Conservatives 'Snub' Premiers' Education Summit

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to ignore the meeting of Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers in Ottawa to discuss post-secondary education and skills training is “totally unacceptable,” Deputy Leader of the Opposition Lucienne Robillard said today.

“This snub shows that not only are post-secondary education and skills training not priorities for this government, but it also shows the lack of importance this prime minister places on having good federal-provincial relations. It is totally unacceptable,” said Ms. Robillard, a former Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

“Where is Human Resources and Social Development Minister Diane Finley? Where is Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Michael Chong? Are they saying that they don’t care what the provinces and territories have to say about the direction they want to go in these key areas?

“At the very least, these ministers should be sending their own representatives to set the groundwork for a good working relationship with the provinces and territories,” said Ms. Robillard.

The summit is bringing together university officials, students, labour groups, and others to ensure there is common ground among those who have a stake in education and skills training and the politicians who fund it. The Council of the Federation invited all four federal political parties to participate, but only the Liberal and Bloc sent representatives.

MP Mike Savage, Liberal critic for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Chair of the Liberal Caucus on PSE and Research, said, “If provinces and territories are to help determine the future of post-secondary education and skills training in this country, isn’t it imperative that the federal government be part of this process?”

Mr. Savage dismissed Prime Minister Harper’s attempt to assuage the snub to the premiers by inviting them to an informal dinner at 24 Sussex tonight to hear their concerns.

“This is just not good enough,” said Mr. Savage. “The Canadian government needs to be a part of this process. They need to be at the table discussing post-secondary education and skills training with those who know first-hand what is required to make it a success.

“If this is an indication of what we can expect from Mr. Harper’s government with regards to federal-provincial relations, then this country is in deep trouble,” he said.

Harper Government Ignores Needs of Canadian Families

OTTAWA – The Conservatives’ decision to terminate the day care funding agreements reached by the Liberal government with the provinces shows that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government are out of touch with the reality of hard working Canadian families, said Liberal
Social Development Critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett.

As well, it would appear the Conservatives are also reneging on their election promise to send $1,200 annual childcare payments to families, said Dr. Bennett.

She pointed to Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s recent comments that child-care agreements will be terminated in favour of a “tax credit” for parents.

“A tax credit significantly waters down an already inadequate promise of about $20 a week that could only buy, on average, about one day’s worth of care,” said Dr. Bennett.

“The Conservatives’ decision to cancel our program will leave children, families and communities in the lurch. Today in Canada, 84 per cent of families with children have both parents in the workforce. Simply put, child care is an everyday necessity in Canada, and this is a reality the Conservative government needs to acknowledge.”

They also need clarify their election promise, she said. “All along the Conservatives have been talking about cutting cheques to parents with small children. Now suddenly it’s a ‘tax credit.’ Did Mr. Flaherty misspeak, or was he trying to slip through the back door yet another broken election promise?

“If it is the latter, this is even more disturbing than their initial platform. The Conservatives need to clear this up immediately so that parents – and all taxpayers – know whether or not they were duped,” she said.

The dismantling of the ten existing early learning and child care agreements between Ottawa and the provinces means the loss of more than $4.3 billion in federal funding, Dr. Bennett said.
“In many communities, the shovels are already in the ground for new daycare centres. Families who desperately need spaces have their children on waiting lists. If they cancel these agreements, it means that new spaces won’t be created, new facilities will not be built, and working parents families will be forced to find unlicensed child care solutions for their children.

“Why would the Conservative government cancel the agreements when it is clear that the provinces want them to be honoured?”

In Ontario alone, the Conservative government’s decision will leave about 25,000 day care spaces in limbo. But instead of addressing the issue, the Conservative minister responsible for child care, Diane Finley, has refused to return calls from Ontario’s provincial minister of children and youth services.

It doesn’t seem that Mr. Harper or Ms. Finley is willing to act in the best interests of Canada’s children and their families.

The bottom line is simple – the agreements should be honoured. Canadian families deserve better.

CANADA HAS LOST 2-0 AND ARE OUT!!!!

