Friday, January 7, 2011

Liberal Jim Bradley disingenuous about fall 2011 election

Grant Lafleche wrote in "Only Hudak eyeing election as politicians look to the future" (St.Catharines Standard, Jan.6, 2011):

"He's ready should the writ be dropped, but St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra says people shouldn't expect a federal election this year.

"I am going into my sixth year as a member of the federal parliament in a minority government, and my team has had to be ready for an election almost quarterly," Dykstra says.

"So we are ready, if we need to be. I don't think it will happen, because I think most Canadians believe an election right now is not in the best interests of the country."

The survival of the Conservative party's minority government is questioned several times a year, but so far opposition parties haven't pulled the trigger. And Dykstra says the government has no plans to force an election.

Given that a trip to the polls doesn't appear imminent, he said he is focused on economic recovery and legislative goals, particularly bill C-35, which will tighten rules on who can act as an immigration consultant in Canada. The bill has made it through the committee process and should appear before the House of Commons in the upcoming session.

Locally, he said he wants to ensure all the infrastructure projects that received federal funding are completed.

"Every dollar for every project has to be spent and accounted for," he said.

Dykstra's provincial counterpart, Liberal MPP and Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Jim Bradley, is also looking to 2011 as the year big-ticket infrastructure projects from roads to Brock University's bio-science building are completed.

"Other projects, like the hospital, we have to ensure are on time and on budget," he said. "I am happy to say the hospital is ahead of schedule and on budget."

Although the next provincial election is in October 2011, Bradley said it's not top of mind.

"I won't let that sort of thing become a distraction from the work of the provincial government or the work of the ministry and being an MPP," he said. "I know there has been heated, partisan rhetoric from both the federal and provincial houses, but (an election) -- that is really not a priority yet."

That isn't the case for Tim Hudak, MPP for Niagara West- Glanbrook and leader of the provincial Progressive Conservatives. He said the Conservatives will be focused intently on preparing to dethrone the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty.

"Ontario families have been nickel and dimed to death by the McGuinty government and it's time for it to end," he said.

Hudak says he is going to focus on getting his party's message of lower taxes, health-care reform and economic growth out as the 2011 election draws closer.

He also said he wants to help the local agriculture sector by proposing a "buy Ontario" policy for Queen's Park"


So: we are to believe from Grant Lafleche and Jim Bradley that Bradley and his Ontario Liberal party ARE NOT focusing on the fall 2011 election?! That this is NOT a priority for Jimmy, or his Liberals??!! Really?!

What an utter load of horse-shit, straight from Bradley's lying mouth, and, from Lafleche's eagerly pandering, unquestioning report. Wow - out of the three people mentioned, Bradley's a saint! Only Hudak is "eyeing" the next election!! But not Jimmy!!

But, as we all remember (except for a coy Jim Bradley and his fawning Liberal St.Catharines Standard reporter) Dalton McGuinty began the Ontario Liberal election campaign on the first day of the Queen's Park Fall 2010 session!

Compare Lafleche's Liberal-friendly pablum with this Dec.20, 2010 CTV news report, which begins with:

"Ontario's Liberal government is heading into an election year in attack mode, waging battles on several key policy fronts as Premier Dalton McGuinty attempts a third consecutive majority.

The unofficial campaign for the Oct. 6, 2011 vote began with the fall sitting of the legislature, as the government went on the offensive immediately after releasing its 20-year, $87-billion long-term energy plan.

The opposition pounced on the admission that hydro rates would jump 46 per cent over five years and McGuinty shot back, demanding his political foes lay out their energy plans.

"The price of admission to this debate is you've got to have a plan. You got to move beyond rhetoric," McGuinty said at the time.

"You can't just continue to offer criticism and commentary from the convenience of the sidelines. At some time you've got to step up."

However, instead of sticking to their guns, the Liberals bowed to pressure and announced 10 per cent rebates on all hydro bills for the next five years.

