




McCarter’s probe, which went back to 2000, criticized unnamed consulting companies for driving up each other’s fees to artificially create a higher rate for their services and putting too much power in too few hands in awarding of contracts.
The auditor general also slammed unnamed senior health bureaucrats for thwarting his efforts to get investigators into eHealth for a routine audit in the summer of 2008, which didn’t happen until February 2009.
Other revelations in the documents included:
Sprint’s Vulnerability The industry would rather make the changes on its own. “Early termination fees are changing based on consumer demand,” says Joe Farren, spokesperson for CTIA, The Wireless Industry Association, noting that consumers can always opt for pre-paid wireless services that don’t require contractual commitments.
But carriers’ moves may prove too little too late. Lawsuits alone could result in billions of dollars in costs and settlements, and may prompt providers to axe early termination fees altogether. “Pandora’s box is going to open up,” says Jessica Zufolo, senior policy director for telecommunications, media, and technology at Medley Global Advisors.
For an industry that has long used contracts to keep subscribers on board, elimination of termination fees could spell massive changes, such as higher churn and slimmer margins. A satellite TV company typically spends around $700 to recruit a consumer. For wireless companies, the cost of acquiring customers, including marketing and handset subsidies, is closer to $400, and it typically takes more than a year to recoup. Higher rates of switching could be especially nettlesome for Sprint Nextel, which regularly finishes near the bottom of customer satisfaction rankings. “The biggest loser, unfortunately, in this space is Sprint,” says Serge Matta, senior vice-president at ComScore (SCOR).
A Dash of Kindness An industrywide, free 30-day trial period would provide cold comfort to wireless providers. The provision would make it easier for a certain percentage of subscribers to start hopping from one provider to another to get free service. Back when long-distance companies abolished contracts, a material percentage of consumers began switching without paying their last bill, says Rich Nespola, CEO of consultancy TMNG (TMNG).
To keep subscribers, more wireless carriers might follow Verizon Wireless’s lead and begin allowing subscribers to switch to lower-priced plans without having to extend contracts. A recent survey of more than 2,000 users by ComScore showed that 19% of Americans switched to their current carrier for a better price. Carriers may also offer users more free content and other incentives to encourage them to stay. “They’d do sweet things instead of barbs,” says Richard Doherty, director at consultancy Envisioneering Group. But these treats are likely to eat into revenue and margins.
One potential beneficiary of lower termination costs: equipment manufacturers. Today, an average American replaces a cell phone every 17.7 months, vs. every 16.6 months in 2006, according to consultancy J.D. Power. That lengthening replacement cycle spells trouble for handset makers Nokia (NOK), LG, and Motorola (MOT). If early termination fees go away completely, handset sales could jump 25% in the first six months, Doherty estimates.
A downside: To preserve their margins, service providers may not subsidize the equipment as much as they do today. Sure, subsidies are becoming less common, and less of a draw for consumers willing to splash out upwards of $500 for a razzle-dazzle smart phone. But, unable to charge termination penalties, service providers may simply pass the cost to consumers as other fees.
Kharif is a senior writer for BusinessWeek.com in Portland, Ore. With Jennifer Schenker in Paris.”
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2008/tc2008063_586218.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech
Having your ISP or others instead cancelling your services is easy.. Just continue to post on the net the truth as to what they are like.. and your services won’t be worth anything to them next, they will disconnect you gladly..”
” The ISP suppliers, Canadian corporations now even such as Bell, or Acanac Inc. http://www.acanac.ca 1-866-281-3538 still are big unacceptable Liars who undeniably too are clearly guilty also of misleading, false advertising too now.. Accanac had mentioned on their internet site that they do not cap their downloads.. but they conveniently had forgot to also say to all of the potential customers on their site that they lease their services from Bell and that Bell itself still regularly between 4 pm to 2 am caps their downloads.. when confronted with this they Acanac Inc do reply that they do not cap their downloads but Bell does.. what an absurd misleading play on words. Mind you Acanac headquartered in Toronto did also claims that they do provide a solution to this Capping software by means of a Putty software but unfortunately this Acanac Inc approach is unreliable, requires continual monitoring, and is presently more problems then what it is worth. Acanac’s support services are also non basically existent in fact, or very very inadequate, slow…So why does our pretentious , inadequate Minister of industry, Jim Prentice MP and his useless consumer affairs department fail over and over again to look after the good interest of the consumers, but looks mainly after Big business good welfare?”
