In case no one caught on to the title, it was a play on the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).
Well now!, Canada we are in quite a pickle at the moment, aren't we? There are talks at the moment of a collapse of Government and the possibility of either a brand new election just 2 months after the previous one, or even better, a coalition government of the Liberals and New Democrats, with support from the infamous Bloc Quèbecois.
The reason for this sudden turmoil is that the Jim Flaherty and the Tories came out with a `mini-budget`on Thursday that was thought unacceptable by the Opposition. Now, they claim it to be because the economic update did not include a much needed `bailout`for Canadian Industries - i.e. Auto, Forestry, etc. There was also the issue of eliminating certain election financing in the way of the political parties receiving $1.95 for each vote that they got during an election, which would essentially cripple the major political parties, other than the Conservatives of course.
Firstly, this particular issue of the $1.95 per vote is something that should not EVER be put to law without dicussion in the House. It pertains directly to the democratic functions of the Canadian State, and is not to be change by the stroke of a pen from any ruling party. If you remove the major source of political government funding from the Opposition parties, you essentially come up with a one-party, right-wing state. Unacceptable under any circumstances.
Secondly, this past election was like viagra for the ego for the Tories. They just cannot accept that they do not hold a majority of seats in the house, that they do not represent the views of more than 40% of the Canadian (voting) population, and that they cannot function without some sort of collusion between themselves and the Opposition. We as Canadians are sick and tired of this government paying chicken with the Opposition parties, and we are sick and tired of Mr. Harper's blatent politicking in Ottawa.
He has divided the House of Commons to the point where it cannot function as a healthy body anymore. This alone is reason to oust him and his Cabinet in favour of a coalition Liberal-NDP government. Stephen Harper has created an atmosphere of contempt in our capitol, and has operated an extremely secretive government that makes Canadians nervous and disheartened and distrustful of our political process. 59% of the population of Canada bothered to vote this October, showing that vote apathy has struck a blow to our democratic pillars in Canada. Voter apathy can usually be translated into voter contempt. When things are going good in government, people are excited, the base is energised - as we saw in the American GE. When we dont trust our leader, when there is little viable alternative for change, people throw their hands in the air and say 'fuck it - let someone else deal with it!'. And that is what happened in our last election, much to Canada's chagrin.
Now, I am a major proponent of not throwing taxpayer dollars at a this economic recession, but I do believe that we need to do whatever we can as a nation, and as the benefactors, to ensure that we are hit softly by this downturn. We need to give money to these ailing industries so that we can save the jobs of the autoworkers and the forestry workers - but we must act as the IMF or World Bank acts when giving out loans and demand that they change their practices for the better. Stop building gas-guzzling, no-selling SUVs. Start putting out ONLY eco-friendly vehicles to help combat climate change and to quell the demand for foreign oils. GIve them the loan, nationalise a portion of the profits and get us our damn money back, and then some!
We need legislation that is going to protect working, blue collar Canadians and their jobs at the same time. Give incentives to companies that do not outsource their work, penalise those that do. Its really that simple. You may say that penalising companies for being more profitable is akin to sacralige, but you know what, we are facing an economic depression. If you are a Canadian company who is send jobs that could belong to Canadians overseas - you are part of the problem and you will face the penalties for that. You hurt Canadians by doing that, by seeing nothing but the bottom line. Shame.
So in closing, I am all for a coalition government by the Liberals and NDP, with support from the Bloc. 44% of voting Canadians put their mark beside a Liberal or New Democrat in October 2008, 10% for the Bloc Quèbecois, and you must also assume that those who voted Green will throw their weight behind the coalition. That is at the very least somewhere in and around 55-60% of the population who will support this power sharing agreement. The sooner the better, I say. Un-paralyze this House and get the blood flowing through Canada's veins again.
Jack Layton for Prime Minister!
Click for the CBC News Story
11.30.2008
11.09.2008
I Against I
I have been reading a book called 'The Real World of Democracy' by C.B. Macpherson from the CBC Massey Lectures. It basically breaks down the three major democratic structures that exist in the world and their differences.
