Missing The Obvious

Saskatchewan has never really had an insightful political reporter. Murray Mandryk is the perfect example of this. On so many fronts, Mandryk just doesn't get it.

Take a look at this column from May 15th about an NDP renewal

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"Suddenly, though, there are signs that the NDP's reluctance to renew its ranks is changing. Trew's retirement announcement has opened the door to a seat that the NDP have held for 24 straight years. There is now a spirited NDP nomination race in Regina Coronation Park with Jaime Garcia, Tamara Harder, Fred Kress, Tory McGregor and David Froh. Meanwhile, Meili is one of three New Democrats vying for Saskatoon Sutherland.

 And with Regina Northeast opening up for a younger candidate (possibly someone like Petersen) the NDP appears eager to do battle in a seat that the Saskatchewan Party is clearly targeting with SaskPower vice-president Kevin Doherty. Add a few more younger faces to the group of first-term MLAs that includes Cam Broten, Trent Wotherspoon, Darcy Furber and Chartier and the NDP caucus would suddenly become a lot more youthful.

 Perhaps the NDP's long-awaited renewal is finally happening."

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Mandryk misses the most important question of all.

Renewing to what?

Young faces do not necessarily mean renewal. It's about new ideas, new directions. What are the new ideas these young guns are bringing forward?

Ryan Meili is the only one listed with new ideas and lost to Lingenfelter because of them.

With respect to Furber, Broten and Wotherspoon, these guys are acting like nothing but NDP thugs of old. They're more 1970 than 2010. What have they brought to the debate, other than a fresh dose of vitriol?

And finally, what kind of self-respecting individual would be attracted to Dwain Lingenfelter's NDP? What kind of person would desire to work under his management style? His blatant narcissism? The man who speaks about "HIS" party, unlike his predecessors who spoke of "OUR" party?

There's nothing new here folks, move along...

It's too bad we have to ask the questions that Mandryk is obviously incapable of asking.

Throwing Crap Against A Wall

And hoping it sticks.

NDP rookie Danielle Chartier, making mountains out of molehills;

But Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Dustin Duncan said the status was changed at the request of the owners -- the Order of St. Benedict -- and said he was confident no harm would come to the facility.

Unions Can't Be Trusted

Just the latest example... (Once again we need to be clear, we are NOT talking about rank and file union members. We are referring to union organizers and union executives)

Last year, the Teamsters Union, a labour group that represents blue-collar and professional workers, launched a full-scale campaign to organize Canadian FedEx employees.

Local FedEx employees were soon being approached by union representatives about joining, but many weren't interested, Gibson said.

Soon after, employees noticed union representatives writing down employee licence plate numbers in the parking lot, Gibson said. They then began receiving mail at home from the union addressed to the owner of the vehicle, which in many cases wasn't the FedEx employee, Gibson said.

Gibson, 37, and five other employees asked SGI to investigate what they suspected was a privacy breach. They were contacted last month by SGI's chief privacy officer with a letter confirming suspicions their personal information was given out inappropriately.

SGI spokesperson Kim Hambleton said the privacy breach was traced to the Ministry of Justice, where it was discovered an employee had given the information to the union.

The rules need to change. This was not a mistake. This is a deliberate breach of privacy in to help union organizers harass and intimidate non-union employees into joining a union (which increases the union bottom line).

At the very least the employee should be fired, and the government portion of her pension be taken back to set an example for any other union sympathizer that considers doing the same.

Unions then using the illegally acquired information should face massive fines in order to stop them from doing this again.

The law needs to change to protect workers and their privacy who aren't interested in joining unions. They have to be protected from union thugs.

The local Teamsters union representative declined comment (surprise), and we doubt this little tidbit will appear on SFL President Larry Hubich's blog any time soon with Larry claiming that he is against this sort of thing.

This is just another example of why most hard working people, both union and otherwise, hate what unions have become.

I'm Surprised He Didn't Ask This Fellow To Bend Over...

