Arthur Weinreb

Scary Stéphane

Da plane! Da plane! Those were the words that were spoken by Tattoo in every episode of the hit 1970s television series, Fantasy Island. But don’t expect to hear those words spoken by federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion any time soon although when he does, at least he’ll be pronouncing them the same way Tattoo did.

Get rid of the sham fixed election dates

There seemed to be quite a lot of enthusiasm when Prime Minister Stephen Harper first announced that Canada would have fixed election dates. As it was, Parliament could sit for up to five years before its dissolution and a new election was necessary. In a minority Parliament, the government could fall at any time if it lost the vote on a money bill or on anything else that was deemed by that government to be a matter of confidence. Once the government fell, the Prime Minister would have to go to the Governor General and advise him or her that he could no longer govern. Although the Governor General had the power to ask someone else to form a government the usual practice was to dissolve Parliament and set an election date.

Paranoia over “crimes” against children

There can be no dispute that crimes against children are serious and must be dealt with harshly. It’s good that crimes such as sexual offences within families are no longer treated at private matters that see the offender get a good talking too before being shipped off for counseling. Child pornography has been around since our ancestors first learned how to draw but the circulation of kiddy porn no longer has to be clandestinely carried out by hand or through the mail. With a few clicks of a mouse, anyone with the most basic of computer skills can instantly collect or transmit hundreds if not thousands of these illicit images with relative ease.

Private security in Chinatown – an idea that’s bound to catch on

The Toronto Chinatown Business Improvement Area have recently hired a private security firm to patrol their business area during peak periods. If the project proves to be successful, it will only be a matter of time until private security guards will be as common on the downtown business streets of Toronto as they are in shopping malls.

No more babies allowed in BC jails

It’s so sad. Corrections BC announced last week that the 4- year-old program that allowed women inmates to have their newborns with them while they did their time was being cancelled. Although federal institutions allow mothers to keep their babies in jail with them, British California was the only province that had a similar program. The reason given for the cancellation was one of safety; corrections staff are simply not trained to deal with newborns and infants, which of course posed a danger to the babies. While this fact wasn’t disputed by those in favour of the program, there was the usual amount of whining about the government’s decision to end allowing mothers to have their babies in jail with them.

Father has a right to be furious

A Mississauga Ontario father recently took his 3-year-old son to a pool for his weekly swimming lesson. When the little boy removed his top, his father noticed that he had a heat rash on his chest. The lifeguard noticed it too although the pool employee thought that the marks on the child’s chest might have been as a result of the boy having been abused. In a rush to determine whether or not there actually was abuse, the lifeguard and the pool director took the 3-year-old away from his father and grilled the little tyke until they got the boy to say that his mother had hit him.

In comedy and politics, timing is everything

Anyone who can read and/or memorize a joke can tell it. What separates truly funny comedians from ordinary run-of-the-mill joke tellers is the way that the joke is told. As is often said, in comedy timing is everything.

Ontario to ban cell phones in cars- what took so long?

Ontario Transportation Minister Jim Bradley announced last weekend that the Liberal government plans to introduce legislation to ban drivers from using cell phones and other electronic devices such as Blackberries and even GPS units. With a majority government and an ineffective opposition, the proposed legislation has no chance of failing.

“Don’t sleep in the subway, darlin’”

And, it’s not a good idea to sleep on a bus either. It was news from rural Manitoba that went around the world. As is well known by now, 40-year-old Vincent Weiguang Li has been charged with second degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Tim McLean Jr. aboard a Greyhound bus heading towards Winnipeg.

Defence Minister supports the troops , er, kind of

With Canadian troops fighting doing reconstruction work in Afghanistan, every once in awhile something happens to show that the theatre of war is not free from the political correctness that has infested society in recent years. Such an incident occurred last Sunday outside of Kandahar.

Freedom doesn’t mean much in Canada

National Post columnist Allison Hanes wrote an article that was published on Friday entitled, “Turning Toronto into a Nanny State.” Actually, Toronto has been a nanny state for a long time now but let’s not quibble.

If we only knew then what we know now

Paul Martin emerged from the shadows last weekend, appearing on CTV’s Question Period.  For those who may have forgotten, Martin was the guy who was the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada for a few months between the long reign of Jean Chrétien and the seemingly never ending minority government of Stephen Harper. Martin was arguing that Omar Khadr, the youngest member of Canada’s first family of terrorism, should be repatriated to Canada. In the interview Paul Martin proved one thing. Despite the passage of time, he’s still, er, Paul Martin.          

Municipalities need to be reigned in

Compared to the other two levels of government, Canadian municipalities probably out and out waste more money than the feds and the provinces. The waste may not be as much in absolute terms but the local yokels can spend the taxpayers’ money on extremely silly things that would never cross the minds of more mature politicians.

Political correctness – the UK gets it

It is hard to say if society now faces more or greater problems than in years past. It seems so but then every generation thinks that they have a more difficult time than their predecessors. It is more likely that our problems have always remained the same and what is different now is that the ills that we are facing are not being handled as well as they once were. If there is any one overriding reason why this is so, it is the obsession with the current prime directive of political correctness.

Going after pets – what’s so hard to understand?

Toronto’s program to license the city’s pets has been going on for some time now. But on the weekend, which must have meant a couple of slow news days, the city’s media were full of stories about the current drive that has students going all over the city, knocking on doors and attempting to ascertain if the household contains illegal non licensed dogs or cats.

Morgentaler’s Order of Canada – abortion is not really the issue

On Canada Day, the rumours that had been circulating for the preceding few days turned out to be true. Dr. Henry Morgentaler, Canada’s most preeminent abortionist was named to the prestigious (or previously prestigious) Order of Canada.

Canadians aren’t buying Dion’s carbon tax

A recently released Strategic Counsel commissioned by the Globe and Mail and CTV shows that the number of Canadians who think that the environment is the number one issue has fallen. According to the Globe and Mail, the environment dropped to third place from first last year with the high cost of gasoline and the economy generally overtaking it. Only 16% of those polled consider the environment the numero uno issue.

Is David Caplan “fit” to be Health Minister?

A mini-cabinet shuffle was required last week after Energy Minister Gerry Phillips resigned from that portfolio for personal reasons. Furious George Smitherman went from health to energy, which was given a new super duper name so it would not look like George was being demoted. David Caplan replaced Smitherman as Minister of Health.          

School not at fault for “psychic” sex abuse allegations

It all happened last week. Thirty-eight-year old Colleen Leduc picked up her 11-year-old autistic daughter Victoria from school and headed home. As soon as the two reached home.

Who’s responsible for Toronto’s gun violence?

As most everyone knows, Toronto Mayor David Miller is pushing to ban guns within the city of Toronto. The mayor’s proposals go so far as to use bylaws to ban gun clubs and the manufacturing of firearms within the city’s boundaries. These proposals, of course are aimed at law abiding citizens since guns in the hands of criminals are already banned because they are illegal under the Criminal Code. But banning guns sure sounds good when preaching to the converted. Within the last week, the following shootings have taken place in Canada’s largest city that was once known as “Toronto the Good”.