Canadian News Roundup

- Need proof that Conservatives don't believe in equality for women? Here it is.

- The opposition parties managed to band together to get a second reading on their pro-Kyoto protocols bill in advance of whatever environmental plan 'approach' minister Rona Ambrose, who has been busy reassuring the oil and car manufacturing execs that their interests are paramount while putting the issue of climate change on the back burner, may present whenever she gets around to it. While Ambrose doesn't believe climate change is the top priority, the arctic is melting and threats to the livelihood of the Inuit and the destruction to the environment there is moving forward at an alarming pace. The Tories had over a decade in opposition to put together their environmental 'approach' while they railed against Kyoto. What's taking them so long to present their plan 'approach' now?

- Sometimes you just want to smack people upside the head:

Canada should not waste military resources on defending the Arctic, but should sign on to the U.S. ballistic missile defence program and double the amount of money it gives for foreign aid, a Senate defence committee report released Thursday says.

The senators also say the Defence Department should get special treatment, suggesting that its minister be empowered to spend up to $500 million on equipment without having to go through the long process of cabinet approval.
link

How many times do these guys need to be reminded that the BMD system doesn't even work? And why should Canada subsidize a US military program which may, in the end, result in their faulty missiles ending up on Canadian soil when they're misfired?

As for the Arctic, everybody and his dog knows that the US and Denmark are challenging Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area but the Conservatives are so blase about that issue that they have fired Canada's ambassador to the Arctic council.

Furthermore, Canada is supposed to be working in conjunction with the US to maintain a security perimeter around the continent, so closing arctic military bases threatens those efforts as well.

- Speaking of defence issues, why is this gung-ho Conservative government slashing the pay of wounded soldiers?

Wounded members of the Canadian Forces "are no longer given the benefit of the danger pay nor the tax-exempt status, which I think is extraordinarily harsh and shows a broken faith with our troops," said Dan McTeague, an MP from Scarborough.

"I think every Canadian who finds out . . . that our wounded soldiers are being cut off, are being docked that kind of pay, will be outraged."

Canadian Forces personnel serving overseas are given extra pay, on top of their normal salaries, to account for the hardship and risk. Those who are currently serving their second tour of duty in Kandahar, for instance, receive $2,111 a month, tax-free, above their regular pay. In addition, those on high-risk missions are given an income-tax exemption of up to $6,647 a month.

That ends if a soldier's wounds are so severe that he or she must be removed from the theatre of war.

Mr. McTeague found out about the policy when his cousin's 20-year-old son was seriously injured last month in a suicide bombing in Kandahar.

The Cons are blaming this on the Liberals of course while totally side-stepping the fact that they have the power to change it. (What else is new?) Remember that the next time you hear them say that they 'support the troops'.