Brison Report - October 30, 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

Visit to Sepracor, Windsor, N.S.

Scott recently visited Windsor, NS pharmaceutical manufacturer Sepracor, which was part of a (US) $2.6 billion friendly takeover of Sepracor's American parent company by Japanese company Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd.  Calling it "good news" for the local plant, Scott said "Sepracor is an important corporate citizen for Windsor and Hants County offering good jobs and making a strong contribution to the community."  He is pictured with plant manager Alex Jurgens and employee Chris Webb.

The polls that were not covered much by the media this week…

Canadians believe Tories biased on stimulus funding: poll
Thursday, October 29, 2009
By: THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - A new poll suggests the Harper government's multimillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded ad blitz to promote its stimulus plan doesn't seem to be having the desired effect.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey also suggests most Canadians believe Liberal claims that stimulus spending favours Conservative ridings.

Less than a third of respondents to the poll said they were aware of any stimulus projects underway in their areas. 

Costs of stimulus starting to worry Canadians, poll shows
Government spending and deficits jumps on list of key voter concerns
Globe and Mail, Wednesday, October 28, 2009

OTTAWA - Politicians who could do no wrong by pumping public money into projects are suddenly facing a large pool of voters who want them to rein it in.

Worries about deficits and profligate spending have shot up the list of voters' concerns in a way rarely seen since balanced budgets replaced red ink in Ottawa after 1997.

Over the past year, Stephen Harper's Conservative government faced a public clamouring for action to boost the economy, and it poured money into stimulus-spending programs, fuelling a $56-billion deficit.

Now, the deficit is back on Canadians' minds and with it the debate on whether public money is being carefully spent, which has the opposition alleging that it's being wasted on expensive doorknobs, self-serving government advertising and for partisan benefit.

And the news story that the mainstream media ignored…

Harper's new speechwriter is a gay rights opponent
Jenn Ruddy / XTra Newspaper / Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Prime Minister's Office has hired a former Calgary Herald columnist who has a history of speaking out against gay rights.

Nigel Hannaford has resigned from the Calgary Herald to be a speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Hannaford, who has been in the newspaper business since 1975, joined the Calgary Herald in 1999 and was appointed in 2000 to the Herald's editorial board — a position he held until recently.

In his Slings & Arrows column, Hannaford espoused socially conservative values, arguing against gay rights and undermining the legitimacy of human rights commissions.

Referring to former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's 1969 decision to decriminalize homosexuality, Hannaford wrote in 2005, "Fine, said lots of people. Leave gays alone? Fair enough. But, let 'em be Boy Scout leaders? Have each other's benefits? Adopt kids? Marry each other? Ridiculous. Anybody seeking political office who suggested it would have been laughed off the hustings. Yet, the Liberals are ready to legalize gay marriage. How did we get to this point?"

Of the 1998 Delwin Vriend Supreme Court ruling, which required that Alberta add sexual orientation to its human rights legislation, Hannaford wrote in 2003, "So much for democracy."

And when Elsie Wayne, former deputy leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, said in 2003 that gays should "shut up" about marriage and that Canadians shouldn't have to "tolerate" gay pride parades, Hannaford wrote in her defence, "Wayne gets my vote. ... Canadian society has been turned upside down in the past 35 years and things regarded as sin in 1965 have special status in 2003."

Regarding discrimination and equality, Hannaford has argued in favour of the former and opposes the latter: "It's time we reclaimed the word 'discrimination' for polite conversation, and lose our fear of what it describes. And, let's also dump our obsession for equality: Between the two, we can no longer have a rational debate about the basics of society."

Hannaford's appointment raises concern for longtime gay activist and former Edmonton city councillor Michael Phair.

"Much of what Mr Hannaford writes and has indicated in his work as a journalist, I suspect, reflects Prime Minister Harper's and his party's position on what they would like for Canadian society to be, and I think it harks back to a 1950s approach," says Phair, who worries that the Harper government will continue to look for backdoor ways to reduce equality for the queer community, as well as women and other marginalized communities.

And, only the Toronto Star seemed to report this story...

MONTREAL–The vast corruption scandal engulfing Montreal and threatening to draw in the federal Conservatives got its biggest forward thrust not from a major news organization, but from a website published by workers locked out of one.

Virtually unknown outside Quebec, www.ruefrontenac.com is the offspring of a long and tortured labour dispute, but also a surprising journalistic success story.

Read the article HERE.

Scott in the news...

- Scott had an opinion article published in the National Post newspaper titled 'Canada's Raw Trade Deal' in which he discussed the impact of U.S. protectionist policies on Canada. 

He said:

"There is no doubt that U.S. protectionist policies, such as the “Buy American” clause in the U.S. Recovery Act, is wiping out Canadian Jobs. U.S. rules like these are shutting Canadian manufacturers out from hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. government contracts."

Read the article HERE.

He said:

"Why is funding for a project in the defence minister's riding announced in the absence of any municipal partnership? Why are the people of East Hants being treated as second-rate citizens by the Conservative government just for exercising their democratic rights as citizens?"

Read, and watch, the statement HERE.

In the article Scott said:

“The way (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper is treating tax dollars; it’s almost like a third world banana republic.”

Read the article HERE.

The last two weeks in Ottawa...

Monday, October 19
- returned to Ottawa where the House was sitting all week
- Critics meeting with the Leader

Tuesday, October 20
- Meeting of the Committee on International Trade with witnesses on Canada-South America trade
- Meeting with Climate Action Network Canada
- Evening reception and dinner celebrating BDC’s 2009 Young Entrepreneur Awards

Wednesday, October 21
- Meeting of the Nova Scotia, Atlantic and National Liberal Caucus
- Meeting with representatives of the Canadian Fertilizer Institute
- Meeting with representatives of the Canadian Federation of Students

Thursday, October 22
- Meeting with the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) who represent a coalition of Canadian producer groups, trade associations and companies that support trade liberalization for agriculture and agri-food products
- Meeting of the Standing Committee on International Trade
- Travel to Toronto for the Canada-China Business Council President’s Dinner in the evening and then depart for Halifax at 11PM

Friday, October 23
- Meeting at Sepracor in Windsor, NS and then the rest of the day in the Wolfville constituency office for appointments

Saturday, October 24
- All-day campaign blitz in the Cumberland-Colchester by-election

Monday, October 26
- Return to Ottawa where the House is sitting

Tuesday, October 27
- Meeting of the Liberal Rural Caucus
- Meeting of the Standing Committee on International Trade
- Evening reception for Chinese Professional Day at the Chateau Laurier Hotel
- Parliamentary Internship Programme Annual Dinner

Wednesday, October 28
- Meetings of the NS, Atlantic and National Liberal Caucus
- Appearance on CPAC for a roundtable discussion on China
- Evening reception for the Liberal Caucus and staff hosted by the Leader

Thursday, October 29
- Meeting of the Standing Committee on International Trade with witnesses from the Grain Growers Association of Canada and the Canada Pork Council
- Travel to Boston for an evening speech to the Canadian Club at Harvard University