Free Republic

CNSNews.com) - Women seeking information on family planning and abortion would be protected by a "crackdown on deceit" and from "being lured into anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers" if a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday becomes law. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) was joined by 11 co-sponsors in unveiling the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services (SDAWS) Act, which would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to "enforce truth-in-advertising standards for reproductive centers." Noting that Bush administration funding has provided a "windfall" for such pro-life centers, Maloney said that some of those facilities "have adopted the brazen...

Tories smell new scandal over gun registry costsGun registry costs may heat up again Allan Woods CanWest News Service Friday, May 12, 2006 OTTAWA - The former Liberal government "broke every rule in the book" when it signed a $273-million computer contract for the federal gun registry -- now the subject of a "stop-work" order -- and never reported the costs or terms of the deal to Parliament, a longtime Conservative gun-registry critic alleges. Saskatchewan Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, who discovered the existence of the 15-year contract last fall, said that it was never reported to Parliament in government...

Harper's just getting started Adam Radwanski National Post (Editorial Page) Friday, May 05, 2006 As an exercise in public relations, it was a smashing success. But insofar as it will actually affect the lives of Canadians, this week's federal budget was one giant stalling tactic -- its maze of tax credits a series of gimmicks designed to hold everyone at bay until Stephen Harper can get to the stuff he really wants to do. Dropping a point off the GST or putting a few bucks back in the hands of people who ride public transit, buy computers or sign...

Harper's subtle message of competence: Conservatives' actions so far signal a modest change, but big battles lie ahead The Edmonton Journal Fri 28 Apr 2006 Page: A18, Section: Opinion Byline: Lorne Gunter I set out Thursday morning to make a list of all the ways in which the new Conservative government is unlike the Liberal one it replaced, when it struck me that most of the ways have two things in common: They are incremental rather than sweeping, and they involve no legislative changes, so they can be achieved without embroiling the Conservatives in a Parliamentary fight they might...

ACLU Backs Away From Congressional Abortion Bill Targeting Pregnancy Centers Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Shortly after announcing its support for Congressional legislation that would target crisis pregnancy centers, the ACLU has backed off of its support for the pro-abortion bill. .... Sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney ... the bill directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create a rule prohibiting pregnancy centers from trying to deceive women into thinking they perform abortions. Actually, I believe that the don't want CPCs to be allowed to use the word "abortion" in their advertising at all. Maloney seems to want the wording to...

Harper Backs MPs Depiction of Liberal Day Care Plan as "Soviet Style" By John-Henry Westen OTTAWA, April 12, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Liberal MP Omar Alghabra (Mississauga-Erindale) was incensed in the House of Commons yesterday that Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant had compared the Liberal day care plan to "Soviet style" day care. "Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Conservative member for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke said that the Quebec model of child care, adopted by the former government, was a soviet style child care," protested Alghabra. He demanded Prime Minister Harper apologize for the remarks. Gallant on April 10, said in the Commons, "It has...

No more 'entitlements' PM: Bill aims to 'change way business done in Ottawa' Allan Woods CanWest News Service Wednesday, April 12, 2006 OTTAWA - Stephen Harper introduced his government's first piece of legislation -- the Federal Accountability Act -- yesterday in an attempt to position his party as an agent of change and close the ethical loopholes that sank the previous Liberal government. The bill, which the Tories outlined during the election campaign, bans corporate and union donations to federal parties, cracks down on lobbyists, protects whistle-blowers and gives more power to officers of Parliament, such as the ethics...

Harper takes charge Prime minister establishes firm grip on reins of power Calgary Sun (Editorial) April 9, 2006 Prime Minister Stephen Harper certainly established himself and his new government to be in command in the House of Commons this past week. Canadians likely haven’t seen such a smooth, steady and solid performance from a new prime minister in a generation. If Bill Graham’s Liberals haven’t now realized the measure of the man, then New Democrat Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe appear as though they have. In contrast to the garbled performances of Jean Chretien and...

(CNSNews.com) - Women seeking information on family planning and abortion would be protected by a "crackdown on deceit" and from "being lured into anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers" if a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday becomes law.  Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) was joined by 11 co-sponsors in unveiling the Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services (SDAWS) Act, which would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to "enforce truth-in-advertising standards for reproductive centers."  Noting that Bush administration funding has provided a "windfall" for such pro-life centers, Maloney said that some of those facilities "have adopted the brazen...

Immigration system is a mess Toronto Sun Tue, March 28, 2006 By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, ASSOCIATE EDITOR The ongoing controversy over deporting failed refugee claimants working in Toronto's construction industry is an example of the harm that occurs in society when flawed public policy interacts with private greed. The policy is Canada's failed refugee system, which has been a mess for decades. The greed can be found among some employers -- who are by no means confined to the construction trades -- who knowingly hire thousands of illegal refugees as a source of cheap, easily exploitable labour. That's supposed to...

