Sure, Lawrence...

...we'll just let this guy go... so he can go out and find the "real terrorists"...

Forensic analysis of six computers seized during the raid found that the design plans for the remote-controlled detonator were located on three computers in the Khawaja house.

Two of the computers were in Qasim’s room, while another was in a common area in the basement. A photo file titled hifidigimonster.jpg was found in a computer folder called “Momin’s folder.”

**********

RELATED: Seems there's something new every day

-- ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Armed men attacked a police guardpost outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday, and the ensuing clash killed three officers and three of the assailants, officials said.

*

Apparently, the road to hell...

...is actually paved with Stephane's stilted rhetoric...

Biofuel subsidies to US and EU farmers are worth between US$16 and US$18bn a year, four times a much as all agricultural aid to the developing world.

The charity calculates that 260 million people are at risk of hunger as a direct result of the rich world’s drive to grow alternative fuels for cars and trucks.

And Premier McSlippery says, "Let them eat auto parts."

Ontario is thinking of shifting gears on a plan to require 10% ethnanol in gasoline, Premier Dalton McGuinty said today.

**********

RELATED:

Talk about a vote of non-confidence.

**********

LAST WORD: Federal Liberal Association riding president...

...Jane Cornelius gets off a real knee-slapper...

What is more grotesque?

That Cornelius is telling a joke about Stephen and Laureen Harper being blown up by "friendly fire", which is no laughing matter to families and friends of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan where that threat is real and ongoing?

Or that Cornelius tells a joke about children talking about murder?

Or that this creepy joke is supposed to be the start of an effort to combat the "negative spin culture"?

*

Has anybody told Darcey yet?

You throw 'em in the slow cooker with a bottle of vino and some garlic... there just might be some good eatin' here.

-- EDMONTON -- Alberta has become hog heaven to so many boars on the loose that the province is ordering landowners to eradicate all of the tusked animals not in captivity.

The European wild boars, which can weigh up to 275 kilograms, have adapted to frigid winters, breed like rabbits, dig up farm fields like giant gophers and have even chased school children at bus stops, said Cliff Munroe, director of regulatory services for Alberta Agriculture.

The petulant porkers are prone to migrate and can spread disease to domesticated pigs. They are so destructive that the province has put non-captive wild boars in the same official pest category as rats.

“They can be dangerous. Let's put it this way. If I came across one, I would be running in the other direction.”

Now don't be sayin' stuff like that... you're just gonna get his blood up.

*

That's one McSlippery Catholic

So Dalton, how exactly does that work... you got your own Pope too?

-- TORONTO -- Premier Dalton McGuinty says he supports Dr. Henry Morgentaler's appointment to the Order of Canada.

The Catholic premier says he supports the move even though he knows it's a controversial issue.

Now, it's been a while since I've actually been a practising Catholic... but I'm pretty sure you don't get to pick and choose which way you fall on stuff like this.

But hey... that Dalton McGuinty... he's flexible.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"McGuinty was happy to have something else to talk about besides Ontario's tanking economy."

"Sadly, the gullible Queen's Park press gallery were equally happy to accommodate him."

**********

RELATED: Apparently though, some folks have principles

-- OTTAWA -- A group of anti-abortionists have returned an Order of Canada medal to protest the appointment of the country’s most notable abortion-rights crusader to the exclusive fraternity.

Well... that's two so far.

**********

LAST WORD: And while we're on "faith and principles"

And be sure to reserve bonus points for yourself if you remembered that a renowned dabbler in Anglican theology, Elizabeth May, is also a officer of the Order.

NOTE: A spokesman for Elizabeth May has asked me not to refer to the Green Party leader as "pro-life", so I have removed the adjective from the original description as a matter of courtesy. According to the note, "[Miss May] strongly supports a woman’s right to access safe and legal abortions, as does the Green Party.]"

*

Funny how that works, huh?

Something for the leftosphere to consider after it comes down from it's orgy of celebration over abortion...

Now, however, it suddenly turns out that the Order is not so broad-minded after all. It has refused admission to Margaret Somerville, the McGill University ethicist who is a leading critic of the social views that the Order welcomes.

An objective observer would say Somerville has unusually strong Order-worthy credentials. She breaks out of the ivory tower at every opportunity to contribute to legal and ethical debates over such issues as stem- cell research, euthanasia, biotechnology, animal research, nuclear-waste management and so on. Whether or not you agree with her, there's no denying that her calm and logical approach helps sharpen public debate.

The stink of left-lib hypocrisy is all over this thing...

Somerville did not, of course, apply for membership - no one ever does - but was nominated two years ago by a faculty member of the Toronto School of Theology, Carol Finlay.

Finlay says the Order told her it had turned Somerville down because she's controversial.

Unlike, say, Henry Morgantaler.

That makes perfect sense.

(h/t reader rich)

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I just spoke to Dr Somerville. She will be on the CTV National news tonight, she tells me."

*

And that's why...

...we call him "Special K"...

"But if you think getting a donation for my legal defence fund from the CJC is weird, how about this: I received a letter of support from someone who works at Daisy Consulting Group -- Kinsella's own lobby firm!"

"It was a brief note, but it was a note of support, sent from the company e-mail, with the corporate signature block on it."

"I couldn't believe it. My first reaction was that it might be some sort of trick, but that was just me thinking like, well, Kinsella. It was sincere -- and I appreciated it."

I guess somebody's gonna be "Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics, er... the next staff meeting!"

**********

UPDATE: How the mighty have fallen, yet again

He's gone from hunting Nazis... to trying to flush the "office mole."

No one sent him any such email (unless, of course, he concocted a "fake mailer" email to himself) . If he had it, he'd publish it.