Well, I will admit that I was rather wrong on my prediction but what else is new. I predicted the liberals would win the federal election and they never won. Its going to be a while now till the next winter olympics where the Canadian men will avenge this loss of getting no medals. It will probably be a different team in 2010 full with more youth and why not. It only makes sense to get the now youth and 2010 veterans to be on the team. I am guessing Sydney Crosby will be the captain of the 2010 hockey team. It will be in Canada and we will rightfully get back what belongs to us.

One last thing, please do not blame this loss on Gretzky because it was not his fault. I blame this loss on the team under-estimating the Swiss because we lost the momentum we should have had in today's game but we did not. I hope all will realize that this loss was based on the team not playing well together and gelling with one another. I was a little doubtful on the Canadian team not going with the youth they should have. If Alexander O was so good for Russia then just imagine how good Crosby would have been for Canada.

Ah well, its over and now Canada is trying to achieve their goal set out for the olympics which is finish in the top 3. As it stands now, 18 medals has Canada tied with third place. Another thing to make us Canadians happy is that the United States lost as well.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate the Canadian team today in capturing 4 medals, Cindy Klassen has picked up 4 individual medals, wow, she is great and that is it from me.

GO CANADA GO!!!!!

CANADA FACES RUSSIA TOMMOROW AT 2:30PM!!!

Alright everyone, its the time we have been waiting for this year. The round robin play is now done with and the play-offs are about to begin. Canada will be playing Russia tommorow at 2:30 pm on CBC and I urge all fellow Canadians to cheer them on because we know they can do it so come on Canadian men please win tommorow against Russia.

It will be a good game no doubt and I think Canada will win in the quarter-final game and play on Friday. I know that they will be their on Sunday and we will be watching them GO FOR GOLD on Sunday at 8am in the morning. Just one last thing, Wayne challenged the youth to step it up as the youth stepped it up in 2002. They played well today and I hope they play good once more tommorow.

GO CANADA GO!!!!!!!!!

HARPER FOLLOWING THE STATES LIKE PREDICTED!!!

The Conservative government announced today that, for the first time in Canadian history, the next judicial appointee to the Supreme Court of Canada will be questioned by a public parliamentary hearing. Although Conservatives promised a free vote in the House of Commons on the appointment of new Supreme Court justices during the election campaign, they will now appoint an ad-hoc parliamentary committee to question the new appointee.

Many legal scholars and jurists –including Justice Bora Laskin, Justice Antonio Lamer and Chief Justice Beverly McLaughlin- have long maintained that publicly cross-examining judicial nominees could lead to a U.S.-style appointments process which will politicize the bench.
Although the next Supreme Court nominee will come from the shortlist of independent candidates put forth by legal experts, Minister Vic Toews and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have made it no secret that they wish to appoint judges who are more favourable to the social conservative viewpoint in the future.

In a speech entitled "Abuse of the Charter by the Supreme Court”, Mr. Toews told his audience: "The lessons that should not be lost on those who want to see specific policies implemented in the country is that it is not enough to gain a majority of the votes in parliament, social policy in this country requires the approval of the judiciary it is for that reason that my party has been so adamant that the process for appointing judges needs to be opened up."

Similarly, during the election campaign Prime Minister Harper told reporters:

"The reality is that we will have for some time to come a Liberal senate, a Liberal civil service, at least senior levels have been appointed by the Liberals, and courts that have been appointed by the Liberals. So these are obviously checks on the power of a Conservative government." (CPAC, January 17, 2006)

Minister of Justice Toews has repeatedly shown a lack of respect for Canada’s highest judicial body when the court’s decisions do not coincide with his own views. For example, in a 2003 "broadcast ministry" run by Concerned Women for America (CWA), Mr. Toews discussed the judiciary's same-sex marriage "agenda":

"We have seen these radical liberal judges who have their own social agenda coming to the bench and forgetting that their responsibility is to interpret the law and not to make law. And so we are very, very concerned about that."

The Supreme Court is an independent judicial body and judges should be selected based on the over-riding principle of merit and not on the political leanings of the government of the day. As Liberals, we are highly skeptical of a public hearing process that could become politicized and impinge on the dignity of the Supreme Court.

