From Cork to Toronto

An interesting comment made on Andrew Coyne's blog in reference to the proposal for a Team Quebec in the World Ice Hockey Championships - "Godot10" wrote Somebody should tell Guy Bertrand that (like Team Slovakia did when it became a country), Team Quebec would have to start out in Group C in the World Championships, to get to Group B, to get to Group A. i.e. There isn't enough seasons for Quebec to get through from Group C to Group A to make the 2008 World Championships. I don't think the rest of the world is going to give up a spot just so Quebec can satisfy its hockey ego. The comparison to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in soccer which others have made is not quite appropriate, since Britain does not field an aggregate team which one or more of its constituents opposed, and in any case those teams actually predated rather than postdated the European and World competitions. With the exception of curling provincial teams are not very usual in pop...

What I found interesting about Michael Chong's resignation was not that he did so - it was clear he had been marginalised in this matter in a way Stephane Dion would never have been in a matter so clearly in his jurisdiction - but why he did it just before the vote, had his press conference and then didn't even record a nay vote as Garth Turner and the fifteen others did but absented himself as several other Tories did. If Michael Chong had a principled objection to this vote his resignation should have come immediately after Harper's announcement of the government's motion on nationhood for Quebec - what made him pause a while? Perhaps he was urged to wait and see what happened on the Liberal benches and if they were in disarray some alternative strategy was planned. Michael Chong may have shown principle in refusing to go along with Cabinet collective responsibility but he has shown more proof that we currently have a one man with one vote Cabinet and also that he ...

Hansard, November 27 Hon. Jim Karygiannis (Scarborough—Agincourt, Lib.): next intervention Mr. Speaker, I realize how difficult this must be for the minister. Just today we had two soldiers killed in Afghanistan and tomorrow or the next day their remains will be brought home, draped in a Canadian flag and a nation will be very thankful of the work that they were doing in that part of the world, not a nation of nations, but a nation. I am sure that the minister will join me in recognizing that we are paying respect to them as a nation for the work that they are doing in fighting for human rights, justice and peace around the world. I am wondering what we tell the parents of the two soldiers who are coming back. Do we say that this is a nation which is grateful to your sons and daughters or is this a nation of nations which is respectful to your sons and daughters? I am wondering if the minister will share with us the exact expression that he is going to use when he meets those t...

It was previously thought that Mr Blunkett, through his time as Home Secretary of the United Kingdom , to be a privacy invader without compare, particularly through his championing of flawed ID cards. The Big Brother Awards even named the "Lifetime Menace Award" after him. It seems now that he's a private citizen without access to the juicy fruits of State investigation, he reveals himself to be a defender of the right to private conversation . Nice to know he still has the ability to lead a double life .

It's going to be hard for the Tories to make much hay out of the allegations of attempts to keep corruption investigations in Toronto Police out of public view while Julian Fantino was chief - most Tories probably wish that Fantino, who was more or less to TPS what Lastman was to City Hall, was one of them. The investigators claim co-operation was lacking and that the stress led to many of them becoming ill . One wonders if this didn't make for a better story now that Fantino, now on his second posting under the Liberal government, is back in the policing business and getting the "law and order" types, particularly in Caledonia, all excited. Anyone know if this was previously doing the rounds?

It's difficult to credit the actions of the UCPD cops who resorted to Tasering a student (youtube.com) who, against regulations, was in the college library without student ID and was reluctant to leave. The student should not have refused to leave but I doubt the announced review will allow what appears to be current UCPD practice to go unreproved. It is even more difficult to credit Kathy Shaidle who considers herself a Catholic rebroadcasting this intolerant cackle of glee : Let's see more of this… Police taser UCLA student for behaving like a jackass. My God, this cannot happen often enough. Do you have any idea how happy it makes me to watch a black cop taser a college student who is being a huge, whiny baby and screaming "This is an abuse of power!" (No, it's the violence inherent in the system.) And just when you think this story can't get better, there's a hilarious video. Screams of anguish never sounded so beautiful. What makes this even b...

Next time you meet an environmentalist potsmoker ask them where the energy came from for their pot. It's becoming clear that eliminating grow-ops such as this one and the 1,000 watt incandescent lights used for growth would save more energy in Toronto than all those CFL bulbs (and dodgy LED christmas lights) Toronto Hydro are giving out. Apparently apartment blocks are popular with growers because power is part of the rent rather than being individually charged and thus disproportionately high bills being easy to spot. I don't actually have a problem with pot being legalised but growing pot in an old apartment block while rewriting in dodgy manner likely to cause fire, not to mention taxes having to be paid to relocate innocent co-residents - well, that's just uncool man...