**********

LAST WORD: "Kicking Ass in Canadian Fairy Tales"

*

At the end of the day...

...people are figuring out he's not actually a saint... just another politician...

One issue or another might not have made much difference. Tacking toward the center in a general election is as common as kissing babies in a campaign, and lord knows the Democrats need to expand their coalition.

But Senator Obama is not just tacking gently toward the center. He’s lurching right when it suits him, and he’s zigging with the kind of reckless abandon that’s guaranteed to cause disillusion, if not whiplash.

There’s even concern that he’s doing the Obama two-step on the issue that has been the cornerstone of his campaign: his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Surprise, surprise.

**********

UPDATE: Like what... we gonna deputize the 'hood'?

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," he said Wednesday. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded."

Somebody wanna translate for me here?

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"I don't claim to be a historian or lawyer, but doesn't Obama's suggestion run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act?"

**********

RELATED: While we're on "straight talk"

"Actually, many of us are now in denial as to the religious roots of terrorism. According to our own definition of infidel, we can be viewed as being infidels. Without acknowledging the sin of denial, we can’t rectify our misdeeds."

"That’s the reason I have proposed the New Islam project, to encourage that realisation."

**********

LAST WORD: More evil imperialist soldiers...

...brutalising Iraqi civilians.

(via maggie's farm)

Does anyone recall...

...the famous psychology experiment where scientists observed a population of rats living and breeding within a confined set of cages?

At a certain point, there was a total breakdown of social controls... to the point where the rats started killing and eating each other.

That sound familiar to anyone?

Road rage is believed responsible for an accident on Hwy. 401 in Milton early today that claimed the life of a local man.

"The vehicles sped east until the car pulled in front of the SUV and slammed on its brakes," said Staff Sgt. Scott Lawson. The SUV swerved to avoid the car, struck the centre guardrail and careered down the highway, rolling over at least once before it came to a stop 300 metres away.

The driver, a man in his 50s believed to be from the Milton area, was ejected and crushed as the SUV rolled. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

**********

UPDATE: Charges laid

Wayne Winsor, 39, a resident of Milton, Ont., has been charged with criminal negligence causing death, dangerous driving causing death, and failure to remain at the scene of an accident causing death.

**********

What's really alarming, is how this mindless violence is spreading among adolescents.

As Statistic Canada illustrates in the article posted below.

Strange days.

*

Crime rates plummetting?

Not in one very significant demographic...

The latest tabulations by StatsCan, focusing on research compiled in 2006, shows that violent crime among young people aged 12 to 17 has increased 12% in the last decade, and 30% since 1991.

And it's not just violent crime... it's crime with a weapon.

According to police-reported data, the use of guns by youth falling under the umbrella of the YCJA has increased 32% since 2002 -- with three-quarters of the incidents involving robbery or assault, and with the rates of gun violence among youth being the per-capita highest in Toronto and Saskatoon.

And guess what, Mayor Miller... you can't solve it by going after farmers, hunters and target shooters.

They're just not the people pullin' the triggers here.

**********

RELATED: Officer... arrest those scoundrels!!!

At one end of an Olympic career is Susan Nattrass, who at 57 has been shooting trap competitively for longer than most Olympic athletes have been alive.

At the other end is Guiseppe Di Salvatore, 18, young and brash and, like Nattrass, among one of the best shots in the world.

*

Ontario Court of Appeal...

Has brief moment of sanity... restores charges...

A charge of second-degree murder against a 19-year-old man accused in the notorious 2005 Boxing Day shooting death of Toronto teenager Jane Creba has been reinstated, overturning an earlier judgment that had reduced it to manslaughter.

Of course, it won't mean much to the "young offender"... but his adult buddies are gonna feel the pain if they're convicted.

The Ontario Court of Appeal judgment involves a defendant identified only as J.S.R. because he was a juvenile at the time of the killing. The decision could have serious implications for two of J.S.R.'s older co-accused, whose murder charges were also reduced to manslaughter.

Actions should have consequences. I applaud this decision.

*

See... you learn something every day

I naively thought the law of the land should apply to everyone equally... I had no idea it was about...

"...promoting reformation and rehabilitation of leaders of a First Nation community."

**********

UPDATE: Looks like aboriginal leaders...

...got the message, "loud and clear."

Several hundred aboriginal protesters stopped work at construction sites around Brantford yesterday, marching onto job sites and ordering workers to shut down equipment.

"Our people have been patient and today our patience has run out," said Butch Thomas, a Seneca sub-chief. "Any new development in this area or on our land has got to stop."

"Today is the first day of taking back our territory."

Well, actually Butch, it's not.

And if it wasn't for that perennial coward, Dalton McSlippery... your criminal ass would already be in jail... where it belongs.

*

Just one of the guys

Remember when you were a kid... and you used to blast away with that deer rifle... in your parent's basement?

The Mounties seized three rifles and over 600 rounds of ammunition in the raid in March of 2004.

They also found a bullet-riddled paper target duct-taped to a pock-marked concrete wall in the basement of the house owned by Mr. Khawaja's parents.

And hey... who didn't keep a little spare change... and a radio detonator, or two... in their sock drawer?

Police also found a variety of electronic components, technical manuals and other literature as well as $10,000 in $100 bills.

Boy, that sure brings back memories.

**********

RELATED: Boy, I'm still gonna need somebody...

...to show me the honour in this thing.

-- JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) -- A 25-year-old Jonesboro woman is dead after police said she told her father she wanted out of an arranged marriage.

Police said they found Sandela Kanwal’s body inside a home on Utah Drive in Jonesboro. They said Kanwal had been killed by her own father, Chaudry Rashad.

I just don't get it.

*

Toronto the not so good

The "Red" Star obligingly updates its murder map...