... to use him as a footstool.

What kind of a person thinks this is a good photo? Better yet, what kind of a political leader?

From linkndp.ca (this is a photo used to promote Dwain Lingenfelter)

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

We rarely agree with Jim Fodey aka leftdog on anything. However on this post, we absolutely do.

Good post, Jim. Violence is NEVER an option instead of political discourse.

People Love The SGEU

Or maybe not.

Hilarious! Some of our favorites;

• A -NDP kills *real* jobs!
• AAAAA Advocate free enterprise. Suppress socialism.
• aaaah, privatized liquor tastes swell!
• AALink privatized his 1st 3wives
• Lower my taxes! Shrink the Public service!
• Privatize SK NOW
• Vote 4 Brad Wall

They ALL love Saskatchewan!

h/t SDA - A Saskatchewan Government Employees Union website goes horribly wrong.

A Sold Out William Hung Concert

UPDATE; These idiots don't even know what they're protesting. From the (soon to be deleted) comments in Buckdog

2 comments

SCN = Saskatchewan Communications Network (not Saskatchewan Cable Network)

Posted by TellMe
10:41 AM, May 19, 2010

Thanx .. fixed!
Posted by leftdog
12:39 PM, May 19, 2010

It just goes to show you how little SCN meant to the average Saskatchewan resident, including the former NDP caucus Chief of Staff, if they don't even know what the letters in SCN stand for.

But if they can pick up a sign and protest something about what Brad Wall did ...

NDP VP Kent E. Peterson claims there were "over 1000 people" converged to protest the Wall government policies. Now these protesters were comprised of the usual suspects; labour organizers and leaders, left-wing activists, certain traditional NDP First Nations supporters.

Let us be very clear here. There are a number of First Nations communities that strongly support the Wall government. Some are strong NDP supporters. Then there are those whose names end up on NDP voters lists and they have no idea how they got there.

As one might surmise there were a myriad of topics these people were protesting; Bill 80, SCN, changes to the environment.

Now take a look at this picture Jim Fodey aka leftdog posted on his blog (above). Pay particular attention to the fringes. Fodey claimed the crowd was "huge".

The problem is that official estimates of the crowd were between 450-500 people.  One would suspect it would be much less if some of the out of town protesters weren't getting paid mileage.

Obviously union driven campaigns and the Lingenfelter NDP leadership just arent resonating with the average Saskatchewan voter.

This isn't a crowd. This is a less than average attendance at a Raffi concert.

The NDP, Unions Declaring War on the People of Saskatchewan

We've noticed a disturbing trend in the past few weeks.

It started out with SFL President Larry Hubich's post about the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce and the Saskatchewan Party.

"It is rapidly approaching the day when we need to stop spending our hard earned wages in businesses that are members of, or supporters of, the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce."

(As an aside, we found the following paragraph amusing;)

It's also time to focus our attention on turfing the chamber's puppets out of the Saskatchewan legislature. Governments have a responsibility and obligation to regulate and legislate in the "public" interest, not in the singular interest of the captains of industry in corporate back-rooms and behind closed doors.

Hubich wants the chamber puppets out, so labour puppets (NDP) can be brought back in.

The second salvo we noticed was the SGEU's new campaign, ifyoulovesaskatchewan.ca. Hubich also posts a video with the heading "Don't Mess With Our Saskatchewan", seen below.





Two things strike us.

Number one, what exactly is "our Saskatchewan"? A province run by the NDP and big union bosses? According to the last election, 52% of Saskatchewan voters were against that. And that number has increased since.

Secondly, is the thinly veiled threat of, "Don't mess with us!" Hubich asks it. The SGEU video asks it.

The question we ask is, "Or what?" The SGEU will pull snow plows off the roads during a winter blizzard? An all out general strike? The people of Saskatchewan will ultimately decide whether that is a good move or not at the ballot box.

