Climate Change Politics

Yesterday in the House of Commons Liberal leader Stephane Dion called Prime Minister Stephen Harper the worst thing you could call somebody these days: a “climate change denier”.
No doubt, Harper will vehemently deny this serious charge –but surely that’s not enough.
Surely, the only way the Prime Minister can truly establish his eco-friendly credentials is to […]

Posted on January 31st, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Cultural Conservative

Just discovered a great blog from Terry Teachout, drama critic for the Wall Street Journal and music critic for Commentary.
Teachout is also a raririty in the world of culture in that he is also politically a conservative.
Check it out.

Posted on January 30th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Hooray for Attack Ads

I was an in studio guest on the Gary Doyle Show recently and at one point during the interview Gary said he thought “negative political attack ads” were bad for democracy.
Immediately I disagreed, telling him “I love attack ads.” Indeed, I have produced dozens of them over the years.
A shocking admission, I know.
In Canada we […]

Posted on January 29th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Banking on Jack

Here’s the unofficial motto of the NDP: When in doubt attack the banks.
And so no one should be surprised that NDP leader Jack Layton, his party floundering in the polls, has come out flailing against the big, bad banks.
More specifically Layton wants to ban banks from charging fees when customers use automatic teller machines.
“We believe […]

Posted on January 26th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Harper’s First Year

January 23rd, as we all know, marked the first year anniversary of Stephen Harper’s federal election victory.
How has Harper done on his first 365 days on the job?
Rondi Adamson answers that question in an excellent column which appears in the latest issue of the Christian Science Monitor.
Check it out.

Posted on January 25th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Friedman Day

Monday January 29th has been officially declared Milton Friedman Day.
Friedman fans are planning all sorts of events to commemorate this great man, but one of the most interesting ideas comes from the Ideachannel, which is holding a “Challenge the Status Quo” contest.
Contestants are asked to produce videos which “challenge government policies or those of your […]

Posted on January 24th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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De Gaulle She Aint

Appeared on the radio show Montreal Today a few minutes ago to give my reaction to French Socialist presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal’s comment on Quebec sovereignty.
In case you missed it, Royal told reporters yesterday,”It goes with our common values, which are Quebec’s sovereignty and freedom. I think that Quebec’s influence and its place in the […]

Posted on January 23rd, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Beware Opinion Ahead

Blogger extraordinaire, Stephen Taylor posts about how network regulators want to clamp down on TV spots the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association wants to air.
The CRFA ads extol the virtues of renewal fuels.
Hardly controversial, right?
Wrong.
After carefully reviewing the ads, the Television Bureau of Canada has decided they actually express an “opinion”.
Shocking!
This is Canada, we can’t go […]

Posted on January 22nd, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
1 Comment

Home Show Report

Went to the Metro Home Show Friday night.
It’s a great place if you’re in the market for showers featuring more electronic gadgets than the space shuttle, or for “lush and vibrant” artificial grass that’s resistant to salt damage, fire and nuclear war, or for furniture that looks like it was lifted from the set of some […]

Posted on January 22nd, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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I’m not a repitlian demon

Had the pleasure to give a speech today in Kitchener to the Confederation Club.
I met a lot of great people and had a wonderful time.
Blogger Brian from Cambridge, who attended the speech, has a write up on my talk here.
Check it out.
Key quote: ‘I also had the opportunity to talk to Gerry, and he is […]

Posted on January 19th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Doomsday Nears

In case somebody asks you for the time today, just tell them it’s five minutes until doomsday.
So says the “the elite board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” which the Toronto Star tells us is “moving the minute hand on their Doomsday Clock closer to the fatal hour of midnight.”
In case you haven’t heard […]

Posted on January 17th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Cartoon Babs

Here’s the latest cartoon entry from the folks at Stop Her Now.

Posted on January 16th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Why Bill 257 is a Bad Idea

Here’s my latest column appearing in Report Magazine.
It’s on why I think a proposed labour law (Bill 257) is a bad idea for Canada and for unionized employees.

Posted on January 15th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Bad Mooo-ve by Dion

The media keeps telling us that Liberal leader Stephane Dion is a real bright guy.
But if he’s so smart why did he recently compare Alberta’s economy to a milk cow?
It’s true.
In a speech delivered in Halifax the other day, Dion was explaining why Albertans should not fear his Kyoto plans, which many believe will gut […]

Posted on January 12th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Iraq and Free Markets

of the knocks on U.S. president George Bush from conservative/libertarian types is that he is a “Big Government Conservative.”
That is he has done precious little to cut down on the size, scope or cost of government in America.
And now it looks like he is exporting these notions to Iraq.
Patrick Basham, of the Democracy Institute , […]

Posted on January 11th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Freezing in Ottawa

OK I believed it when David Suzuki and Al Gore and Stephane Dion proclaimed that global warming was heating up our winter.
Accordingly on my visit to Ottawa I left behind my gloves and hat and warm coat, thinking it would be a tropical paradise.
Wrong!
It’s like 100 degrees below zero out there! I almost died […]

Posted on January 10th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Green Blues

If you believe the media this morning the next federal election will centre on one issue and one issue only: the environment.
Check out the screaming headlines in the papers today: “Harper Goes Green”, “PM Warms to Environment,” “PM Charts a greener course”.
And all this because Prime Minister Harper appointed John “Rusty” Baird as his new […]

Posted on January 5th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
2 Comments

Confederation Club Talk

Attention all Kitchener-Waterloo area conservatives!
Mark your calendars.
On January 18th, I will be speaking at the Confederation Club, one of the region’s largest speaker forums.
You can order tickets here.
Hope to see you there!

Posted on January 4th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Gag Laws vs. Freedom

Yesterday I posted about Carol Goar’s column in the Toronto Star praising Canada’s election finance laws.
Well I also sent Star a letter to the editor on the subject, which was not published.
So here it is:
Re: Election financing comes clean – January 3, 2007

Before Carol Goar deifies the politicians behind Canada’s election finance laws, she should […]

Posted on January 4th, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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US court strikes down gag law

Carol Goar has a piece in today’s Toronto Star gushing all over Canada’s election finance laws, which she says will stop the buying and selling of politicians.
What she fails to mention, however, is that these laws — such as the election gag law — also infringe on democratic rights and freedoms.
This is something the American […]

Posted on January 3rd, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Ten Cannots

Found these on a libertarian site packed with nifty quotes.
The Ten “Cannots” of Political Economy:
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot help the wage-earner by tearing down the wage-payer.
You cannot further the brotherhood of mankind […]

Posted on January 3rd, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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Tuns Not Tens

My friend Paul Tuns has posted on his blog the “Eight most important stories of 2006 that will have a lasting impact”.
Out of his eight important stories, seven will have negative consequences for the world.
This tells me two things: 1.)Paul is a pessimist, 2) he doesn’t believe in the metric system. If he did, he […]

Posted on January 2nd, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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The Top Ten Most Over-Rated Political Stories of 2006

This is a column I wrote, a version of which appeared in the Calgary Sun on December 29th.
Every year at this time, it’s traditional to come up with “Top Ten Lists”.
That’s why we see things like the “Top ten best movies of the year”, “Top ten worst movies of the Year”, “Top Ten `Top Ten […]

Posted on January 1st, 2007 by Gerry Nicholls in NCC Blog
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