We can't say whether Liberal leader Stephen McNeil read this particular Contrarian entry, but he did both the right thing and the smart thing in helping astonished New Democrats speed passage of political financing reform through the house in a single day. It's the smart thing, because McNeil couldn't prevent passage of the new law, so why encourage days of debate focusing on past Liberal wrongdoing? It's the right thing, because no party should enjoy a permanent finger on the political scale based on a 40-year-old shakedown racket. McNeil explained it this way:It was my direction—and I take full responsibility—that...

23 October, 2009

No surprise to those who know him that defeated Inverness Liberal Ian McNeil matched victorious Tory Allan MacMaster in post-election graciousness. McNeil wisely made short work of any recount speculation: I expect that everybody did their job effectively and the result will stand...

23 October, 2009

Inverness MLA Allan MacMaster was exceptionally gracious in victory Tuesday. Speaking to elated partisans after his slender win, he took care to mention his high regard for the three losing candidates: Liberal Ian McNeil, New Democrat Bert Lewis, and Green Nathalie Arsenault. I believe voters notice this, and remember it. Showing a generous spirit in victory is a mark of political professionalism, a mark of character, and surprisingly rare....

22 October, 2009

So much for Contrarian's election prognostication prowess. Tory Allan MacMaster hung on to the Inverness seat by 50 votes over Liberal Ian McNeil. N-dip Bert Lewis was 800 votes back. I guess a 3,431-vote margin four months ago counts for something after all. Full results here. [Update:]  A certain Danny Graham, a man familiar to Contrarian readers Liberal and otherwise,  writes: You should have given me a call on the byelection. I predicted the triacta of Mac Master, Mac Neil, and Lewis within a margin of very few votes....

20 October, 2009

Extortion. That's how the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia obtained the money it would be blocked from using by a government bill introduced in the legislature Tuesday. Liberal leader Stephen McNeil should think hard before crying victim. Justice Minister Ross Landry, who introduced the bill, suggested the Liberals give the tainted funds to charity. A better idea would be to give it back to the provincial treasury, because that's who they stole it from. McNeil may think voters' memories are too short to remember the details, but a few of us old coots are still around to remind them. The money in question came...

20 October, 2009

Here's a clever wrinkle:  Nova Scotia Environment estimates that its Power of Green conference tomorrow will have a carbon footprint of about 50 tonnes, but some smart folks in the department's Climate Change Division arranged to offset these notional atmospheric emissions. With money from the Natural Gas Association, they will  convert the Metro Turning Point Shelter to gas heat and replace its residential grade washers and driers with more efficient, commercial units. This will save more than 50 tonnes of carbon annually, cut the shelter's electricity bill in half, and render the conference carbon neutral. As Tom Leher might say,...

20 October, 2009

Oh no! It's not a Playmobil toy, but a Contrarian regular directs us to "Charlie don't surf," a two-year-old post on the very peculiar website, Legofesto, featuring a (decidedly unofficial) Lego waterboarding device. Where will this stop? Legofesto describes herself as: A politics-junkie and news-hound, with a thing for lego. This is not a blog for children. She is very, very pissed off about how the War on Terror (or whatever we're now calling it) is prosecuted around the world, led by US/UK. Human rights abuses and real events in the world are recreated in lego. LEGO© in no way endorse this blog...

20 October, 2009

According to the website Raw Story, the Obama administration has reacted the the UK High Court decision (stayed pending appeal) to publish details of the torture inflicted on former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed, and Obamaphiles will thre response hard to stomach: Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said: "We are not pleased", adding that Washington kept such information confidential "to protect our own citizens." How exactly does it protect US citizens to be shielded from the information that CIA agents used scalpels on an illegally rendered prisoner's testicles? Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald continues to follow this story. A Contrarian reader points to this...

20 October, 2009

Contrarian reader Andrew Bourke flags the droll consumer reviews of the Playmobil Security Checkpoint on the Amazon website (scroll way down). Moneyquote: I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!". But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried...

20 October, 2009

Today's Antigonish by-election is a foregone conclusion. N-dip Moe Smith came within 275 votes of knocking off popular Tando MacIsaac in June's general election. Tando having abandoned the seat so abruptly, and the NDP firmly ensconced in Province House, Smith will take the riding in a walk. Inverness is a different matter. The riding is festooned with election signs in roughly equal numbers. Although then-Premier Rodney MacDonald out-polled his nearest rival by 3,431  votes in June, would-be Tory successor Allan MacMaster is widely expected to place third today. The premier's abandonment of the riding, like Tando's of neighboring Antigonish, will hurt MacMaster,...

20 October, 2009
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