Logic? Never heard of it.

Some politicians when making important policy decisions use a mixture of statistics, academic studies, advisory reports and the general public mood at the time. Other politicians base their decisions on isolated anecdotes that go against ALL of the other evidence. Which camp do you think Phil is in?

On October 27, Phil said:

"[W]hen this came before committee, we heard witnesses from the police association. We also heard from individual chiefs from across the country. Some of those chiefs believed that the long gun registry served no specific purpose. Although the police association was involved, chiefs in other areas of the country said that it was not the case in their jurisdictions. Also, front-line police officers, in their basic training, have said that they are told to assume that there are guns inside every door when they go there.

Therefore, the unreliability of information that is not current or updated actually does the opposite. It puts some police officers, were they to rely on the information, in harm's way in terms of this information going forward."

Let me get this logic straight: The majority of police chiefs say they want the gun registry. One or two police chiefs say that the gun registry serves no specific purpose. Therefore the gun registry puts officers in harm's way.

It. Makes. No. Sense.

Why was this man elected to be your voice in Ottawa?

Forgetful Phil Wrongly Accuses Another MP of Lying!

Yesterday in Ottawa, Phil McColeman called another Member of Parliament (MP) a liar. Phil said:

"Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

"During question period today, the member for Winnipeg Centre quoted this member as saying something that I categorically did not say. I would like him to table the document that he is referring to where that quote was made, as well as the source and the time that he is referring to for the quote he put forward."

Phil was referring to NDP MP Pat Martin, who had said earlier:

"Mr. Speaker, I have a quote of the member for Brant of April 14. He stated, “The Canadian Wheat Board...should be decided upon in terms of its existence by the farmers themselves in a plebiscite or a vote as to whether it should continue with the mandate it was originally given”."

In all fairness, Pat Martin actually meant April 13th, not 14th.

Well, Phil, do you remember what you were doing on April 13, 2011?  We here at DumpPhil do: you were at the Brant Federation of Agriculture All-Candidates Debate at the Brant Sports Complex.  Here's a video clip (watch 1:28:00–1:28:25):



So we have a video of Phil saying something, then an MP claims that Phil said that very thing, and then Phil calls that MP a liar.  Not very classy!

Reflection on the Lack of Dumping Phil

Unfortunately for Brant, 30.1% of eligible voters decided to vote for Phil. Sometimes even democracy screws up, even though it's the best system we have.

It was an exciting night, though. Laferriere for a while looked like he was going to have a chance, but then the numbers bounced back blue. Perhaps Laferriere will fight again, next time successfully. Perhaps St. Amand will step aside, accepting that he has served his county and his country well, but that he cannot defeat McColeman again.

We here at DumpPhil.ca will take a break for a little while. But we assure our faithful readers that we will return. And we will not rest until we have exposed Phil McColeman entirely, as an ineffective and clumsy backbencher, as a man who regularly embarrasses Brant during his foibles in Ottawa, as a hard-right ideologue, as someone who won't take responsibility for his mistakes, as someone who takes credit for others' work, as someone who fear-mongers by propagating a "dumb on crime" agenda, as someone who promised to heal the land claims dispute and failed utterly.

7 out of 10 people in Brant do not support Phil McColeman.

No, we will not rest until Brant Dumps Phil McColeman.

Endorsement Time! Pass or PHaIL?

After talking to residents of Brantford, hearing feedback from the debates,  reading the hundreds of emails that we have received since our first post, and after much deliberation, we have JUST decided that it's time to DUMP PHIL!
Even if Harper gets a majority, Phil would still be a muzzled backbencher and a terrible advocate for his constituents.
If Harper gets a minority, Phil would continue to be a muzzled backbencher and a terrible advocate for his constituents.
If the Conservatives lose, Phil would continue to be a muzzled backbencher and a terrible advocate for his constituents.

For plagiarizing letters to the editor, costing the City of Brantford millions of dollar$, trying to kill the gun-registry and send our police officers into situations without crucial informations, vandalizing the Canadian flag with the address of his lame and generic website address, and finally, failing on his #1 priority, land claims, Phil does not deserve a second term in Ottawa as our representative.



Phil has spent his tenure in Ottawa, embarrassing himself:





&

Advocating for unregistered guns before congratulating our championship-winning Brantford Red Sox...

Phil McColeman: Soft on Hate Crime

Phil McColeman's views on gender and sexual identity rights are clear: he has publicly stated that he opposes same-sex marriage, and was at one point associated with a coalition lobbying to make same-sex marriage illegal.

Phil McColeman's views on crime are also clear: he supports getting "tough on crime".

