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January 23, 2004

Paul Martin appears to be sincere in his concern over the RCMP raid on the home of an Ottawa journalist.  "We are not a police state and we have no intention of being a police state," Martin said yesterday in Davos, Switzerland.  Martin must be commended if he is seriously considering reexamining Canada's anti-terrorism legislation, which would allow the Ottawa Citizen's new poster child for press freedom, Juliet O'Neill, to be sentenced for up to 14 years if found guilty.

Two things Mr. Martin must act upon:

1) Establish formal protection for whistleblowers, whether in the public service or the private sector, to reverse the chill that has now permeated not only the journalistic community, but those from within who are willing to speak out

2) Demonstrate a respect for the freedom of information by opening up a public inquiry into the case of Maher Arar

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The fact that the gas tax will not be implemented this year should not be a surprise to any municipal mayor or councilor.  It is reasonable that such a massive change in the manner cities are able to raise revenues requires great negotiation with municipalities and all provinces, a daunting task to say the least.

Nonetheless, John Godfrey is playing with fire when he states that "We agree that municipalities need stable, predictable, long-term funding," and then in the same breath abdicates any commitment to the gax tax by claiming that it's  "possible that there may be better or more effective ways to achieve the same result."

The words "more effective ways" sound like a veiled reference to schemes which are not as expensive for the federal government.

"...no matter how long it takes, we are going to provide Canadian municipalities with a portion of the federal gas tax."

- Paul Martin, Union of BC Municipalities conference, September 25, 2003

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It is absolutely unbelievable how much attention Howard Dean is getting after the Iowa caucuses.

Well, if this presidential nomination thing doesn't work out for him, a vocal coach could be Dean's ticket to the top of the charts, especially with such a natural and commanding stage presence.  Yeeeearrgh!!!

Comments? jonathan@tdhstrategies.com