Random Avians
It's election time. Hard to believe, but the Tories are now being spoken of as possible winners of a minority government. Part of me still can't wrap my head around the topsy turviness of the thing, but suffice to say that the sponsorship scandal is sending Quebecers into the arms of the Block and Daltin McGinty's budget in Ontario has sent Liberal support through the floor there. That leaves the west, which is Tory country, and the Atlantic which could be anyone's guess, but doesn't account for a lot of seats in the grand scheme of things anyway.
The Tories did peak my interest with this morning's news. Stephen Harper has pledged to beef up the Canadian military, including new F-18's and new helicopter carriers-- as well as 20,000 more bodies in uniform. I expect the replacements for the Sea Kings there too. BUT... then I read he's only planning on spending $1.2 Billion. When you factor in a decade and a half of cuts, that money would barely be enough to plug up the holes in what we have now. It'd probably translate to a bit of a wage increase but most of it would likely be used up immediately on spare parts and basic logistical items to fix all the stuff that's sitting around broken or obsolete. Things like helicopter carriers (which I support) have a much bigger price tag. We also need new transport aircraft to replace the Hercs, new tanks (not the wheeled, off-road vehicles that are currently scheduled to be called "tanks" to save money), new SAR helicopters, upgrades to the F-18s and concrete plans to purchase Joint Strike Fighters (a development program Canada chipped in for and sure as Hell had better take advantage of). Oh yeah, and bring back the Airborn Regiment.
My god. I'm talking as if that
In other news, I failed my civil disobedience test by passing my firearms safety test last Friday (a squandering of 40 bucks). I passed without any problems, but I think I'll wait until after the election before I see if I have to shell out another $100 for my firearms card. With luck, the firearms registry will be one of the first to be dismissed under whatever new regime comes to power.
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xZ5va6 The best blog you have!
5:20 AM
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