So how does Phil feel about hate crime against transgendered people? Answer: he doesn't oppose it.

A reader of this blog forwarded us an email exchange that he had with Phil McColeman regarding Bill C-389. That Bill would have strengthened the rights of transgendered individuals, including amending the Criminal Code to include the terms "Gender Identity" and "Gender Expression" to the hate crime offences. Getting tough on crime – Phil should love this, right? Wrong.

Phil McColeman opposed Bill C-389, arguing that "Gender Identity" and "Gender Expression" were not "clearly defined".

Well a lot of Criminal Code provisions are not clearly defined, but that doesn't stop the police and courts from enforcing them. For example, "sexual assault" is simply an assault that is "sexual". When the sexual assault provisions were enacted in 1983 nobody had any idea what they meant, but the lawyers and police figured it out anyway. Does Phil think that we should make rape legal just because "sexual assault" is not clearly defined? No way. Phil, as a "tough on crime" nut, understands how the Criminal Code works.

So according to Phil, men who wear a kilt have full protection of the law but men-cum-women who wear dresses don't. It's pathetic, but you know what there are still racist people out there too.

[for the entire text of the reader forwarded email, click here]

Phil Shirks Responsibility… Again

Phil McColeman has insulted Brantford's hard-working city councillors by blaming them entirely for the cost overruns at the Gretzky Centre renovation.

As this blog has repeatedly stated, the cost overruns are almost entirely due to an unreasonably tight deadline on stimulus spending – a deadline implemented by the Conservative government. (For DumpPhil's past coverage of this issue, see "Phil's Pointless Promise",  "Gretzky Centre Over Cost Because of Phil!",  and "Conservative government costs Brantford millions in wastePHIL spending")

When will Phil man up and take responsibility??

Dump Phil Reaches 100!

This post marks the 100th entry since DumpPhil started reporting on the poor performance of Phil McColeman. It's quite an achievement. In a little over two years literally thousands of unique readers have visited the blog – on which we have spent $0. We are proud to have raised the level of political awareness and discourse in Brant.

Some of our greatest hits have included "Phil McColeman: Soft on Crime pt 1" and "pt 2", "Phil decorates the Canadian flag...", and "Phili Vanilli", each of which garnered hundreds or thousands of page loads.

During this final week before the election we'll have some really hard-hitting posts so check back often and keep leaving lots of comments. In the meantime, here's a rundown of our posts since we started:

99 Phil Makes the List

98 Phil Does the Time Warp

97 Did Lazy Phil bother to read his party's platform ...

96 Phil Has No Compassion

95 Why…

94 Phil McHypocrite

93 Who's telling the truth?

92 Vote For Your Local Fire Hydrant

91 Hey Phil Where are the Jobs?

90 Gretzky Centre Over Cost Because of Phil!

89 Stay Anonymous Or Get Kicked Out

88 $3.1 million > $1.2 billion: Phil McColeman

87 Harper to Visit Hamilton Behind Closed Doors

86 Would You Accept a Bribe for Your Vote?

85 Attention Laurier Brant Students: Don't Vote for Phil

84 Phil Respects Taxpayers… APRIL FOOL'S!!

83 McColeman Speaks for Harper, Not You

82 Partisan Posturing and Trickle-Down Economics

81 Understatement Of The Year

80 Hulk Hogan Coming to Brantford

79 Phil McColeman: CBC Never Heard of Him

78 Phil Phakes Phamily Tax Cuts

77 Phil Finally Decides to Communicate with Constituents

76 "Who is this guy and why is he standing behind me?"

