August 31, 2007 - ...oh, and I forgot to mention I went by our daughter's former school this week. Met a very impressive person and had an encouraging talk.

But remember the controversy about the fundraiser at the place with a spotty history on race issues? How it was to raise money to "green" the schoolyard? It divided the school badly, perhaps for years to come.

Anyway. The fundraiser went ahead and - guess what? Nothing has happened at the school. Nearly nine months, and not a shovel has been lifted. Nada.

Funny, that.

 

August 31, 2007 - Nobody could ever accuse Citizen columnist John Robson of being a Liberal apologist. But here is John on an Ottawa radio program this morning. Wow.

...

"JOHN ROBSON: Well, it is a curious fact that I could pick up the paper and that the latest political developments could aggravate me even further. I would've thought by this point that I had pretty much redlined, and yet somehow it does happen. Today's Citizen tells me that John Tory and his Ontario Conservatives have promised to cut taxes and increase spending by more than $14 billion over five years. They're going to spend more on health care, education, and infrastructure, and phase out the hated health care tax, and full costing estimates are not yet available. Where have I heard this before? I mean, this is, it is just so extraordinarily offensive to say, we are going to tax less, and spend more, and we haven't yet worked out the details but I promise you it will happen. I mean, are we the sort of people who would stumble into this thing just because we were told by focus groups that we should and we haven't really got a sound governing plan. [Laughter] How absurd. Not again! I wish I knew at least that John Tory knew that this had been done before and had failed, you know. I would like to be assured that he realizes this is not a sensible thing to say, in terms of policy, although politically it's probably marvellous. And you know, a couple of weeks back I wrote a column in which I said that I didn't actually mind negative advertising in politics, not least because the bad things politicians said about each other were normally a lot more accurate than the good things they said about themselves. Because here we have the Tories have also said since 2003 the Liberals - well actually they say Dalton McGuinty, but they mean the Liberals - have increased government spending by 24 percent, and that in order to meet further spending promises they've made, they would have to increase taxes. Well this is undeniably true. However, since they're going to inherit the same increased spending as Dalton McGuinty will have to keep if he gets re-elected, and they're planning to spend more money, they too will have to raise taxes. I mean if you were in grade 5, this would be obvious to you. It's a pity these people are all grown-ups and therefore either can't see it or think we can't see it. And then you get the Liberals saying, oh yeah, sure they're going to find efficiencies. Ho ho ho. What is it they said last time? The last time we saw Conservatives find efficiencies it meant schools gutted, nurses fired, and water inspectors shown the door, said Greg Sorbara. Please let Walkerton go, okay, you know it was just... But, no no, it was our finest moment is when the Tories did something really awful, so we're just going to cling to that until the day we pass on. And this is all true, but so where are you going to find efficiencies? You're the ones who promised no tax increase and you lied. And now you're after - you're right that the Tories are making a preposterous promise, but what about you? It is extraordinary. And we get this thing again and again, like the hideous building they keep building. I think we the voters have a responsibility to tell John Tory we're not going to vote for a plan that is not only nonsensical but also tiresomely familiar. This again. Tell us you're going to raise taxes and give us more of these lovely middle class entitlement programs, but that then you're going to take money right back from us because there's no free lunch. Or tell us no, you know what, we can't afford it. And so yeah we're going to hold the line on taxes but here's what we're not going to spend. You could do that too. Tell us the truth; we're grown-ups. Actually we may not be. You know maybe politically this is smart, but if so it's sorry reflection on us. I did get a note from somebody who had run for office and said I was too optimistic about voters and their desire for honesty and so on, but I'm... You know, we have to keep trying. This is nonsense. You cannot dramatically raise spending and dramatically cut taxes. You just can't. It's perfectly obvious that you can't do it. You cannot have square circles. I was telling the Reform Party this back in '94 that there aren't square circles and you've got to stop promising them. It's still true. And we've got to stop accepting that promise, because we know what happens when we believe it."

...

 

August 30, 2007 – Sigh.

Stornoway is looking more and more comfy, now that you mention it.

 

August 30, 2007 - This week's Post column, which is all about Bat Boy, Mermen, and how SES has the Ontario Liberals six points ahead of their nearest rival. (Well, that last bit is true.)

