, insurance premiums, and every other good and service you purchase. There are almost no exemptions.

The current Ontario PST tax does not apply to services, nor does it apply to the purchase of certain goods. The new 13% tax will therefore extend the old 8% PST tax rate to the purchase of all goods and all services. You'll have to pay the new tax on your haircut!

The new HST will also apply to all purchases of all new homes. If a person were to purchase a new $1 million dollar home in Toronto, they would have to pay roughly $200,000 in taxes as a result of the Ontario land transfer tax, the new city of Toronto land transfer tax, and the new harmonized 13% GST/PST.

Think about that and what that would do to real estate values in Toronto. It will cause property values to fall and kill the new home construction industry and the jobs it creates. And it won't be long before you'll hear our elected representatives telling us that, because of the harm that has been inflicted to the new home construction industry by the new 13% tax, it would be "fair" to extend the new 13% tax to sales of existing homes.

Canadians have had two things that they have always been able to count on as being tax free - things that they could use to save money and accumulate wealth. They are your: (a) primary home; and (b) RRSP. That's it.The extension of the new 13% HST to homes is simply a tax assault by the government on your primary home. They want to tax your primary home and you will suffer because of it. Why? Because if a purchaser has to pay almost $200,000 in taxes to buy your $1 million dollar home, the purchaser is going to pay less to you for your home. The purchaser will reduce the amount he or she is willing to pay to you in order to pay all the taxes.

Your income tax will go up! The combined Federal/Ontario income tax rates are roughly 25% on the first $20,000 of taxable income, 42% on the next $40,000 of taxable income, and 46.5% on each dollar of taxable income over $60,000. On top of that you have to add the "Fair Share Health Tax" of up to $1,000 each of us has to pay.

If the Ontario Government gets away with implementing their new harmonized GST/PST sales tax of 13%, the top effective income tax rates in Ontario will be as follows (since you can't spend any of your tax paid dollars without paying the new harmonized 13% GST/PST tax): 38% on the first $20,000, 53% on the next $40,000, 59.5% on every dollar over $60,000.

On top of that, you have to pay your Ontario Fair Share Health Tax, your city realty taxes, your city garbage fees, your city water fees, your city street parking permit fees, your annual Ontario and new city of Toronto vehicle license plate fees, your Ontario land transfer tax, your new city of Toronto land transfer tax, your gasoline taxes, your liquor taxes, your air departure taxes, your entertainment taxes, and so on.

OF ALL THE MONEY YOU WORKED HARD TO EARN, WHAT PERCENTAGE ARE YOU REALLY KEEPING FOR YOUR OWN USE? 25%? 20%? 10%? ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - FIGHT BACK!

I URGE YOU TO TAKE THIS ISSUE SERIOUSLY AND TO FILL AND AND SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST THE NEW HST AT www.unfairtaxgrab.com.

When you visit the site you'll see that it's an NDP initiative. Even though the NDP has a snowball's chance of forming the next provincial government, Walt congratulates them for leading the fight against the HST. The McGuinty Liberals have proposed it, the federal Liberals are waffling, and the provincial Tories are sitting firmly on the fence. claims "no one is complaining" about his unfair tax grab. You proved him wrong this week.

Every now and then -- as in the Maid of the Mist lease story yesterday -- the voice of the people prevails! Sign the petition! Pass this post on to your friends, your family, your neighbours...everybody! Together we can stop the HST!

Stop the unfair tax grab! Sign the petition against the HST!

The following comes from a source who must remain anonymous...

A Boomer Wealth Coach Analysis for Ontario Seniors

Was the Liberal Budget presented to Ontario on 26 March 2009, a tax grant or a tax grab? Depending on whose politics or what lobbyists, the answer will be GRANT! Or GRAB! ..... Or somewhere in between.

Our staff did something different. We read the Budget document, called the Ministry Office for details, and added up the numbers. Then, we looked at the results as to how these proposals would affect the retired, or soon to be retired. It tired us out! Our Report follows. We would encourage you to forward this Report to friends and family. There is a very real need to plan for retirement comfort -- even more so, with the proposals recently introduced.

THE TAX GRAB -- 8% more for NOTHING more

Seniors living in retirement enjoy a lifestyle different than the one they lived while working. In retirement, to be active often means paying a fee, a membership, an admission, a subscription or for costs for travel, etc. We have calculated that the impact of this Liberal Budget will be more costly for Ontario seniors than anyone has reported.

Consider a retired couple, receiving total retirement income of $41,400 after tax per year*, healthy enough to enjoy some comfort in retirement. Many of those items used on a daily basis will now be subject to an 8% cost increase, because of the new harmonized sales tax introduced by the Liberal provincial government in this Budget.