75 Phil Pretends to Care About Seniors

74 Phil Abuses His Position Once Again

73 New Look, New Address, New MP!

72 Nonsense Non-sequitur

71 Poll: Phil's Priorities

70 Don't Trust Phil's Claims on Land Claims

69 Do Phil McColeman and his staff know how the Google machine works?

68 Who would make a better Conservative MP: Phil or the fire hydrant outside his office?

67 Phil McColeman: Cheapshot Artist

66 Why did Phil choose guns over our local baseball team?

65 McColeman Supports Patronage Senate Appointments

64 Phil to Host Roundtable

63 Phil's Partisan Puerile Penal Preposterousness

62 Phil McColeman on the recent Cabinet $huffle

61 Phil McColeman embarasses himself again...

60 Quotable Quotes: Finance Critic

59 Phil Makes a Complete Phool of Himself

58 SNAP!

57 Phil on Immigration

56 What exactly are Canada's foreign policy principles?

55 Phil Blames the Liberals… again

54 Phil's Cronies Get Great Perks

53 Phil McColeman: Missing in action AGAIN

52 Phil's Silly Stats

51 Conservative government costs Brantford millions in wastePHIL spending

50 Phil's Pointless Promise

49 One Mouth, Two Tongues

48 Phil with an Automatic Weapon

47 Philnocchio lied about the gun registry!

46 Phil's Gun Crazy

45 Phil the Barbarian gets clubbed by Heritage Canada Official!

44 Phil McColeman's unFLAGging disrespect for Canada....

43 Phil calls Brantford "small-town Ontario"

42 Phil McColeman: Soft on Crime, pt. 2

41 Phil Investigated by Ethics Commissioner

40 Lazy Phil Worked One Day in 1½ Months

39 Dissatisfied Citizens

38 Phil's spending money like a "drunken sailor"

37 Demolishing Democracy

36 Lazy Phil Takes a Vacation

35 Gold-digga

34 Everybody to the YMCA – oh wait, we can't

33 Phil McColeman: Soft On Crime

32 Cheque it out!

31 Making the List

30 Cheques and Balances

29 Phil's Flag Flap Comes to an End

28 Phil Gets a Reality Cheque

27 Green Hope for Brant

26 Huffy Duffy Comes to Brant

25 Phil's Funds Fall Flat

24 Phil McColeman: Not with a strong voice but a whimper

23 Visas on Demand; Phil cubre su culo!

22 Food for thought: what does Phil stand for? Besides pork...

21 Footage of how Phil really scratched his face!!!

20 Phil does the darnedest things...

19 While Phil was busy sending "sexy" flags out...

18 Phil puts the FLAG in flagrant disrespect!

17 Phil decorates the Canadian flag...     

16 This must be what Phil's promised funding is being...

15 Phil McColeman, most spoonfed MP in the history of...

14 If you're happy to be sitting in the front row CLAP YOUR HANDS!

13 Phil McColeman, Ghostwriter

12 Phili Vanilli

11 Witness: Phil's Committee Meeting

10 A couple of MPs who also need to be replaced...

9 EMAIL, we know how to use it!

8 Dr. Phil’s Formula for Economic Recovery

7 Tased and ConPHused...

6 Phil's "Visit With Agriculture"

5 This blog got served!!!

4 New Post - Phil's Office Season 1

3 Phil's Boring Website

2 Phil McColeman sends Generic Holiday Mailout

1 Greetings!

Phil Makes the List

Phil made the list of Conservative candidates who chickened out of an all-candidates debate!

Brantfordians should be proud. Not only do we have an MP who takes his job for granted, we also have a Prime Minister who is chicken-scared wholesale of talking to the public and the media.

Phil Does the Time Warp

The other day Phil was talking to his boss. He asked his boss to give him credit for doing a good job on a project. The boss responded that the project had been completed before Phil was even hired.

That's basically how the Chamber of Commerce all-candidates debate went down on Wednesday. Phil tried to take credit for funding a new water treatment facility in Ohsweken. Well we here at DumpPhil.ca were naturally suspicious of this claim, so we did a little digging and found this press release:

The funding was ANNOUNCED IN 2005, THREE MONTHS before Stephen Harper became Prime Minister, and a solid THREE YEARS before Phil even came into office. Lyin' Phil is tryin' to take credit for other people's work!

So unless Phil has a time machine in his office, there is no way that he or his government were responsible for the treatment plant.



The worst part is that Phil has been telling this lie for years, even though people called him on it long ago.

Did Lazy Phil bother to read his party's platform this time?

Sadly this is a REAL question that needs to be asked:



"I HAVE NOT READ THE PLATFORM, IT'S SOOO NEW" - Phil McColeman, 2008 election debate

Phil also promised to e-mail the platform to someone who asked for a hard copy, not only did Lazy Phil not read his party's platform but he also does not know how to use a printer!



A reader spotted this image from yesterday's debate on the Brant News website, Phil with a giant debate binder full of notes in block letters:


Potential rebuttal from Lazy Phil: "I still haven't read the platform from the last election, so what do you expect?"

Phil Has No Compassion

The Burford United Church held a different kind of "debate" last Sunday – one that "had an emphasis on compassion, creativity and a positive vision for Canada." What a wonderful idea in an age of increasingly negative campaigning.

Nora Feuten talked about how to mend the increasing gap between the rich and the poor.

Mark Laferriere talked about a community garden project that contributed to the food bank.

Lloyd St-Amand talked about land claims and duties owed to Aboriginal peoples by non-Aboriginals.

Phil McColeman didn't say anything because he didn't attend.

Why…

…does Phil focus on "Tough on Crime" instead of issues that really matter?

