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Here’s my favourite Gary Schellenberger, Conservative MP for Perth-Wellington, quote of this election so far:

“I’d just like to say that to the best of my knowledge, I think that platform is coming out tomorrow (today) … If it (platform) came out today … I haven’t been watching the news, I don’t read the newspapers.”

This from a guy that was happy to pronounce he once delivered the daily newspaper as a boy?  I guess he just read the comics.

Not only does this smack of laziness, it also indicates how secretive the Conservative party has become - don’t let your candidates speak to the media and, by gosh, don’t tell them when the platform comes out.

Or maybe the platform was rushed into production? Given the priorities that its laid out that could be the truth.

The fact is Schellenberger hasn’t grown lazy - he was always lazy.

Take for instance that in the last candidates debate he couldn’t believe a fruit processing factory would move to China. Unfortunately for Schellenberger, he was wrong - the factory had closed and moved to China. The sad thing is, it was in his riding. So much for looking out for the local economy.

But you know what? He’ll get re-elected in Perth-Wellington and he knows it. It’s the voters of the riding that need to smarten up, not Schellenberger.

When NIMBY goes awry, the street goes with it.

Check out this article from the Star and the latest attack on the Ontario Municipal Board in North York:

It’s street revenge on developer
Furious councillors overruled on condo site name road OMB Folly

Oct 08, 2008
Paul Moloney
City Hall Bureau

A street by any other name wouldn’t be such sweet revenge.

North York councillors peeved at being overruled by the Ontario Municipal Board – on a condo complex they didn’t want – exacted poetic justice yesterday by giving the project an address the developer won’t soon forget: OMB Folly.

That’s the name the North York community council, on a 7-2 vote, chose for the new street leading into the 36-unit complex.

Councillor John Filion, who has frequently knocked heads with developers, said he was flabbergasted the OMB would allow rezoning for townhouses on a site that lies outside the designated North York Centre development area.

“This one really stands out as the most ludicrous decision that I know of,” Filion said. “It takes the cake. I could cite a lot of terrible OMB decisions, but it’s the one that’s just obviously absurd and ridiculous.”

Filion had expected his colleagues to resist his suggestion to name the street OMB Folly. Not today, said Councillor Maria Augimeri, after Councillor Howard Moscoe urged Filion to put it to a vote.

Councillor David Shiner said the move may usher in a welcome precedent: “When we start having the OMB not only go against our council but our planning staff, we may be able to come up with some very creative names to help name these new developments that show up without city council or city staff support.”

The municipal board, a quasi-judicial tribunal set up by the province, has routinely been blasted by Toronto councillors without firing back. Yesterday was no exception.

“I can tell you right now we have no comment on that,” said Matthew Bryan, of the OMB’s communications office. “We have no comment on what North York community council wishes to do.”

But the developer, who plans to start construction soon, was not amused.

“Are they nuts?” said Stephen Maizels, CEO of Hallstone Group. “Where is the adulthood? When do they grow up?”

Maizels said the previous owner of the site, Churchill-Basswood Developments Inc., was the entity that went to the OMB. The tribunal ruled in 2005 that the proposed development was appropriate for the site, fit well into the neighbourhood and represented good planning.

Filion, however, said there are lots of available sites within the specified boundaries for intensification – on either side of Yonge St. from Highway 401 to north of Finch Ave. According to the master plan, development isn’t supposed to encroach into neighbourhoods of single-family detached homes.

Filion is worried the Hallstone development sets a bad precedent.

“Other developers will follow the lead and say, `Let’s just run off to the Ontario Municipal Board and see if we get a crazy decision, too.’ It’s worth it for them to gamble $50,000 on an OMB hearing and roll the dice.”

A city staff report had suggested the street be named Connfield Lane, after John Conn, an early landowner in the area.

City council has given community councils authority to decide street names on their own, but officials are currently pondering whether OMB Folly contravenes the street-naming policy, which says derogatory names should be avoided.

So the issue may be reopened for a second look at the next meeting of city council, Oct. 29-30.

From: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/513835

In Perth-Wellington the advice is - “Vote with your heart.”  After All, it’s a safe Conservative riding.

If you believe these polls, it looks like the Liberals could even come third to the NDP.

http://www.voteforenvironment.ca/node/495

It would seem lots of people are confused about the Liberal Green Shift.

The fact is the Liberals aren’t the only party putting a price on carbon, so are the Conservatives, NDP and the Greens. The only difference is the Liberals and Greens will give you your money back in the form of income tax cuts, while the NDP and Conservatives will keep it.

So how much does each party plan to price carbon at? The Conservatives put the price at $65 a tonne, the NDP $35 and $50 for the Greens. The Liberals put the price at $40 and are the only party that won’t put it on gasoline.

So when you really start to dig, it’s only the Liberals and the Greens that are going to give you income tax cuts, while developing a new green economy and addressing climate change; whereas, the Conservatives and NDP are the only parties taking the old line approach – regulate, tax and try to pick winners in the green economy.

I prefer the market approach and reduced income taxes to address environmental issues. I’ll be voting Liberal.

Remember the good old days when Stephen Harper believed in local democracy and backbenchers’ rights to speak-out for themselves?

Beyond the the many examples of his clampdown on his MPs in Parliament - Garth Turner kicked out of caucus for speaking out against the party, Bill Casey who was kicked out for voting against the budget, etc., look at what’s going on in the election campaign to douse local democracy:

• Halton candidate, Lisa Raitt, was parachuted in despite the wishes of the local constituency group - see their quote:

“We had candidates prepared to run, we had the memberships - we had everything necessary to hold a nomination meeting,” he said. And now they’re (Conservative Party of Canada) using the guise of an election… to impose their candidate.”

“This was planned months ago,” he concluded. “They knew that Lisa Raitt was going to be our candidate months ago. Even I heard up to a year ago this was decided.”

• Parachuting a candidate from Ottawa to run against turfed Conservative MP Bill Casey in his riding in Nova Scotia, despite the fact the majority of the local constituency was behind having Bill Casey back in caucus.

No doubt every party does this kind of stuff - but Harper was the one who said he’d hold up the voice of local ridings. Afterall, the Reform was all about the grassroots. So much for roots.

Then there’s Harper’s treatment of the media - beyond being in a stand-off with the Ottawa press corps for the majority of his term, his control of local candidates is stiffling the ability of citizens to actually vet their candidates.

Take yesterday’s whisking away of Donna Cadman in British Columbia. She’s at the heart of a libel lawsuit the Conservatives have launched against the Liberals, where it was alleged that Harper offerred her dying a husband a million dollar insurance policy if he voted with the Conservatives. All really messy stuff.

But to ensure she didn’t talk, after appearing with the “Dear Leader”, Harper’s staff told the media that local candidates don’t speak to the national media.  After it was pointed out that local media was present, Harper’s staff said it was candidates’ responsibility to canvass and get elected, not speak to the media.

Wow.  But that’s just one example of many where the national campaign has been running the show.  Don’t speak candidates, you could mess up the show - “A majority is within reach and we wouldn’t want you to mess up the show.”  (ie. See Death By a Thousand Cold Cuts.)

Fortunately though, at least Perth-Wellington’s Conservative MP, doesn’t mind taking to the airwaves himself.  And, this radio interview, is exactly why Harper likes to keep his MPs silent.