Well, the results are in and Harper has somehow secured a majority government. I'm actually surprised that they obtained a majority, mainly due to vote of no-confidence in parliament, but this is how it all played out. In all honesty, I can definitely handle the conservatives winning, but I find it odd that Harper is still allowed to lead the party. At the very least you would think the conservative party would remove Harper as the figurehead based on the previous allegations against him and the vote of no-confidence. But given that Harper's government renovated the Parliament Buildings and replaced ...

I didn't see it live, but I read the highlights, and it's pretty much exactly what I thought it would sound like. Whenever I see Gordon Campbell talk, I can't help me feel that he's talking down to everyone, and that's the perception I was left with after reading his speech. First, he apologized for not giving the province a heads up about the HST, but Ottawa didn't give him enough time. If that doesn't sound like the biggest copout ever, I don't know what would. Even if that's true, you gotta wonder about any deal that's shoved down your throat with a ticking stopwatch attached to it. Second, ...

British Columbia just announced that they are going to be switching to a harmonized sales tax model in July of next year. Basically, instead of having a provincial sales tax (PST) of 7%, and a goods and services tax (GST) of 5%, they are going to have one combined tax, a harmonized sales tax (HST) of 12%. I'm no economist, but that seems like a pretty bad idea. Here's a quote from the official release: This is the single biggest thing we can do to improve B.C.’s economy,” said Premier Gordon Campbell. “This is an essential step to make our businesses more competitive, encourage billions ...

By no means am I a twitter expert. In fact, I'm not really even certain what that moniker means. Saying you're an expert at Twitter is like saying you're an expert at talking, or being able to hold a conversation. Sure, you have to understand what an @ sign does, and how to direct message someone, but other than that Twitter is just another tool in a wide arsenal of technology that allows people to establish and build relationships. I used to only follow my friends on Twitter. Even though I replied to most @ messages directed at me, I didn't follow everyone back, simply because I wanted to keep ...

I was over at Derek's blog this morning reading his article about the BC Liberal Party and their sponsorship of the Northern Voice social. Given that the BC Liberal Party was also a sponsor of WordCamp Whistler, and that I was one of the organizers, I thought I should share my thoughts on this. First, I want to point out the logistics of an event like this. Organizing WordCamp Whistler was literally two months of solid work. A few days prior to the event I was fielding well over 100 emails a day trying to keep the boat afloat, and pull everything together so that the conference would be successful. ...

Someone back home just forwarded me this email that was recently sent out by Chilliwack's member of Parliament, Chuck Strahl. In it, he talks about his views with regards to what is happening in Ottawa right now. I'm posting this for informational purposes, not because I agree with everything he's saying in it. Last week I sent around an update on Canada's economic situation, with the observation that it wasn't a very enjoyable subject to write about. Unfortunately, this week it appears that our economic woes are morphing into a political crisis of sorts, at a time when we can least afford it. ...

On September 11th, 2001, I was working in the middle of a clean room in a tiny building somewhere in the middle of Ottawa. Upon walking down the hall, I learned from a co-worker that a plane had just struck the World Trade Center. Thinking it was just an accident, I continued on with my job without any more thought to the event. Upon learning that another plane had hit the second World Trade Center building less than an hour later, I began to realize the magnitude of the day's events. A few hours later, I would find myself across the street on Hunt Club, watching history unfold on a small television ...

It's finally here. After over a full year of campaigning, tomorrow the United States will be voting on who will be the next president of the United States. As I've blogged about many times before, I'm hoping Barack Obama wins. Compared to most politicians in this day and age, he seems upfront, humble, intelligent, and with an honest desire to improve the state of America. I'm probably going to hole myself up tomorrow near a TV and watch the coverage as it happens. Without a doubt, this is bound to be the most important political event that I've witnessed in my lifetime. Whoever wins tomorrow will ...

100,000 people. Any questions? From here. ...

I was reading a quote by Donald Rumsfeld this morning: Private media does not get up in the morning and say what can we do to promote the values and ideas that the free Western nations believe in? It gets up in the morning and says they're going to try to make money by selling whatever they sell... The way they decided to do that is to be dramatic and if it bleeds it leads is the common statement in the media today. They've got their job, and they have to do that, and that's what they do. We need someone in the United States government, some entity, not like the old USIA . . . I think this agency, ...

If you were reading the news yesterday, you probably heard of the allegations that Canadians overseas have aided in the torture of Afghan prisoners by handing them over to local authorities and then not following up on their treatment. To quote a few paragraphs from the Globe and Mail: Critics demanded the resignation of Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor yesterday over new allegations that Afghan prisoners, detained by Canadian soldiers and handed over to local authorities, had been tortured. [...] Professor Michael Byers of the University of British Columbia, a specialist in international relations, ...