It's been a while since I've written anything about politics as I have been on vacation. Now that the vacation is over and I'm getting back into the routine of my working life, my mind is again pondering the wonder that is Canadian politics.

What I'm looking at is the impending implosion of the Conservative party at it's top. From what I have gathered in the press, Stephen Harper is a micro-manager of immense proportions. For example, a Canadian citizen is currently charged with terrorism, and all the announcements about this are coming from the PMO, or at least the Prime Minister's Parliamentary Secretary who is basically a mouthpiece for the PMO. This is unusual as this is normally a Department of Foreign Affairs matter, as it deals with another country and as such the Minister of Foreign Affairs should be the one speaking on this.

During my morning cruise of the internet, I came across this little item from Bourque which links to this blog article by cardinal47. It would appear that Harvie Andre, the former Tory cabinet minister under Brian Mulroney, has been given an untendered contract worth about half a million dollars for six to eight months of work. The contract is here.

I'm on my way home at last and as I sit on the bus typing this I'm thinking about the Middle East, as the paper was filled with news of little else. Now I'm not going to discuss possible solutions as there are none, nor am I going to discuss blame, as there's plenty of that to go around in the region. What I am going to discuss is the reactions of the Harper government and the media's take on those reactions.

It would appear that Ralph Klein is again doing his best to ensure that Stephen Harper won't get a majority government. This time it's Ralph spewing about eqalization payments and how Alberta wants to keep the other provinces away from Alberta's oil revenue.

It would appear that Stephen Harper is trying to govern Canada the way Ralph Klein is governing Alberta. It appears that Harper will no longer give press conferences to the national media. It would appear that the national media took umbrage to Harper and his handlers hand picking journalists to ask questions.

So Stephen Harper and his merry band of Tories are beginning to show their true colours. A party that railed against patronage and cronyism when in opposition is now heading right down that road now that they're in government.

I'm beginning to believe that the rich feel that not only can money buy anything, that it should be able to buy anything. This story I heard on CBC this morning about Overseas Medical Services is a case in point. This company's rather dubious services are to allow those that can afford it to go overseas for medical treatment. OK, so the rich can go overseas for medical treatment, what's the big deal, they've always been able to do that. The difference here is that, for the right price, OMS will allow you to purchase an organ from some poor person in a developing country.

I may just be getting more cynical as I get older, but it seems to me that the whole tempest in a teapot that is the flap over lowering the flag to half mast as well as the media attending the arrival of soldiers' bodies may be a ploy by the Tories to divert attention away from something else, the up coming budget for instance.

So not only is Stephen Harper canceling a low and middle income tax cut but it would appear that the only people who will truly benefit from his $1200 a year child care grant are the rich. It would appear that upon closer inspection the rich won't see the full amount and the poor will see even less.

Found this shot on the CBC website:

Interesting positioning of the crown above his head.