These drugs are expensive, very expensive, so this move is a great thing.  In Canada we have agreed that health care should be universal – yet, many people have to miss out on this in reality because after their visit to the doctor they can’t afford to get the drugs the doctor has prescribed for them… making their visit to the “free” doctor essentially redundant.

And this is why it is great that the McGuinty government has pushed forward this legislation – it is incredibly important, and will be very beneficial to Ontarians.

Now, Shoppers Drug Mart.  Your little PR efforts are cute and all, but they don’t take away from the fact that you’re clearly just being incredibly greedy – at the expense of the health of Ontarians.  You don’t need to close stores, or cut hours – honestly, what percent of your sales are drugs anymore anyways?  You are essentially a grocery store with a pharmacy tucked at the back these days.  No one is buying your spin.

If there is anyone I am concerned about it’s the “little guy,” the smaller independent pharmacies who may actually be hurt by this change, yet at the same time the government has promised to keep an eye on that situation, so hopefully this won’t become a huge issue.

But really – Shoppers Drug Mart (and the other major pharmacies) you need to move on.  This legislation is great for Ontario, and quite frankly you need to just accept your losses.  Personally, in the battle of the health of Ontarians vs. your profits there is a pretty clear winner in my mind… and it’s certainly not you.

Stop crying, and playing victim.  No intelligent person is going to start writing their MPPs, because no one wants to pay more for drugs – you just want us to.  We’re not going to help you win this one.  So cut your losses and move on – stop being so publicly greedy, it’s pathetic, and I don’t care to hear anymore of your greedy whining.

I think all sides of the floor may actually agree on this one – good riddance to the Guergis/Jaffer debacle.  Harper smartly booted Guergis from caucus yesterday after she finally stepped down from cabinet.  Obviously some will disagree, but I feel many Conservatives will be happy to see Guergis go after how much of an embarrassment her and Jaffer have been to their party over the past few months.

How did this all go down?  The Star has posted a good summary of events in the Guergis/Jaffer saga, and of course The Star’s piece of investigative journalism on where Rahim Jaffer was the night of his arrest.

This has been an embarrassing debacle through and through – for Canadians, for politics, and definitely for the Conservative party.  Even though it amused me to see the Conservatives having to defend these geniuses on a regular basis, I’m glad to see they did the right thing and booted Guergis from cabinet and caucus.

One good thing to come out of all of this though?  That #bustyhookers was a trending topic in Canada on Twitter.  Now that amused me.  Thanks Rahim!

Now – all parties – can we move on to more important things?  Let the RCMP investigate, and get it out of the parliamentary agenda – it’s time to move on.

Apparently Harper and his staff know little about this darn fangled internet thing.

I will give them an E for Effort, but somehow despite the great potential this YouTube experiment had I honestly feel it brought us backwards in government transparency… Although this is not a shock at all from the painfully secretive Harper government.

I will admit it, although I’m clearly pretty Liberal I was excited when I heard Harper was planning on using YouTube as a new and innovative way to connect with Canadian people. I’m a huge fan and advocate of social media, and I know this is the future – after seeing what Obama has done in the US with these things I was happy to see Canada come aboard… Well, until I saw how they did it.

So it was hosted by Google Canada – this is fine, they run YouTube… it makes sense.  Also, I was impressed they actually stuck with the top voted questions as I expected them to skip over certain issues.  I’m glad they didn’t.

Everything outside of these two points stops making much sense.

First, where was the “live” response that was promoted?  Now, that would have been nice, and a step towards transparency… but no, Harper only does PMO controlled pre-scripted interviews.  I’m surprised Duffy wasn’t “interviewing” him.

Second, it was 40 minutes long.  They didn’t even feel like breaking it up into individual questions so people could pick and chose topics they’re interested in.  They have no concept of the people who are on YouTube to watch this – maybe you’ll get them for 4 minutes, but certainly not 40.  Yes, this is a generalization, but I think I’m generally pretty right here.