**********

UPDATE: Super Dave, is that you?
Somebody from "the Big Smoke" just spent their lunch hour cruisin' "the Halls."

Hope they learned a few things.

*

If you're not prepared...

...to respect the "law of the land"... then what exactly are you doing here?

-- TORONTO -- Waving the flag of the Tamil Tigers guerrillas, thousands of Canadian Tamils gathered this weekend for their first rally since the federal government shocked the community by outlawing a Toronto-based Tamil nonprofit group under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

A statement issued by the event's organizers condemned the government for last month's decision to ban the World Tamil Movement as a suspected financial front for the Tigers, and called on Canada to recognize guerrilla-held areas of northern Sri Lanka as an independent state called Tamil Eelam.

So... today they're "condemning" the Canadian government?

What's next on the agenda?

Does it involve explosives?

*

Religion of (blown to) Pieces

Once again... the capricious and unknowable "Will of Allah."

-- Kabul -- A car bomb ripped through the front wall of the Indian Embassy in central Kabul on Monday, killing 40 people in the deadliest attack in Afghanistan's capital since the fall of the Taliban, officials said.

The massive explosion detonated by a suicide bomber damaged two embassy vehicles entering the compound, near where dozens of Afghan men line up every morning to apply for visas.

Still, a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, denied that the militants were behind the bombing. The Taliban tend to claim responsibility for attacks that inflict heavy tolls on international or Afghan troops, and deny responsibility for attacks that primarily kill Afghan civilians.

Yeah... it was probably Dick Cheney and the Mossad.

*

Turning the world upside down

Even the Saudis are falling for the fuzzy-bunny psycho-babble...

It has been called the Betty Ford clinic for jihadists and within minutes of arriving at the Care Rehabilitation Centre on the outskirts of Riyadh, you can see why.

Inmates have access to swimming pools, table tennis and PlayStations. In the evenings, guards and prisoners play football.

An air-conditioned tent sits adjacent to the sports field, serving as a dining hall and common room where, when I visited, the prisoners were tucking into rice and lamb with fresh fruit for pudding.

But hey, don't worry... just like Karla Homolka... these guys are being rehabilitated...

In return for this privileged treatment, the prisoners – Islamic extremists, some of whom are convicted murderers – are obliged to attend lessons based around Islamic law and the jurisprudence of jihad.

Uh-huh... let us know how that works out for you.

*

Canadian soldier killed in Af'stan

At approximately 12:50 a.m. Kandahar time on July 5, a Canadian soldier suffered critical injuries and later died when an explosive device detonated near a dismounted security patrol in Afghanistan's Panjwai district.

The fallen soldier was Private Colin William Wilmot, a medic serving with the health services support unit in Afghanistan and attached to the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He was based in Edmonton.

**********

UPDATE: Pte. Wilmot "wanted in"

They said he was not originally scheduled to join the current rotation in Afghanistan, but demanded to be sent.

"He quickly marched in to see his regiment sergeant-major to indicate he was eager to serve," said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan.

"Colin wanted it known that should a spot become available on the mission, he wanted in.

He will be remembered.

*

So, Dalton... I'm just wondering

How far exactly... are you planning on "streamlining" the process... for making sure foreign-trained doctors are up to North American standards?

'Cos I'm thinkin', there just might be a reason we required that in the first place.

*

Farmers, hunters & target shooters...

Totally off the hook... yet again...

It was a violent and bloody night in Toronto as one man was shot and six others stabbed in four different incidents across the city.

No word so far on exactly when Mayor David Miller will be shutting down the University of Toronto fencing club.

*

Canada gets set...

...to build "The Great Wall of Khandahar."

Vice-chancellor Abdurrahim Farahi says it's not that students are being attacked by insurgents, but that a general climate of fear and instability is dragging the place down. He says the wall would help in a variety of ways.

It would help provide an enclosed area on which to build a soccer field, instead of having nomads digging tents into the campus lawn, he says.

Guests from abroad might feel safer to visit and share their knowledge with the students. It might attract more women than the 95 currently enrolled at the school.

And, more young people from Kandahar's rural areas would feel safe coming to study in town and sleep in a campus dormitory, he says.

“The boundary wall is very, very important. It will bring big changes to the university.”

*

World's Most Corrupt Countries

Sadly... not too many surprises on this... "Who's Who of International Skullduggery."

Corruption continues to intensify in two-fifths of the world's nations, nurtured by persistent poverty, political instability and crime.

Of the 180 countries looked at in its most recent rankings, 132 had index scores below 5, including Greece, India, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Some 56 countries were rated below 3, a level that indicates rampant corruption, including Argentina, Pakistan and Russia.

FROM THE COMMENTS:

-- "The world’s weakest states are also the most religiously intolerant. Countries with a poor freedom of religion score are often most likely to meet their maker." --

Hang on a second...

This is Canada... we don't even jail gangbangers... but you're gonna fry people over this?

-- TORONTO -- At least two people who defiantly refused to complete the 2006 Canadian census in protest of a software contract awarded to an arms manufacturer say they are willing to go to prison over the issue.

Todd Stelmach and Sandra Findley have never met, but are linked both by their cause and subsequent legal fight.

The two refused to hand in their 2006 census forms because Lockheed Martin won the contract to upgrade Statistics Canada's software.

And guess what... not everybody gets charged.

Seems some "special" people get a pass on violating the law of the land.

Mr. Morrison called the response to the census a “resounding success,” especially on Canada's native reserves.

Still, residents of 22 reserves failed to complete the form, but Mr. Morrison blamed the number on rural access.

“You're not going to charge everybody on the reserve because you can't get access to it,” he said.

Funny how that works, huh?

*

No soldiers in our streets after all

Just a whole lot of... "Do the Right Thing."