Canada’s Constitution calls for a clear separation of powers between Parliament, the Executive Branch and the Judiciary. By politicizing the appointments process, the Conservative government is blurring this Constitutional line in order to clear a path for their right-wing social agenda

GO CANADA GO!!!

Well, it seems not is all going right at the games this time around in Torino 2006. But like I have told everyone, please wait till Canada plays on Wednesday which will be a quarter-final game to decide if they will move on to the semis or take a bitter pill and maybe go home without a medal.

This will be a rather disappointing games if that was the case so please everyone rally on our Canadian men and make sure they do as well as the Canadian women who brought the gold home to Canada for the second straight olympics.

I plead to everyone to just cheer on our Canadians on Wednesday and hope they make the gold medal game on Sunday which will take place at 8am. Once more, Vive La Canada and GO CANADA GO!!!!!!!!

Harper’s Crisis of Accountabilty Grows !!!!!

As the second week of Stephen Harper’s new government draws to a close, the Conservatives’ crisis of accountability has spiralled further out of control.

The latest example of the Prime Minister’s accountability flip-flop is the appointment of former Conservative MP and campaign co-chair John Reynolds to the Privy Council. The title of privy councillor is normally held by cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries who advise the Governor General on classified government business.

Mr. Reynolds now works as a “senior strategic advisor” to one of Canada’s top law firms. As a Privy councillor, this backroom insider will have access to classified cabinet documents, even though he is paid to give CEOs advice on how to lobby the federal government.

Mr. Harper’s Accountability Act was the cornerstone of his election campaign. One of it key elements is to “crack down on the revolving door between ministers’ offices, the senior public service and the lobbying industry”. By appointing a lobbyist and close friend to the Privy Council, Prime Minister Harper has clearly violated his own Accountability Act.The ethics watchdog group Democracy Watch –which endorsed the Conservative accountability package during the election campaign- has now lashed out at Prime Minister Harper.

Duff Conacher, co-ordinator of Democracy Watch, recently told the media: “Stephen Harper proved with some cabinet appointments that he is a hypocrite and, by failing to keep the pledge to close the loopholes in the ethics code, he showed that he is a liar.”

Ethics watchdog groups and the Canadian people have good reason to be concerned about Mr. Harper’s increasingly unaccountable behaviour. After two weeks as Prime Minister, Stephen
Harper has:

Appointed his unelected Quebec campaign co-chair Michael Fortier to the Senate and the Cabinet as Minister of Public Works, after campaigning for an elected senate;

Overseen the appointment of Fred Loiselle, who was involved in an electoral fraud scandal in Quebec in 2000 as Mr. Fortier’s chief of staff;

Appointed Gordon O’Connor, a former lobbyist for the defence industry, as Minister of Defence;

Appointed the Liberal-elected MP David Emerson, as Minister of International Trade, despite his own party’s activism against floor-crossing in the House of Commons; and

Campaigned to strengthen the role of the Ethics Commissioner but refused to be interviewed by the Commissioner’s office for his role in the Gurmant Grewal taping affair.

As each day goes by, the Conservative government grows more and more unaccountable. This outrageous behaviour may just be the reason why the Prime Minister is refusing to talk to the media.

Mr. Harper, you can’t hide forever.

David Emerson’s Party –In his Own Words

The people of Vancouver Kingsway elected David Emerson because they believed in the Liberal vision for Canada. Throughout the campaign, Mr. Emerson shared this vision and warned voters what a Conservative Canada might look like.

Here is some of what David Emerson told voters at a Vancouver Liberal fundraiser on January 16, 2006, 21 days before he crossed the floor to become a minister in the Conservative cabinet:

“Let's just ask ourselves whether Canadians want the Conservative kind of change: every man for himself, the strong survive, the weak die. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Taxation to benefit the rich, to take from the poor. Elimination of a child-care program that'll help young Canadians become productive members of our work force in 10 or 20 years regardless of their economic or social status.”