Why doesn't he talk about land claims? Why does he distract us from talking about the economy?

Phil's focus on "tough on crime" is embarrassing. He has embarrassed not only himself in Ottawa but also his Brant constituents. Phil has behaved like a buffoon talking about "tough on crime" while the crime rate has been dropping for decades.

Study after study has shown that "tough on crime" simply does not work. It is just another tactic designed to distract voters from the real issues. It is also very expensive, an example of the reckless spending that has characterized this Conservative administration.

"Tough on crime" is a joke, a multi-billion dollar joke. Does Phil really think that people in Brant are dumb enough to fall for it?

Phil McHypocrite

Somebody call the waaahmbulance – Phil's been complaining about the cost of an "unnecessary" democratic election again:

"They're upset about having an election that's costing $300 million especially when it's the fourth election in seven years."

Well, Phil, let's crunch some numbers…

• $1.5 million: Annual cost of the gun registry that Phil wants to scrap.

• $3.1 million: "A lot of money" in "small town Ontario" Brantford, Phil says.

• $27 million: Cost of all those Economic Action Plan signs.

• $300 million: Cost of an election.

• $1 billion: Cost of hosting G8/G20 summit, including tens of millions of unaccounted-for spending.

• $2.7 billion: Conservative estimate of cost of "tough on crime" agenda, though the actual amount will likely be billions more.

• $28.5 billion: Cost of F-35 stealth fighter jets that Phil wants taxpayers to buy.

• $55.6 billion: Canada's current annual deficit.

It's extremely doubtful that Phil will address these numbers during our "unnecessary" election:

Who's telling the truth?

The Brantford Expositor asked all the candidates what most voters seem to be worried about. Here's the responses:

• Lloyd St. Amand: Land Claims and Jobs
• Marc Laferriere: Jobs and Healthcare
• Nora Fueten: Healthcare, Partisanship, and Nuclear Power
• Phil McColeman: Cost of an election

Three out of four candidates have something in common with another candidate. Those three also mention REAL policy issues.

And Phil McColeman? This is just more proof that he's living on another planet… or maybe not telling the whole truth.

Vote For Your Local Fire Hydrant

We've already written a blog post comparing Phil McColeman to a fire hydrant. That's because Phil speaks for Stephen Harper, not for you.

Well the Globe & Mail cartoonist must have met Phil too!

Hey Phil Where are the Jobs?

Looks like Harper the Economist still hasn't figured out how to run a country. Despite all those blue-and-green stimulus project signs, Brantford's unemployment rate hasn't improved since the recession:

When Phil was elected in 2008, unemployment was 5.9%. Within a year unemployment in Brant was 60% higher at 9.8% [source: StatsCan]. Coincidence?

Gretzky Centre Over Cost Because of Phil!

Phil was super-happy to brag all about the pork-barrel funding of the Gretzky Centre construction (in conjunction with Dave Levac). But the Harper government made an unreasonable deadline for using the money so that they could look good before an election. The deadline was eventually moved back, but the process had already been sped up. The shortened timeframe forced costs higher, and this was coupled with a bottleneck of contractors across Canada working on pork-barrel projects in Conservative-held ridings.

Pretty bad planning from a man who brags about being a contractor. Here's a replay of the Conservatives' moronic move:

Stay Anonymous Or Get Kicked Out

If you comment on this blog you probably shouldn't leave your real name. If you do, you might one day find yourself in a similar situation as this young politico:

Joanna MacDonald, a fourth-year environmental sciences student at Guelph University, says she pre-registered for Harper's election campaign event at the school Monday.

But after arriving with a friend, MacDonald says she was directed to a desk where she was told her name had been flagged and she was asked to leave.…

She demanded to know why she was being flagged. An unidentified official eventually told her it was likely because she had participated with the Sierra youth coalition on climate change at the Cancun conference last December.

If going to a climate change conference is sufficient to get you booted onto the street, leaving your name on this blog might end you up in a dark alley with a Conservative staffer ready to rearrange your face.

At the very least you'll wind up like this citizen, who recounts his experience from the 2008 election:

He will fight ticket

The Brantford Expositor, Wed Oct 15 2008, Page: A8

On Friday, Oct. 10, I went to Patriot Forge on Henry street to see the arrival of Stephen Harper and I was directed to park my car beside about 100 other cars on the lawn in front of Patriot Forge's main entrance. I was not asked if I was on the Conservatives' registration list or if I had been invited to be there for the visit of the Prime Minister.