-- Toyako, Japan -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper pressed for G8 leaders to take a strong stand on Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe as he arrived today on the eve of a summit of the world's largest developed countries.

British and German officials have called for the G8 to make a strong statement on the illegitimacy of Mr. Mugabe's government, and Mr. Harper's spokesman said he raised the need for a separate statement on Zimbabwe, not just a line in the summit's final communiqué, to underline concerns.

That's my Prime Minister.

*

"You don't need a weatherman..."

"Not since the 19th-century concert of nations, when reactionary conservatives like Metternich, Talleyrand and Wellington stamped hard on liberal and proto-labour politics that challenged kings and emperors, has Europe seen so many right-wing politicians ruling the roost."

**********

RELATED: And then, of course, there's Great Britain

Broadly speaking, I don’t particularly care what metaphysical hang-ups a person has, provided those mental ticks are, as it were, kept off my lawn.

If people wish to be a little bonkers and neurotic, that doesn’t usually trouble me. But expecting others to indulge those neuroses or defer to them - and then cheerily subsidise them too - is, well, pushing it a little.

That isn’t piety or anything close to piety; that’s just parasitic arrogance.

*

"Land of the brave"

"Home of the... good sweet jebus!!!"

“I'd go to 30,000 feet if I didn't shoot a balloon down periodically,” Mr. Couch said.

For that job, he carried a Red Ryder BB gun and a blow gun equipped with steel darts. He also had a pole with a hook for pulling in balloons, a parachute in case anything went wrong, a handheld Global Positioning System device with altimeter, a satellite phone, and two GPS tracking devices.

Mr. Couch's wife, Susan, called him crazy: “It's never been a dull moment since I married him.”

*

Dear Mr. Baird

I know you're the bigtime political operator... and I admit I'm just spitballin' here... but my advice is, "Just back off and let him smoke another spliff."

I got a feelin' this problem is gonna take care of itself.

*

Good for Mother Earth

Not to mention... us infidels...

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The removal of 550 metric tons of “yellowcake” — the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment — was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy.

It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

One for the good guys.

**********

RELATED: The capricious and unknowable...

..."Will of Allah"

The U.S. military said air strikes targeted a large group of militants in Nangarhar and no civilians were in the area.

"Intelligence revealed a large group of militants operating in Deh Bala district. Coalition forces identified the militants in a mountainous region and used precision air strikes to kill them," a U.S. military statement said.

"We don't have any reports of any civilian casualties," said U.S. military spokesman Captain Christian Patterson. "There were not any women or children present in the area."

Unfortunately... there were here...

A Taliban suicide car bomber targeting German police trainers wounded three schoolgirls in relatively peaceful northern Afghanistan on Sunday, the deputy provincial police chief said.

As foreign troops get better at protecting themselves from suicide bombs, most victims are ordinary Afghans. The Taliban killed some 200 civilians in suicide bombs last year.

And right next door...

At least 13 people have been killed in two bomb attacks in Iraq.

In the first, a car bomb exploded in a mainly Shia district in north-eastern Baghdad, killing six people and injuring 14.

The second bomb, in the restive eastern province of Diyala, killed seven people, including the wife and two children of a Kurdish leader.

Yeah... let's give these guys nuclear weapons.

**********

UPDATE: On the other hand, if Pakistan falls...

It's a turnkey terrorist solution.

-- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A senior government official says more than 10 police officers have been killed in a suicide attack in Pakistan's capital.

The blast came as thousands of Islamists were gathered not far away to mark the one-year anniversary of a deadly military crackdown on a radical mosque. It was not clear whether the events were linked.

*

Will Thabo Mbeki bring this up...

When he lunches with his "bestest" buddy Robert Mugabe?

A British newspaper says secret footage taken at a Zimbabwean prison shows how a supporter of President Robert Mugabe rigged the country's June 27 runoff election.

The Guardian newspaper says former prison guard Shepherd Yuda shot the film for the newspaper six days before the presidential run-off vote and smuggled it out of Zimbabwe. It also shows a prominent leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Tendai Biti, in leg irons.

This just keeps getting better.

In other news, The Washington Post newspaper reports Saturday that Mr. Mugabe initially planned to give up power after losing the first round of the election.

The Post, citing sources at a key meeting, says military officials convinced Mr. Mugabe to remain in power by using the army to rig a run-off election.

I'm just waiting for the leftosphere to blame it all on George Bush.

*

In the beginning...

...Cowan created Genesis Ale.

Shmaltz Brewing Company was formless and void (and actually didn't exist yet).

Genesis was an experimental celebration ale for Hanukka, and to sell the 100 cases he brewed Cowan schlepped them around San Francisco in the trunk of his grandmother's Volvo. From these humble beginnings, He'brew's popularity has spread like a plague of locusts - but in a good way.

He'brew is, naturally, "the chosen beer," and Shmaltz reminds its customers that "exile never tasted so good," "thou shalt covet this" and "don't pass out, pass over."

(via sondrakistan)

Just go find your tinfoil hat...

"I hate to be cruel, but nobody cares what videos you watch."

"I know that comes as a shock because you think your web activities are pretty much the most important thing in the known universe, but the cold, hard truth is that no government agency, not the FBI or the NSA or XXX, gives a rat's ass what web sites you've visited."

"Whatever's below "inconsequential" - that's you."

**********

RELATED: More fuel on the fire...

The final mystery of 9/11 will soon be solved, according to US experts investigating the collapse of the third tower at the World Trade Center.

The 47-storey third tower, known as Tower Seven, collapsed seven hours after the twin towers.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, based near Washington DC, is expected to conclude in its long-awaited report this month that ordinary fires caused the building to collapse.