Overall it broke no new ground on the topics discussed either as Harper gave the same political answers he always does.  There was nothing new that came out of this “innovative” interview.   Nothing at all.

So why was this a step backwards though?  Well, there was nothing in this interview couldn’t have been done in traditional media – but at least in that instance we would have had live answers (or if taped, the networks could edit to provide a true reaction).  No no, not in this case – this was the PMO’s little show.  They were in charge, and they could make it look as they wanted to – they made Harper look good with their scripted answers and control over the editing.  This is why it’s a step backwards – it was a piece of PMO partisan propaganda, and nothing more.

Harper with scripted answers in a video edited by the PMO… this is a pathetic take on new forms of communication, and a huge disappointment to someone like me who actually thought – for once – that our Prime Minister was going to do something good.  Clearly I was wrong.

Essentially he says that since the Justice does not have the ability to subpoena any documents which are not provided to him we may never know what is in them… because the government could indeed just hand over the non incriminating ones.  We just have to trust that the government will hand over all of the documents – which I quite frankly do not trust that they will.  They have given me very few reasons to actually trust them.

So simply put – no matter how great of a judge Iacobucci is there is no way for him to get to the bottom of this situation without access to all of the documents he needs.  The terms of reference are weak… and will not allow Frank Iacobucci to actually get to the bottom of this.

We need a full inquiry… but with Harper around I feel this is never going to happen.

I don’t really know what is wrong, but me and by lack of website design knowledge are working on it – aka, it could be a while.

Sorry if any of your comments have been deleted or if your comments have not been posted at all. Again, working on it.

-Colin

UPDATE: APRIL 10th – I think I have finally fixed this problem – comments should be working once again.

Rahim Jaffer with his wife Helena "it's my fucking birthday" Guergis

I don’t think I am going to be as tough on the Conservatives as a few other people have been, but there is definitely a point to be made.

Although this was clearly a huge slap on the wrist I am not going to say I want the Conservative government to appeal the verdict.  Nor am I  going to imply that there was any sort of influencing on the judge or prosecutor – that is highly unlikely.

All I want is one thing – an admission from our “tough on crime” government.  An admission that this is the sort of thing that they want laws to be tougher on.  An admission that despite Jaffer being a former MP they disagree with the ruling and feel he should have been sentenced harder.  An admission that under their goals for the Ministry of Justice the sentence passed down to Rahim Jaffer was far less than it should have been and that they will continue to work to ensure this type of thing doesn’t happen again.

That is all I want, but I never expect it to happen – after yesterday’s Question Period it is clear that the Conservatives plan on ignoring this completely, which is a shame, it’s actually a good opportunity for them to reaffirm their Tough on Crime agenda.  I guess they don’t actually care about it after all.

This is a government who consistently criticize “too weak” of judgments and yet wont even admit to any form of concern over the verdict or process in this situation. This is all I want. This is not about the law itself, the Ontario legal process, or really even my agreeing or disagreeing with the verdict – this is about the fact that we have a government who is consistently critical of situations like this, no matter the court jurisdiction the case is in (federal or not), yet will not even admit a single bit of concern over this process. All I want is a comment expressing concern, and we will be done. If they are truly “tough on crime” they will do this, yet they seem to be far more concerned with protecting one of their own than sticking to their values.

What a shocker.  The Conservatives aren’t tough on crime after all?  I would have never guessed.  Especially after last year when they moved to cut the very useful gun registry which is often used by law enforcement.

This is just another example of the Conservatives being not nearly as tough on crime as they want you to think – it’s just another talking point they want you to believe, but won’t actually follow through on.  They’ve proven it again.

I will get to my thoughts on the Ontario Throne Speech later this week (I think, really, when I have some time) once I’ve reread it, but while it’s on my mind I simply needed to write this blog.

For the first time in my life while watching a Speech from the Throne I noticed a little background noise.  What was this noise?  Heckling… Heckling the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario… The Honourable David Onley.

