Lib MP links pie tossing to terrorism

Liberal MP Gerry Byrne says he believes the federal government should investigate whether the pieing of Fisheries Minister Gail Shea by a woman opposed to the seal hunt constitutes an act of terrorism.

I think Gerry should at least get a cupcake for that.

Gerry Byrne hails from Newfoundland Labrador where, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada:

"Approximately 1% of the total population of Newfoundland and Labrador derive income from sealing."

When last we heard from our FishMin Gail Shea, she was promoting BC's fish farms at a trade show in Norway, where their Minister of Fisheries is "a co-owner of a salmon farming company and former head of the Norwegian salmon farmers association". Over 90% of the open-pen fish farms in BC originate in Norway.

Asked about the connection between fish farming and the collapse of the Skeena and Fraser River salmon fisheries in December, Gail Shea, minister in charge of Fisheries and Oceans, said : "Nobody knows what’s happening in the marine environment."

I'm betting right now you want to replay that vid at least one more time.

We have had 5 pieings of politicians in Canada in the last decade, two of which were misses. Colby Cosh at Macleans says it's all fun and games till someone throws an acid pie, a particularly daft and rather desperate argument which depends on conflating tofu with acid. Or as one commenter over there points out : "it is stupid to say that pie throwing is serious because somebody could throw something WHICH IS NOT A PIE"

UPDATE : From Dammit Janet : Tofu Pie - It's the New Anthrax

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No HST protest in Vancouver

Thousands turned out in Vancouver today in an anti-HST protest that united politicians from across the local political spectrum.

West End Bob was there and brings us details and photos.

Former Socred premier Bill Vander Zalm - yes, The Zalm :

"The HST is a cruel tax - it takes from the people, the consumers... and it's giving to the big corporations. They're the real beneficiaries."

TD Economics reported yesterday that businesses will win big under the HST, aka Harper's Sales Tax, slicing $6.9 billion off their costs in Ontario and B.C. combined. Steve is even giving Gordo $1.6-billion to help implement it.

BC LINO Finance Minister Colin Hansen promises there will be a "trickle down effect" but people really don't seem to fancy being pissed on any further :

Ipsos Reid poll : B.C. Liberal support has collapsed and the party now trails the NDP by 10 percentage points. Only 35 % of voters polled said they'd support the government if an election were held today.

Environics poll, via The Hook at The Tyee : 42% of voters in Vancouver Point Grey - Gordo's own riding - would sign a petition to recall Campbell, including a quarter of those who voted for him in May :

An overwhelming number (79 percent) believed the Premier should have told British Columbians that his government was going to introduce the tax prior to the election.

When told that the tax collected from consumers through the HST would all go to corporations instead of being used to pay for better government programs, 64 percent (including 59 percent of BC Liberal voters) said they were now even more
opposed to the HST.

On the critical issue of whether or not British Columbians would support modest tax increases in order to pay for needed government services -- the poll found a large majority (78 percent) would support an increase.

... This finding crossed all political lines, with 74 percent of Liberals also coming out in support of the proposition that taxes should be increased to support public services.

Recall Gordo. Do it.

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Update : Dave at The Beav reports that the Victoria paper The Times-Colonist is looking for evidence that Gordo, despite pre-election promises not to, already had plans to implement the HST before the May election.

Here ya go, Times Colonist : a smoking gun pointed right at our heads from Gordo's policy think tank, the BC Progress Board, dated December 2008 : Investment British Columbia: Current realities and the way forward.

Response From the Progress Board :

"The most profound area for improvement to productivity, but also the most difficult to achieve, is in replacing the Provincial Sales Tax with a value-added tax, preferably harmonized with the Goods and Services Tax administered by the federal government. Such a change would significantly lower the marginal effective tax rate on investment and reduce distortions across sectors. Harmonization would face considerable challenges, not the least of which is public opposition as a result of a shift of the burden from business to consumers.

"In the short and medium term, lower-income British Columbians could see declines in real income as consumer prices rise. Public opposition to such a shift would be a substantial concern to policy-makers."

They also go on to advocate for TILMA, Gateway Pacific, run-of-river projects, and continued "harmonizing regulation between the province and the US". Additionally, they target the federal Fisheries Act as posing "overwhelming challenges to development in BC"

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Charming.

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