*

So tell me again...

How the Liberal government is gonna sink hundreds of millions of dollars into public housing in Ontario...

Lucy Candoni sleeps on her box spring because her mattress is so infested with mice.

The 75-year-old recent widow doesn't think of a slum landlord as a man with dirty fingernails and a sweat-soaked tank top -- but as a local MPP in a designer suit. That's because her landlord is the Sorbara Group, which includes Vaughan MPP Greg Sorbara.

"I am so upset. I wait and wait and they don't do anything. The superintendent tells me to call the office and the office tells me to talk to the superintendent," Candoni said.

Her mattress is so infested that mice can be seen moving about inside.

So what does Mr. Sorbara have to say about all this?

Sorbara could not be reached yesterday.

"Greg wouldn't know anything about it. He wouldn't even know what building it would be," Sorbara's wife, Kate, said yesterday.

And apparently... wouldn't much care either.

**********

UPDATE: Scratch a Liberal... find a Scrooge

Edward Sorbara acknowledges one of his buildings is mouse-infested but defiantly refuses to admit he needs to do anything drastic to resolve the rodent invasion.

"I'm going to continue to run my buildings the way I have run them for 30 years," said Sorbara of the Sorbara Group, which includes local MPP Greg Sorbara.

**********

RELATED: Garth Turner... movie star?

Starring in remake of "I am Legend."

*

The new entrepreneurs

Who says the spirit of innovation isn't alive and well in Canada?

Police said they could release no further details about the arrest as that could jeopardize the continuing investigation of more than 100 missing sewer grates that are still unaccounted for.

The City of Ottawa issued a warning to cyclists, pedestrians and other road users Thursday, telling them to watch out for the holes left by the missing grates and call 311 if they see one.

*

Money, respect... a solid future

Why would you just throw it all away?

Meet Officers Kevin Bourne & Patrick Lee.

**********

UPDATE: All in the family

An entire family, including Lee's alleged girlfriend, Jessie Nguyen, her sister Jen, their mom, Ngoc Nguyen, and father, Tinh Do, were arrested at their home, an alleged grow-op in Mississauga. A 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named, was also charged at that address.

The family postponed their bail hearings until Monday.

"Everybody is embarrassed. (It is alleged that) Bourne had a grow-op in his home," Clewley said.

"His wife (Wendi, 32) has also been charged."

**********

LAST WORD: Policing was a part-time job?

Lee has been on stress leave for much of the last year and working at the north collision reporting centre on Toryork Dr. He has also been running the bar, a source close to the case said.

"I guess now he'll be spending all his time there," the source said.

Property records show that Lee owns Turbo Lounge, a licensed establishment at 5310 Yonge St., just north of Sheppard Ave.

*

So... whaddaya think would happen...

If Governor-General Michaëlle Jean suddenly received 50 thousand pissed off emails?

-- OTTAWA, TORONTO -- The Governor-General has the power to veto appointments to the Order of Canada, but it would have been highly unusual for her to use it to block abortion-rights activist Henry Morgentaler from receiving the honour, according to those familiar with the process.

On another speculative note... does anybody know what religion the GG and her family practice?

Not RC by any chance?

Wouldn't that be interesting.

**********

RELATED: Of course, maybe she just wouldn't care

Thankfully for the PMO, Martin's efforts to moderate the press corps may have had its desired effect.

After about a week of kicking around the story that Canada's highest-ranking official was all for splitting up the country, and sympathized with those who saw violence as the means to do it, the press backed off.

*

So, Dalton...

How many social workers will it take to fix this up?

The mother of a murdered child told a Brampton court today that she's been abandoned by her relatives for testifying against her daughter's killer.

"I'm totally alone," Ravinder Oshan wrote in her victim impact statement read into the record today by prosecutor Stephen Laufer. Her 3 1/2-year-old daughter Rashmeet Oshan was murdered June 21, 2005 by her brother-in-law.

This brutal murder and it's unbelievable aftermath begs the question... "Who exactly are we allowing into this country?"

In her statement, Oshan said her parents and sister have disowned her because she testified against her sister's husband. "My mommy and daddy are not with me," Oshan wrote. "...you are dead for us and we are dead for you....

Oshan said her parents believed she should have supported her sister and her brother-in-law, and lied to police.

That's what we're looking for?

Really?

*

Or, if you really want to save lives...

...somebody could just shoot him...

-- HARARE, July 4 (Reuters) -- Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, defiant despite growing African condemnation of his re-election, said on Friday the opposition must drop its claim to power and accept that he was the rightful head of state.

You think that sounds harsh? Really?

You don't know jackshit, my friend.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Friday a violent crackdown by security forces and pro-Mugabe militias had killed 103 of its followers while 1,500 had been detained.

Some 5,000 others, including polling agents, were missing after being abducted by ruling ZANU-PF militia or security agents since Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a first round of voting in March.

Mugabe is the genocidal maniac who has turned the "breadbasket of Africa" into a starving wasteland. He has the personal morals of Ghengis Khan... and is responsible for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of deaths in his country.

Put this mad dog down and flood the country with humanitarian aid.

Do it now.

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RELATED: In all fairness...

Mugabe does have loyal friends defending his policies.

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CHRC, surprisingly... rules "not guilty"

And it only cost twenty thousand dollars...

"The process is the punishment. Thus the process -- the ability for the CHRC and its provincial counterparts to pass judgment on speech or religious doctrine even to the extent of vetting and dismissing complaints -- has to be removed.

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While Lloyd and the mainstream media...

...lose their minds over the 4 taser deaths annually... (make note that number is the Canada-wide total)... nobody seems to care about the 185 annual deaths in Ontario alone from C. difficile...