While waiting at the arrival area, I had the opportunity to converse with Craig Oliver, a national TV reporter whom I have met on occasion at the National Press Club in Ottawa. I mentioned to Oliver and some other people standing near me that I intended to ask Harper why we needed a $300-million election one year before an election date mandated by Harper. I then was approached by three police officers and was asked to leave the premises. I responded that I intended to ask my question to the Prime Minister and therefore intended to stay.

At that point, I was removed from the property and I was given a trespassing to property ticket ($65).

There were no signs at the entrance to Patriot Forge prohibiting or restricting access to the property if you were not invited or a member of the Conservatives.
I intend to go to trial and fight this charge.

Gord Allan, Brantford

So basically, if you have ever in your life expressed an opinion different than Stephen Harper and Phil McColeman's, don't go to the Harper event in Hamilton on Thursday.

$3.1 million > $1.2 billion: Phil McColeman

Stephen Harper has decided to take aim at the gun registry, claiming that it's too expensive. The Conservative government had no problem spending over a billion dollars on a three day summit in Toronto last summer.

Phil tried to argue that gun control is too expensive but out of control spending is okay:



Phil is the same person who had no problem spending taxpayers' money on thousands of Canadian flags with his e-mail address on them and sending them out.



Forget a calculator, Phil needs an abacus!

Harper to Visit Hamilton Behind Closed Doors

Phil tweeted today:

Phil definitely has the ear of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper gave Phil a whole 3 days' notice that he was visiting near Brant.

More disturbingly, Harper is not willing to meet with the public at large. What kind of elected official is scared to meet with the public that she or he represents? It doesn't seem too democratic. You have to pre-register to go to the event. It reminds one of the last time Harper visited Brantford, where members of the general public were turned away at the gates of Patriot Forge.

However those who do manage to get approved for the event still run the risk of being thrown out on the street, as the plight of this young student shows.

Would You Accept a Bribe for Your Vote?

Would you accept a bribe for your vote… if you knew you'd have to pay back the debt later?

If you would, Phil's your man He brought Gary Goodyear to the opening of his campaign office. Goodyear lauded Phil for bringing pork-barrel funds into Brant, while neglecting to mention the structural deficit that the Conservatives have racked up. Watch the video:



Phil is so close to his boss Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he has no idea whether Harper will visit Brant. Oh well, it's not a great loss since Harper is only holding pre-arranged meet-and-greets and accepting only 5 questions per day. Not to mention that last election when Harper visited Patriot Forge in Brant, the event was only open to card-carrying Conservative Party members. Those who couldn't show their Conservative membership were left outside the barbed-wire fence surrounding the factory. Compare that to e.g. Jack Layton who, when he came to town last week, spent time on the street with random Brantfordians.

Attention Laurier Brant Students: Don't Vote for Phil

Phil McColeman has gone on record saying that he opposes giving grants to post-secondary students because it "could make some students ineligible for other loans and grants".

Let me get this straight. Phil opposes giving students money because then they won't be poor enough to qualify for high-interest loans. Of course, with education grants those students won't need said loans. Phil's reasoning makes perfect sense: it's better to keep students in debt instead of giving them tuition money up-front. Right.

Phil Respects Taxpayers… APRIL FOOL'S!!

No doubt that during the election tons of great letters to the editor will be penned. Here's a gem from the Expositor:

Taxpayers on Hook for Conservative Ads

The Conservatives like to pretend that they didn't want an election but I'm not buying it. They had hoped to be defeated on a budget that was unacceptable to other parties because it was so misleading, but they were slapped in the face with a Contempt charge instead. If they didn't want or expect an election then why did I get campaign literature from McColeman in my mail box the very day the government fell, and why did I hear a barrage of radio ads all weekend trying to sell their 10 billion dollar tough on crime prison building scheme? The saddest thing of all in this though is that when Stephen Harper talks out of both sides of his mouth, we pay for it.

By Nic Coivert

The Conservatives have wasted TONS of taxpayer dollars on advertising. Those Economic Action Plan signs that sprouted up like dandelions cost $27 million (a whopping $800-$7,000 per sign!!). Since coming to office the Conservatives have spent $130 million on advertising. That money should have been spent on tax cuts or lowering the huge deficit. Even spending it on Kanye sunglasses would have been a better use. Phil has no respect for taxpayers!

McColeman Speaks for Harper, Not You

Ever since day one people were worried about Phil McColeman being muzzled. They were worried that his boss Stephen Harper would control everything he said. Well looking at McColeman's voting record, it seems that he is just a puppet controlled by Harper.

McColeman voted 204 times in the House of Parliament since 2008. He dissented from the Harper line twice. That's 2 out of 204 times that McColeman voted differently than the rest of his party.

Is McColeman muzzled? 2 out of 204 is less than 1%. You be the judge.