It's about this, naturally:

August 30, 2007 - We get mail; yessir, we get mail.

I am getting quite a lot of email, these days.  Email from punk-music-lovers who want the Ontario election to be over so I can start writing about punk rock again.  Email from political people who don't understand why I don't write about anything but politics, ever.

And email from conservatives who want me to stop being so mean to John Tory. Don't be so mean, you meanie!

Anyway, folks. Here's my song, played on a battered old Fender through an ancient Marshall, over three ham-fisted chords: "It's my web site, and I'll write what I want to, write what I want to." Second verse, same as the first.

(If you were about to spend more than a month in a war room somewhere - reeking, as they do, of discarded pizza boxes, spilled Starbucks, and inadequate ventilation - you'd be cranky about John Tory, too. Hell, you'd be cranky about everything.)

By happenstance, the Post's Arts editor, the genial Ben Errett, Esq.,  asked me to do a piece on reconciling this apparent divide in my otherwise unremarkable life - you know, being into punk and politics, simultaneously.   Sure, said I. It's timely, what with all the cranky frigging email I'm getting from TOTAL STRANGERS who act like they PAY me for what I write. WHEN THEY DON'T. 

Here's a snippet from the column. If all works according to plan, it'll piss off both camps. Like any punk, aging and otherwise, I regard shit -disturbing as a higher calling.

...

"...Punk is all about harnessing teenage anger, and channeling it into something creative and positive – composing a song, starting a fanzine or web site, writing a poem, organizing a rally, changing the world.  It is mostly (but not exclusively) Leftist in its orientation, it is angry and impatient, and – this is important – punk music is more political than other rock’n’roll derivative extant.  (Seen a Goth or a metalhead at an anti-war rally, recently?  Me neither.) 

Back in the Seventies and Eighties, it was – admittedly – rather odd to simultaneously belong to both the punk movement and a mainstream political party.  These days, it ain’t, at all. 

In fact, punks have started organizing politically with a vengeance.  Since 2003, hugely-successful ventures like Rock Against Bush and Punk Voter have propelled thousands of punk-loving youngsters into political activism.  Thus the likes of Green Day – and many, many other punk luminaries – stumping for John Kerry in the last U.S. Presidential race.  

Like me, these kids also credit punk with their political awakening; like me, they haven’t stopped attending punk shows. Like me, they also mostly don’t care whether anyone particularly approves.

Punk is a gloriously defiant, resistant and self-reliant.  It is youthful, loud, creative, independent and totally unique. 

Punks share more in common with political types than either solitude realizes.  Both want to change the world, albeit with wildly-different approaches to fashion and personal hygiene...."

...

Buy the Post on Friday to read it all! Or, don't. I couldn't give a toss, either way.

August 29, 2007 – Congrats to CITY-TV! I just learned their panel coverage of the 2006 municipal election – I know this because I was on the panel in question – is up for a Gemini. Kudos to the creative folks on Queen West.

 

August 29, 2007 - Two useful bits of writing on the PROMISE BREAKER©. One from a correspondent who wishes to be anonymous:

...

"Hey WK - hope i'm not bothering you. Just wanted to comment on your recent blog entry - because i think it's missing the point. The most important thing about those conservative ads - is that they don't say the word conservative. They don't reference the political party (the party of Hillier and Mad Dog Runciman) - they only talk about McGuinty.

John Tory can't run from his past and since he "bristles" at the Harris references, that might be the weak spot to keep poking at...."

...

And, two, this is in today's Star. We apparently weren't the only ones to notice that John Tory went "negative" after saying he wouldn't. Ipso facto, the PROMISE BREAKER©.

...

TORY GOES NEGATIVE RIGHT AWAY
August 29, 2007
IAN URQUHART

With the election campaign still not formally under way, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory is already going negative.

In a series of radio ads and a theatrical press conference this week, Tory directly attacked his Liberal counterpart, Premier Dalton McGuinty, by name. Tory accused McGuinty of:

• Engaging in "deception" by making and then breaking a promise not to raise taxes.
  
  
• Pursuing policies that "let criminals thumb their noses at the rest of us."
  