11.08.2008
America: Canada's after-thought.
I just thought that this was funny think to see when surfing on the CBC website. Im surprised Timmies wasnt number 3... Long live a free Canada, Ill love this nation til the day I expire.
Ladies and Gentlemen, America's Temporal Saviour...
Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States of America this January, something that has long been awaited by many peoples all over the world.
Something that really got me thinking was a short video piece that I saw on CNN regarding Barack's grandmother in Kenya. The showed hundreds of young, black men and women marching and cheering for Obama. It dawned on me more than ever that he has not just become America's President, but he and his legacy now belong to the world.
Something like 70% of those asked the in United Kingdom who they would vote for have they the chance to vote in the US Federal Election said they would support Barack. Canadians supported him at a 6-to-1 ratio with McCain. He has done the one thing that was probably more and anything else, the most needed for the American Nation: he changed their façade. He has, before he has even taken office, taken the United States out of its isolation. The world has started to ease up on its hate of America. It still holds the American people accountable for the total blunder that was the Bush era, but it also understands that with this new term, this new Chief, America has turned face.
The Republicans joked and cajoled Barack as 'the saviour' and 'the One', but you know what, he is the saviour. Define the term saviour? Is it when a certain man or woman or child, pre-destined to be great, finally emerges to help mankind? That would require a great deal of faith to think that they were sent for a specific purpose at a specific time. Many do not connect to that school of thought.
But even if one does reject the notion of pre-determined future, Barack Obama can be seen as the saviour. A saviour emerges at a time of ordeal, a time of need. We are in a time of need and times of need require a change in pace and change in thinking. Take a look at our viable options for the vehicle of that change, it was either Barack Obama or John McCain. By simple elimination we can see that putting our confidence for change into an old man who is party to the same school of thought that we are currently emassed in will not yeild us much more than what we have already.
Barack Obama is the best kind of saviour. He was in the right place, at the right time, with the right ideas. Perhaps we should start to rethink the criteria that we hold up our great examples of human beings to. We compare and constantly tie ourselves back to an ideology millenia old. What would we do if we took every scientific finding and held it up to the science of ancient Greece, and then discounted all of the aspects that didnt fit the Greek models? It sounds insane. But it shows that our society cannot thrive, it cannot grow if it does not regenerate itself when the current methods are not working. Change is constant, change is neccessary.
Obama for President 2009-2017.
Something that really got me thinking was a short video piece that I saw on CNN regarding Barack's grandmother in Kenya. The showed hundreds of young, black men and women marching and cheering for Obama. It dawned on me more than ever that he has not just become America's President, but he and his legacy now belong to the world.
Something like 70% of those asked the in United Kingdom who they would vote for have they the chance to vote in the US Federal Election said they would support Barack. Canadians supported him at a 6-to-1 ratio with McCain. He has done the one thing that was probably more and anything else, the most needed for the American Nation: he changed their façade. He has, before he has even taken office, taken the United States out of its isolation. The world has started to ease up on its hate of America. It still holds the American people accountable for the total blunder that was the Bush era, but it also understands that with this new term, this new Chief, America has turned face.
The Republicans joked and cajoled Barack as 'the saviour' and 'the One', but you know what, he is the saviour. Define the term saviour? Is it when a certain man or woman or child, pre-destined to be great, finally emerges to help mankind? That would require a great deal of faith to think that they were sent for a specific purpose at a specific time. Many do not connect to that school of thought.
But even if one does reject the notion of pre-determined future, Barack Obama can be seen as the saviour. A saviour emerges at a time of ordeal, a time of need. We are in a time of need and times of need require a change in pace and change in thinking. Take a look at our viable options for the vehicle of that change, it was either Barack Obama or John McCain. By simple elimination we can see that putting our confidence for change into an old man who is party to the same school of thought that we are currently emassed in will not yeild us much more than what we have already.