I see Silvio Berlusconi fainted during a speech yesterday - maybe it's the stress from his impending trial . The Economist waged a campaign against Berlusconi even before he became prime minister and started rewriting laws to shield himself leading to an open letter in 2003 requesting him to respond to detailed allegations. Perhaps he is just taking a cue from the Sopranos?

I usually use ZoneAlarm, AVG and Spybot for PC defence. Obviously it would be nicer if I didn't have to use any of them but that's life. I've decided to give OneCare a try to see what it's like, because I'm interested in what it offers - a single management console not only for defence but for tuning up the PC. However, once the 90 day trial is up I will probably kick it to the curb because: The Windows Security Centre was supposed to be the single management point for AV, firewall etc. but was inadequate. A central console and scheduler for defrag, temp file clearance and backup shouldn't require a pay service. It doesn't have a registry maintenance service which is and will always be Windows achilles heel. I don't pay for beta - which is what Defender is still labelled. I can see the virtue in paying for AV and spyware definitions as they are ongoing but the 2-way firewall and the tune-up console should be part of Windows - let's see what keeps ...

Seen at Dunner's blog . Not content with self-portrayal as barbarians on camera at Abu Ghraib , these soldiers have added video, making Iraqi kids run in an attempt to get a proffered water bottle. One poor kid ran for ages and then when the idiot grunt tossed the bottle some kids standing nearby got it anyway. Let freedom ring, huh?

I have to say I had the same reaction as Raiméis when I saw the release of 18 - enough re-releasing of past glories and throwing in the odd new track - we've already got them , sometimes twice over . But they have to have something to shovel money into their Dutch tax haven (and avoid the taxes they want governments to send to poor countries ).

On Metroblogging Toronto a recent post contrasts the award of the TTC's new bimetallic tokens to a US firm with the award of the subway contract to Bombardier. It's worth noting the latter contract will also benefit the US as much of the components for the new cars are made there using existing plant - only 51% of the contract is guaranteed to Thunder Bay. But it struck me reading it that the reason these new, more secure tokens are possible is due to casinos rather than transit operators - the TTC is merely reaping the benefits of gambling investment. Perhaps it's time to examine whether a critical mass exists between the various transit systems and casino operators both First Nations and Provincial to invest in a token mint in Canada. At the same time, the TTC should not use these tokens as an excuse to defer the introduction of a GTA transit card as full integration of TTC, GO Transit and the other regional transit authorities is crucial to avoiding even worse grid...

The Telegraph reports that UK Chancellor Gordon Brown plans "green taxes" among which an tax hike on the existing 5 pound sterling tax on shorthaul flights and 40 pounds on longhaul. If Brown had real concern for the environment he would commit to putting all aviation tax above the cost of maintaining aviation infrastructure and security into improving high speed rail links within the UK and to Belgium and France via the Channel Tunnel. Instead the tax will surely pour into the gaping maw of the Treasury. This doesn't make it green - just greedy. Taxes on long haul flights tax on the other hand lacks any alternative route to steer people to short of putting people on rowing boats - paying for facilities to tow and start up aircraft near runways rather than having engines idling on the tarmac should be where such taxes find a home, as well as punishing older aircraft harder than newer more economical ones. There is a case to increase some taxes on flying here in Canada...

Not content with having their harvest festival at a stupid time of year, the Americans have... oh let's just let Barbara Mair tell her story from today's Star letters page : In August 2006, my nephew left his wife and 5-year-old daughter for a 6-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. He, like so many other Canadian military personnel, did this for love of his country and to fight for freedom that too many of us take for granted. On Oct. 9, 2006, our family sat down to the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We talked about Afghanistan and wondered if those stationed there would be able to enjoy a similar meal. Later we found out that because the food service at the Kandahar base is run by the American military, they did not observe our Canadian holiday. Being the passive Canadian family, we thought Thanksgiving would be observed on the American holiday, Nov. 23 and didn't voice our disappointment at the time. Can you imagine the shock and disappointment that our troops felt yester...

As someone who flies BA as frequently as I can, at least until Willie Walsh's penny pinching ruins it, I have been following the Nadia Eweida story on and off. Ms Eweida is a BA check in agent at London Heathrow with seven years service. She was wearing a visible cross in breach of BA's uniform policy for employees dealing directly with the public. The existing protocol is that all jewellery or religious symbols which can practicably be worn concealed, should be concealed. An offer of a back office job was made (and rejected) which would have allowed Ms Eweida to wear the cross externally. Exceptions are made for employees for whom the wearing of items is a mandatory requirement of their faith, e.g. Sikh turbans or bangles and subject to health and safety requirements in respect of machinery such as luggage belts. While BA is being hammered for this, other British based airlines such as Virgin and BMI have a similar policy . Ms Eweida did not demonstrate that wearing a c...