  
• Playing "political games" with the electricity file and, in the process, endangering "the way we live, the way we work, and the quality of air we breathe."
  
  
• Distributing taxpayers' money to "his friends" while short-changing autistic children, farmers and the health-care system.
  
  
• Engaging in an "obscene" pre-election spending spree, totalling $26 billion.

As the Liberals pointed out in their response to this onslaught, Tory's rhetoric is at odds with his own previous statements that he would not be going negative.

"I will not be engaging in personal attacks," said Tory early in his mandate as PC leader. "I'm going to try to raise the bar in terms of the behaviour in politics."

Indeed, previous Conservative advertising in the run-up to the Oct. 10 election has emphasized the positive and Tory's own ideas.

Why the change in approach now? There are essentially two answers to this question:

First of all, the Conservatives are still running second in the polls, and while negative advertising is routinely deplored by the commentariat, the dirty little secret of politics is that it usually works.

Secondly, Tory and his party don't have much option because their own platform is too mushy to sustain a six-week campaign.

When the platform rhetoric is scraped away, what emerges is that the Conservatives would do much the same as the Liberals on most fronts, only implement it better.

Even on the issue of government spending – usually a key point of differentiation for Conservative politicians – Tory has been loath to say he would scrap any Liberal-initiated program. Rather, Tory, leaning on his business background, has said he would save money by finding "efficiencies" without cutting services.

And while denouncing McGuinty's pre-election spending binge as obscene, Tory this week declined to say what parts of it he would reverse if he became premier. Instead, he promised only to "look through the entire list and make decisions at that time."

The one truly controversial item in Tory's platform – funding for religious schools – is causing headaches for the Conservatives within their base of supporters.

So, rather than emphasize their platform, the Conservatives have chosen to play on residual voter fears about crime, concerns about McGuinty's trustworthiness and cynicism about politicians.

As for the Liberals, they say they will be running on their record and their own platform (due to be released next week). But you can bet they will resort to negative ads in an attempt to tie Tory to Mike Harris, his predecessor, once removed.

"Working Families," a union coalition with apparent Liberal ties, is already doing this job for them in a series of TV ads that were launched last week. The ads suggest a Conservative government would "put public education back at risk" and "promote U.S.-style private health care."

None of this sort of messaging is particularly edifying for the voters, who have to make a choice in Ontario six weeks from today.

...

August 28, 2007 - Dancing on the head of an attack pin, as it were, a couple of Tories are seeking to exonerate PROMISE BREAKER© John Tory for launching yesterday what even the conservative media are calling "negative" advertising.

This is kind of hard to follow, but stay with me. They argue that (a) Tory hasn't launched a "personal" attack, so (b) it's okay to be "negative."

Make your head hurt? Mine too.

Let's get out the hand puppets, then, shall we? What about the stuff below: do those comments seem somewhat inconsistent with launching a barrage of bizarre radio slime spots?

Bottom line: he said he wouldn't do what he is now doing. Ipso facto, PROMISE BREAKER©.

• "Just because we know the next election will be in October does not give anyone a license to begin year-round negative campaigning, though, increasingly, the McGuinty government seems inclined to do just that."
  (John Tory Op-ed, Kingston Whig-Standard, Monday, January 8, 2007)
  
  
• "Thirdly, I have a very genuine concern, which I've expressed many times, about what I believe to be the increasing dysfunction of the Legislature itself. Some of it -- not all of it, but some of it -- stems from and is illustrated by the lack of civility and decorum that we often see in the Parliament itself."
  (Hansard, June 14, 2006)
  
  
• "Conservative leader John Tory has made it a main theme and his hallmark there is too much nasty language in politics and it should cease."
  (Sarnia Observer, December 5, 2005)
  
  
• "Nowhere in my life did I behave in the way people behave here. Nowhere in my life previously was it tolerated. Nowhere in my life had I learned how to behave that way, ever, anywhere, even when the doors were closed and there were no television cameras and you were not in the highest calling that people have in public life."
  (Hansard, June 1, 2005)
  
  
• "It starts with more civility in the House, more respect for process and place and ultimately for the people who put us here. My first week has not unduly discouraged me and will not deter me. We have to do better. The people of Ontario have the right to expect nothing less."
  (The Toronto Star, April 7, 2005)
  
  
• "Tory says if the Libs run a negative campaign, he won't stoop to that level."
  (Woodstock Sentinel-Review, Saturday, February 5, 2005, Re: DPWG by-election).
  