“‘Turn your back on First Nations, Metis and Inuit.’ That's what the Conservatives are saying. ‘Let's have another look at the Charter. Let's restrict some people's rights under the Charter, but let's have property rights under the Charter.’”

"They've created a platform that's mushy, that's under-costed, and non-specific about where the money is going to come from. And what they do, once they're in office, is start to cut social programs, start to run a deficit, start to raise taxes. I've seen that with every Conservative regime that I've ever encountered, and I've been in public service - involved in public policy - for over thirty years.”

“Let's not forget - softwood lumber was a victim of Brian Mulroney throwing it off the table, because the Americans didn't want it included in NAFTA. And it's only now, with Paul Martin, that we have stood up to the Americans on softwood lumber.”

How could a person who campaigned so hard to protect Canadians from this kind of Canada, turn his back on his constituents and abandon his principles to join a party that he so vociferously attacked as regressive?

Mr. Emerson now calls himself a “small-c Liberal”, but he certainly didn’t describe himself this way to his constituents during the election. With this kind of blatant hypocrisy, Mr. Emerson should fit right in with his new Conservative colleagues.

CONSERVATIVES BE WARY!!!!

It will be up to the NDP and Bloc Québécois – not Liberals – to prop up the Conservative government, Opposition Leader Bill Graham said.

In media interviews on February 16, 2006, Graham said that while the first priority of Liberals will be to work constructively with the other parties to make this parliament work as best they can, they will not be afraid to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government if need be.

Graham said that Liberals were elected as the Official Opposition and they will oppose in an “effective and principled” manner. That means opposing Harper’s government if he refuses to accommodate Liberal positions on key issues such as child care and income tax cuts.

If they don’t accommodate these very important programs, they must turn to the NDP and Bloc for support in the House of Commons, since they are the ones who triggered the last election out of political opportunism.

“We’re not in the business of propping up the government,” he told the Globe and Mail. “We’re the Official Opposition. And that is our role, and we will stick to our points where they are important to the future of the country.

“Other parties will have to decide whether they want to compromise on this, because they’re the ones — the Canadian public very well knows — that put us in this position. They’re the ones that created the Harper government. They’re the ones that are going to have to accommodate it.”

But Harper, as leader of a minority government, has to accept the fact that he, too, must be willing to compromise “if he wants to continue to be the Government of Canada,” Graham said.
He said Liberals intend to push for its national early learning and child care program over the Conservative plan to send roughly $100 a month to parents.

He said he found “astonishing” the NDP’s “chutzpah” of proposing a subsidized plan in the coming session of parliament, since they killed such a plan in the first place by forcing the election.

If the Conservatives nix the Liberals’ income tax cuts in favour of a GST cut, Liberals will also be loudly speaking out, Graham said.

“When they find out the consequences of this, people are going to be astonished,” he said.
Graham assured his party that he will do his best to keep the opposition together through any leadership contest.

HARPER SETS RECORD IN BROKEN PROMISES!!!

Wow, it did not take long for Harper to backtrack on alot of his promises made during the federal election. Here is some key aspects from my favourite web-site http://www.liberals.ca

Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper set an Olympic record for breaking campaign promises. Throughout the election, Mr. Harper vowed that his top priority would be to “clean up government”; however it appears that come Election Day, the Conservatives’ principles of ethics and accountability were thrown out the window of their campaign bus.

Here are just some of the promises that have already been broken by the Harper government:

Promise Made: Mr. Harper campaigned for an elected senate and pledged that “all appointments would be made on merit-based requirements”.

Promise Broken: In his first act as Prime Minister, Harper appointed his campaign co-chair Michael Fortier as a Senator and Minister of Public Works –the largest governmental procurement department and home of the sponsorship scandal. Because Mr. Fortier is not elected, he cannot be held accountable for his actions in the House of Commons.

Promise Made: In Opposition, the Conservatives fought hard against floor-crossing. Days before the election, 40 Conservative MPs supported a private members’ bill banning floor crossing without a by-election. Promise Broken: Within hours of receiving the election results, Mr. Harper dismissed the valuable contributions of many of his fellow Conservative candidates and instead sought out the Liberal Minister, David Emerson, for a key position in his cabinet.