This is just simply inappropriate.  And whether this was Tim Hudak or other members of his party doesn’t matter to me, as in my opinion this type of behaviour comes down to the leader, as they should be enforcing good conduct on all of the members of their caucus.

Why is this inappropriate?  Because they are heckling the representative of the Crown.  Whether you agree or disagree with the Crown, or agree or disagree with the content of the speech, this is simply the wrong time to be heckling.  This is a long-standing tradition to kick off new Parliamentary sessions, and is a good tradition.  Also, this is not Question Period – you can get your heckling out there, but not at the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.  This is just inappropriate.  Sit back, take in the speech, and criticize it later.

Did the Federal Liberals do this to the Governor General last week when she presented Harper’s Throne Speech?  Of course not.  They appropriately listened, and critiqued once it was over.  They have class.  Apparently the Official Opposition in Ontario doesn’t.

Tim Hudak and his party are a joke and an embarrassment.  In one man’s opinion he would be a disaster as Premier.  He is mean-spirited, a liar, and inappropriate when it comes to decorum (heckling the LG and infamous the sit-in from last year as just a few examples).  He wants to return Ontario to the Mike Harris’ years, and continue to destroy many programs we as Ontarians care about like education and health care just as Harris began to.

Tim – the Speech from the Throne is not Question Period.  You are inappropriate and an embarrassment.  Cut it out, and maybe I will start to have some respect for you.  Until then I will keep treating you as a joke.  Because that is the character you present to the public – a joke.

AKA Tim Hudak.

Obviously I wasn’t at the Ontario “Progressive” Conservative AGM this weekend in Ottawa (I feel I may be chased out with torches and pitchforks if I were) but I’ve read enough about it through various news sources to be sufficiently bitter about it.

First though, I will admit their iPhone app is an innovative idea.  I haven’t had the chance to use it, but the idea certainly does interest me.  I will definitely be checking it out, although I assume it will do little more than spew the typical Hudak spin – but unfortunately may now do this to a larger and younger audience.  It’s a smart call, because it has the potential of being a good communication tool… but only if people outside the party faithful actually download it.  It will be interesting to see how they market it, and even more interesting to see how many people out of the already converted actually download it.  Time will certainly tell on its effectiveness, and I will be watching it for sure.

But on the topic of the AGM itself, I was certainly bothered by the speech and talking points made by Mr. Hudak.  He is obviously quite vicious and critical of the governing Liberals, as is his job, but he goes about it the wrong way – he lies.  I have talked about this many times before, but I feel I need to cover it once again.

Hudak does not do what a smart, reputable, and responsible opposition party should do, which is to point out problems in government programs and keep the government in check.   No no, Tim Hudak is not responsible like that – he just lies.  A lot.  Oh and plays pathetic political games that get his MPs banned from the legislature.

Here is the thing, if a person actually takes time and looks at the facts they can easily see through the lies that are pushed out by Hudak’s party, but the reality is that most people don’t have time to look into details of government programs so don’t know that these are lies.  People generally trust what comes from governments – especially when it is critical talking points from an opposition, so Hudak is in a good position to say these things and be taken as reputable.

People need to start realizing that the majority of what he says is lies, and he is only saying them to get elected – not because they are in any form productive critical statements.  They are political lies, and just that.  If people simply look at the facts, and weigh them against the spin and rhetoric, they will see they do not line up.  The Hudak PC’s simply lie.

HST “tax grab”?  Untrue, and they know it.  It will be close to revenue neutral, and in the end will actually lower prices.  And even worse, until McGuinty proposed it they were actually for it.  It was an amusing flip-flop.

Becoming a “have not province” is untrue as well.  Welcome to a global recession folks.  Yes, we have dropped off a bit, but who in this world hasn’t?  At least the Liberals are working towards fixing this recession – all the PC party does is complain and push out misleading lies.  They certainly don’t propose productive ideas to fix anything… no no, they just like to distract from the good work being done by McGuinty’s Liberals.