When it comes to threats from anyone, Saskatchewan citizens don't take all that kindly to threats, thinly veiled or otherwise.

But the latest salvo comes from Dwain Lingenfelter himself on the steps of the Legislature yesterday.

"During the rally NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter urged the protesters to prepare for the 2011 provincial election, saying the battle over specific issues may be lost for now "but we're going to win the war."

The NDP and unions bosses are preparing for a war against Saskatchewan people for their own selfish reasons.

It's a war they will lose.

Welcome SDA Readers

Your input and your wisdom is always appreciated here.

The First Rule of Holes

Has evidently gone lost on Kent E. Peterson, NDP Vice President, aka Humble Opinion.

Peterson explains his remarks regarding former Sask Party MLA Serge LeClerc.

"Come now, come now, it was a reference to his long-winded nature. With him being absent from the Legislature, I understand how that could be lost on you. Silly Sask. Party caucus staff. Get to work, now."

This is no laughing matter, Mr. Peterson.

You removed the offending remarks, and a post chastising you for them from another commenter, once we exposed them to the Internet. That in itself is an admission of guilt.

Your post has portrayed you as homophobic at best, a gay-basher at worst. Being gay is not a tasteless joke!

You should not be the Vice President of any political party. You should be ashamed of yourself and if your party had any sense of decency, you would be stripped of your position.

Since the NDP is void of decency at the moment with Lingenfelter at the helm, we assume your position is safe.

Veins Bursting?

More like busting a gut.

I wonder if David Froh will have to pay his volunteers to knock for his own campaign. And I sure hope they're unionized. If not, where's Larry Hubich?

Mind you, he does have some opinions about running successful elections. (Page 20).

"Political leaders understand that power comes from attraction.If others are attracted to a political party’s arguments and ideas, that attraction will lead to acquiesce. If a political party represents a society’s core values, it gains political capital and thus, can set the agenda to meet society’s needs. The tricky part is for a political party, and in our case the NDP, to project soft power without deviating into a rhetoric or propaganda trap."

Yes, Dwain Lingenfelter is all about soft power.

Froh's campaign is going to be hilarious and a losing one.

NDP VP Peterson - Homophobic?

UPDATE: Peterson has removed the reference to LeClerc in his post, along with a comment chastising him and his lame defence of the comment. Too little, too late...

Here's the latest from NDP VP Kent E. Peterson

"Bill 80 sucks. Serge LeClerc does too, but in an entirely different context (evidently, also blows ifyoucatchmydrift). Tasteless jokes aside, there will be a grand rally (grand manifestation en francais) at the Legislature on Tuesday, the 18th."


Is Peterson implying that being homosexual, or engaging in homosexual acts is a tasteless joke?
 
It's ironic how the left will pretend to defend the rights of gay men and women, but when they apply the label to a conservative, it's meant as an insult. Talk about a double standard.
 
What does NDP VP Kent E. Peterson have against homosexuals? Why does he think they are a tasteless joke?

Bad Blood

Spills over into the Star Phoenix

"My thinking? Shocked. I was shocked," he said to reporters. "I was shocked that a leader of the Opposition would use those kind of accusations in the house. That is just something, I think, was a crossing of the line." - Deputy Premier Ken Krawetz

It doesn't shock us at all...

Are You Kidding Me?

The youth and naivete of NDP VP Kent E. Peterson shines through with this hilarious post.

"...I think this site should showcase his family life, his community involvement, and his informal, friendly nature. That is the lens through which I judge."

Here's a picture of Dwain and his 4th wife... (The children's faces are blurred out of respect and privacy for them, even though you can find the uncensored photo on the SaskNDP Flickr stream).

Notice the family man, Dwain, totally obscuring the view of his wife in this photo. It's like she doesn't even matter.

There is a reason, Mr. Peterson, that the party apparatchik is not all that keen on promoting Dwain as a "family man". It opens up a significant number of questions about his previous relationships, both formal and informal. I think Dwain would like to turn another page on these episodes.