[Ironically this isn't the first time we've seen Philnoccio the Puppet]

Partisan Posturing and Trickle-Down Economics

Hours before a senior Liberal (who for years has been a respected Member of Parliament) was to visit the riding, Phil McColeman sent a message to the Brantford Expositor attacking the Liberal plan to eliminate a corporate tax cut. Phil defended the Conservative plan to cut taxes for corporations while making families wait 5 years for a tax cut:

Calling the Liberal rollback a "tax hike," the statement said: "This increase will kill jobs, stall our recovery and set our families back."…

"Why does John McCallum and the Liberal Party want to kill jobs, stall our recovery and set our families back?" it says.

"Brant's economy and job creators need support, not reckless job-killing tax hikes to pay for billions of dollars in ill-considered spending."

Where to begin?

First of all, it is not a "tax increase", rather it is avoiding a Conservative corporate tax cut – a tax cut that is inherently inefficient.

Second of all, Phil seems to think that cutting taxes for corporations will somehow benefit families more than cutting taxes for families and providing social services. This is called "trickle-down economics". The theory is that if you cut taxes for the wealthiest individuals or corporations, the benefits will "trickle down" to the average Joes/Janes. It's been tried before. It doesn't work.

Third of all, it is in fact the Conservatives who have out-of-control spending. They took a budget surplus and turned it into the largest deficit in Canadian history (see also this blog post from last year). Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page has said that the deficit is "structural", which means that it'll still be there when the recession ends. The Conservatives are wasting tax dollars on e.g. $1 billion for the G20 meeting in Toronto, $10 billion for unneeded new prisons, $30 billion for stealth fighter jets (with no competition for the contract), $130 million on advertising (triple the former amount), and spending $27 million on Economic Action Plan signs.

Finally, it is simply over the top to suggest that the Hon. Mr. McCallum wants to "kill jobs" and "set our families back". Ask yourself honestly: Does any politician really want that? Does anybody really want that? Of course not. It's partisan posturing pure and simple.

Understatement Of The Year

A couple weeks ago this blog posted about Phil and land claims. Last election, Phil had said that land claims was his "number one issue". More recently, Phil was quoted as saying,

"[Land claims] has been my priority, though some may dispute that."

And the award for understatement of the year goes to… Phil McColeman! Here's at least one reason to dispute Phil's claim: As of today, his campaign website servingbrant.ca makes not one single mention of land claims.

Number one priority? More like number one failure.

Hulk Hogan Coming to Brantford

This has nothing to do with the election or Phil McColeman, but Brant News is reporting that Hulk Hogan is coming to Brantford! Can't wait!!

Phil McColeman: CBC Never Heard of Him

Phil McColeman: Making your voice heard on Parliament Hill. Although his voice has obviously not been heard by CBC National reporter Rosemary Barton. She tweeted earlier today:

[Barton later clarified the typo: she meant "Google" not "goggle"]

Interesting that one of the best political reporters in Canada has never even seen Phil McColeman in Ottawa. What has he been doing for the past 3 years?

Phil Phakes Phamily Tax Cuts

As mentioned before in this blog, Phil brags about helping Canadian families. But the Conservatives will give tax cuts to large corporations right now while waiting FIVE YEARS before giving tax cuts to hard-working families.

This is a non-partisan blog (although obviously we don't like Phil McColeman). However sometimes a politician has a quote so good that we can't not repeat it. From Michael Ignatieff:

"It's like, if you come up to a family and you say, 'I've got good news. First, I'm going to cut taxes for the biggest and most profitable corporations in the country. And then maybe in five years, if you take a ticket and you're patient and you vote for us a couple of times, come back in five years and we'll do something really great for you’"

Phil helping families? Don't buy it for a second.

Phil Finally Decides to Communicate with Constituents

Phil McColeman was elected to office in 2008 and only  three years later has decided to start a Twitter account. Most other politicians have used Twitter for ages as a quick and effective way to communicate with the public.

Phil should have started using Twitter long ago. All competent politicians did. It's only now that it's election time that Phil has decided to use this tool to communicate with Brantfordians.

"Who is this guy and why is he standing behind me?"

Image taken from Phil's website.

Phil Pretends to Care About Seniors

Phil McColeman likes to brag about helping families and specifically helping seniors.

But does he actually help seniors? While it's true that the Conservatives are increasing seniors' benefits by a small amount, and the Conservative bragging doesn't index the increases to inflation. According to one seniors' advocate,

"The announcements don't amount to a great deal. It's not nothing, but it's close to nothing."

What's worse than not caring about seniors? Pretending to care about seniors just to win a few votes.

