Note to Roman Catholic Church - If you take public $ you have to answer for it

Ah Rome and her church, the last crumbling and rotting vestige of a once powerful global empire.

The Toronto Star is reporting that Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop of Toronto, has his robes in a knot over not being able to discriminate against students with a homosexual orientation.

Go cry to an altar boy.

Well Mr. Collins...there's a simple solution to your problem. If you don't like Catholic schools being dictated to by elected officials, then stop accepting public funds for the running of your schools. Its that old saw about not being able to have your cake and eat it too.

Hopefully the church will eventually see the errors of its ways. The church has made enormous strides over the years after all. Rome now realizes that our sun doesn't revolve around this planet, and they've stopped murdering people for refusing to accept Rome's authority. Heck they don't even shuttle pedophile priests around anymore so they can prey on new victims, at least I hope they don't.

You can read the whole story here: Dalton McGuinty tells Catholic church he’s in charge of schools

The church has been wrong about so many things so many times, and that continues to this day.  Thankfully in our modern enlightened age we have human law to counteract inferior religious dictates. 

Ottawa citizen reports - Thomas Mulclair has a mortgage on his home

This is news? 

Postmedia Network, owners of such bastions of liberal journalism as the National Post and Ottawa Citizen, is reporting that NDP leader Thomas Mulclair has a mortgage on his west island Montréal home. 

How much does he owe?  Thanks to Postmedia's dogged research Canadians now know the mortgage is valued at a whopping $300,000.  Whoa Nelly, STOP THE PRESSES!!!

Of course, that's not really very juicy is it?  Gotta give it some spin, and here's where Postmedia really shines.  Apparently the property has been refinanced numerous times!!! 

The headline in the Ottawa Citizen reads:  NDP leader has remortgaged his home 11 times since early 1980s.

I wonder how many people will bother reading the article?  My guess, not many.  That's the beauty of a juicy and prejorative headline.

Okay, so what we're being told is that Mr. Mulclair has refinanced his home on 11 different occasions over the past 30 years and that the amount owing on the mortgage is $300K.  I  bet there are lots of Canadians who would love it if their home only had a mortgage at that amount.  Think of all the poor saps who've been buying into the Canadian housing bubble over the past 5 years or so.  Given the west island address I'm going to assume there's a fair bit of equity there as well.

Why refinance?  Why not?  With uber-low interest rates and many investments offering superior gains it can certainly be argued that freeing up equity to get your capital working is a very wise move.  Dare I suggest it could even be argued that is shows business and fiscal savy?

From where I sit this is very good news for the NDP.  It suggests to me that Conservative minded media outlets are paying attention.  Why?  Because the NDP under Mulclair is gaining some traction, and with the Liberals continued weakness, that could prove troublesome for the governing Tories down the road. 

Better still is that the dirt their digging up, well its too clean to call it dirt.  Next up we're probably going to be reading how many times the NDP leader goes to the bathroom.

EI changes nudge Canada further to the right

For the majority of Canadians, those who identify themselves as centre-left on the political spectrum, the announced changes to EI show further evidence of Canada evolving into a more and more Conservative nation.  Hrmmm, maybe I shouldn't capitalize in this case, we're actually becoming more 'small c' conservative in my view.

The proposed changes...pfffft, its a majority government so who cares if they're only 'proposed' at this point. 

The changes will make it more difficult to for those who've accessed EI multiple times to refuse work.  I have no doubt that some will take exception to this, arguing that it will result in people being forced into jobs which don't match their qualifications.  And that this is more pandering to business interests, forcing workers to lower their salary expectations.

There is merit to that argument certainly, and I do think Diane Finley stepped in it when saying that EI recipients should be working at McDonald's if they have the qualifications for the job.  I think the main qualification is a pulse.  I'm betting that's the line of attack opposition parties will take. 

Improving the economy, one Big Mac at a time.

EI is a user pay system, and it irked me that under the Chrétien/Martin Liberals EI took in billions more in revenue than it paid out in benefits.  Of course under the Liberals we had balanced and surplus budgets thanks in part to the tightening of EI eligibility rules, so perhaps the Tories are thinking along the same lines.  But minimum wage jobs aren't going to do much to improve a person's standard of living.

At the end of the day EI is meant to be a hand-up, not a hand out.  And I, like many, know that there are individuals who milk the system.  I agree with Jim Flaherty's comment about there not being a bad job, there are no small jobs in my books...only small people.  There is dignity in work from where I sit, regardless of what a person is doing.

But he economy is fragile right now, with our massive housing bubble starting to show strain.  McJobs aren't going to get the economy going in the right direction.

Bottom line though, I think most Canadians won't have an issue with these changes, most Canadians are working thankfully.  Individual opinions might change however the first time a former EI recipient has to ask: "Do you want fries with that"?

Read the full story, with Minister Finley's McDonald's comments here:

Workers' EI history to affect claim under new rules

What are the changes to EI? Harper government says 'trust us'

I've been reading about proposed changes to EI legislation, with speculation rampant that benefits will become harder to qualify for, particularly for those who repeatedly access the program.

Okay, fair enough.

I don't consider myself an extremist on any issue, and that includes social programs like EI.  I'm certain that some on the left will deride any effort that makes Employment Insurance more difficult to obtain, however I'll hold back on forming an opinion until there's more information.

What does rankle me however is that according to a CBC story (HERE) the government wants the legislation enabling the changes to pass first, and then they'll provide the details. 

Uhm...that smells. 

After the F35 mess the Harper government is really pushing its luck in expecting the trust of Canadians.  In all likelihood though its probably more a case of the Conservatives banking on a lazy and ill informed electorate, especially when we're still in the early stages of a majority mandate.

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley is reported as saying the changes will be fair and reasonable.  Well, if that's the case why aren't Canadians and our elected representatives being given the details? 

Our democracy is becoming more and more like the U.S. system every day under Stephen Harper, with decision making and control being centred in the PMO.  The only problem is that Canada lacks a body like the U.S. congress to provide a check on executive power. 

As far as changes to EI go, I'm not so blind as to think the system is perfect, and that changes can't be made to improve it.  I have no doubt that there are people accessing the system repeatedly even though they could be working. 

I actually agree with recent comments made by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty regarding the dignity of work.  In a related CBC story from May 15th Flaherty is quoted as saying:

"I was brought up in a certain way. There is no bad job, the only bad job is not having a job," he told reporters. "I drove a taxi, I refereed hockey. You do what you have to do to make a living."

I have no issue with that statement whatsoever, I share the same view .  I too have taken jobs many might consider beneath them, I've been a janitor and pumped gas, I even drove a taxi myself...although that was a summer job and the cab was a bicycle called a pedi-cab. 

Whatever the changes are, this is a system that Canadians pay for and we deserve to know what the government is planning before the fact, not after. 

If Canadians can't get the straight goods on the purchase of billion dollar fighter jets we should at least get the details on EI changes with a chance for fair and reasonable debate before they're implemented.