There has been a slow but steady stream of stories regarding friction between sectarian and non-sectarian groups in Montreal lately, such as covering the windows of a pool so Muslim girls could take a swim test and replacing the windows of a gym with frosted glass at the request of (and paid for by) a neighbouring Orthodox Jewish school. I have no real problem with either, especially the latter since the accommodation did not cost the gym a dime but it has offended some of the members. This one in my opinion is a whole different ballgame. The Star reports female Montreal police officers encountering a Hasidic Jewish person who declines to interact with them to call a male colleague to take over the interview . Apparently it happens in Toronto too: Toronto police only accommodate requests for specific officers from Hasidic males, and anyone else who asks, when someone comes into a station in a non-emergency situation. If your culture doesn't allow you to interact with women as e...

Paul Wells reacts to the Commons motion recognising Quebec's nationhood within Canada: It is telling that only one nation was discussed in the House of Commons today, and it was the nation most Canadians don't live in. Apparently most of us don't deserve a nation. Certainly we don't seem to deserve a prime minister who names our nation for us. And if you don't like today's events in the Commons, you pretty much have to lump it, don't you: Vote Tory, NDP or Liberal, it's all pretty much of a muchness, because none of them can name a nation worth defending except Quebec.

This is a serious question - why should Justin Trudeau 's opinion on the Liberal leadership be important to me, or at least any more than any citizen in the street? Given recent media coverage this guy seems to be very important despite never being elected to a single public office or even have a leadership role in the Liberal party, and whose push for Canada's participation in a putative Darfur mission seems to have distinctly fallen off the radar. His "royal" wedding did give the gossip sections good copy though . It does all seem very Stephen LeDrew -ish (Mr. 1.38%) though, an importance limited to the Hill and various editorial boards. Inquiring mind wants to know. Update: Robert Fulford from November 18th's National Post Justin Trudeau has an oddly perverse way of looking at Pierre Trudeau's life story. "When my father was my age he was still backpacking around the world and beginning to write ..." Well, no, actually. Justin is now 34. Pierr...

These and other worthy petitions are to be found on the 10 Downing Street website .

It seems the Greatest Canadian didn't teach the CBC anything about quality television . It seems four former prime ministers can't resist one last go using the CBC as a plaything . If Rick Mercer hadn't been tapped to host I'm pretty sure he'd be having a right go at it on his Report . I'm especially disappointed in Mercer that he would ever host a show previously fronted by CTV's beardless garden gnome, Seamus O'Regan. As Mercer's role in shilling for the Liberal climate change programme "One Tonne Challenge" shows, he might live and work in Toronto but he seems happiest in Ottawa. What I would like to know is - in what circumstance would such a panel ever have picked Chretien - or Campbell for that matter.

Like many other things, the media loves to prognosticate about political term limits but would never seriously discuss the concept about itself. A few weeks back Bob Cole was joined in the Hockey Night in Canada Leaf game commentary box not by Harry Neale but by Cassie Campbell , who stood in when Neale was snowed in . As this was the first time a woman had acted as colour commentator on Hockey Night, much talk followed, not least that Campbell wasn't ready to fill in in the role, that she hadn't served her time , that presumably someone like the recently departed to the CFL anchor role Elliotte Friedman would have been a better choice if available. Now, having watched that game I thought she made a fair go of it. That the CBC decided to go with her when someone with more on-air experience was surely to be found a few streets away at CBC headquarters is the CBC's fault not Campbell's. However my reaction at the time was more - what the hell is the CBC, the state ...

Being left with the National Post as the only national paper that hasn't sold out or already been read earlier in the day when a 2 hour bus journey awaits is like getting the last chocolate in the box. Most of the time a sickly sweet strawberry stares up at you but once in a while a gorgeous caramel or hazelnut is to be found .

Not usually one for this stuff - I think I've only done it once before and then, ahem, uninvited. However not only was I tagged by Dunner but the meme actually contained stuff I'd be vaguely interested in sharing about myself - not doing an onward tag though. So... update - I have been reminded by Mrs D that the point of the meme was that some of the answers were supposed to be untrue. I'm too lazy to make stuff up now that I've done it :) a) Four jobs I have had in my life Golf course grounds assistant (summer job) Despatcher of chemical waste for a glue factory. (co-op) Cleaner of Irish bar/disco (pre smoking ban - yuck) Computer systems administrator (current) b) Four movies I would watch over and over again. The Right Stuff Patton Dirty Harry Heat c) Four places I have lived Glasgow Limerick Dublin Toronto d) Four shows I love to watch Rescue Me Weeds Battlestar Galactica House * includes only shows currently running so that unlike the film one below I wouldn...