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on Thursday told the company it has until June 23 to make public data that was marked confidential in a May 29 filing. Bell had said it needed to keep quiet the information, which details the level of internet traffic and possible congestion on its network, for competitive reasons.
In a letter sent to Bell, CRTC director general of competition, costing and tariffs Paul Godin said the need for public disclosure outweighed the company’s competitive privacy concerns.
“Commission staff has determined, based on all the material before it, that no specific direct harm would likely result from disclosure, or that the public interest in disclosure outweighs any specific direct harm that might result from disclosure,” he wrote. (link)
Upon further advice from the net
I set my Torrent settings to:
-16 kBps upload instead of 60 kbs or more
-500 kbs (not unlimited download)
-tcpip.sys patched to 50 connections
-I do have firewall disabled,
Now I’m even downloading with 400 kbs and yes… the torrents I do use are selected do have many seeds and few peers.. so I am sure I can reach the maximum speed.
I like to use the torrent to download TV shows especially , I found TV shows often much better than the movies, resolution included, plus on torrent downloads there generally are no COMMERCIAL interruptions, and I can chose when I want to watch the programs as well and this is why I basically do not want the cable TV instead.. I no longer watch my TV not even for the news.. since I also prefer to use the net for my news now too where I can get it at any time I want to too..
I have let the putty program, with your recommended setting of 60 run all night, when it seems to be the most critical period, and it worked well.I have much appreciated your help and support here..and I have been able to use my torrent download, and my email, plus my internet explorer with no connectivity problem.Now with steady confidence I can continue to recommend others to use Accanac as well.I wish all the problems of life could be resolved that easily too.Thanks a lot.Paul> Dear paul kambulow,
>Yes Bell is capping all service providers on their phone lines using bit torrents.
>The official workaround can be found at http://community.acanac.com/acanac/viewtopic.php?t=5903
>If you have any more questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.
>Best Regards,
> Acanac-Inc Sales
The MS operating system was made for multitasking, even on the net, but with Bell Sympatico I clearly, wrongfully was unable to do this as well. Bell had even recommend that I shut down my torrent software when I wanted to use my email or browse the internet. And yes I too was really upset to find out that Bell was still capping my bit torrent downloads.. email, etc.,,
https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/liberals-politicians-do-lie-too/
https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/bell-bce-own-profitability/
https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/11989/
One in three hit with RCMP Tasers need medical care: The Canadian Press-CBC analysis The Canadian Press – Tue Jun 17, 6:18 PM OTTAWA – Nearly one-third of the people the RCMP has zapped with Tasers needed medical treatment afterward, prompting new questions about a potent weapon police consider a safer alternative to conventional guns.
Prosecutors look over charge assessment report on Dziekanski death The Canadian Press – Tue Jun 17, 6:46 PMVANCOUVER – B.C. Crown prosecutors are looking over a police report that will help them determine whether charges should be laid in the death of a man hit with a police Taser at Vancouver airport.
Who looks after the citizens welfare? The pretentious security Minister Stockwell Day MP who could not become a prime Minister firstly too already.
Canadians are trimming down on their food, lifestyle and travel habits as costs rise, says a new poll. Three-quarters of the Canadians surveyed said they’ve noticed the price of food increasing in the last three months, and almost half of respondents said they were already buying cheaper products in place of more expensive items. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080617/national/food_gas_consumers
Who looks after out for our good welfare, the federal government, provinces? we do that .. for the others are too busy stuffing their own pockets, having a good time still it seems.
Ban Tasers if RCMP doesn’t curb use by year’s end: Commons committee
CBC.ca – 3 hours ago
A parliamentary committee is threatening to call for a moratorium on the use of stun guns if the RCMP doesn’t begin restricting use of the weapons by the end of the year.
Crack down on Tasers, watchdog tells Mounties Toronto Star
Too much Taser use Winnipeg Sun
CHQR – CTV.ca – Vancouver Sun – The Province
all 289 news articles »
https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/albertan-sheriffs-generate-a-vast-revenue/
According to the news agency, federal Cabinet Ministers are making a practice of conveniently scheduling official business to coincide with Conservative party fund raisers and then claiming travel costs. The result: You and I pay for the expense out of our tax dollars while the Conservative Party of Canada reaps the benefit from the fund raising efforts.
The investigation highlights several trips made by a multiple Cabinet Ministers including Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, Defense Minister Peter MacKay as well as Ministers Jim Prentice, Stockwell Day, Chuck Strahl and Gary Lunn. This kind of misuse of taxpayer’s money is a familiar happening to the folks in Newfoundland and Labrador but that’s where the similarity ends.