That's why there is no "family" tab, Peterson.

The Truly Despicable Dwain Lingenfelter

This truly outrageous exchange proves once and for all that Dwain Lingenfelter is not only a terrible political leader but not fit for public office of any kind. What kind of person says these things?

Anywhere outside of the Legislature, his ass would be sued off.

Lingenfelter is an absolute affront to Saskatchewan values.




h/t Wolf in Socialist's Clothing

NDP Orc Alert

Ken Winton-Grey with another LTTE. Check the sidebar for more details.

How many times does the SP let these people write in a year?

The NDP Concern Citizen's Brigade #6

UPDATED: From the comments,

It does all come down to fact vs fiction though, doesn't it?

I wonder if Mr. Brockelbank is aware that Hansard is available online, and that the Legislature wasn't sitting on February 3rd, 1988.

The last sitting of the session ended at 2am on November 6th, 1987 and didn't resume until a throne speech on March 21, 1988.

-oxygentax

ED - As a former NDP Speaker, you think that Brockelbank would know better.

Evidently not.

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Today's NDP LTTE Concerned Citizen is from John Brockelbank, just another average concerned citizen concerned this day about what John Gormley wrote about.

Would this be the same John Brockelbank who has a long CCF-NDP family pedigree, who served as the speaker in the Saskatchewan legislature and as the Minister of Public Works  under the Blakeney government and endorsed Dwain Lingenfelter for leader of the NDP?

You think a former speaker of the house would have a little more decorum. But then again, he was an NDP speaker.

And he did endorse Dwain Lingenfelter.

Dwain Lingenfelter and the NDP - Using Sick Children and Their Families as Political Pawns

UPDATE (Bumped): Dwain Lingenfelter continues to mislead the Saskatchewan public about the Children's Hospital


May 082010 - CHAB Moose Jaw

KEN AUDETTE (Host):



Dwain, let’s talk about the Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon. I know the Opposition party releasing some information this week saying that it was a no go anymore. It was the government saying that the Opposition came out and said it was cancelled. They are saying – that is not the case. From the NDP’s side of things – the literature that did come out – why was that said? I will give you a chance to comment on that.

DWAIN LINGENFELTER (Leader of the NDP):


It is pretty clear that the hospital isn’t built. Brad Wall has been talking about it all this time in Opposition – he promised it. He is into his third year of government and he hasn’t done, even started on the hospital, so obviously it is not being built.

Now, if his game is we are going to pretend we are starting to build it a few months before the next election that is just games playing. And what we are trying to do is force the hand of the premier if you believe in the Children’s Hospital – a freestanding building that you promised before the last election and you say you have the money – why the heck don’t we build it.

The fact of the matter, it is cancelled. Because it isn’t here, it is not being built. If anyone can find it, we would like to know where it is being built at.

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Are there no immoral depths to which Dwain Lingenfelter the NDP will not sink? Evidently not.

The timeline...
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The last week in April 2010, the NDP sent out a flyer to every household in Saskatchewan on the taxpayer's dime. With respect to the proposed children's hospital, here is the quote from the flyer.

They (Sask Party) promised a children's hospital, a public surgical care centre, and 13 new long term care homes, but they have cancelled funding for all these projects."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 03/2010 - The Richard Brown Show (Newstalk650)


RICHARD BROWN (CKOM Afternoon Host):


A pamphlet arrived in mailboxes over the weekend on Saturday, it came from the NDP, it was a political ad and it has raised the ire of some of those in the Saskatchewan Party, this mailer says, and I quote

“They promised a Children’s Hospital, a Public Surgical Care Center and 13 new long term care homes, but they have canceled funding for all these projects”

The government says no they haven’t. Joining us on the line Judy Junor who is the NDP health critic. Ms. Junor thanks for being with us.

The government says that this is wrong, that the government has not canceled funding for the Children’s Hospital, the Public Surgical Care Center and 13 new long term care homes, yet here it is in one of your fliers.