The problem with that, says political scientist David Docherty of Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, is it undermines all those times McGuinty said higher electricity rates were the tough medicine needed to pay to renew a badly deteriorated power system.

"One of the things he has to do come the new year is get back to being Dalton McGuinty and quit being Stephane Dion, because that's how he's looking these days," said Docherty.

"He's in this position where he caved, and is he going to cave a little bit more? How can he go back to being tough in a month or two from now on this file?

"I think he's put himself in a very awkward position."

The Liberals know some of their polices are very expensive, including all-day kindergarten, building new nuclear reactors and phasing out coal-fired generation in favour of renewable, green sources of energy..."


Bradley basically lies about his Liberal Party not being in election-ready attack mode, and what do local readers see: the local St.Catharines Standard Jimmy Fan Club just lets Bradley get away with it. 'We'll print whatever you say, Mr.Bradley, no question about it - literally... no questions at all'!
We see how Bradley sagely opines to Lafleche with smug intimations about all the 'heated partisan rhetoric' - AS IF NONE OF IT HAD EVER ORIGINATED FROM BRADLEY'S OWN MOUTH!!
Wow - what utterly breathtaking GritShit TM from Bradley, delivered to St.Catharines Standard readers without a hint of challenge, perspective, or question from 'reporter' Lafleche - who's more like a GritShit peddler /stenographer / fanboy!
Even the editor's headline placed onto this story was skewed; it should have more aptly read "Jim Bradley disingenuous about Liberals' upcoming election preparation".
But clearly, the editor's intent also was to NOT focus on Bradley's bullshit. (Inherent media bias - - fake news)
We know McGuinty's Liberals are doing whatever they can get away with to win the next election; see Brian Lilley's report (QMI, Jan.6, 2011) "CBC denied possessing fundraiser documents":

"CBC at first denied there were any records for a proposed political fundraiser at their Toronto headquarters, then admitted that they did have correspondence on the issue.
According to documents obtained by QMI Agency though access to information, CBC officials were not only willing to allow an Ontario Liberal MPP to use the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto for a concert and silent auction fundraiser, they were willing to waive their standard 20% commission on auction to help the fundraiser be a success.
CBC "top brass" later ordered the manager of the concert hall to cancel the event, pointing out that it would be inappropriate for the state broadcaster to be seen as supporting any one political party.
In late October, as the event was still being advertised by Liberal MPP Rick Johnson, CBC denied they had any records of the event. They said that none were created because the event was cancelled. A second request uncovered several e-mails, including the offer to waive fees to help the political fundraiser.
The federal information commissioner is investigating."


hahaha: a McGuinty Liberal fundraiser, trying to stealthily use the taxpayer-financed CBC, no less - just perfect! These are the kind of devious schemes Liberals are perfect at exploiting.

Funny how Liberal MPP Rick Johnson's Haliburton riding was also beneficiary of another scandalous abuse of public confidence: see Keith Leslie's CTV Nov.1, 2010 report, which outlines how money from Ontario's public utilities was being funnelled to McGuinty's Liberal Party, and then on to ridings such as Johnson's; money which also came from public utilities in Jim Bradley's and Kim Craitor's ridings. And McGuinty's Liberals had no problem with that!

When Jim Bradley bullshitted to the St.Catharines Standard that preparing for the fall 2011 election was not top of mind, why didn't reporter/stenographer Lafleche bother to ask Bradley about Daniel Nolan's report McGuinty ducks protestors at Liberal party dinner (Hamilton Spectator, Nov.30, 2010):

"For the second time in a month, Premier Dalton McGuinty managed to slip past protesters waiting for him at a Hamilton appearance.

More than 100 protesters were on hand for the premier’s visit Monday night to a Liberal fundraising dinner at Liuna Station, but they didn’t see him arrive.