Even eHealth was not nearly the “boondoggle” that Hudak wanted you to believe.  Admittedly, there were some mistakes made, but from my understanding of the situation they are creating an extremely secure network (which it should be, it’s our personal and confidential health records) and was a key asset in the distribution of the H1N1 vaccines this past fall.  It works and will be implemented successfully.

I could go on, but I feel I have made my point made – Hudak misleads the public by lying about many situations for political gain, but for no productive reason.

The main reason I am afraid of this party though?  Well it’s because Tim Hudak is Mike Harris v2.0.  That picture at the top of this page scares the hell out of me – anyone being that chummy with the man who in my opinion ruined education and health care in this province (among other programs) should not be elected.  Harris even strongly endorsed Hudak’s campaign for leadership and campaigned hard for him to win.  This should scare the citizens of Ontario.  It sure scares me.

I just want to know when Hudak is going to be releasing his version of “The Common Sense Revolution,” because I know it’s coming.  And this scares me. too  He clearly wants to move us dangerously to the right, and continue to ruin the public institutions we value, that his predecessor Mike Harris started to destroy years ago.

Here is the question you really need to ask yourself – would you rather the 3^rd term of Dalton McGuinty, or the 3^rd term of Mike Harris… because this is the option you have in the 2011 election.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, because it’s true.

No, I do not hate the troops.  Neither does the Liberal Party, the NDP, or the Bloc.  As a matter of fact, despite what the Harper Conservatives are trying to make you think, this is not really about the troops.  This is about our government, their blatant cover up, and their neglecting to take responsibility for the cover up.

A little history courtesy of Wikipedia:

“On October 6, 2009, the lawyer for [Richard] Colvin (called to testify at a hearing into allegations of Afghan prison torture) said that the Conservative government was trying to keep her client silent. In a letter sent to the Canadian Department of Justice and obtained by CBC News, lawyer Lori Bokenfohr said the government invoked the national security order in response to Colvin’s decision to co-operate with the Military Police Complaints Commission.

During his testimony in November 2009, Colvin said Canada did not monitor detainee conditions in Afghanistan and that detainees transferred by Canadians to Afghan prisons were likely tortured. “According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured”, Colvin said. “For interrogators in Kandahar, it was a standard operating procedure”. Colvin worked in Kandahar for the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2006 before moving to Kabul, where he was second-in-command at the Canadian Embassy. He said his reports were ignored and he was eventually told to stop putting the reports in writing.

So, as any respectable politician would do after hearing this testimony the opposition parties asked for these documents to determine themselves what had been told to the government by diplomats in these documents, and in essence, what crimes had been covered up by our government.  So Parliament passed a motion requiring the release of these documents.  I feel this is reasonable.  As a matter of fact, not just reasonable, but responsible.

So what was the Conservative response?  They released a few of the documents, but certainly not all, and all were heavily redacted to block out significant amounts of information.

Oh yea, and then when the questions got tough around this Harper decided to prorogue Parliament to “recalibrate,” which after his rehashing of old plans and programs we all know was BS, and he really prorogued to get away from questions on this particular controversy.

Parliament wants to know what exactly is in these documents.  Why have they been censored?  What is hidden behind the redactions?  What is in the documents they haven’t released?

Of course Stephen Harper has had two responses to these rewuests.  His first response is that the “government lawyers” have deemed these documents inappropriate to be released to Parliament.   He says it is vital to national security that these documents not be released.  What he fails to recognize is that Parliament trumps government lawyers, not the other way around.  Also, if these documents are so sensitive there are other ways around it.  In Camera Sessions, things like that, will allow for Parliamentarians to make the call themselves whether these documents should be released, before they were to go public.

Harper’s other response, just yesterday, was to appoint former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci to review the documents himself, and then deem whether they can be released to Parliament.  I am sure that Mr. Harper sees this as some form of compromise, but the reality is that this is the government once again telling Parliament what to do, which is the wrong way around.  Mr. Iacobucci is working for the government, not for Parliament.  No retired judge, no matter how accomplished or reputable, can tell Parliament what it can and can’t see.  This is not an appropriate compromise.

