Phil calls Brantford "small-town Ontario"

Here's a quote from Phil during a committee session on May 6, 2010 (where he was spinning lies about gun control):

in my part of the country, small town Ontario, $3.1 million is a lot of money

Is "small-town Ontario" how we want the world to see Brantford? Absolutely not.

Brantford is a city moving from its proud industrial past into an even prouder knowledge-based economy. Its past: Brantford was once the third-largest manufacturing exporter in Canada, and a rail hub for Southwestern Ontario. Its future: education, skilled workers, innovation. "Small-town Ontario" is not a phrase that will attract investment and respect.

And Brantford is clearly a city. It has been a city since 1877. Census Canada requires a census metropolitan area to have a regional population of at least 100,000 with a core population of 50,000. Brantford clearly meets this requirement. Brantford is a metropolis!

Brantford is the 31st-largest city in Canada. It is larger than St. John, NB; Peterborough, ON; and the birthplace of Confederation Charlottetown, PEI.

Brantford is not "small-town Ontario." Brantford is a city, a metropolis looking to the future. Phil McColeman has insulted Brantford. He should set the record straight.

Phil McColeman: Soft on Crime, pt. 2

There's been a lot of debate over my post in Dec. 2009 titled "Phil McColeman: Soft on Crime." So I thought I'd follow up.

The Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Police Boards have both decided that the Firearms Registry DOES prevent crime. This is despite what certain armchair pundits claim. Yet Phil McColeman does not support the continuation of this valuable tool. In fact, he has spoken up in Parliament, calling opposition members "bullies" for fighting to keep the Registry.

At the same time, Phil has sent out numerous flyers to the constituents of Brant claiming to be "Tough on Crime." The fact is that Harper's tough on crime strategy involving harsher jail sentences WILL NOT reduce crime, but WILL be very expensive. This is a proven fact.

Therefore, while Phil claims to be "Tough on Crime," he is not actually doing anything to lower the crime rate. All he advocates is 1) scrapping a valuable crime-fighting tool, and 2) replacing it with a very expensive strategy that will accomplish nothing.

Phil McColeman is NOT tough on crime. If he claims to be tough on crime he is lying or ignorant.

I encourage Brant students to participate in Phil's Public Safety Essay Contest by writing about the efficacy of gun control compared to the efficacy of harsh prison sentences.

Phil Investigated by Ethics Commissioner

We know that Phil signed his own name on cheques that should have been signed by the appropriate Government minister (see here and here). He was then investigated by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

The Commissioner found that Phil and other MPs acted unethically; using oversize partisan cheques undermines public confidence in the integrity of Parliament and the government.

Lazy Phil Worked One Day in 1½ Months

We know that Phil McColeman supported the anti-democratic prorogation of Parliament earlier this year. He probably supported it because he ONLY WORKED ONE SINGLE DAY DURING THE WHOLE THING! So while hard-working Canadians were busting their butts to stave off the recession, Phil was relaxing in Ottawa or something.

Dissatisfied Citizens

There have been some real zingers in the Expositor lately regarding Phil and the Conservatives. Here's a sampling:

Cost of McColeman's Advertising

Dear Editor,

I read that Members of Parliament have chosen not to disclose their office expenses, which total millions of taxpayer dollars.

Of course, an individual MP can disclose his/her expenses and our MP Phil McColeman should do so as a matter of integrity.

He has spent a lot of money advertising himself, which is not the purpose of his office budget. Many ads have been paid for by us, as taxpayers, ads which show Phil's and/or name - coffee with the MP, skating with the MP, eat pork with the MP, not to mention his website at the bottom of the flag.

Tell us,Phil, how much of our money have you spent advertising yourself? We want to know before the next election.

Nic Coivert

You tell 'em Nic! Here's another letter about how McColeman's Conservatives are wasting our money more generally:

PM showing his true colours

The federal Conservative government has been fairly successful in hiding their puppet-master behind a curtain of secrecy and deceit. Glimpses of the wizard, however, are beginning to show as the curtain flaps in the wind. We are beginning to see some instances of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's views on issues like women, retirees, the arts, the environment and justice. It's not that he is trying hard to be open, it's just that his slip is showing. Here are a few actions that point to the course he is tacking.

* Scrap a national day-care plan that would allow more women to go to work and pay income taxes vs. $100 a month, which doesn't even cover the cost of diapers and wipes.

* Scrap the long-gun registry, even though the evidence shows long guns were used in 40% of domestic violence homicides prior to its implementation-now reduced to 15%.

* Scrap the promise to not tax income trusts, causing retirees to lose millions of their invested retirement funds.

* Scrap the Kyoto accord whilst denying climate change, tarnishing Canada's international image.

* Scrap the promise to reform the Senate, all the while stacking the Senate with Tory appointees.

* Scrap major features of Corrections and Conditional Release Act to allow for longer sentences for inmates at a cost of up to $100,000 a year per inmate.

* Feign indignation about a lax parole system even though the National Parole Board is now stacked with conservative patronage appointments.

*Feign surprise that inmates over 65 years of age receive pensions. The government has had four years to figure things out.

Soon, the wizard will be revealed on full display in living colour, pulling strings and manipulating the smoke and mirrors to try to obscure the rest of his agenda, including Canada's role in the torture of Afghan prisoners, abortion and family planning.

Rick Trebilcock, Brantford

It's time to change, and that change can't come too soon!