Promise Made: Prior to the election campaign, Mr. Harper unveiled his party’s Accountability Act, which aims to “crack down on the revolving door between ministers’ offices, the senior public service and the lobbying industry”.

Promise Broken: The Accountability Act apparently didn’t stop Gordon O’Connor from walking right through this revolving door into the crucial portfolio of Minister of Defence. Minister O’Connor, formerly a lobbyist for the defence industry, is now responsible for overseeing some of the largest defence contracts in Canadian history.

Promise Made: Mr. Harper’s election platform committed to strengthening the role of the Ethics Commissioner and preventing the Prime Minister from overruling the Commissioner’s decisions in the application of ethics rules.

Promise Broken: Despite “numerous attempts” to interview Mr. Harper over a four-month period, our new Prime Minister refused to make time for the Ethics Commissioner to discuss his role in the Gurmant Grewal taping affair.

On the accountability front, it’s clear that the Conservative government doesn’t practice what it preaches. Prime Minister Harper has repeatedly told the Canadian people that “accountable government means leading by example”. If this is his idea of leading by example, Canadians are in for a bumpy ride.

NO BUSH NO!!!!

Well, my good friend Yugunter is convinced that the States going into Iran is a good thing but as I have clearly stated in the past, it is a horrible thing to do. Bush went into Iraq and for what, for nothing, his reasons to destroy Iraq simply was to find nuclear weapons. Since that scapegoat did not work Bush decided oh we must go to Iraq in order to uphold democracy. I for one and many others I know are all in agreement that Bush should just mind his own business and do not go into Iran. I was totally against Bush going into Iraq and for sure I am against him taking his troops into Iran. More deaths will be taking place and for what reason, none what so ever.

I warned all of Canada during the Federal election to not vote for Harper and some of you listened to me but a slight minority of people did not. I and the many liberal ads clearly pointed out that if Harper is elected we would become Bushs little slave in alot of ways. One way is something that will be taking place if Bush goes into Iran, he will call on his little brother George W Harper and get him to send over Canadian troops to Iran. This in my humble opinion is horrible, we cannot play the role of little brother to Bush who thinks he can control Canada with Harper in charge, George W Harper will not go up against Bush and therefore here comes the draft to Canada.

DO NOT SAY I DID NOT WARN YOU BECAUSE US LIBERALS CLEARLY DID!!!!!!

MICHAEL FORTIER APPOINTED INTO CABINET????

You read the title right, it seems George W Harper is going back on his election promise faster than a mudslide in the rain. I was quite surprised, NOT when I heard in the news that Harper has decided to appoint someone into his cabinet.

This is the same Conservative party who was totally against the appointment of anyone into the Senate, now Mr. Harper has decided he does not have to live by his election promise and has decided to appoint someone who is not even a member of parliament. I repeat he was not elected as a member of parliament yet he is in the cabinet. This totally made me mad as Harper is simply a liar, first Emerson and now Fortier.

Many in Harper's caucus seemed uncomfortable with appointments of Emerson and Fortier, given Conservative campaign promises to clean up politics and government.

Asked if Harper made an ethical choice, Alberta MP Ken Epp said: "I will not answer that."

Remember my Canadian public, as I will continue to state over and over again, please do not vote this Conservative government back into power in the next election and please remember how Harper went back on his word in his first day of PM. I am quite shocked and dismayed by George W Harper but remember my Canadian voters, hold him accountable at the polls, show him you do not care for his promises that will be broken!!!!!

IS IT HARRIS YEARS AGAIN???

Well, it seems we are back to the horrible days of Mike Harris in Ontario. I warned you all Ontario and told you to vote carefully to prevent what all knew what would happen. Its now true, Jim Flaherty is the Federal Tories Finance Minister, Tony Clement is the Health Minister and John Baird is the Treasury Board Minister.

This is like going back to the past, we are in for a rather rough and bumpy ride, Ontario should have learned from the Harris years but what I can I say except we all love pain for some odd reason.

