Liberal

How to Stop the Liberal Party of Canada From Spamming You

by alec on May 4, 2006

Some time ago, former Prime Minister Paul Martin began a series of weekly addresses. Because none of the networks would carry his missives to the people, the Liberal Party paid for them as advertising and hosted them on their site. In order to get access to the Prime Ministers chats, you had to enter your email address. Naively thinking that the Liberal Party would respect my privacy, I did so.

Boy was I stupid.

I’ve been the target of their spam ever since. It hasn’t been often, but it has been regular. The latest is Bill Graham’s hysterical letter about the Conservative Budget.

My initial reaction was to simply look for an unsubscribe link. However, Mr. Graham’s letter doesn’t actually have an unsubscribe link. It’s full of links soliciting donations, but no unsubscribe link. After digging around on the Liberal website, I finally found unsubscribe information located in the party’s privacy policy. Simply reply to the unwanted mail, with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

Hypocrites that they are, by spamming me with Liberal propaganda, they’ve violated their own privacy policy. Their hypocrisy is further amplified by the fact that what they’ve done contradicts the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, section 4.2.4 which states:

When personal information that has been collected is to be used for a purpose not previously identified, the new purpose shall be identified prior to use. Unless the new purpose is required by law, the consent of the individual is required before information can be used for that purpose.

And here, of course, is the irony. It was a Liberal Government which introduced the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

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NDP: Pragmatic Idealists

by alec on November 2, 2005

The normally very conservative Colby Cosh has written a delicious piece defending Jack Layton‘s position that he will continue to try to work with the government on the NDP’s ethics reform package, protection for pensions and the environment and a renewed commitment to public health care. Stephen Harper is trying to paint Layton as a sell-out, and Cosh is having none of it. He writes "on the premise that a party leader cares most about the ideas for which his party stands, no position other than Layton’s is remotely practical". And he concludes with:

I don’t think anyone would hold it against him for too long if he (Stephen Harper), like Layton, were to present the Liberals with a list of ideological policy demands. But maybe that’s the real question: do today’s Conservatives actually have a wish list? (One, I mean, beyond No Queer Weddings In My Backyard?) Harper, after all, ran tacitly for the Canadian Alliance leadership as the man who was willing to treat the party as a vehicle for ideas rather than as a professionalized cabal of jobhunters hoping to win an elaborate game of Red Vs. Blue. It seemed like a good idea to some of us at the time, but somewhere along the line Harper accepted the values of a national press corps capable of comprehending and covering politics only as a spectator sport.

Does anyone have a spare petard around to lend Stephen Harper? Some hoisting is clearly called for…

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Conservative Chimera

May 17, 2005

chi·me·ra also chi·mae·ra (k-mîr, k-) n. An organism, organ, or part consisting of two or more tissues of different genetic composition, produced as a result of organ transplant, grafting, or genetic engineering. A substance, such as an antibody, created from the proteins or genes or two different species. An individual who has received a transplant of [...]

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February 7, 2005

Last week’s Globe carried a story with the headline "Politician’s promises not set in stone, court says". The Canadian Taxpayers Federation took Dalton McGuinty to court over a broken promise. In a much publicized media event during his campaign, McGuinty promised not to raise taxes, and then promptly jacked up taxes when he got into power. [...]

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Whither the Conservative agenda?

September 12, 2003

We’re in the midst of an election campaign in Ontario. Incumbent premier Ernie Eves is stumbling badly. The PC party has chosen to try to portray their opponent’s leader, Dalton McGuinty, as not fit for office. The strategy worked the last time, but it appears to be backfiring. The PCs are throwing mud like mad, [...]

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United Right Could Win?

September 2, 2002

United right could be contender, poll says. OTTAWA — A united right-wing party would be a strong threat to form the next federal government, a new opinion poll suggests, providing added pressure on the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance to form a union. Perhaps what the public is looking for is simply, as the [...]

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