Conservatives rally for communism memorial as Vietnamese Canadians mark Journey to Freedom Day

2015/05/02 Leave a comment

Making the politics involved even more transparent:

Canada’s minister of state for democratic reform told a crowd of Vietnamese Canadians gathered to commemorate the inaugural Journey to Freedom Day that opposition to the prominent downtown site planned for a memorial for the victims of communism was “shameful” and that the controversial monument will get built.

“It is shameful that the Liberals and the NDP have come out against building this monument at this site, and it is shameful that some in the media have done the same. This is a worthy project, it is the right thing to do, and under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Harper, we will build this monument,” Pierre Poilievre told more than 500 people at a rally on the downtown site chosen for the monument across from the Supreme Court and fronting onto Wellington Street.

Poilievre’s sentiments were echoed by Ludwik Klimkowski, board chair for Tribute to Liberty, the group fundraising to build the monument.

The monument’s prominent location has drawn criticism and opposition from the likes of Mayor Jim Watson, Ottawa architect Barry Padolsky, Shirley Greenberg, an architect who was on the jury that chose the winning design, and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Conservatives rally for communism memorial as Vietnamese Canadians mark Journey to Freedom Day | National Post.

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Tory-linked charity behind monument declared it was not active politically

2015/03/20 Leave a comment

Another illustration that charities chosen for CRA audits, and those not chosen, appear to reflect ideological or political criteria:

The charity behind the campaign to erect a monument to the victims of communism has declared zero political activity in its five-year history, even though it originally told the Canada Revenue Agency some of its work would be political.

A review of Tribute to Liberty’s official filings with the CRA reveals a clear intention to engage in political activity. When asked if it planned to engage in political activities, it answered “Yes” in its 2009 application for charitable status. It said this would involve contacting MPs and senators to gain their support for the project.

Yet, in the five years that followed, the charity answered “No” each time it was asked by the CRA in annual reporting forms whether it conducted political activity.

Dozens of Canadian charities have faced scrutiny since the 2012 Conservative budget set aside $8-million for CRA audits to determine whether they are following rules regarding political activity. The CRA has not published a list of the 60 charities it has identified for auditing. However, some of the groups that said they were audited were critical of government policy. The CRA has rejected suggestions the selection was politically motivated.

Tory-linked charity behind monument declared it was not active politically – The Globe and Mail.

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The Two Sides of Stephen Harper: Cold War Warrior and Compassion

2014/06/02 Leave a comment

Starting with the former, a reminder that the PM is not only driven by diaspora politics in relation to Ukraine as he channels his internal Cold War warrior:

“Evil comes in many forms and seems to reinvent itself time and again,” he said.“But whatever it calls itself — Nazism, Marxist-Leninism, today, terrorism — they all have one thing in common: the destruction, the end of human liberty.”

Canadians, the prime minister said, are well aware of that destruction.

“We feel this pain so acutely because nearly one-quarter of all Canadians were either held captive by communism’s chains or are the sons and daughters of those who were.”

Stephen Harper takes aim at Putin.

And yet his softer side can be seen in his support for the recent summit on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) and his media interview with Melinda Gates (as well as a rare admission of the values of scientific evidence and experts):

“It’s hard for me not to get very emotional about this because we know, we scientifically know, what vaccinations and immunizations have done for us, personally, in our generation and for generations after us,” he said on the second day of the government’s maternal, newborn and child health summit.

“I frankly don’t understand people who are walking away in our society from something that’s proven to work.”…

Harper then offered his advice to those who “go off on their own theories and not listen to the scientific evidence.”

“Don’t indulge your theories, think of your children and listen to the experts,” he said.

‘If you love your child,’ vaccinate your child: Melinda Gates

 

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