As soon as the situation was uncovered in Newfoundland and Labrador the government’s top cabinet Minister was immediately fired, resignations were tendered, in both government and opposition ranks, a police investigation ensued and charges were laid. The reaction from the Harper government is simply to… well, actually there has been no reaction from the Harper government unless you count offhand comments from representatives who simply qualify their actions by saying, “… this is the way it has always been done and the Liberals did it too”. Now that’s a novel defense. That one was tried in Newfoundland and Labrador as well. Court dates were still set.
The Prime Minister for his part appears to have lost his voice and is once again displaying an inability to make the “tough” decisions that need to be made by a responsible leader who has the best interests of constituents at heart rather than those of his party and political future.
For nearly two years Stephen Harper and Danny Williams have made no secret of how completely opposed to one another’s points of view they are. It seems that when it comes to the misappropriation of public funds their individual approaches are no different. One took the actions required to clean up government, the other, who ran on a platform of clean government, refuses to even awknowlege anything is wrong.
When elected officials spend countless thousands in tax dollars to attend party fund raisers it’s a situation that should raise the ire of all taxpayers, especially those who don’t support the party in question but who, through this backdoor practice, end up helping to fill party’s war chest.
The following Toronto Star excerpts speak volumes about the immoral and unethical practices taking place in Ottawa and being tacitly condoned by the Prime Minister.
The Star easily found 25 examples of Tory ministers mixing fundraising and department business, each trip typically costing taxpayers several thousand dollars. The federal Conservatives – elected on promises to be squeaky clean – are using government resources to help fill their election war chest. When Peter MacKay flew to British Columbia in January, he split his time between government business and two Tory fundraising gigs. Taxpayers footed the bill.
When then-Indian affairs minister Jim Prentice flew to Nova Scotia to meet with provincial chiefs, he headlined a Conservative fundraising dinner in Prince Edward Island. Taxpayers paid for the trip. When Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn jetted off from a Quebec fisheries forum to attend a government meeting in Manitoba, he also guest-starred at a local Tory fundraising banquet.
Hearn was also in Nova Scotia and attended a fundraiser. Total cost (for Hearn’s travels): about $5,500. Stockwell Day (public safety); Chuck Strahl (Indian affairs) and Gary Lunn (natural resources) gave keynote speeches at the conference, and the theme was getting ready for the next election. Strahl billed taxpayers about $5,000 for a five-day period that included the Tory conference. His expense report says he had “First Nations meetings” in Vancouver. For the Conservative party, the trip cost nothing, though about $40,000 was raised in Victoria and Kelowna. Lunn’s expense reports show a $10,000 expense for several trips in a short period, leading up to the conference, and ending in British Columbia.
His assistant, who typically travels with him, shows on her expense report a $5,000 bill to taxpayers for a five-day period that includes the three-day conference in Harrison Hot Springs. Former Indian affairs minister Prentice, a Calgary MP who is now industry minister, travelled in February 2007 to Nova Scotia to take part in negotiations with Mi’kmaq chiefs in the province. He then attended a Conservative fundraising dinner in Malpeque, P.E.I. According to reports disclosed by the department, the total cost for Prentice and his political aide for the eastern trip was just under $7,000. A charter flight was included; the documents don’t explain the destination.
The regularity of these trips and the huge amount of money both expensed and raised, to help fill Conservative coffers, make the fridge magnet purchases and charitable donations of disgraced and criminally charged Newfoundland and Labrador politicians pale by comparison.
When political mishandling of public money became known in Newfoundland and Labrador sweeping new spending controls were put in place. A full investigation was undertaken by the Auditor General and charges were laid. The position of the Newfoundland and Labrador government was clear, clean up the mess and let the chips fall where they may. Stephen Harper’s silence and total inaction over Ottawa’s misuse of public funds is clear indicator of his government’s position.
In the first quarter of 2008, the Conservative party has raised $5 million – outstripping both the Liberals and NDP with a dollar ratio of about five to one.”
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/3535
Now the Conservatives ironically are even collecting and next wasting more of the money donated , to pay for TV, radio adds to overcome the bad images Canada Wide too that the free news reports rightfully have given them. Would be for them ,the Conservatives. now wiser, and cheaper firstly not to do these bad things.