Look at just a few of those items that will cost more, without getting more.
Cable TV: if $60 monthly, yearly increase is $57.60 more.
Golf Fees: if $1,500 yearly X 2, yearly increase is $240.00 more
Gym Membership: if $35 month X 2, yearly increase is $67.20 more.
Hydro: if $85 monthly, yearly increase is $81.60 more.
Haircuts: if $450 X 2 annually, yearly increase is $72.00 more.
Heating Fuel: if $800 annually, yearly increase is $64.00 more.
Internet: If $65 monthly, yearly increase is $62.40 more.
Income Tax Prep. If cost is $150 X 2, yearly increase is $24.00 more.
Legal Fees: for wills, P.Of A., advice, etc. If $400, add 8%, $32.00 more.
London Knights tickets: 4 games X 2, yearly incr. Is $11.52 more (note Senior Season Ticket $484 X 2, yearly increase is $77.4 4 more)
Magazine Subscription: $25 annually X 4, increase is $8.00 more
Movie Tickets: one per month X 2, yearly increase is $16.32 more
Newspapers Subscription: $20 monthly, yrly incr. Is $18.91 more
RRIF/RRSP**: $400,000 family savings, yrly incr. $1,040.00 more. **This is a NEW HIDDEN TAX OF $52 per $20,000 on deposit, ANNUALLY
Telephone: if $48 monthly, yearly increase is $46.08 more
Tim Hortons Coffee: 3 per week X 2, yrly increase is $41.18.
Toronto Theatre: 2 X $150 ticket, yrly increase $24.00
Vacation Travel: $450 airline ticket X 2, yrly increase $76.00 more
Veterinarian: Beagle is Family! Add $32.00 more.
Vitamins: $60 monthly X 2, yrly increase $115.20 more

Are you ready for the TAX KICK coming?
For just these listed items***NEW TAXES OVER $2,100.00 MORE EVERY YEAR ..!!
THIS TAX IS COMING IN 2010

Go to this website to sign a petition against the new HST (harmonized sales tax).
www.unfairtaxgrab.com

Note from Walt: When you go to the website, you'll find it's sponsored by the NDP. God forbid that we should ever again have an NDP government in Ontario -- remember Rae! -- but you'll find that they are the only party fighting against the HST. Why don't the provincial Tories oppose it? Where's their great white hope, Tim Hudak, in this debate? Nowhere!

Do you want to know why? Because the HST is not just the will or fault of the provincial Liberals. It is just as much the wish and fault of the federal Conservatives, the government of "Call Me Steve" Harper. So much does Harpoon want McGuinty to wear this one, that he (or his finance minister, Jim Flattery) has sweetened the deal with a "grant" of $4 billion to ease the pain...and help Dwight Dunkin Donuts balance the books a tad sooner

Make no mistake, fellow citizens! HST really stands for Harper Sales Tax! It was Mulroney that brought us the GST, and now his successor aims yet another kick at our pocketbooks...and sucks McGuinty into joining in kicking us while we're down.

Afghanistan: Obama's Vietnam? Harper's too?

Every day, Afghanistan looks like becoming another Vietnam for the Americans. Their chief of operations, General McChrystal, says the war is being lost, and cannot be won without a significant increase in the number of boots on the ground and a change in strategy.

They need to win the hearts and minds of the people, he says. Hearts and minds...where have we heard that before?

President Obama is showing signs of terminal indecisiveness. He obviously doesn't want am embarrassing withdrawal (surrender, surely? ed.) to happen on his watch. But, with his approval ratings already tanking, he doesn't want to pay the political price for committing the additional "resources" (read money and blood) McChrystal has called for.

So Obrama is dithering. And he's not alone. Lost in the fog of comment on the disarray in the Liberal Party was news of Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay's suggestion that it might be necessary for Canadian forces to remain in Afghanistan after Steve Harper's promised 2011 withdrawal deadline.

Mr. Harpoon hasn't had to take a whole lot of flak for the waste of 131 Canadian lives and billions of Canadian dollarsa in a hopeless cause. He can point the finger of scorn at the Liberals for having entered the fray in the first place. And the Liberals voted with the Harper government to accept the recommendation of the commission led by Liberal John Manley that we "stay the course" until 2011.

But Steve must face the political consequences of changing his mind now. At the very least, voters will start asking why he would do so. Could the answer have anything to do with appeasing, once again, his new-found vizmin buddy in the White House? Where is the benefit for Canada? What will we get in return for the enormous price we are being asked to pay?