Attorney General Rob Nicholson must release these documents.  MPs are elected to hold government to account through Parliamentary rights and privileges, but is being blocked in doing so by the government.  They should not be held back from doing their job and be able to judge themselves what the government did or did not know.  MPs deserve to see the full documents.  This is not about national security, is about the government and what crimes they hid from Parliament and the Canadian people.

One thing is clear in this situation – Stephen Harper does not understand the structure of the Canadian government.  Everyone reports to Parliament, not the other way around.  Parliament is supreme – no government lawyers or former justices can tell Parliament what they can or cannot see.  It is that simple, but Stephen Harper clearly does not understand this.

Opposition parties want a full release of these documents and a full judicial inquiry.  It’s that simple.  It has been asked for and a motion has passed in Parliament – anything less then doing just that should be seen as being in contempt of Parliament.

In the end, what is out government trying to hide from Canadians?  Are they trying to cover up war crimes?  What does this government know that they blatantly covered up and are refusing to tell the people of Canada?

Until the Harper government properly and fully responds to Parliament’s requests, releases these documents our government is clearly in contempt of Parliament, and must be deemed as such.

Canada does not need a “stay-the-course” budget, like Minister Flaherty presented yesterday.  The course we are on is a bad one.  There are many problems facing Canadians that the Conservatives neglect to address.  There are many innovative ideas on the table that the Conservatives refuse to look at.  We have a tired and far too ideological government who refuse to accept the realities facing many Canadians, and thus do not attempt to fix the problems facing them.

What was this budget missing?  It has nothing about money for advancing green technologies, and it has nothing about fixing the major problems facing many pension plans.  Instead of reinvesting money in programs that are in need, the Conservatives have decided to make corporate tax cuts.  Great idea Steve.

This government has said that the environment is a priority, and even says making “green jobs” is a priority, but leaves this extremely vague.  How is this going to be accomplished?  And where is the money and incentives to do this?  Without these it may be a “priority” but it’s not going to happen.

Clearly unemployment is a huge problem in Canada.  Flaherty’s speech certainly made reference to jobs many times, but never provided any tangible reasons as to how these jobs are going to come back.  Programs seem to be very lackluster and incredibly underfunded.  The Conservatives seem to be hoping things just get better so they don’t have to spend money.  Psst – Steve, this isn’t going to work.  Also, there needs to be an increased focus on Employment Insurance as many Canadians are going to be running out of their benefits soon, yet no mention of helping these people in dire need.

Specifically there is a lack of funding for youth unemployment.  This is a cohort that has double the unemployment rate of the rest of the country and seriously needs help.  Trust me, I know this well – I’m an unemployed recent university grad.  There are very limited programs to help people like myself out.  No matter the skills and experience you have there are simply too limited of opportunities where you can actually use your skill sets.  This is pathetic and is a huge embarrassment for our country because you are leaving many of your best and brightest behind – yet the Harper government does not seem to care.  There is not nearly enough funding to make employment programs legitimately function and get people back to work, and this doesn’t appear to be changing under the Harper regime.

Yet another area of disappointment is health care.  Yes, the government thankfully noted they would not be making cuts, but this is an area that if anything should always and continually be funded more.  We are entering a time of significant demographic shift in our country.  Our population is aging, and we are going to need to spend much more on health care.  We should be making it a priority to fund health care more, because the reality is that keeping the same funding is actually a cut because the demand is continually growing higher.

On a different topic though, I do feel the need to say this – I dislike that the budget has doubled the funding for what will be a replacement for the Own the Podium program.  I realize this may be unpopular to say right after a very successful Olympics, but I honestly believe this.  I agree that we should be keeping the same funding, but when you are clearly in a cutback themed budget non-essential programs like athletics should not be expanded, and especially not doubled.  Keep the program?  Yes, definitely.  Double it?  Absolutely not.  It’s non-essential and many other areas could use this funding (see any topic I’ve spoken about above).

