The ball in the Prime Minister's court
The Speaker's decision is pretty clear - when it comes down to it, the House has the right to insist on whatever documents it wants. However, he's given the government two weeks to find an accommodation with Parliament about how to release these documents and still protect the national interest.
One of two things will happen now:
The Prime Minister will take seriously the decision, and will begin to negotiate with the opposition leaders to find that middle path.
Or, the Prime Minister will consider the two weeks an opportunity to play more games, trying to work around this decision.
The first choice would be good for Canada. The second would not. Guess which one of these paths I think this particular Prime Minister will take?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Decision Day?
I was hoping to be safely tucked back into my own domain before another election brought about Gaffe-o-Meter IV: The Gaffinating, but there is some buzz that the Speaker's decision regarding the contempt of Parliament motion made weeks ago might send Canadians to the polls. However, I will do what I need to do, if the Prime Minister decides that it's easier to ignore his own fixed-date election legislation for the second time rather than respect the institutions of Canadian democracy.
However, I don't think things will happen as fast as all that. Then again, I never seem to see it coming until we're on top of it, so what do I know?
I was hoping to be safely tucked back into my own domain before another election brought about Gaffe-o-Meter IV: The Gaffinating, but there is some buzz that the Speaker's decision regarding the contempt of Parliament motion made weeks ago might send Canadians to the polls. However, I will do what I need to do, if the Prime Minister decides that it's easier to ignore his own fixed-date election legislation for the second time rather than respect the institutions of Canadian democracy.
However, I don't think things will happen as fast as all that. Then again, I never seem to see it coming until we're on top of it, so what do I know?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
As Bear604 always liked to write, "For those of you scoring at home"
Two weeks after banks bumped mortgage rates 6/10s of a percent, here comes another quarter. This will be a wilder ride than even I thought.
On a four hundred thousand dollar mortgage (not an unreasonable amount of loan to buy a pretty boring run-of-the-mill single family detached house in Edmonton), in two weeks your debt servicing costs just went up by $3400 a year - almost $300 a month. If there are two more fortnights like this before your mortgage renewal date comes up, you'll need to come up with an extra $850 a month, so I hope your family income has gone up by $30,000 a year since your last renewal so you can convince the bank you can afford that.
Update, April 27: here's another 0.15%, rounding the increase to a full percentage point in a month. It's possible that even the bears don't know how far this can go.
Two weeks after banks bumped mortgage rates 6/10s of a percent, here comes another quarter. This will be a wilder ride than even I thought.
On a four hundred thousand dollar mortgage (not an unreasonable amount of loan to buy a pretty boring run-of-the-mill single family detached house in Edmonton), in two weeks your debt servicing costs just went up by $3400 a year - almost $300 a month. If there are two more fortnights like this before your mortgage renewal date comes up, you'll need to come up with an extra $850 a month, so I hope your family income has gone up by $30,000 a year since your last renewal so you can convince the bank you can afford that.
Update, April 27: here's another 0.15%, rounding the increase to a full percentage point in a month. It's possible that even the bears don't know how far this can go.
Good news at last
The Oilers have the first draft pick in the 2010 entry draft, so that was totally worth sucking all year long.
The Oilers have the first draft pick in the 2010 entry draft, so that was totally worth sucking all year long.
Here I am
If it wasn't for messing around with the blog, I'm sure I would have something pithy and entertaining to say about Rahim Jaffer or Dave Taylor. I'll see what I can come up with later today.
Meanwhile, this generic template is very much like my original back in 2002, so I might have some fun with it before I return some variation of blinding red and orange.
If it wasn't for messing around with the blog, I'm sure I would have something pithy and entertaining to say about Rahim Jaffer or Dave Taylor. I'll see what I can come up with later today.
Meanwhile, this generic template is very much like my original back in 2002, so I might have some fun with it before I return some variation of blinding red and orange.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Today's the day
Blogger stops supporting FTP transfer on the first of May. I've been using FTP transfer to publish my blog for nearly a decade. I also have my own URL and several side pages. So, long story short, this is going to be interesting.
Fortunately, no one reads me any more except me, so no one should notice if I break everything. Wish me luck!
Edited to add: It didn't go as well as I'd hoped, and now it seems I can only manually change the pages at revmod.ca. This will be my temporary home until I have the time to repair it all.
Blogger stops supporting FTP transfer on the first of May. I've been using FTP transfer to publish my blog for nearly a decade. I also have my own URL and several side pages. So, long story short, this is going to be interesting.
Fortunately, no one reads me any more except me, so no one should notice if I break everything. Wish me luck!
Edited to add: It didn't go as well as I'd hoped, and now it seems I can only manually change the pages at revmod.ca. This will be my temporary home until I have the time to repair it all.
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