The expenses scam Jun 18, 2008 04:30 AM In an investigative report this week, the Star’s Kevin Donovan exposed a duplicitous practice in which ministers in the Harper government combined official business with party fundraising so as to stick taxpayers with the travel tab for the entire trip. Indeed, Donovan even found evidence that the so-called government business appeared to be an afterthought to justify public funding of the travel costs to a Conservative fundraising event. When confronted with the evidence, the typical response from spokespeople for the government was that the Liberals did it too when they were in power. True enough. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised that his government would be different. For a year it called itself “Canada’s new government” to convey the message that it was squeaky clean and that everything it did would be transparent and above board. Whether it’s a time-honoured practice or not, it is just plain wrong to stick taxpayers with the travel bill for ministers to attend events designed to fill the party’s coffers. While it would be totally dishonest for a minister to “create” some government business in order to justify the cost of a fundraising trip, in practice it would be almost impossible for anyone to determine whether such official business is justifiable or not. And for that reason, when ministers commingle government and party business, it should be automatic that the government and the party split the cost of travel right down the middle http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/445008
Many many evangelcial pastors even do wrongfully still think that the citizens complaints about them is all a big joke, they laugh at it, mock them too. Don’t believe me, just do an internet search “Walter Kambulow” and see their poor responses to his writings. Pastors falsely think they are above the law and yet many of them have, do threaten to sue you when you get too close and personal about them. They want it both ways, they cannot though. They the evangelical pastors firstly do need to get real, to act like real Christians firstly now and work for God rather then self. They seem to have nice cars, nice homes, great salaries, expensive perks, vacations too too many of them.. Pastors Jim Baker, Jimmy Swaggart was not the first or last pervert, crook.
Tory minister’s comment on jurist slammed Liberal MP complains to Speaker after Toews calls UN human rights commissioner a `disgrace’ Jun 18, 2008 04:30 AM OTTAWA–A senior Conservative cabinet minister says respected Canadian jurist and rights advocate Louise Arbour is a “disgrace.” Treasury Board President Vic Toews heckled a Liberal MP who was questioning whether the government had ordered representatives to refrain from any public praise of Arbour on the occasion of her pending retirement as the United Nations high commissioner for human rights. Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay complained to the Commons Speaker on a point of order. She quoted Toews as saying “She is a disgrace” and immediately asked Toews, a former justice minister, to retract the remarks. He refused to back down. Instead, he clarified his remarks to say he believed Arbour’s statements “with respect to the state of Israel and the people of Israel are in fact a disgrace and I stand by those words.” The unofficial transcript, known as the “Blues” – which is subject to modification by members of Parliament and rarely quotes hecklers – recorded Toews’ comment as: “Shame on her.” An angry Hall Findlay later suggested Toews’ views were probably shared by a majority of members of the Conservative party. “You can have differences of opinion but when you make a completely personal attack, I think it’s appalling,” Hall-Findlay told reporters. She said Conservatives have portrayed Arbour’s comments “completely out of context.” Arbour, a former judge on the Supreme Court of Canada and a former international war-crimes prosecutor, will step down as the United Nations high commissioner for human rights at the end of her four-year term on June 30. During that time, she clashed with the United States for practices such as water-boarding of suspects in its “war on terror.” Arbour recently sparked protests when she praised the launch of a new Arab human rights charter that included a call for the elimination of Zionism. During the 2006 war in Lebanon, she warned killings of innocent civilians in Lebanon and Israel could amount to war crimes. Rumoured to be a potential Liberal candidate in the next federal election, Arbour criticized the government decision to side with the U.S., Australia and New Zealand and to vote against the UN declaration on rights for indigenous peoples. She also called the cancellation of the $2.7 million Court Challenges program, which funded equality challenges under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “disappointing.” Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said: “The government hasn’t always agreed with all the positions she (Arbour) has taken. Nevertheless we’ve clearly praised what an accomplished career she’s had.” http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/445150
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/445150
Immoral Conservative Ostriches, war mongerers, cannot refute the fact Israel had immorally targeted the bombing of innocent Christians in Lebanon to put pressure on the terrorists. And Tony Blair and US president George Bush too had falsely allowed it, but I did not, I had objected rightfully to all too.