JUDY JUNOR (NDP MLA):


I don’t know how they can say that because they have, the funding to the long term care facilities was removed, was not in estimates. This morning when I questioned the Minister, the public surgical care centre is gone, that was out of their budget, and the Children’s Hospital, that money is not in the budget either.

RICHARD BROWN (CKOM Afternoon Host):

Well it may not be in the budget Ms. Junor but they say it’s in the bank.


JUDY JUNOR (NDP MLA):


Well I asked the Minister that this morning, where is it, and he said it was at the Crown Investments Corporation. I asked him how it was displayed, how would we find it in a financial statement, he doesn’t know. And I don’t think that’s reassuring to anybody that the money will be there when you finally need it because now we’re into another review and the decision about the site again in Saskatoon. So it seems to be a little suspect when the project is put on hold, is actually the word the Minister used was paused. And another review is going on.


I’ve been involved in these reviews in Saskatoon since the 1980’s I’m not exactly sure what we’re reviewing yet again. And I think that the decision is pretty coincidental right before the budget announcement that the money isn’t there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But rather than saying the "money isn't in the budget" which was technically factual, that doesn't have the political sting as saying they've cancelled the hospital. Which brings us to today...

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May 04/2010 -The CKOM Morning Show with Brent Loucks - (Newstalk650)


BRENT LOUCKS (Program Host):

Let’s get some thoughts from Brynn Boback-Lane, CEO and President of the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

So Brynn, tell me what you think or what you heard from your supporters when this NDP flyer came out and what you make of the political ying and yang that is going on between the government and the NDP right now over this?

BRYNN BOBACK-LANE (Children’s Hospital Foundation):

Thank you Brent for having me on the show. I really want to make it clear that the Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan project HAS NOT been cancelled. It never has been cancelled.

In fact when the Minister of Health was on your show yesterday he was crystal clear when he responded to that speculation about the Children’s Hospital project and stated the funds were indeed available.

Now whether they are in one account or another account, to our foundation and to the people that are putting this major task together really is irrelevant. We know the $200-million dollars is sitting there in trust in a CIC Account in trust for the Children’s Hospital. And when it is required it will be there to be utilized for that purpose.

BRENT LOUCKS (Program Host):

Does this drive you crazy that all of a sudden this project gets drawn out into the political arena like this?

BRYNN BOBACK-LANE (Children’s Hospital Foundation):

You know people just want the truth and they want to know where their dollars are going and where they were intended which was the Children’s Hospital. And we as a foundation rely on their support to ensure that we buy the right equipment, that we can support patient care and research and education. And of course the inevitable capital for the Children’s Hospital. And every dollar that we receive from our supporters stays within Saskatchewan to do this important work.

So when misinformation is circulated it really doesn’t help our cause for the much needed fundraising that it will take to make this a truly dedicated family and children’s hospital. But who it really hurts is the families and the children who are really expecting this facility. They are already feeling stress about their individual situations and to put them through another emotional rollercoaster as to whether or not this hospital is actually going to be built is very, very unfortunate.


We’ve had many calls from concerned donors and parents and quite frankly no one wins when this happens.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We've said it before. This is all about Dwain Lingenfelter's naked ambition to become the Premier of the province.

And he along with the NDP will use any means possible, including misinforming the families and loved ones of sick children, to achieve their goals and to attempt to erode future funding for this very important project.

We cannot think of anything more evil than that.

The Left Wing Tell Us Unfettered Capitalism is the Problem

What about unfettered socialism? Unfettered unions?

What the IMF demands Greece to do before they give them a bailout;

• Public sector pay/hiring freeze
• 2-3 percentage points increase in the VAT
• Average retirement age raised from 53 to 67
• 13th and 14th month salary ended for public sector workers
• Short term public sector contracts not renewed
• Close 800+ State entities
• Sell State own companies/land/properties
• Open up over 60 “closed shop professions”

The fact that Greece has gotten so bad is solely the fault of previous socialist administrations and the demands of the big labour unions.