This compares to the little child in the kitchen who never learns to stop touching the top of the stove when it is on, I guess the more pain we will feel under this Conservative will hopefully turn us all back to the Liberals in a majority WAY!!!

HARPER IS ALREADY A LIAR!!!

Well, it did not take long for the real George W Harper to be seen by the Canadian public. It seems the Conservatives who complained so much about Belinda crossing the floor and all the hoopla about banning crossing floor MPs, David Emerson you truly will not be left unquestioned during Question period and you will face the music.

On another side note, it seems that George W Harper has been promising all along during his election campaign to clean up government. This does not seem like a move that a Prime Minister who is willing to clean up government should condone.

Former Liberal industry minister David Emerson has crossed the floor to sit in Stephen Harper's Conservative cabinet. The Vancouver MP and former head of lumber giant Canfor stunned onlookers when he arrived at Rideau Hall shortly before the Tory cabinet was to be announced.

A short while later, he was sworn in as the new Conservative Minister of International Trade and the Minister responsible for the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010.

Snatching Emerson could be seen as Conservative retribution for the defection of Belinda Stronach to the Liberals in exchange for a cabinet post.

At the time, Harper harshly criticized Stronach and several Conservatives demanded laws forcing floor-crossers to go back to the electorate for another mandate.

New Democrat leader Jack Layton had some quick words of criticism, directed at both Emerson and Harper, at the surprise move.

Layton told CP that Harper's controversial decision to appoint a cabinet minister who was elected as a Liberal flies in the face of his election pledge to clean up government.
Layton also pointed out that on the day after the election, Emerson pledged he would be Harper's worst enemy.

And Layton said MPs who cross the floor to another party should be forced to return to their constituents for a by-election in order to remain in office.

Political analyst Joan Crockatt said Emerson's flip-flop does raise some ethical questions, as his riding elected him as a Liberal.

Many of Emerson's constituents were dismayed at the sudden change in loyalties.
John McNamee, Liberal riding secretary in Vancouver Kingsway riding, told CP that Emerson has no mandate from the people to sit as a Conservative.

"We all voted for him as a Liberal,'' McNamee said. "So we weren't given the opportunity to decide whether we wanted him as a non-partisan or as a Conservative candidate.''

THE BUS DID IT!!!

Well, Super Bowl 40 is over and it was great. I was at a great party tonight and it was alot of fun. Jerome Bettis has done it and now he is leaving the game he loves so much. The bus is officially going to retire from the NFL and he is going out on top. It is so great for his legacy to live on into the future, everyone will remember that Bettis actually won the big game.

It was great watching the bus rush a few times and the Steelers beat the Seahawks by a score of 21-10 which basically showed that the line of Steelers by 4 was wrong. I wonder how much people won today in there respective bets, I personally lost because I was not correct in my pool with regards to point differential.

Overall, the game was fairly exciting. I was kind of holding my breath when the Seahawks made the score 14-10 but the Steelers pulled it off. Call it destiny but it was meant to be, there would be nothing to stand infront of the Super Bowl win by the bus. He deserved it and I kind of feel bad for the Seahawks but someone has got to lose.

It was the Seahawks first ever appearance in the Super Bowl and they played great during the year. If it was not for the whole Bus storyline than I may have went with the Seahawks as they may have deserved it. There was the controversial play in the 1st quarter which alot of people thought the Steelers did not deserve the touchdown but they did. If they did not get awarded the touchdown then it would have finished 14-10 which was exactly what the experts were predicting.

I for one would just like to say that the Bus deserved to win and he did, have fun in your retirement years because you deserve it!

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY...SUPER BOWL 40!!!

Well, its Super Sunday and destiny is about to be fulfilled for one NFL superstar. The great running back Jerome Bettis will finally get to taste champagne out of the Super Bowl trophy. Is it not fitting that the Bus as he is called by his fans goes out on top infront of his hometown fans of Detroit. Its such a story book ending to a great career.

The bus is an absolute monster when it comes to running backs in NFL history. In my opinion the Bus is as good as Emmit Smith who tasted the Super Bowl already. It only makes sense that the Steelers win the Superbowl tonight and it shall happen.

