A Harper Tory dictionary

non-political: example: She took direct aim at Kings-Hants Liberal MP Scott Brison and Sackville-Eastern Shore NDP MP Peter Stoffer for voting to keep the registry.

On irony (incidental and otherwise)

Unelected Harper Tory Senator to celebrate responsible government anniversary.

Hey Jack Layton!

The gun registry debate isn't going away.

Ask this Tory MP.

When the next bill comes forward, will the you stand with crime victims and cops or will New Democrat MPs again support the Harper Tories, the gun lobby and the NRA?

Don't bother shoveling more of the free votes on private members bills spin.

Even the people who write NDP private members bill press releases know that line is bullshit.

They blame the other parties for the defeat of private members bills.

Why should New Democrats expect to be treated differently when the next gun registry vote comes?

There's a word for that.

It starts with the letter H.

And it's not hope.

Once upon a time but NOT anymore

Once upon a time, Harper Tory MPs worried about misleading Parliamentary committees.

Now, NOT so much.

Ontario Tory MP fights for Western Canada's grain farmers. Western Canadian Tory MPs imitate crickets.

Among the unfulfilled Harper Tory promises is the repeated commitment to gut the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB).  The Conservative Party's 2006 platform reads:

Give western grain farmers the freedom to make their own marketing and transportation decisions.  Western grain farmers should be able to participate voluntarily in the Canadian Wheat Board.

There is little doubt that the Harper Tories would like to blame their failure for reform the CWB on their non-existent majority in the House of Commons.  Frankly, it's really hard to imagine the BQ wanting to force an election on the fate of Western Canada's grain farmers.  But that reality doesn't change the talking points issued to Western Canada's Harper Tory MPs when they bother to go home.

And there are an awful lot of those MPs.  With the exception of Wheat Board Region 9 which includes NDP MP Niki Ashton's Churchill riding and Region 8 which includes the rural portion of Ralph Goodale's Wascana seat, the Harper Tories hold every rural riding within the CWB's jurisdiction.

So which of Western Canada's interchangeable, unrecognizable Harper Tory MPs is going to stand up for the platform he or she ran on?  (UPDATE: or is putting out whiny press releases worth more PMO points?)

Not a single one.

It was left to an Ontario MP to introduce a Private Member's Bill proposing market choice for Western Canada's grain framers.

So what are Western Canada's Harper Tory MPs doing?

They're still talking about the long gun registry.

Cheryl Gallant, MP, Genius

Invented a new historic past tense and performed a sex change on her colleague.

What will this amazing woman do next?

Today's Doonesbury

Asks a question so many of us are asking.

Colour me not surprised

Actual research finds that Canada's gun laws work.

NDP just making shit up now

Think back.

Think way back.

Think back to when NDP Leader Jack Layton refused to make his party fight to save the long gun registry.

Now return your thoughts to the present:

"The Royal Canadian Mounted Police evaluation report showed that the registry is now cost-effective and used by many front-line police officers to promote public safety," said Karl Belanger, Senior Press Secretary for Jack Layton, leader of the NDP. "We have also heard from emergency room doctors, nurses and community workers who say the registry is a valuable tool."

The NDP claims to have heard the message.

They just didn't do anything about it (unless New Democrats think that letting MPs vote with with the Tories is doing something) .

Hand picked Harper Tory advisors support warning shots

Canada's gun lobby has yet to see a criminal accused that they wouldn't defend.

A couple of days ago, Canada's not an NRA affiliate put out yet another press release ignored by, well, everybody.

The release wouldn't even be worth mentioning on this blog if the Harper Tories' hand picked pro-gun advisory committee wasn't disproportionately overloaded by gun lobby board members.

Given the gun lobby's unregistered insider access to the Harper government, it is necessary to ask whether the Harper Tory government shares their passion for firing warning shots.

Someone should ask the Justice Minister.

One of these things...

...is not like the other.

And that's a shame.