[Phil doesn't really care about this impoverished grandparent.]

Phil Abuses His Position Once Again

Phil is notorious for abusing his position as MP. Remember the time he posed with Government of Canada cheques signed with his own name? Remember the time he put his own name on the Canadian flag?

Now the Brant Conservative website is advertising the Conservative Party by linking to Government of Canada websites! The Government of Canada is more than just Phil McColeman. It is a system of government paid for by the Canadian taxpayer. It is inappropriate for the website to use those links for self-promotion. Shame.

New Look, New Address, New MP!

We've redesigned Dump Phil – hope you like it! Our readers may have also noticed that we've moved from our old web address to <www.DumpPhil.ca>. During the election we'll be updating the blog very frequently, so stop by often.

During the election please forward this blog to your friends and family. As this blog has documented, Phil has been an awful MP. He's probably a nice guy but he's no good at politics. It's time for him to go. Brant can do better.

Nonsense Non-sequitur

Once again Phil has embarrassed his constituents. In Parliament, he started asking a question about the economy (substantive policy!) and wound up asking a question about an NDP-Liberal-Bloc coalition (partisan idiocy…). Here's his full quote:

"Mr. Speaker, these are the items the NDP has been asking for over the course of budget consultations: enhance the GIS for low-income seniors; employment insurance… We have delivered on all of these.

There has been much talk about the coalition. Will the leader of the fourth party be forming a coalition should the result of an election be a minority government?"

If there is an election, let's not waste this opportunity to dump Phil.

Poll: Phil's Priorities

What should Phil's #1 priority be?

Don't Trust Phil's Claims on Land Claims

During the last election campaign, Phil promised to get something done about land claims. “Land claims are my number one issue”, he said. More recently Phil promised,

“We are shortly going to be sitting back down with our partners to work out that strategy,” he said. “A brand new negotiating strategy that will bring results.” 

What are those results? "Canada appears to be playing a cat and mouse waiting game with Six Nations land rights that could end up seeing more protests launched say people close to the stalled talks."

Obviously Phil is not living on this planet. He'll say anything to get votes, whether it's true or not!

Do Phil McColeman and his staff know how the Google machine works?

A basic Google search would have saved Phil the following embarassment...



Please send Google search tips to:
McColeman.P@parl.gc.ca

Who would make a better Conservative MP: Phil or the fire hydrant outside his office?

After reading frequent letters to the editor by Mr. Ben Ayles, one would think that anyone, including the yellow fire hydrant outside his Park Road North office, would make a better Member of Parliament than Phil McColeman.




McColeman in the Dark?
Brantford Expositor
Letter to the Editor by Benjamin Ayles
Posted 13 hours ago

Now Phil McColeman may be in the dark in Ottawa but what can you expect from a guy who once made his living pouring concrete. That's what we need in Ottawa, more plain talk and less thought, that will do just fine. Brant doesn't need St. Amand's smooth ways and fine talk, we need rough hands and someone who will let Mr. Harper make the decisions. So Mr. McColeman may be in the dark but Harper is bright enough for both of them.

Here are some other gems:

Defending Phil McColeman
Brantford Expositor
Letters to the Editor

In response to the letters sent responding to my earlier letter, "McColeman Not So Bad," I just have to say not to worry about Phil coming in a little under the mark MP wise because he has a leader who can answer questions for him.

Does anyone think Ignatieff would do that for Lloyd St. Amand? And of course I realize that we are Canadian, not American, but I'm with the Harperites who declare that unfettered capitalism combined with a Republican laissez-faire attitude is the right way to deal with Canada's economy. America has obeyed that most of the time and look at what a great country it is.

I support Harper's mirroring of ex-president Bush's policy, and I'm pleased Phil does, too.

Ben Ayles Oakland


And...

MP Phil McColeman is not so bad
The Paris Star

To the Editor:

I've been hearing a lot of complaining about MP Phil McColeman's inability to think and speak freely about local Brant issues, but I don't see that as a problem, really.

It doesn't take a whole lot to be a MP these days with all the technology we got, and with a leader like we have in Ottawa we're better off leaving decisions to the Prime Minister's office.

I like the direction Canada's going in, selling off Federal assets and corporations is the right thing to do, limiting access to abortions in the third world countries I also agree with, even the end of the long form census.

We should be modifying government by increasing its military and security presence, this is the strength of America, and I am pleased that our MP so wholeheartedly supports this direction as well. I don't mind that Harper speaks for McColeman since it is Harper that has come up with Conservative policy, not the MP's.

Thanks for knowing your limits Phil.


Ben Ayles,

Brantford, Ont.