Vancouver Sun – 2 The drug sweep, dubbed Project Spring Clean, was the result of warrants issued following an extensive, five-week investigation. Officers said there were significant arrests for marijuana grow-ops and crack houses; 12 crack houses were shut down, …
Police arrest 120 in drug, gang sweep Globe and Mail
https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2008/08/09/does-the-rcmp-monitor-download-logs/
Group Calls on Federal Minister Peter Van Loan To Apologize for Lying About Democracy Watch’s Position on Conservatives’ Election Spending Scheme — Files Complaint Calling on Prime Minister Harper To Penalize Van Loan’s Blatant Dishonesty
And later the same day, also in response to a question, Mr. Van Loan stated:”Mr. Speaker, let us remember that this was a dispute initiated in the courts by the Conservative Party of Canada because of the unequal treatment of the Conservative Party compared with other parties, including the NDP, which engages in the transfer of funds between riding associations from its central party to assist in local targeted ridings. It has been going on for years. Duff Conacher said that on television. He said it is legal.”
In fact, this is half of what Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch, said on CTV’s Canada AM show on April 16th. He went on to say very clearly that he believes the Conservatives’ scheme violated the Canada Elections Act because the TV ads only contained a small-print message at the end mentioning the local Conservative candidate.
Duff Conacher also stated during the same Canada AM interview that he believes the court will rule that the Conservatives’ local candidates can only claim 10-20 percent of the TV ad cost as local campaign spending, and that therefore the Conservative Party will be found to have spent about $900,000 more on its national campaign than the legal election spending limit allowed under the Act.
“Peter Van Loan lied when he claimed that I said the Conservatives’ TV ad spending scheme during the last election was legal — in fact I said very clearly that I believe the scheme was illegal,” said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch.
“Mr. Van Loan owes me and Democracy Watch an apology for so blatantly abusing our good name in trying to excuse the Conservatives’ dangerously undemocratic activities.”
Democracy Watch also sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling on him to find Mr. Van Loan guilty of violating the “Ethical Guidelines for Public Office Holders” that require ministers to be honest and are contained in Annex G of “Accountable Government: A Guide for Ministers and Secretaries of State-2007”. Democracy Watch called on Prime Minister Harper to penalize Mr. Van Loan’s blatant dishonesty by removing him from either the position of Government House Leader or Minister of Democratic Reform.
Section V.1. “Ministerial Conduct” of the Guide states:
“Ministers and Secretaries of State must act with honesty and must uphold the highest ethical standards so that public confidence and trust in the integrity, objectivity and impartiality of government are maintained and enhanced. As public office holders, Ministers and Secretaries of State are subject to the Ethical Guidelines for Public Office Holders and Guidelines for the Political Activities of Public Office Holders, set out in Annexes G and H. Moreover, they have an obligation to perform their official duties and arrange their private affairs in a manner that will bear the closest public scrutiny. This obligation is not fully discharged merely by acting within the law.”
The first guideline in the Annex G Ethical Guidelines is as follows:
“Ethical Standards: Public office holders shall act with honesty and uphold the highest ethical standards so that public confidence and trust in the integrity, objectivity and impartiality of the government are conserved and enhanced.”
Prime Minister Harper writes in his “Message to Ministers and Secretaries of State” at the beginning of the Guide:
“I cannot stress enough that implementation of the Federal Accountability Act and associated Action Plan is not simply a matter of compliance. At least as important is our commitment to a culture of accountability in everything we do – that is, to uphold the highest standards of probity and ethical conduct in recognition of the fact that it is a privilege and a trust to participate in the process through which Canadians govern themselves.”
and
“Ministers and Secretaries of State must act with integrity. To ensure public trust and confidence, not only in our Government but in government generally, Ministers and Secretaries of State must uphold the highest standards of honesty and impartiality. Both the performance of your official duties and the arrangement of your private affairs should bear the closest public scrutiny.”
As well, under section V “Standards of Conduct” of the Guide, is the following statement:
“Full accountability to Canadians is a central objective of the government. The Prime Minister holds Ministers and Secretaries of State to the highest standards of conduct for all their actions, including those that are not directly related to their official functions.”
Democracy Watch would have filed its complaint with the federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, but the Conservatives removed the rule requiring Ministers and other public office holders to be honest when they changed their ethics code last July into the new Conflict of Interest Act, and as a result complaints about such blatant dishonesty can no longer be filed with the Commissioner.
“If Prime Minister Harper does nothing to penalize Minister Van Loan for being dishonest, it will be yet another example showing clearly that he believes lying to advance the Conservative Party’s interests is fine with him, and that Cabinet ministers still can’t be held accountable for wrongdoing,” said Conacher.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch
Tel: (613) 241-5179
http://www.dwatch.ca/camp/RelsApr2508.html
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