Capitalism isn't the problem. Government intrusion into the economy and allowing unrealistic union demands into the economy is.

We're seeing the result. Greece may be our future.

Our hope that Canada and Saskatchewan are watching and learning.

Some Businesspeople Are Starting to Get It

And finally starting to speak out.

"Socialism killed private investment in Saskatchewan's mining and oil and gas industries, he said.
Socialism is an active enemy of business," said MacNeill at the Saskatoon Inn. "It changed our economic landscape forever." - 49 North Resources Inc. President and CEO Tom MacNeill

Bravo, Mr. MacNeill

We Cannot Find a Better Description

For NDP political operatives...NDP Orcs

"Although not entirely dim-witted and occasionally crafty, they are portrayed as miserable beings, hating everyone including themselves and their masters, whom they serve out of fear. They make no beautiful things, but rather design cunning devices made to hurt and destroy."

We couldn't have described them better.

The NDP Vice President of the Month Award ...

... Goes to Kent E. Peterson, a newly elected NDP Vice President and former SYND fundraising director. (All sorts of good stuff in the Commonwealth)

When Kent isn't sipping white wine and eating potato chips in the local pool hall, he's an active blogger on two sites.

Kent also enjoys time on Twitter and Facebook and writing letters to the editor.

At one point Kent's Facebook profile picture was a screen capture, seen here.

There was some speculation that Kent E. Peterson was also Robert Hamm, aka rightwingbob since the posting appeared so quickly on his Facebook site after the NDP thought they found who they thought might be the author of this blog.

Then immediately after, for some reason, saskpartywatch.blogspot.com disappeared for a while.

But thankfully saskpartywatch.blogspot.com is still up and running, and hilarious as ever!

And while the concerned "citizen" running that website is asking the Conflict of Interest Commissioner to examine if the members of the Sask Party caucus office are misusing taxpayer funds, we would ask that he do the same of the NDP caucus staff as well.

We would like to congratulate Kent E. Peterson for becoming the first ever NDP Vice President of the Month.
 

We'll end this post off with a delightful back and forth between the NDP VPOTM and SFL President Larry Hubich regarding the Serge Leclerc issue. Enjoy...
 
 

Looks Like We're Getting To Them ... Again

We're looking forward to the results of this complaint as well.

NDP Concerned Citizens Brigade - #4

Another LTTE from regular contributor, Joan Bell. Just another average concerned citizen? Nope...

Here is her Facebook page link.

Likes and Interests



Saskatchewan New Democratic Party, SWNDP - Saskatoon Wanuskewin NDP, Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan, Catlin Hogan, Lenore Swystun, Tiffany Paulsen, Darren Hill, Denise Kouri, Danielle Chartier, Noah Evanchuk, Ryan Meili, Earth Day Film Festival - Craik, Saskatchewan 2010, Retirement Security For Everyone!, Save Our Saskatchewan Crowns, Telling Pat Robertson to STFU


Joan Bell is also mentioned in a few issues of the Commonwealth ...

• Volume 63, Issue 3 (63.3)
• Volume 64, Issue 3 (64.3)
• Volume 62, Issue 3 (62.3)
• Volume 67, Issue 3 (67.3)

In addition you can read Joan Bell every couple of months or so in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix (Google rocks!). The theme of her letters are always, "Brad Wall = Bad; NDP = the Best"

If Canwest will not formally identify these people... We will.

Link, Maybe We Should Go on Gormley

"Politics used to be about the nookie"

Turning another page in Saskatchewan...

I Blow My Nose At You. I Fart In Your General Direction

Jim Fodey's, aka leftdog, reaction to the New West Partnership.

From the comments;
"I spit on the Saskatchewan Party and every fuckhead who supports this!!!!" - leftdog

We have trouble taking anything Jim Fodey says seriously.

He just kind of reminds us of these fellows...