Barack Obama is the best kind of saviour. He was in the right place, at the right time, with the right ideas. Perhaps we should start to rethink the criteria that we hold up our great examples of human beings to. We compare and constantly tie ourselves back to an ideology millenia old. What would we do if we took every scientific finding and held it up to the science of ancient Greece, and then discounted all of the aspects that didnt fit the Greek models? It sounds insane. But it shows that our society cannot thrive, it cannot grow if it does not regenerate itself when the current methods are not working. Change is constant, change is neccessary.
Obama for President 2009-2017.
11.01.2008
A Conservative Canada, eh?
Its been more than two weeks since a pitiful 59.1% of eligible Canadians went to the polls and 'elected' Prime Minister Stephen 'Sweater Steve' Harper to his 2nd term as our humble leader, ushering in another era of social and economic conservativism for Canada and its diverse people.
But with our electorate's abysmal turn out this year, Harper walked away with less than 40% of the confidence of 2/5s of Canadians, and was given a second chance and the much reminded of 'strenghtened mandate' for the CPP to implement its agenda as though Canadians actually voted for it.
With just a hair under 63% of Canadians eligible to vote voting against the Harperites, and the country in danger of experiencing a Conservative majority guv'ment, a phenomenon took front and center on a national scale: strategic voting against a Harper government. The Progressive Conservative Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador Danny Wiliams even went so far as to register as a third-party with Elections Canada and spearhead a campaign aptly named 'Anything But Conservative', urging voters to carefully consider where they would leave their mark on Oct. 14th and what it would mean.
I personally took an interest in this, using what I assume to be the catalyst of the strategic voting movement for our generation: Facebook. This 'social networking tool', as the fogies like to call it, has in my own learned opinion, sparked a revolution of sorts in engaging the up and coming generations to call for some sort of proportionate representation for their views. By taking the facts of our very undemocratic system to the base of the youth movement, connecting with them in a way that would have them listen, seeds of change were sewn. Ah, knowledge and youth, a dangerous cocktail for Conservatism.
Of course, there are two sides to every coin. The flip side is that of the divided left in Canada. My reluctance to credit Mr. Harper with his successful efforts to unify the Canadian-right cannot be more seething in this regard, but alas, thems the breaks when you combine thinly veiled socialism with old Westminster democracy. When there are 4 major parties vying for 1 vote, the odds are always stacked in your common-enemy's favour. And couple that with the unproportionate distribution of electoral seats, and whammo! Catastrophy!
But with our electorate's abysmal turn out this year, Harper walked away with less than 40% of the confidence of 2/5s of Canadians, and was given a second chance and the much reminded of 'strenghtened mandate' for the CPP to implement its agenda as though Canadians actually voted for it.
With just a hair under 63% of Canadians eligible to vote voting against the Harperites, and the country in danger of experiencing a Conservative majority guv'ment, a phenomenon took front and center on a national scale: strategic voting against a Harper government. The Progressive Conservative Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador Danny Wiliams even went so far as to register as a third-party with Elections Canada and spearhead a campaign aptly named 'Anything But Conservative', urging voters to carefully consider where they would leave their mark on Oct. 14th and what it would mean.
I personally took an interest in this, using what I assume to be the catalyst of the strategic voting movement for our generation: Facebook. This 'social networking tool', as the fogies like to call it, has in my own learned opinion, sparked a revolution of sorts in engaging the up and coming generations to call for some sort of proportionate representation for their views. By taking the facts of our very undemocratic system to the base of the youth movement, connecting with them in a way that would have them listen, seeds of change were sewn. Ah, knowledge and youth, a dangerous cocktail for Conservatism.
Of course, there are two sides to every coin. The flip side is that of the divided left in Canada. My reluctance to credit Mr. Harper with his successful efforts to unify the Canadian-right cannot be more seething in this regard, but alas, thems the breaks when you combine thinly veiled socialism with old Westminster democracy. When there are 4 major parties vying for 1 vote, the odds are always stacked in your common-enemy's favour. And couple that with the unproportionate distribution of electoral seats, and whammo! Catastrophy!
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