  
• "I will not be engaging in personal attacks, I will not be personalizing, I have no interest in doing that - I'm going to try to raise the bar, in terms of the behaviour in politics and the way people conduct themselves in politics."
  (The Toronto Star, February 2, 2005)

 

August 28, 2007 -PROMISE BREAKER©.

Who is the real "promise breaker," now?

This:

"I will not be engaging in personal attacks, I will not be personalizing, I have no interest in doing that - I'm going to try to raise the bar, in terms of the behaviour in politics and the way people conduct themselves in politics." (The Toronto Star, February 2, 2005)

And this:

Tories on the attack
By ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF

The John Tory Conservatives took to the radio airwaves yesterday with a series of negative ads tackling the record of the Dalton McGuinty government...

 

August 27, 2007 - My, my. Some folks sure are sensitive!

He's "bristling!" He's "testy!"

...

Tories vow to cut spending; bristle at comparisons to Mike Harris type cuts
(Conservatives-Spendin)
Source: The Canadian Press
Aug 27, 2007 15:14
By Chinta Puxley

TORONTO (CP) _ Gearing up for a "competitive" provincial election campaign only days away, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory bristled Monday when his vow to cut $1.5 billion in government spending was compared with the cuts brought in by former Conservative premier Mike Harris.

"When did I use the words 'service reductions?' Did I use those words this morning?" Tory said testily when asked about Harris's cuts at a news conference highlighting the party's plan to find $1.5 billion in "efficiencies" within government....

Although Liberals say the Conservative plan will mean deep cuts to health care and education, Tory continued to distance himself from Harris - refusing to even utter his name - saying he would work co-operatively with public service unions to save the province money.

...

 

August 26, 2007 - I offer this posting to those who - angry and otherwise - have asked me to explain my personal opposition to the Ontario Conservative scheme to fund private religious schools.  I do so by way of analogy.
My Dad, you see, was the guy who persuaded me to object to euthanasia, a subject about which he was considered an expert.
 
"Who will we get to carry out these state-sanctioned acts of euthanasia?" he would ask me.  "Once it becomes legally permissible, will we then train people in medical school how to kill people?  All of my students, I can tell you, went to medical school to save lives, not terminate them."

So, too, my objection to John Tory's plan to fund private religious schools: who decides? How?  As I said to a member of his staff at their AGM, who is a friend, a couple months ago:  "The Natural Law Party members consider themselves to be a bona fide religion.  So do the Moonies.  So does Scientology, and the Church of Satan, and countless others.  And God bless them, and forgive the pun, for their religious conviction.

"My question," I said to my Tory friend, "is what will you name the new government ministry that will determine what is a bona fide religion deserving of funding, and what is not?  And, then, how many lawyers will the Attorney-General need to hire to fight the decades of constitutional challenges you will immediately face?  Hmmm?"

There was no answer forthcoming, of course, because it's not a question the Tory Tories wish to be asked out loud, or at least with voters nearby.  It's unhelpful to them achieving their real objective, which is - essentially - a cynical ploy to peel off some "ethnic" votes to which they feel entitled.  They don't give a sweet damn about "fairness" - after all, it was John Tory and Bill Davis who devised the current system, some twenty years ago.

Anyway.  My Post colleague Robert Fulford, as always, expresses it so much better than I ever could. As he puts it:

...

"...Have [the Conservatives] any idea of the theological and bureaucratic nightmares they are inviting? We'll need armies of officials to negotiate with those who say they want support -- Hindus, Copts, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Protestants. Which of the many Protestant sects will be supported? Which Muslims? Which Jews? Those religions will inevitably become deeply involved in provincial politics --and politicians will find themselves in religious disputes.

...The principles of secular government, secular schools and a secular judiciary are threatened in the same way, usually by good-hearted people anxious to extend equality to every corner of society. Freshly challenged by the possible expansion of school funding, secular government must be freshly defended. Experience has taught us that the separation of church and state remains essential to modern civilization."

...