Phil McColeman: Cheapshot Artist

BREAKING NEWS: Phil abuses his position on the Public Safety Committee to take a cheap shot at a committee member who is not there...



He is then forced to apologize.

Typical Phil.

Phil even sucks at taking cheap shots.

Why did Phil choose guns over our local baseball team?

With the new baseball season coming up, Phil should consider supporting the local baseball team...

McColeman Supports Patronage Senate Appointments

Voilà Senator Mike Duffy. After promising to create an elected senate, Stephen Harper appointed the Conservative-leaning journalist Duffy to the Senate in 2008. Kind of a nice way ($132,300/year) of saying "Thank you" for years of promoting the Conservatives on TV. Here's our own Phil McColeman with the well-fed Senator Duffy:

Phil to Host Roundtable

Phil is hosting a roundtable on February 4, 2011. This should be a good thing. BUT true to the spirit of this government, Phil is only inviting the rich people in Brantford to attend. They will sit around at the fancy-schmancy Hampton/Hilton Hotel and talk about how great they are. Why doesn't Phil listen to the people who have lost their jobs because of Conservative economic policies?

Phil's Partisan Puerile Penal Preposterousness

Here's what Phil McColeman said in Parliament on January 31st, 2011:

Unfortunately, I am afraid that it already seems to be business as usual for some Liberals. Today the member for Ajax-Pickering* is again sticking up for criminals and promoting the failed prison farm system, a program with a dismal rate of success of less than 1%, and which loses millions of tax dollars each year. I call on the Liberal Party public safety critic and his coalition partners to work with us to get results for law-abiding Canadians and victims and to stop putting criminals' rights before those of victims.

[*The member for Ajax-Pickering is Mark Holland, the Conservatives' whipping-boy for soft-on-crime]

Phil is dead wrong for two reasons.

First, prison farms DO work. Here is a direct quote from a recent Report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, of which Phil is a member:

A literature review conducted by CSC [Correctional Service of Canada] concludes that animal therapy programs not only help participants by improving their behaviour and learning about discipline, as well as their sense of cooperation and respect for others; they also help the staff of correctional institutions since the presence of animals makes the atmosphere more relaxed and encourages communication among inmates. Finally, society as a whole would benefit from these programs since the participating inmates would learn skills that would serve them well in the labour market and would reduce the rate of recidivism.

Animal therapy programs have proven effective and all participating inmates believe that these programs have undeniable benefits at the human level. For this reason, the Committee has difficulty understanding why CSC decided to terminate the farm prison program at penitentiaries by March 31, 2011. Like many of our witnesses, the Committee is convinced that CSC is on the wrong path in this regard and maintains that CSC should actually increase the number of programs based on animal therapy. [footnotes omitted]

The second reason that Phil is dead wrong is because it is actually the CONSERVATIVES who are soft on crime, specifically, they are SOFT ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. From a recent Toronto Sun article:

Tories 'soft’ on child sex crimes: group

The so-called tough-on-crime Tories are "weak" on child sex abuse crimes, according to an anti-child pornography advocacy group.

Brian Rushfeldt, president of Canada Family Action, said Tuesday he's "disappointed" with Bill C-54, the government's efforts to protect children from sexual predators, because it doesn’t go far enough.…

While Bill C-54 does beef up minimum sentences for people convicted of possessing child porn — from 14 days to 90 days for a summary conviction and up to six months for indictable offences — Rushfeldt said the bill does not lengthen sentences for people convicted of making child pornography.

Wow. The "tough-on-crime" Phil McColeman sends pedophiles to prison for a mere 90 days, and does nothing to the monsters who create child pornography. Instead he complains about prison farms, which help keep our society safe. Why doesn't Phil stop playing partisan games and start focusing on the real issues!

Phil McColeman on the recent Cabinet $huffle

In preparation of the recent Cabinet shuffle Phil took dance classes...



After being told that there would not be a dance by a reporter, Phil offered up great insights:

Brant MP Phil McColeman says the Conservative government's cabinet shuffle on Tuesday was not as extensive as he had predicted, but he is happy with the changes.

"I was expecting that there might be more, but obviously the prime minister wants to stay the course," McColeman said of the shuffle, which involved four Tories and an overall increase of two in the size of the cabinet to 38 ministers."

After the Cabinet'$ $ize had been increased by two, (the $econd largest in Canadian history); Phil wanted even more ministers. New Cabinet Ministers receive a hefty $75,516.00 bonus, on top of the $157,731.00 yearly salary of an MP. Phil being a great strategist must have concluded that if everyone was made a minister they would have to make him one. He could be Minister of Flag Protocol...