The protesters were made up of members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), who are upset the government has frozen wages for two years, and Wind Concerns Ontario, who are upset at the proliferation of wind turbines across rural Ontario — including Haldimand and West Lincoln — without any study of health effects and community input.

The premier made an announcement in Hamilton earlier this month about a provincial government investment in a solar assembly plant and ducked locked-out steelworkers from U.S. Steel.

The premier did not take questions from local media last night, but had previously said his security staff had made the decision for him to avoid the steelworkers.

He, however, talked about the protesters before the 600 people at the well-heeled dinner and said their presence “speaks to a healthy democracy. I respect their commitment to their cause.”

Joe Mancinelli, vice-president of Liuna and local Liberal, also made a reference to the protesters. One of three co-chairs of the dinner, he extolled the party for spending $60 billion on infrastructure and creating 600,000 jobs.

“Those are the statistics I look at,” said Mancinelli. “Not polls ... not placards and signs.”

Representatives from OPSEU and Wind Concerns Ontario vowed the premier and his party had not seen the last of them. An OPSEU worker, dressed up like a circus ringmaster, spun a roulette wheel, but all the prizes were corporate tax cuts.

“We’re having demonstrations at all their fundraising dinners, when we can find out where they are,” said Mike Grimaldi, vice-president of OPSEU region 2, which has 23,000 members between Tobermory and Niagara.

John Laforet, president of Wind Concerns Ontario, said 70 municipalities across Ontario have passed resolutions calling on the Liberal government to place a moratorium on the development of wind turbines.

“We’re not going away,” said Laforet. “The issue isn’t going away and we are going to fight him everyday until he is out of office. We’re going to make sure Dalton McGuinty gets used to us when he’s travelling the province.”

The fundraiser was one of a series of Trillium Dinners the party stages around Ontario. Tickets were $300 per person and Bobby Walman, president and chief fundraising officer of the Ontario Liberal Fund, said organizers sold about 650 tickets, meaning the dinner raised close to $200,000. In other years, the Hamilton dinner has raised between $120,000 and $180,000.

The party might have been trying out some of its campaign themes as it is the last Hamilton dinner before the Oct. 2011 election. Speakers such as Mancinelli, local cabinet minister Sophia Aggelonitis and MPP Ted McMeekin praised McGuinty’s leadership abilities.

“He can make tough decisions and he’s a great leader,” said Aggelonitis, the MPP for Hamilton Mountain.

McGuinty spoke about his government’s achievements, such as creating a green energy plan.

The dinner was attended by numerous cabinet ministers such as Community Safety Minister Jim Bradley and cabinet chair Gerry Phillips. Mayor Fred Eisenberger attended as did Mayor-elect Bob Bratina, plus St. Joseph’s Healthcare CEO Kevin Smith, Hamilton Health Sciences president Murray Martin and McMaster University’s new president Patrick Dean."


Look at that: by reading the St.Catharines Standard, we're simply asked to believe Bradley's false assertions that his Liberals are somehow not concerned with the upcoming election; yet the Spectator shows Good Ole Jim hobnobbing with his Liberal acolytes, raising election cash, and oh yeah... ignoring the rabble protesting outside!

It would be interesting to know (although no St.Catharines Standard reporter would dare ask, let alone report) from Jim Bradley whether there is any conflict of interest in having Liberal-friendly MUSH-sector glitteratti from the local hospital and university at such partisan Liberal political fundraisers.

Like with the public utilities scandal, who paid the $300 each for Smith, Martin and Dean to attend this McGuinty Liberal findraiser? Did they pay for their tickets out of their own pocket; did their publicly-financed institutions pay for them; or were they eating for free? Where did the money go? It's no wonder why Jim Bradley and McGuinty's Liberals don't want any ombudsman oversight into the pork and lard being sloshed around in Ontario's MUSH sector!

Next time Lafleche takes dictation from Jim Bradley, why doesn't he ask Ole Jim 'bout that?
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