The NDP went on record in the vote on the Manley Commission report as being opposed to any extension of the Afghanistan commission. They say what a majority of Canadians believe, that we should bring our troops home now. In Quebec public opinion is even more heavily against the war than it is in TROC. The Bloc won't vote against the wishes of its people.

That leaves the Liberals to prop up the Harper government, should they renege on their promises. (What a surprise that would be! ed) But the Liberals are, publicly at least, looking for a pretext to defeat the Tory government, so to force an election which they are confident, publicly at least, they can win. The Afghanistan war might just turn out to be the big election issue they need. Stay tuned!

Wearing it

Walt's not going to say "I told you so" just yet. My prediction was that "Call me Steve" Harper would still be in office at the end of the year. So surviving one vote this coming Friday leaves us with a couple of months yet to go.

The comic figure in this week's episode is Jack Layton, leader of the Few Democrats, pictured at left.

Having made sport of the Liberals for not joining his party in voting against the Harper government 79 times, Comrade Jack has now decided that on Friday his party will, er, vote with the government. It is rumoured that Jack is headed for Payless Shoes to see if they have any size 14DDD flip-flops!

Chantal Hébert has an excellent column in today's Toronto Star. I quote only the first sentence: In hindsight, Jack Layton would have been well advised to fall on his sword over the summer and ask the NDP to start looking for a successor.

The game of chicken climaxes Friday

Friday (18/9) looks like being put-up-or-shut-up day for Canada's "New" Democratic Party. A ways and means motion that afternoon could be the straw that breaks "Call me Steve" Harper's back, but only if the NDP votes with the Bloc Québecois and the Liberals to bring down Harpoon's misgovernment.

The Iggster has already announced that his Liberals won't back down this time, and his smug phiz is already appearing on your TV screen. The Blocheads also seem ready to hit the election trail.

That leaves the Few Democrats to ride to the rescue of the Tories, if they want to avoid the election of which they are scared shipless. See my post of 2/9.

"Hit the road Jack" Layton has been making conciliatory (conciliaTory? ed) noises about how everyone should try to work together, but his troops sound increasingly doubtful. Having chided the Liberals for their previous support of the government, they'll be hard-pressed now to vote with the same capitalist-roaders.

Of course Harper's minions could find a way to duck the vote. A spokesman for Government House Leader Jay Hill said "the final timing decision has not yet been definitely made."

But check my post of 2/9 (or 9/2, for American readers -- OK, September 2nd). Here's what Layton's saying now: "I really think that most people across the country are saying to themselves, can't these people talk and get something done on the important issues? ... I say to the Prime Minister again, that it's incumbent upon a prime minister in this country in a minority parliament to work with other parties."

Sounds to Walt like he's the one who's going to blink. Stay tuned...

Fall election after all?

Walt's prediction: December 31st will see Harpoon still in office, thanks to the fecklessness of the gutless Grits.

That's what I wrote on Saturday (29/8). The next day the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and Government-in-Waiting got up on his hind feet and said his party wasn't gutless or feckless and would "withdraw its support" from the Harper Tories.

Would that mean a quick no confidence vote followed by a fall election? Iggy didn't actually answer that question, leaving it to Bob "I never believed in socialism" Rae to say "Maybe."

Sorry, but Walt has seen this movie before, and recently too. Remember the big hoo-hah about EI reform, just last spring? If the Tories didn't loosen the EI purse-strings, the Grits were gonna bring them down. Oh yeah! Bring on the election! But...er...things didn't quite turn out that way.

What we're hearing from the Liberal hawks sounds to me like more of the same, another cry of "wolf" to persuade credulous voters that the Grits are not shit-scared of facing the electorate with little money and no platform.

Fortunately for the Liberals, they alone can't bring down Mr. Harpoon. If they bring a no-confidence motion on one of the opposition days -- say October 1st or 7th -- they would need the support of both the Bloc Québecois and the NDP to topple the government. Neither party shows much inclination to enter the fray.

The Not-So-New Democrats have a leader who is well past his prime. Jack "I'm running for Prime Minister" Layton should have resigned quietly after last year's election, when his party couldn't do better than a 4th-place finish, in spite of running against the weakest Liberal leader ever.

They have a competent leader waiting in the wings. Thomas Mulcair is bilingual, obviously intelligent, and performs well in the House and especially in committees. Too bad for him he represents a Montréal riding (a miracle in itself) and will need a minor miracle to be re-elected.

As for the Bloc, they look like winning 30-40 seats in Québec no matter when the next election takes place. They have nothing to gain from a change in government so would probably be quite content to uphold the status quo for another 9 months or so.

Walt stands by his prediction.

Footnote: What a pity Gilles Duceppe isn't a Liberal!