Regarding this past season, the Steelers at times played a little sluggish but all times go through a slight stretch where they are in a slump. The good teams are the ones who can get out of this slump and rebound where they finish the season strong.

This was the case with the Steelers as they got into the play-offs as a number 6 seed in the AFC and beat some great opponents. Just think about it, the Steelers defeated the Colts in there home of the RCA Dome, wow I was surprised when that happened. Taking that into mind just makes you believe more and more that it must be destiny for the bus as his time has come to reach the all so used cliche in sports "the promise land".

I will predict the Steelers will win in a rather close game, the Bus will reach pay dirt a few times and who knows might even win MVP in front of his very close friends in Detroit, Superbowl XL will be a rather tight one where one team will not dominate the other. It will be a nice game where Ben the QB for the Steelers will do alright, he will not be throwing the ball as much as he usually does. The Seahawks with Sean Alexander as running back are great but I have to doubt the throwing game of Hassleback in such a big game like tonight.

It will be a fun time tonight, so where ever you may be watching the game, I say have fun and do not expect a blowout. I hope the Steelers win because the Bus reaching the milestone of finally winning the big game will be great to see!

BILL GRAHAM AS A GOOD CHOICE AS INTERIM LEADER!!!

I would like to congratulate the former National Defence minister Bill Graham as being awarded the great position of being the interim leader of the liberals in the house. Watch out Conservatives and Harper, you have a huge opposition in the house, question period will be alot of fun for the veteran liberals in the house as most of the Conservatives are first timers and will be dismantled during question period. I for one cannot wait as it will be great to watch on CPAC, at 2:15pm in the afternoon we will get to witness the Conservatives look bad on TV and they better be careful because as I said before good old George W Harper will be under a microscope. If he were to trip just once then it will be magnified alot, just one screw up which I am hoping will happen and which I know should happen.

The main reason Harper never really tripped up during the election campaign was because he didn't really talk with the media as he knew if he did then he may have said something that would make him look bad and thus having more voters switch over to the liberals. I give good ole Harper credit in that part, he never really tripped up during the campaign. However, Peter Mackay did make that comment that I hope everyone will remember for the next election which will be in probably a year or so. I honestly do not know how any lady could have voted for the Conservatives as they clearly do not look out for womens rights like Rona Ambrose says they do. Look where she is the MP in, Harpers close home Alberta, see you really shouldn't listen to her because she is just saying that. Well, enough said about that, the piece of information I wanted to discuss here was Bill Graham being chosen in the liberal caucus as the interim leader of the liberal party.

Prime Minister Paul Martin announced that he will remain as Liberal Party leader until a new leader is chosen, while outgoing Defence Minister Bill Graham will act as interim leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons.

At the first Liberal caucus meeting since the recent election, Prime Minister Martin also announced that Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Lucienne Robillard has been selected as deputy leader in the House of Commons, and Calgary Senator Dan Hays as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

"It is my sincere pleasure to congratulate the Hon. Bill Graham on his selection by the Liberal Caucus as the Leader of the Opposition in the next Parliament," the Prime Minister said.

"Bill will make an outstanding leader. As a distinguished Member of Parliament for Toronto-Centre since 1993, Bill has served his constituents while advancing the interests of all Canadians at the highest levels of government."

Graham has been defence minister since the 2004 election. He introduced the new Defence Policy Statement which represents the most significant change to Canada's military in fifteen years. He has also secured $13 billion in new funds for our military over the next five years - the largest increase in defence spending in a generation.

Graham also drew widespread praise for his efforts in spearheading the Canadian Government's response to the devastating tsunami which hit South-East Asia in December 2004.

He has also been Minister of Foreign Affairs, where he developed and implemented strategies to promote the Government of Canada's agenda of global peace and security, prosperity, and better worldwide understanding of the values, culture and capabilities of Canadians.

"Bill is admired and deeply respected - across Canada and around the world - for his steady and principled leadership," the Prime Minister said. "He will lead a vigorous opposition in the House of Commons, fighting for the values of the Liberal Party and to improve the lives of all Canadians."