Robert, and my Dad, do far better what I seek to do in this posting - namely, which is simply ask: who decides, John? When? How? Most of all, why?

When the Yogic Flyers come (figuratively) levitating towards his door, I look forward - with profound interest - in how John Tory plans to explain his "policy."  It's almost worth electing him Premier, just to see that farcical comedy play itself out.

Almost.

August 25, 2007 - I have received a note from the thoughtful James Bow on the highway 401 petition:

...

Warren,

Regarding the intriguing idea of renaming Highway 401 in memory of Canada's brave soldiers, I can understand where the sentiment is coming from. However, I feel it should be noted that the highway already has a name -- one steeped in history, and one which we should perhaps be making more use of than we are.

Highway 401 is, of course, also known as the McDonald-Cartier Freeway, after Canada's first prime minister and the first premier of Quebec -- two fathers of Confederation, one English and one French, who helped give us the nation for our brave soldiers to die defending in the first place.

Honouring our troops is a very good idea, but we should be careful not to trample over our own history in doing so.

Yours sincerely,
James Bow"

...

My understanding is that the petitioners seek only to change the name of the Trenton-to-Toronto section. Is that not the case? Anyone know?

I have heard from a few folks like James, and I wonder if this addresses their concerns.

 

August 24, 2007 - The Citizen's Danny Gardner takes a swipe at Dalton McGuinty in his column today. It's kind of tough to figure out what Danny means, most days. But his point, I think, is that it's hypocritical to be, simultaneously, a Catholic and a Premier who favours fairness. Something like that.

Is it also hypocritical for Danny to decline to disclose that he was an advisor to Mike Harris and one of his far-right education ministers, when the tax-dollars-for-private-religious-schools policy first originated? Is that the work of a hypocrite?

Well, I think we all know the answer to that one.

 

August 23, 2007 - I wrote a column for the Post about the Highway 401 tributes a few weeks ago, having been amazed by the thousands of people who have been showing up to salute our fallen heroes. It is truly remarkable.

Now Dalton McGuinty has a wonderful suggestion, detailed below. Reason 402 why I support the guy.

...

McGuinty considers renaming Hwy. 401 for soldiers

CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Thu. Aug. 23 2007 10:57 AM ET

A section of Canada's busiest highway might be renamed the Highway of Heroes to honour the path fallen soldiers take from Canadian Forces Base Trenton to the coroner's office in Toronto. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said he will consider an online petition asking the Ministry of Transportation to change Highway 401's name.

He said provinces should look for ways to show their support for Canadian troops and thank them for their sacrifices.

Police officers, firefighters and residents living around the highway have made it a tradition to stand on highway overpasses waving flags and saluting motorcades carrying the bodies of soldiers to the coroner's office in Toronto.

There was no exception on Wednesday as overpasses became filled with crowds wishing to pay their respects to Pte. Simon Longtin, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Sunday.

McGuinty was previously involved in renaming an Ottawa highway the Veterans Memorial Highway.

...

 

August 23, 2007 - This week's Post column.

 

August 22, 2007 - This is what the Conservative leader said in a speech in Ottawa last night. It seems to walk perilously close to suggesting his Liberal opponent favours one religion over another. Which, among other things, is a dangerous way to fight an election.

This Conservative plan to fund private religious schools isn't just bad for Ontario. It's going to end up being bad for the Ontario Conservatives, too.

...

"...Dalton McGuinty, he doesn't agree, even though he was educated in the Catholic system, or that his family fought hard for it...He doesn't think that children of other faiths should have the same opportunity he had."

...

 

August 21, 2007 - This CBC radio news summary is interesting, too. Item three in particular.

...

RADIO NEWS SUMMARY (7:30 A.M. EDITION)
August 21, 2007
CBC Radio (Toronto)

1. OPP have altered their search techniques in an effort to find a missing 20-year-old Toronto woman at Rainbow Falls Provincial Park...
   
   
2. Ontario opposition parties are accusing Premier Dalton McGuinty of bribing Ontarians with their own money. Just yesterday, the Premier promised to take more than $900 million worth of spending off the shoulders of municipalities. Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said these are not new promises and that recent announcements are actual government decisions....
   