At least 460 patients infected with the lethal superbug C. difficile have died in Ontario hospitals over the past 30 months.

A tally by the Hamilton Spectator shows that 463 infected patients died at just 22 of Ontario's 157 hospitals. Experts such as infection specialist Dr. Michael Gardam have said the Spectator's ongoing tally is only the tip of the iceberg.

But, hey... not to worry... the McSlippery Liberals must be all over this one, right?

Health Minister David Caplan, who replaced George Smitherman last month, has said the government has no plans to call an inquiry.

Funny how that works.

Friends don't let friends vote Liberal.

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A morality tale...

...for the lunatic left.

-- LOS ANGELES -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that the city would begin handing over for deportation juvenile illegal immigrants with drug convictions, reversing a controversial policy of flying the youths back to their home countries at the city's expense.

The flights, rooted in a 1989 ordinance declaring the city a "sanctuary" for undocumented immigrants, ceased this spring after the U.S. attorney threatened to prosecute officials for harboring criminals.

Maybe you don't wanna get too big for yer britches.

About the same time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a city probation official in the Houston airport along with two Honduran juveniles the official was putting on a plane to Tegucigalpa, the capital.

"Which means that San Francisco for all intents and purposes is running its own department of immigration," said Joseph Russoniello, the U.S. attorney for San Francisco.

"It's had its own foreign policy, so having its own immigration policy is the next step."

Hey, Mayor Super Dave... are you listening?

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The humility of Henry M.

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

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RELATED: Just exercising her rights, right?

-- BERLIN -- Bettina Schardt knew that the combination of drugs she drank in the living room of her home in Wuerzburg last week would kill her, and she died alone.

But this was no ordinary suicide. A German doctor told her just the right formula of antimalarial drugs and tranquilizers she needed to commit suicide painlessly -- and he set up a camera to film her death.

The 79-year-old Schardt was not in chronic pain or suffering from a terminal illness. She was healthy and simply wanted to avoid moving into a nursing home.

I dunno, folks... seems like a pretty short hop to helping, say... unhappy teenagers... get over their adolescent angst.

And where exactly, was this woman's family?

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LAST WORD: A little OC background

The Advisory Council and Order of Canada are set up to be insulated from politician interference, and this has largely been successful except for one instance in 1978 when Pierre Trudeau delayed the appointment of Paul Desmerais Sr for 6 months.

Trudeau delayed Desmerais Sr.'s appointment to the Order becasue it would have been announced shortly after the end of a highly acrimonious strike at two of the newspapers owned by Mr. Desmerais.

It was felt that such an appointment would be untimely so soon after the end of the strike and that it could reflect poorly on not only the Order but also the government of the day.

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Calling all Libloggers

Time for Johnny Maudlin to round up his crack team of researchers...

A questionnaire completed 14 months after the one-day drug trial found the majority of participants considered the experience to be one of the most "personally meaningful and spiritually significant" events of their lives.

You know, as opposed to, say... the birth of their first child.

Even more surprising, they felt the drug had a long-lasting effect that significantly contributed to their overall sense of well-being and life satisfaction.*

Yup... I believe it's what junkies call... "Chasing the Dragon."

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RELATED: Speaking of drug-fuelled hallucinations

Federal New Democrats say they hope Mr. Martin will help launch “a breakthrough” for them in the province, where all federal seats are currently held by the Conservatives.

The NDP nomination meeting for Edmonton East is expected in September.

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Paving the way...

...for the introduction of the ancient and much revered... Albanian blood feud...

The most senior judge in England yesterday gave his blessing to the use of sharia law to resolve disputes among Muslims.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips said that Islamic legal principles could be employed to deal with family and marital arguments and to regulate finance.

"Those entering into a contractual agreement can agree that the agreement shall be governed by a law other than English law."

(h/t reader rich)

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RELATED: Give 'em an inch...

...they'll take the box the tape measure came in.

"The idea of a Muslim “copyright” on the image of Mohammed is nuts – today. But how nuts will it look tomorrow, with Burny and friends having softened up our fundamental freedoms, and then some litigious bully, backed with Saudi oil money, comes in to bat clean-up?"

"The answer to the question in the title of this post is: funny today, dangerous tomorrow."

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More Order of Canada wreckage...

...slowly floats to the surface...

The sources said Chief Justice McLachlin drove the nomination, which was opposed by the two government members on the nine-member committee, Privy Council Clerk Kevin Lynch and deputy heritage minister Judith LaRocque.

So much for "fostering a sense of unity", huh?

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"It has reopened the abortion debate. People are pissed, even people who were sitting on the fence are pissed. Let the lefties do their little dance of joy to make them feel better about being complicit in the death of an overwhelming amount of children."

"They just cut their own throat by opening this up again."

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Under new European Union rules...

...the first 699 shanty-towns are apparently deductible.

-- ROME -- Italian authorities have started fingerprinting tens of thousands of Gypsies living in nomad camps across the country — adults and children alike — brushing aside accusations of racism by human rights advocates and international organizations.

More than 700 encampments have been built, mainly around Rome, Milan and Naples, populated almost entirely by Gypsies, also known as Roma.

Of course, not everyone is happy about the latest attempt to get things under control.

Charges of discrimination have rained in from international groups including the UN's Children Fund and the Council of Europe.

The Italian chapter of Amnesty International called the move “discriminatory, disproportionate and unjustified.”

Paging Taliban Jack.

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Oh, wait a minute...

...that's Canada's Greatest Sycophant...

"I was gonna offer up Cherniak... but his blog is slathered with quotes about how smart, funny and good-looking he is."

"So it must be someone else."

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RELATED: Yup... no surprises here
(via reader nancy)

"Let there be bacon"

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

"There's a theory that everything is better with bacon. We believe that theory with all of our heart."

