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Canadian National Election Campaign Day 16 - Harper's Email is Hacked, Dion Unveils Green Shift

by Rob Walker | September 22, 2008 at 11:26 am

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Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper's office has promised a full investigation into how someone gained access to his list of media e-mail recipients and sent emails pretending to be him.

It seems that it's no longer just Paris Hilton and other celebs getting their data and email hacked, now political figures like Sarah Palin and Stephen Harper are suffering the wrath of the nerds.

One message, distributed to media organizations Sunday afternoon with the subject line “Why you shouldn’t fear me,” claimed to be from Mr. Harper and said: “my goal is to make Canada America’s 51st state and destroy health care that all Canadians cherish by infusing my propaganda with hard core ad hominem attacks.”

In actual political news, Harpers big message today was about the economy and crime. One of his recommendations is to allow the names of youth convicted of violent crimes to be published.

He also promised to lift publication bans on the names of those youth upon conviction, and make it easier for prosecutors to apply for pre-trial dentention to better protect public safety.
Youth convicted of first or second-degree murder could be imprisoned for life.

Meanwhile, Liberal leader Stephan Dion unveiled their much-lauded and often-criticized 'green shift' economic package, which would include a carbon tax on drivers and the fuel industry, among other recommendations.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Dion called the plan a "fully costed and prudent" proposal created under the Liberal tradition of fiscal discipline to face a potential global economic slowdown.
The platform, entitled A Richer, Fairer, Greener Canada, includes a full costing for the Green Shift, which calls for income tax cuts paid for by taxing carbon fuels, as well as other Liberal campaign pledges on health care, education and a massive 10-year, $70-billion proposal to improve Canada's infrastructure.