   
3. The first results are in from the virtual election campaign and the Liberals seem to be in the lead. The Infoscape Research Lab at Ryerson University says 4 of the 5 most watched videos on YouTube attack John Tory and the Conservatives.

...

 

August 20, 2007 - Interesting. From a Conservative blogger, Nicol DuMoulin:

...

 

FIVE HILLS JOHN TORY HAS TO CLIMB (AKA THE UNDISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN)

5. Too many left-wing parties (Greens, NDP) that will bleed to the Liberals at the last minute

4. Too many centrist voters still fear what they perceive to be 'Mike Harris' elements in the Ontario PC party. It is not true, but it matters.

3. Toronto's demographic has changed in the past 10 years to drift further left. Even centrist candidates are too far right for Toronto at this time in its history. I focus on Toronto because Toronto counts for a lot.

2. John Tory, while a nice man, has not done nearly enough to distinguish himself as an even center-right politician. Other than his religious school funding proposition, what of significance has he done to appeal to his base? On most other occasions he has done everything he can to show he actually disagrees vehemently with his base. Problem is, it leaves grassroots PC's unmotivated to vote for him and left-wing Ontarians will not vote for him anyway. Not a way to win an election.

1. Campaign is based on public anger against Dalton McGuinty and his promise breaking, not based on wanting to vote for Tory. And getting an Ontarian angry against a Liberal is pretty much harder to do than getting an NDP'r angry against Hamas.

I have said before, John Tory is a good man. I have met him and I like him. I think he would have made a great centrist mayor for Toronto. But sadly, he does not seem to have the fire in the belly. He is essentially a wealthy businessman who wants something else to do in the autumn of his life. He does a lot of good on his own and much charity work. But he is not really a political animal. That is something different. He is trying to win based on just being a nice guy without really distinguishing himself.

The fact that I, and everyone knows what I think about Dalton McGuinty, can't even get motivated to really want Tory to win says something.

Personally I think McGuinty will get back with possibly even another majority. Being a shite politician doesn't matter to many Ontarians. It's the label that counts. They'd rather gargle the acidic mouthwash of the Liberal Brand then try a new minty fresh brand labelled Progressive Conservative.

It's sad, but I wouldn't even rule out Tory losing against Wynne. I know many will say it is unlikely but...

...ultimately, I just think John Tory is an ideological liberal who is a PC because that is where most of his business contacts reside. That doesn't make him a bad man...just an undistinguished gentleman."

 

...

 

August 18, 2007 - Our five-year-old doesn't like talk about dying and the dying's final destinations - Heaven, Hell or anything in between. At all.

Up at the cabin, the subject of suicide came up. Not sure how, but one of the kids raised it. Trying to suggest (a) suicide was not a viable option and (b) subtly change the subject, I said that we Catholics regard it as a sin.

Our nine-year-old, Harvard Law Class of 2020, immediately wanted to know what we were the penalties for said "sin."

Me: "Um, you don't go to Heaven."

Him, not missing any beats, and relishing the opportunity to say a bad word with relative impunity: "Does that mean you go to Hell?"

Five-year-old's lip starts to quaver.

Me: "Er, no. You go to a place in between, I think. It's called limbo."

(Now I know, I know, that the Vatican has banned Limbo or something like that. I know. But I'm a Dad, trying to detour out of a tricky spot, okay?)

Nine-year-old: "Limbo? It's called Limbo?"

Five-year-old starts to wail uncontrollably: "I don't want to go to Limbo! I don't want to go to Limbo!"

At this point, our hipster seven-year-old - who has been uncharacteristically silent - interjects. He pats his sobbing brother on the arm.

Says he, addressing his little brother: "Don't cry! Don't cry! Limbo is just a DANCE, okay?"

And then he proceeded to do one, under the kitchen table.

Welcome to suppertime at the Kinsellas. Pass the butter, please.

 

August 17, 2007 - So John Tory wants free booze served at Ontario casinos, does he?

(No, we are not making this up, Virginia.)

Perhaps that explains what happened to the Conservative platform costing (now more than two months late): the Tory policy gurus went on a bender and lost 'em on a park bench somewhere in Rosedale!

August 16, 2007 - This week's Post column. Squeak squeak.