I fear that Toronto FC may go the way of the Marlies and before them the Roadrunners. Just like the AHL teams, Toronto cares only about (fully grown not baby) Leafs in hockey terms, and a team doesn't have a European name, they aren't interested in soccer either. I mean, they hired SuperMo/Judas as coach which spiked interest for 10 seconds but still, we're not in the New York Cosmos days of Pele and Beckenbauer right? Hang on - maybe this guy will attract some interest . His best years are behind him and he would attract an enormous salary. Sounds just right for a Toronto team, especially one owned by MLSE.

Don gave his usual "up the troops" spiff with photos from the troops. Fair enough, that's his usual. But he also devoted a large portion of his slot to every Canadian killed in Afghanistan since 2002, in chronological order , including Foreign Affairs civilian Glyn Berry. The difference between Cherry and the reflex support-Canada-at-war-coz-liberals-hate-the-army types is that I truly believe that these deaths deeply affect him. I don't think the fatalities affect a lot of politicians on all sides as much as they should. I understand Adrienne Clarkson is held in very high regard by former service members for her regard for the soldiers of which she was Commander in Chief. So, in answer to Robert McClelland's question , I'll pick hero for Cherry. If he asked the same question about Peter McKay and Gordon O'Connor I'd probably pick use less fool. The other thing I noticed about the game tonight was that because they sandwiched in the Hall of Fame...

Apparently I'm 9% less Canadian than Sandra . Maybe it was the question about buying a dress? You are 80% Canuck! Now that's what I'm talking about! You did good, you really, really did. I can call you my friend and not have to feel ashamed, and I thank you for that, really I do. Thank you, that is just really great! How Canadian Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

(This is a follow-on to Porter 245 ) I had left my return a little later than anticipated but thought leaving at 7pm for a flight 90 minutes later from an airport 14km away wouldn't be much of a problem. I decided to give Ottawa transit another go. First problem was making exact change for the 97 again. Second problem was having obtained said change (and a coffee from a nearby Starbucks) I saw the bus disappear into the distance. Oh well, I thought, there's always another one on such a major route right? However, frequency being about every 15mins, journey time nearly 30mins and allowing for one service not happening left things too close for comfort and so I hailed a taxi as one nervous breakdown per day was enough. The fare was, well, substantially higher than $3. Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier is a modern well appointed building in my opinion. Gate 18 is fairly isolated and quiet but it's just another gate. Unlike City Centre there are no lounge facilities and wifi is...

Just back from Ottawa on a day trip for work, flying from Toronto Island Airport with Porter Airlines . Those who have read my previous posts about the airport, the airline and the Mayor will know that I am generally supportive of the airport but this was the first time I had a chance to fly from there without it costing more and at less convenient times than equivalent flights from Pearson as it was in the bad old days of Air Canada Jazz. I picked the cheapest flights available that gave me enough time to complete my business - the 0700 leaving Toronto and the 2030 leaving Ottawa. This cost $333 ($109 out, $142 back and the rest in charges and taxes), the same as Air Canada (although taking flights reflecting the longer travel time from East York to Pearson) and more expensive than WestJet ($298) but without the taxi ride I would have undoubtedly taken to get to Pearson for an early flight. I have taken TTC to Pearson but for an evening flight with plenty of time to spare. I had c...

David Miller called for the Federal Tories to review the operation of the Island Airport. Lawrence Cannon duly appointed Roger Tassé but war drums in the NDP offices at City Hall and that of the MP for Trinity-Spadina began to pound when Cannon filled up the board seats at the Port Authority, setting the scene for the final report (pdf) which claimed all is rosy in the Port Authority and the Island Airport . Now, I've made no secret of my support for a piece of infrastructure that if you needed to build it would cost billions, but is already there and serving the downtown business community who provide the tax base that hasn't yet fled to Vaughan, Markham, Brampton and Mississauga (where Pearson is). Even I don't quite buy the level of vindication Tassé hands to Lisa Raitt and her chums. But the report is a sore poke in the eye to a Mayor who will be re-elected despite reverses on some of his main issues (waterfront and the Expo he failed to personally shepherd, shortfal...

Since I haven't got Canadian citizenship yet (eligibility to apply won't be until March), I'd like to appeal to anyone who knows who they are voting for trustee and ward but doesn't have a mayor pick to give it to this guy . He's a 22 year old student at Guelph-Humber College and lives near me according to this interview on the Edge 102.1 (and a good sport too) and has got his classmates and I suspect many other younger votes interested that otherwise couldn't give a damn. He even had to give up his part time job as Leaside Garden Zamboni driver because unlike David Miller, he can't draw salary as a city employee while campaigning. To add insult to injury he was excluded from a debate at his place of work ! It goes without saying that some are grumpy that other young candidates aren't getting his press but if the mayoral race wasn't such a bust he mightn't have made the same impact as he has. I do like that he considers the annual 50+ homic...