it doesn't happen often

It doesn't happen often but once in a while I regret not having daughters.

45th Edition of the Red Ensigh Standard.

I was distracted and should have posted this earlier.
From West Coast Chaos the 45th Edition of the Red Ensigh Standard.

Time to call in the animal welfare people

Deputy House Leader Marlene Jennings said the level of contempt this government has for women is shocking.

What's shocking is the level of contempt the Liberals have for Belinda. Paul Martin used her to postpone the inevitable. In opposition they continue to exploit her to divert media attention.
I'll wager that when average Canadians talk about the dog war they aren't discussing whether or not Peter MacKay called her a dog. They're talking about whether or not she is a dog.

Liberal women need to do two things. They need to take a hard look at how their party treats women. And they need to take a lesson from Conservative women who figured out a long time ago that if you can't fight your own battles and stand up for yourself you aren't going to make it in this game. At the hands of the opposition Belinda isn't going to make it.

Update: I didn't notice until now that Lisa at London Fog made similar observations yesterday about the animal welfare people. Go on over there and read her post ... if you haven't already that is.

While we're on the subject of victims here's a couple more things from us downtrodden conservative chicks

Kate gleaned Belindarella And The Fairytale Boardroom from her comments

And Joan notes that provincial liberals care just as deeply about women as their Ottawa cousins do.

Carville once said of Paula Jones -– who sued Bill Clinton for sexual harassment she alleged occurred when Clinton was Arkansas governor -– that "“If you drag a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you'll find."” Now I guess there is no objective measure of these things, but that strikes me as a tad harsher than being compared to a dog.

Master of the Eric

Seaway valley writer Steve Thompson, will be reading and signing copies of his book Master of the Erik at Books on Beechwood Saturday, October 21, 2006, at 2:00 p.m.

Author Steve Thompson has taken an intriguing piece of Canadian maritime history and added a fictional crew to create this compelling historical novel.

A Scottish-built whaler, the Erik became, with the decline of the whaling industry, a Hudson’s Bay Company Supply Ship. The many voyages of the Erik in the North Atlantic included a dash to the Arctic with Admiral Peary and ended when it was sunk off the coast of St. Pierre and Miquelon by a German submarine during the First World War

Fans of the prolific writer and gifted story-teller will have an opportunity to visit with Steve at Books On Beechwood, 35 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa.

Git 'r dun, John!

And you thought it was just the cable guy that talked like that. Up the valley, were the cows are called kews, they really know how to have a good time.

John Yakabuski, MP for Renfrew - Nipissing - Pembroke is releasing a compilation of traditional favourites and spiritual songs with proceeds from CD sales going to five hospitals in his riding:Renfrew Victoria, Pembroke Regional, Arnprior and District, Deep River and District and St. Francis Memorial in Barry’s Bay.

The release party will be held at RCAF Wing, 164 Argyle St South, Renfrew Ontario, Saturday October 21st,2006 at 7:30 pm. A $20.00 ticket will get you a copy of John’s CD and a great evening of entertainment.

And where, you might be asking, is this valley accent heard? Well, I can tell you that along the St. Lawrence and up to Chesterville and Winchester the cows are cows. By the time you get to Kemptville they've become kews.

... and the creek don't rise

It's been ages since I've heard someone say if the good lord's willing and the creek don't rise. But when you start listening to those old hurtin' songs things like that come back to you.

Because so many southern expressions are also used here I went looking for the celtic or early colonial origins of this phrase. Turns out it has nothing to do with crossing the creek to get into town on a Saturday night. It stems from the letters of American Senator, Creek Indian Agent and North Georgia Notable Benjamin Hawkins.

...the phrase would be correctly written as 'God willing and the Creek don't rise'. Hawkins, college-educated and a well-written man would never have made a grammatical error, so the capitalizion of Creek is the only way the phrase could make sense. He wrote it in response to a request from the President to return to our Nation's Capital and the reference is not to a creek, but The Creek Indian Nation.

Carry a big stick and don't get between a female and her young

The Rooster was carving a lovely butternut walking stick for me and we got to talking about the need to carrying a big stick. I'm able-bodied enough, I just like the rhythm of a walking stick. He likes the protection it provides me.

When he was a kid in New Brunswick he was reminded not to forget to take a stick with him when he went to play in the bush. Of course, when he got to be big enough - maybe ten or eleven - he was reminded not to forget the gun. But that's the story of a different time and place. Hell, it occurs to me that our kids haven't even learned to operate a chainsaw yet.