 

August 16, 2007 – Just found the name of Elliott Anderson – a senior advisor and spokesman in Howard Hampton’s office – attached to a very nasty anti-Israel petition. It accuses the Jewish state of “systematic violations” of human rights, “military coercion and violence,” “daily humiliation of an entire population,” and – this is a quote – “killings.”

For a moment there, I wondered whether someone should issue a press release accusing Elliott of anti-Jewish blood libel, and demand his immediate removal from the Ontario NDP campaign, and stuff like that. But then it occurred to me that he is exactly, precisely where he belongs.

August 15, 2007 - A political friend just sent this to me. It makes me sad and proud at the same time.

 

August 15, 2007 – Weird.  My piece on Only Crime is in every National Post edition except Toronto.  As a loyal Toronto Post subscriber (and, um, writer), I protest!

...

Punk rock's move into kids and mortgages; The Supergroup Only Crime Raises Eyebrows With Its Latest Experiments

Warren Kinsella
National Post

To call a band a "punk supergroup" is more than oxymoronic --it is downright puzzling. Punks, after all, are supposed to be unenthusiastic about the trappings of rock 'n' roll stardom, and most particularly the notion that one group of punks is "super" in relation to another group of punks.

But a punk supergroup is what Only Crime is, and band drummer Bill Stevenson is clearly unconcerned. "One of the things that turned me off punk rock, for a long time, was that it had been very conservative," says Stevenson, who formerly supplied beats for California punk legends such as the Descendents and Black Flag. "And that's pretty sad."
Only Crime, by contrast, are not. Appearing in Toronto last week for a show at the Mod Club, before heading to Quebec for a series of shows there in places as far-flung as Trois-Rivieres, the band appear unconcerned that their Toronto gig was far from full.

Gathered near the group's seen-better-days white van, they all seem cheerful and are enjoying that they are still playing punk rock well into their forties while balancing kids, mortgages and other jobs. Along with Stevenson, there's lead singer Russ Rankin (occasional frontman to Good Riddance), guitarists Aaron Dalbec and Zach Blair (Converge and Gwar, respectively) and bassist Doni Blair (with Hagfish).

"At a certain point, you have to either satisfy what [others] might want, or you have to satisfy yourself," says Stevenson, whose shy, deferential manner disappears when he steps behind his drum kit. "You can almost never do both. So, to me, the gig I played in a kid's garage in Laramie, Wyo., in front of 80 people was huge. It was one of the best. It was intense, you know?"

Stevenson, who is the father of two small children and makes a tidy living as a producer in Colorado, says that he has sought to pass along to his kids what he things punk represents. "There are things about punk rock that I'll teach my kids," he says. "First and foremost, that it is about community. When I was younger, before Black Flag and the Descendents, I had no friends and certainly no girlfriends. Punk gave me a sense of community and made me part of that community."

In performance, Stevenson and his cohorts are impressively tight. On record -- 2004's To the Nines and this year's driving Virulence -- the band offers songs that are intensely complex by punk standards. Stevenson says it's deliberate.

"Ornette Coleman, Cole Porter, all of that," he says. "[Only Crime] have been trying to incorporate elements of free form and improvisation into the song structures."

Isn't that, well, weird for punk rockers?

"No, it's not," Stevenson says. "It's natural for bands and musicians to explore things as they move along. It's natural to try new things."

You can catch Only Crime trying out new things here and there this summer and on their label, Fat Wreck Chords. Supergroup or not, they're worth checking out.

...

August 15, 2007 - I see Borg Newsbought is smearing Jean Chrétien by association again. I wonder who paid for those headlines, eh?


August 14, 2007 – People ask me why I supported him.  Read this Star story, and wonder no more.

I love politicians who are characters.  This guy was a character.  The city needs him back.

August 14, 2007 - Just back in the much-warmer TeeOh. Had a nice chat with a genial CBC reporter, and then saw the story below. Wow.

Even in Calgary people were telling me the Ontario Conservative private schools scheme is a huge mistake. As you can well imagine, I did not disagree with them.

...

Teachers Vote Liberal

TORONTO - Conservative Leader John Tory has some serious work to do if he's going to win the votes of Ontario teachers come the Oct. 10 provincial election.

