Ohh Canada…………..

Its hard to know where to start, I will simply summarize some recent news without further comment ……………..

Kevin Page told a parliamentary committee Thursday the government's claimed $39.9 billion stimulus package over two years is effectively about 20 per cent smaller, at $31.8 billion. And he adds that a portion of the smaller amount may not find its way into the economy because $10 billion is contingent on shared spending by other levels of government. The difference will mean the extra spending is unlikely to create or save the 190,000 jobs projected by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Page said, estimating the number at closer to 120,000.
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Federal inspectors spend more time certifying Canadian exports of fruits and vegetables than making sure that the plants and produce that come into Canada are bug- and disease-free, the Auditor-General has found
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The recession hit home where Canadians live last month as a massive 129,000 workers joined the ranks of the unemployed and the country's jobless rate surged to 7.2 per cent. It was the worst monthly employment drop in at least three decades, topping figures seen in either of the two previous recessions in the 1980s and 1990s. Almost all the jobs were full-time and were mostly in a battered manufacturing sector that has been most affected by the severe downturn in the United States. The carnage was everywhere. Ontario shed 71,000 jobs, half in the manufacturing sector. British Columbia and Quebec workers were also hit hard with losses of 35,000 and 26,000 respectively.
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Our new Environment Commissioner, picking up where his predecessor left off:
"Due to the nature of federal-provincial trust funds, it will be difficult for the government to support its claim that the $1.5 billion it is spending on the Clean Air and Climate Change Trust Fund will actually achieve the target it has set for lowering greenhouse gas emissions.........
The federal enticement to board city buses and subways was a key component of the 2006 Tory election platform and has cost $635 million over the last three years. "Increasing the use of public transit . . . will help ease traffic congestion in our urban areas and reduce air pollution that dirties our air and affects our health," the Conservatives said when they introduced it in 2006. Environment Canada initially said the credit would shave emissions by 220,000 tonnes a year from 2008 to 2012. The department later dramatically lowered that prediction to 35,000 tonnes per year.
"Given the lowered figure, the tax credit will have negligible impact on Canada's greenhouse gas emissions," Vaughan reported Thursday.
Not a surprise after this from December……………

After eight years during which the United States was consistently derided as the most obstructive force in international climate negotiations, Canada moved into worst place today, receiving the "Colossal Fossil" award for having done more than any other country to drag down talks at the UN climate negotiations in Poznan.

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A Liberal analysis of the first $1 billion worth of specific projects financed by the Building Canada Fund concludes that 77.8 per cent of the money went to Tory constituencies.

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And finally the icing on the cake………
The UN body called for immediate international action to force Israel to allow fuel, food, medicine and other essential items to be sent into the Gaza Strip.
The statement passed 30 to 1, with 15 countries abstaining. Canada was the only country to object the call which also urged Tel Aviv to reopen the border-crossings, sealed since Hamas began governing Gaza in June 2007.
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There are days when I ashamed to say I am Canadian!

T/H to Far and Wide for much of this.