"To that end, we are introducing our line of bacon formal wear with Uncle Oinker's Bacon Scented Bacon Print Tuxedo."

Damn... where is that list?

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Hey, Jean-Paul...

You guys obviously take that license plate slogan way too seriously...

Jean-Paul Perreault, the president of Impératif français, a group that defends and promotes the French language, called the embassy's behaviour “contemptuous and unacceptable.”

“It's ridiculous, it's a … lack of respect towards the Canadian identity, which proudly includes French-speaking communities,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

You mean that "Canadian identity" you guys are always working so feverishly to shed?

Mr. Perreault also said Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson and the ambassador in Washington should resign.

In your dreams loser.

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CBC outs RCMP death squad...

...in sunny British Columbia...

Surrey RCMP were called to the scene and arrested Wagemans. He went into medical distress and was taken to Surrey Memorial Hospital. He was listed in critical condition and died at 1:25 p.m. Tuesday.

It is the second time in two weeks that a person has died after being arrested by Surrey RCMP.

So, wow... the Surrey cops are killing people every week? And this poor guy just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Well, not quite.

The good folks at Mother Corp. forgot to mention one little thing...

Wagemans, of Langley, B.C., had a criminal history involving altercations with police officers.

Court records from July 2006 show he was charged with obstructing a peace officer and assaulting a police officer. He was also found guilty of two counts of assaulting an officer in September 2007.

The CBC... "All the news they think you need."

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RELATED: Meanwhile, back in actual verified reality

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Another quaint Toronto media tradition

Guns... drugs... but apparently no name.

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Doing the right thing

Which, inexplicably... to our friends on the socialist side of the political rainbow anyway... doesn't include celebrating abortionists, garish public displays of anyone's sexual proclivities... or becoming enthusiastic participants in the hellish nightmare of intravenous drug addiction.

Conservatives... we're kinda funny that way.

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RELATED: A McSlippery slope...

Say, Dalton... now that you've finished shelling out all those taxpayer dollars for sex-change operations... d'ya maybe think Granny can get her diaper changed... or have a bath every once in a while?

"Almost three-quarters of Ontario’s 616 nursing homes that have their inspection results posted online violated some of the 400 general standards set out by the province — a proportion which hasn’t changed significantly since 2004 when then-health minister George Smitherman promised a “revolution” in the province’s long-term care."

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LAST WORD: Another CTV poll goes sideways

It's the Palestinians themselves...

Who are actually the "Improvised Explosive Devices."

-- JERUSALEM -- Palestinian man has driven a bulldozer into a bus and several cars in Jerusalem, killing three people, before being shot dead.

Dozens of people were hurt, at least seven critically, in the rampage on Jaffa Road, in the city centre.

A police officer shot the driver of the bulldozer dead after a struggle in the vehicle's cab.

Another blessed martyr for the cause, huh?

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UPDATE: A whole new level of crazy

After this slaughter, there's three separate groups of crazies trying to take the credit...

The attack has been claimed by three Palestinian militant groups, including one which has an affiliation with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, although such claims are not unusual in such cases.

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RELATED: The word you're looking for...

...is lunatics.

Palestinians Storm Egyptian Border Crossing

Witnesses and police say angry Palestinians threw stones at border guards after only a limited number of them were allowed to enter Egypt. At least six police were injured.

In January, Hamas militants blew open the border wall, allowing thousands of Palestinians to stream into Egypt to buy goods that are scarce in Gaza, which is subject to an Israeli blockade.

Egypt sealed the border breach about two weeks later.

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And you thought the CBC...

...was a freak for political correctness...

Now you see it...
Now you don't...
**********

UPDATE: Via reader Rich...

"Barbara Wilding, the longest-serving female chief constable, said that social breakdown was giving rise to 'enormous concerns about the future of young people'."

"Ms Wilding, the Chief Constable of South Wales, said:'In many of our larger cities, in areas of extreme deprivation, there are almost feral groups of very angry young people'."

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LAST WORD: "Trick or Treat"... Toronto style

At least six gunshots were fired into a ground-floor apartment in the city’s west end early this morning.

An 11-year-old boy, a 24-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman were inside the unit at 3735 Dundas St. W., near Scarlett Rd., around 1 a.m. when the shots were fired, Toronto police Staff Sgt. Mark Tilley said.

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Beat me, whip me...

...make me write tax cheques...And BC's getting a lovin' spoonful of that government funded salvation...

British Columbia's new carbon tax kicked in today, adding an extra 2.4 cents a litre to gas prices. The gas tax plan will be phased in over five years, rising to 7.24 cents per litre by 2012.

The fee will be on top of the 3.5-cent-per-litre gasoline tax British Columbians already pay to help fund transportation projects.

Let us know how that one works out for you, huh?

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RELATED: Don't spend it all...

...in one gas station...

For Mr. Campbell, who can only afford to lose six of his 46 seats and still hold power, general support for the Liberals has essentially held steady in the past year and hasn't been sunk by the carbon tax.

But to assuage voters, cheques of $100 have been sent to British Columbians, with some of them quickly spending the money on a tank of gas.

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LAST WORD: As they say, "No good deed..."

"Initially, I was torn between two options."

"Option 1: take the cheque outside, set it on fire, and enjoy the fleeting moment of seeing just that much more CO2 wafting up into the atmosphere."

"Option 2: use the money to fill my tank, and then embark on a completely useless, unnecessary trip to burn up the gasoline."

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Sunni days are here again?

If the two Islamic factions in Iraq can't manage to get along with each other... is there any hope for them at all?

-- BAGHDAD, July 1 -- Iraq's main Sunni Muslim political bloc is on the verge of rejoining the Shiite-led government after a nearly a year-long boycott, a step widely seen as vital to reconciling the nation's warring factions.