The president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario says it was a conscious decision not to invite Tory to its annual general meeting this week because he wouldn't likely be "warmly received."

Emily Noble says she's encouraging her 70,000 members to vote for people who support public education, and suggests Tory isn't "on the right track."

Noble praised Education Minister Kathleen Wynne, who received a standing ovation after her speech to the union today, and says it's important she be re-elected in her Toronto riding.

Tory is vying for the same riding.

...

 

August 13, 2007 - Some of you have been worried about my whereabouts. I can tell you I have been here in Cowtown being appointed to a Canadian Bar Association thing, doing Lake Bonavista nostalgia tours, and drinking too much Trad. And, um, that is all I am prepared to say.

Oh yes - and I have been hanging out with the remnants of the Hot Nasties. Here is what they look like, 30 years after the fact.

Very sad.

August 11, 2007 - I am over Saskatchewan as I write this. My God, you can see forever. What a beautiful country.

 

August 11, 2007 - I grow old, I grow old...I shall fly back home to Calgary on Westjet on my birthday.

Contextless links and observations:

• There is no longer a St. Louis for me to go straight to from the airport. It is gone. This means the Calgary I grew up in is gone forever. (I exclude Peter's Drive-In from this maudlin generalization.)
  
  
• Our pal Omar is in the Big Apple. He'll be running the planet one day soon, you'll see.
  
  
• A TV network had me, Sheila Copps, Shinan Govani, Donovan Bailey and Rex Harrington in a studio this week for a secret taping of a show-to-be. I suspect I did poorly, because Shinan and Rex had me laughing more or less continuously. Those two should be hosting their own show.
  
  
• Spent a good part of Thursday with punk "supergroup" Only Crime. Before the show, I had dinner with Bill Stevenson, latterly of Black Flag and the Descendents. Fascinating guy. Powerful band.
  
  
• Reading Tom Flanagan's new book for the Literary Review. It's an impressive piece of work, and not just for hacks, either. Makes me want to go back to the drawing board for my newest attempt at a book, The War Room. One thing I have Tom may not: kind words from Jean Chrétien AND Stephen Harper.
  
  
• I have another raccoon my garage. It is almost as bad as having Paul Martin in the Langevin Block. Almost.
  
  
• See y'all in Calgary!

 

August 9, 2007 - Quickie bits and pieces:

• This week's Post column.
  
  
• Nice idea.
  
  
• Golly, he sure didn't feel this way when he was flipping more than a million bucks to his daughter's law firm.
  
  
• Whatever. Cherniak was nyah-nyahing me yesterday that he has 1,000 Facebook friends and I only have 700. My pithy response: I make way more money, Jason. And I live in a nicer neighbourhood.

August 8, 2007 – Another informative new video – on this, the second-month anniversary of the release of the Ontario Tory platform!

So, um, where IS that promised costing, John?

 

August 7, 2007 – I am very sad to learn, belatedly, of Dennis Bueckert’s death.  I helped him out little bit with his Kim Campbell book, fourteen years ago, and on a few other stories after that.  Along the way, I found him to be a true professional, and someone who you could trust.  My sincere condolences to the Bueckert family.  A great loss to Canadian journalism.


August 7, 2007 – Let’s see.  Economy’s going gangbusters, people feel good, no crises on the horizon.  So what do you do?  Why, you re-start a fight no one ever wins, of course!


August 3, 2007 - Oh, look! Another neat new video, just in time for the long weekend - and featuring the most famous Ontario Conservative of them all!

 

August 2, 2007 – Today’s Post column, and another cool video!

 

August 1, 2007 - Here's the news with Ben Chin!

 

August 1, 2007 - A new month, bringing with it...well, I'm not at all sure. A long weekend coming up, and, um, that's it, I guess.

A snippet from this week's column, then, inspired (shock! horror!) by the CRTC, which I rather dislike:

...

"The CRTC/CyberTRENDS report paints a picture of a future life that closely resembles the life we all now live: that is, one in which technological change offers us myriad ways in which to access millions of words, images and sounds – but not necessarily one in which the words, images and sounds we access are so radically different, say, from what our grandparents read, watched and heard.

The New Media revolution, as they say, will continue to be televised. And therein lays the rub."

...