When I was a kid, it was just habit to pick up a stick if we were walking any distance behind the barn. A simple life lesson. Carry a stick and don't get between a female and her young.

I recalled that conversation after reading this Cornwall Inquiry story from the Standard Freeholder. Mom, lawyer butt heads:

During a line of questioning surrounding the psychological treatment afforded the priest who abused her son, Lise Brisson's voice became increasingly loud, filling the hearings room.

The 73-year-old mother of Benoit Brisson expressed her lack of faith at the authenticity of documents provided by the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese which indicate Rev. Gilles Deslauriers took part in regular therapy sessions for several months in 1986 after her son disclosed the priest had abused him in the late 1970s.

"I don't believe in it," said Brisson. "Not even today."

Those of you following the Cornwall Inquiry might also be interested in reading this post at Relapsed Catholic.

Ontario Public Library Week

The Ingleside Library will be hosting an Authors’ Night as part of Ontario Public Library Week. The annual fall event, which runs from October 16th to the 22nd, has for more than two decades promoted public library services in the province.

A prolific writer and gifted story-teller, Steve Thompson with be reading from his fifth and latest book Master of the Erik. He will also discuss how the research of an actual Scottish-built whaling ship and Hudson's Bay Company supply vessel became an historical novel about an intriguing piece of Canadian maritime history.

As well as Watchers, Moles and Assassins, and The Chameleon's Revenge, Steve Thompson is also the author of two collections of rural memoirs: Doesn't That Hurt the Cow's Back? and Picture This!

Rosemary Rutley is the author of Voices From The Lost Villages and Of Curds and Whey, a history of cheese making in Stormont Dundas and Glengarry. She will be reading a work in progress from The Riverain her first book of lost villages fiction to be published in late 2007 .

This event will take place at the Ingleside Branch on October 17th, 2006 at 7:00 p.m

The Cornwall Public Inquiry

The hearing resumes tomorrow. This site offers live audio and video webcast, hearing schedule and transcripts.

The Conservatives are the BNA party. The Liberals are the Charter party.

L. Ian MacDonald speech to the Calgary Congress

This is classical federalism, federalism as it was intended by the fathers of Confederation. Without the division of powers. without the asymmetrical features to accommodate Quebecs Catholic and Protestant denominations, and its English-language minority, Sir John A. Macdonald would not have been the father of our country.

Where fault lines have surfaced in the federation in the last 40 years, it has usually been because Ottawa has used the federal spending power to occupy areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction. This is centralizing federalism, and for decades it has fanned the flames of separatism in Quebec and alienation in Alberta.

h/t Jack's Newswatch

Cornwall Inquiry begins victim testimony

First victim heard,

The first sex assault victim to testify in the Cornwall Public Inquiry told a graphic tale yesterday of horrific abuse.

however,

The allegations heard yesterday were not part of Project Truth, but the inquiry is looking at how institutions such as the police, the Catholic Church, the Children's Aid Society and others handled any sexual abuse allegations they heard of.

Update on this post from Cornwall Radio AM 1220

Another call for the man at the centre of investigations that lead to Project Truth. We have heard again another request that Perry Dunlop take part in the Cornwall Public Inquiry. Commission council advised the parties today that Dunlop has in fact been asked to show up. However, he has not accepted the invitation. One of the roadblocks counsel faces in getting Dunlop to testify is the fact that he lives in British Columbia and since this is an Ontario inquiry, it is difficult to obtain witnesses from out of province. A number of lawyers believe the former city cop’s role in the initial investigations that ultimately led to the Project Truth must be examined. If Dunlop does take part, he will not be represented by the Cornwall Police Service.

Dunlop's Role Critical

Dunlop's Role Critical
Cornwall radio 1220AM is reporting that during opening statements this week at the Project Truth Inquiry a number of lawyers want to explore former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop's role in exposing the sexual abuse scandal. A subsequent OPP investigation ended with over 100 charges against 15 men.

Dunlop is a hero of sorts for some in the community, while others maintain he got in the way of police investigations. In January, lead commission council, Peter Engelman, told the AM 1220 News Centre that no decision had been made on whether or not Dunlop, who now lives in British Columbia, would be subpoenaed to testify. Some who are close to Dunlop say he has no intention of getting involved in the inquiry

Update here.

More here to indicate that everything surrounding this inquiry is either sad, disturbing or bizarre. Cops taser inquiry witness

A 48-year-old man expected to be called as a witness in the Project Truth inquiry says police inexplicably Tasered him last weekend before he was taken to hospital in a cruiser, which then crashed on Hwy. 401 near Maitland.