McKenna believes anti-U.S. talk hurt Liberals Toronto Globe and Mail Thursday, March 2, 2006 by ALAN FREEMAN WASHINGTON -- On his last day in the job, Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna took his former Liberal bosses in Ottawa to task yesterday for their "gratuitously offensive" anti-U.S. rhetoric during the recent federal election campaign. Mr. McKenna, who resigned the day after the Jan. 23 election and is being replaced by former Conservative finance minister Michael Wilson, said Canadians want their government to be assertive of Canadian interests without being anti-American. "[Voters] do want [us] to stand up for Canada, but they...

Rights trumpedPrime Minister's call for God's blessing offers hope for free religious expression By Bishop Fred Henry Calgary Sun February 26, 2006 The brief prayer, "God bless Canada," uttered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the end of his election victory speech sent shock waves through much of Canadian society. Although taken aback by such an unexpected conclusion, I was absolutely delighted and yelled out a loud "yes" in the solitude of my living room and pumped my fist in the air reminiscent of Tiger Woods reaction to sinking an impossible putt. Why? All too many of our politicians...

Momentum must be recovered: The Conservative stumbling start will be forgotten when good laws are passed The Edmonton Journal Fri 24 Feb 2006, Page: A18 Section: Opinion Byline: Lorne Gunter "I can't wait to get back to Ottawa." My caller was a Conservative MP from B.C. He's been in Parliament nearly a decade. While never in line for a cabinet post (and never especially ambitious for one), he is a crafty politician with an above-average understanding of the currents and eddies of the partisan game. His desire to return to the nation's capital was not driven by enthusiasm for...

So much for the experts John Geiger National Post Editorial Page Tuesday, February 21, 2006 A week ago the Toronto Star declared that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had "paid a steep political price" for his decision to appoint former Liberal David Emerson to the Conservative Cabinet. The Star said "people feel genuinely let down" over the appointment, and argued Harper had consequently "devalued his chief personal asset-- credibility." Now the numbers are in. An Ipsos Reid poll for CanWest News Service and Global News released yesterday, but conducted at the same time the Star was opining about how Canadians...

Canada will only provide aid to the new Palestinian government if the leadership recognizes Israel and renounces all forms of violence, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. "Future assistance to any new Palestinian government will be reviewed against that governments commitment to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the roadmap" to peace, Harper said. The prime minister made his comments following a telephone call with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, but his message was clearly aimed at the Islamic group Hamas, the winner of January 25 legislative elections. "Canada...

Tory backbencher says he will kill gun registry Dan Dugas Canadian Press Via National Post Wednesday, February 15, 2006 OTTAWA -- The Conservative government has created a committee of two cabinet ministers and a backbencher to figure out how best to kill the long-gun registry as soon as possible. Registry critic Garry Breitkreuz, who is working with Justice Minister Vic Toews and Public Security Minister Stockwell Day, said he has been given wide leeway to deal swiftly with the registry. "I wouldn't be fighting for what I'm fighting for if I didn't think that would be the case," the...

Wilson career makes him perfect fit as Tory ambassador Jim Brown Canadian Press Thursday, February 16, 2006 OTTAWA -- The book on Michael Wilson is pretty straightforward - and it reads like a perfect resume for a Conservative government's ambassador to Washington. The 68-year-old Wilson grew up in the well-heeled Rosedale section of Toronto, went to all the right schools, including Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto, and became a Bay Street stock broker. He followed that with 14 years in Parliament, nine of them a minister under Brian Mulroney where he held the trade, industry and...

Harper is sworn in as prime minister Canadian Press via National Post Monday, February 06, 2006 OTTAWA -- Stephen Harper, who was dismissed less than two years ago as unelectable, has been sworn in as the country's 22nd prime minister. Harper, clutching his personal Bible, was sworn in Monday by Alex Himelfarb, clerk of the Privy Council, as his wife Laureen and their two young childen, Ben and Rachel, watched proudly. Harper arrived at Rideau Hall less than an hour after Paul Martin resigned, marking the end of a troubled two-year tenure that saw the scandal-plagued Liberals humbled by...

Stephen Harper, our newest Prime Minister, is an evangelical Christian. Over the course of the election campaign, certain media outlets, Liberal Party supporters, and members of Canada's intelligentsia have suggested that that makes him different from the rest of us ... us being "average Canadians." Let me make this perfectly clear (I stole that line from Paul Martin), Harper's faith does make him different, but not in the ways his detractors are suggesting. As an evangelical, Harper is a strong supporter of traditional marriage but that hardly put him at odds with "average Canadians;" if anything it lumps him in...

Dear Prime Minister Harper Since we first worked together years ago, you have grown from being a man of policy to being a man of the people, too Deborah Grey Ottawa Citizen Citizen Special Tuesday, January 24, 2006 Dear Stephen: Who'da thunk it? Do you remember sitting in my office on Parliament Hill back in the dark ages ... 1989? I remember when I first got elected -- not a clue about Ottawa, not a clue about Parliament. I had just made Canadian history; the first Reform MP, elected to bring to Parliament better ideas about how our citizens...