Sunni leaders said Tuesday they delivered names to fill five cabinet posts and the position of deputy prime minister to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He plans to submit them to a parliamentary vote, but it was unclear when this would occur.

Try, try again...

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Canada Day

A fitting occasion... to celebrate this particular legal decision...

A contentious, court-ordered publication ban was lifted at 5 p.m. last night, allowing the Citizen and other news media to report that Mohammed Sidique Khan, leader of the suicide bombers who murdered 52 London commuters, associated and trained with the same British terror cell to which Momin Khawaja allegedly belonged.

The connections and organization between the two terror cells and the presence of shadowy, senior al-Qaeda figures directing them from afar negated initial police and government assessments that the groups were homegrown and independent.

But this is Canada, right? Surely we're exempt from all that nasty terrorism stuff.

Think again, my fellow citizens.

Mr. Khawaja, a Canadian of Pakistani descent, is on trial here by judge alone as the alleged Canadian connection to the Crevice plot.

He stands accused, among other terrorism crimes, of building radio-wave devices in the basement of his Ottawa home that would remotely activate detonators, setting off a high-explosive mixture of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder.

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Wake up...

...and smell the species...

The participants usually began with what they thought were 15-volt shocks, and worked upward in 15-volt increments, as the experimenter instructed. At 75 volts, the “learner” in the next room began grunting in apparent pain.

At 150 volts he cried out: “Stop, let me out! I don’t want to do this anymore.”

At that point about a third of the participants refused to continue, found Dominic Packer, author of the new paper. “The previous expressions of pain were insufficient,” Dr. Packer said. But at 150 volts, he continued, those who disobeyed decided that the learner’s right to stop trumped the experimenter’s right to continue.

Before the end of the experiments, at 450 volts, an additional 10 to 15 percent had dropped out.

So where would you have stopped pulling the trigger?

Jerry M. Burger, the author, interviewed the participants afterward and found that those who stopped generally believed themselves to be responsible for the shocks, whereas those who kept going tended to hold the experimenter accountable.

Sometimes, I guess... we just don't wanna look in that mirror.

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You hear about the statistician...

...who drowned in a lake that averaged only three feet deep?

-- TORONTO -- Citywide, crime statistics seem to underscore her cautious optimism: From murder to assault and sexual assault, from car theft to break-ins, nearly every serious-crime indicator has dropped in Toronto this year compared with the same six months in 2007.

Nonetheless, he agrees that drug dealing is the backdrop for a major swath of violent crime. “Robberies, shootings – it's all tied to drugs, you wouldn't have a lot of gangs if it wasn't for drugs.”

I'm guessing fuzzy-bunny statistics aren't much comfort though, to the friends and families of people who ran into the wall this holiday weekend...

An apparent abduction outside a Scarborough karaoke bar has police looking for three suspects.

Witnesses told police an Asian man was beaten in the parking lot outside Echo Karaoke Bar on Kennedy Rd., just south of Steeles Ave., before he was "forced against his will" into a silver van just after midnight today, Toronto Police said in a news release.

Two of the suspects were Asian men, 30 to 35 years old, about 5-foot-7, 150 lbs., with short hair and dark clothing. The third was an Asian woman, about 5-foot-7, 170 lbs., 40 to 45 years old, with shoulder-length hair and a brown purse.

And this unfortunate young lady...

Police have her name but are no closer to knowing how a young woman died at a rave in Markham over the weekend.

Nicole Le, 21, of Surrey, B.C., was found unconscious and frothing at the mouth at the back of Club Rio on Woodbine Ave. around 4:30 a.m. Saturday.

And right next door... the bodycount rises...

Police say gunfire erupted at a house party and Glenford Asan Reid, 31, of Brampton was hit. Attempts by emergency personnel to treat Reid were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Roughly 30 minutes later more shots rang out at an apartment on Darcel Ave. in Malton. Police rushed to the scene near Goreway Dr. and Derry Rd. E. and found Orrin Marlon Earle, 28, of Mississauga. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

But don't you worry... the Globe and Mail says crime is going down.

Nothing to worry about here... move along.

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RELATED: One for the Taser-o-phobes

Accidental long-weekend deaths in Ontario alone... just blew past the yearly average total of taser fatalities for the whole country...

Drownings and traffic accidents claimed six lives over a Canada Day weekend that kept the OPP busy nailing motorists with 2,500 roadway violations.

OPP yesterday reported three fatalities and 250 crashes across the province -- many of the accidents caused by wet weather conditions.

The truth is... people just don't wanna see the light.

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WELCOME READERS OF DR DEMENTO, uh... DAWG

I think the Dawg... needs a good worming.

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Mending... or Rending?

“As Canadians we would like to see the Order of Canada given to people whose contributions to such initiatives as charity, education, culture, the environment, things of that kind that are uniformly viewed as positive and tend to unite people,” she said.

“With this choice, the one thing that everybody really agrees on about Morgentaler is that he is a very divisive figure.”

Happy Canada Day.

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REACTION:

Liberal deputy House leader Marlene Jennings - "It's a wonderful day for Canadian women and for women's rights."

Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow - "It's a great celebration.”

Governor General Michaëlle Jean - "He was awarded for his commitment to increased health care options for women, his determined efforts to influence Canadian public policy and his leadership in humanist and civil liberties organization.”

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion - "I think we should all respect and celebrate the decisions of the panel and the Governor-General.”

Dimitri Soudas, Prime Minister's spokesperson - "The Conservative Government is not involved in either deliberations or decisions with respect to which individuals are appointed to the Order of Canada."

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LAST WORD: "Diversity and Excellence"

A celebration of abortion.

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