Glover endorses truthiness

Another day, another pledge of truthiness from Conservative MP Shelly Glover – Canada’s Most Intellectually Bankrupt MP. While on Power & Politics yesterday, she declared, “A report is not going to change the facts.” That report, of course, is the one everyone is waiting for, about the long-gun registry. The one that is “in translation” right now, where it has apparently been for the past two months.

But really, a report is not going to change the facts? Erm, except if it presents new facts, maybe? That could change them. “No report is going to change exactly what we know,” she went on to say. Because it’s not facts, or logic, or hard data that matters – it’s those gut feelings that the Conservatives apparently govern by in their quest to reduce political discourse to a series of Tim Horton’s politicking moments that can’t be challenged, lest you be branded as an “elite,” which we’re all expected to hate.

Glover then went on to call Liberal MP Wayne Easter a “flip-flopper” because he had the audacity to say that he will no longer support the bill to scrap the registry because Michael Ignatieff proposed a *gasp* compromise that he can live with. What’s that? Compromises as a means to finding solutions to problems in political debate? It’s unheard of! Incidentally, the Liberal public safety critic, Mark Holland, wrote a letter to the Speaker to demand the release of the aforementioned report, saying the government was deliberately withholding it (which they almost certainly are).

Here’s a little more on the dozen NDP MPs who could derail the registry.

At a press conference yesterday morning, Liberal MPs Wayne Easter and Alexandra Mendes gave out the “Conservative patronage awards” – complete with little piggy trophies – for all the various patronage appointments the Conservatives have been making (at least 20 in the last month) when they campaigned on ending the practice in the past number of elections. Mendes did say that the Liberals agreed with the idea of an appointments commissioner and would likely see it implemented properly (as in, not headed by a party stalwart) should they be returned to power.

Libby Davies is calling out Michael Ignatieff for his comments saying that BC residents are warranted in protesting the HST in that province, considering that he voted for its implementation.

The auditor general says that we need better healthcare data, because the lack of data now means we can’t tell if we’re getting good value for money.

The new interim chief statistician tells his staff that the new “National Household Survey” will never be comparable to a long-form census, even if the data will have some uses. (My own editorial on the census issue is here.)

And the Save Our Prison Farms group is in the process of rebranding themselves as Restore Our Prison Farms. They’re also helping to arrange co-operatives to buy some of the auctioned-off dairy cattle, so the gene pool will stay in the area.