Here’s the thing, I agree we need to bring Canada back to fiscal balance – this is obvious, but I think we are trying to do it too fast and at the expense of a legitimate recovery.  Yes, compared to other G-8 countries we are doing well but we are still recovering, we still have a huge unemployment rate, we still have significant problems that need to be invested in.  Yes, over time we need to get back to a balanced budget, but I don’t think this needs to be a priority yet.  Maybe a priority in a year or so when we see true signs of a recovery, but not yet.  Wait for the recovery to actually happen.

This budget/Throne Speech combination really was a frustrating exercise in Smoke and Mirrors – the government wanting to distract the public from what they were actually presenting.  Here we have government who has gutted women’s programs wanting to “fix” gender inequality by changing a couple lyrics in our national anthem.  We have a government who gutted financial support to seniors, but plan to “fix” this by creating seniors a “Seniors Day” to honour them instead.  While these are both nice gestures they are simply symbolism, and realistically help very little.  This budget should have focused on fixing these inequities through financial means, but instead Harper tried to distract from them through symbolic mentions in the Throne Speech instead.

All of this said, I fully support Liberals in their decision to not force an election.  Even though I vehemently disagree with this budget, it is best for the Liberals to hold off on an election right now.  First, I feel Michael Ignatieff is right that we’ve had too many elections in the past few years and that Canadians do not want another.  We’ve seen significantly declining voter turnouts and adding some space between elections is probably for the best to decrease voter apathy.  Second, they want to get through their Canada at 150 thinkers conference at the end of the month, which is going to set their direction.  I would prefer for them to get through this conference and have some time to write their platform before we go to an election.  This way the Liberals will be more than just an opposition to the current government, but a legitimate alternative.  This is what Canadians want and need – an alternative.  Once this conference is over they will have one, and this is very good for Canada.  This is why I support the Liberal decision to not bring down the government at this particular time.  Once the Liberals have more than Conservative incompetence to lean on it will be time for an election, and it will be time for Michael Ignatieff to become Canada’s Prime Minister.

Harper and Flaherty doing their best Fonzie impressions?

And you back off of it three days later?  Not that I necessarily agreed with it.

But now you’re left with legitimately the same tired platform you had before Christmas.  No changes whatsoever.

Seriously, what do we pay you for?

Recalibrate my ass… More like run away scared.

Time for a new government folks.

So we’ve had 4 byelections in Ontario over the past few months.  3 previously held by the Liberals, 1 previously held by the PCs.

The PCs, and specifically their spindoctor leader Tim Hudak, has been essentially treating these byelections as referendums on the HST.

Now, personally I argue that the HST is a good thing.  Check out the link there to understand why, but I wrote on this back in December, and I still vehemently agree with that blog post.  But his is not the point of this blog.

So, Hudak has treated these byelections as a referendum on the HST, denouncing it as a “tax grab” which is untrue, and saying that there is going to be a surge of votes towards the PC party because of Ontarians being fed up with the Liberal tax plan.

Well Tim, the results are in… and guess what, we have no change.  We still sit with 3 Liberal ridings and 1 PC riding.

So I must ask Mr. Hudak, where is the surge?  I don’t see it.

Oh yea, there isn’t one.  Ontarians aren’t dumb enough to fall for your untrue and misleading spin.  They look at the facts.  This move hasn’t changed voting patterns over any form or outrage.

Move on Hudak – the HST is a good thing for Ontario.  If you were in power you would’ve implemented it too.  You are just trying to cling to an issue to try to gain traction against a popular and well managed government.  Move on, it isn’t working.

Or better yet, stick to it.  I’m ok with you running a failed campaign.

How do you distract the entire country from the fact that you took the last three months off to “recalibrate” and returned with the same old tired platform?

Oh I know – make a controversial proposal to make the lyrics of O Canada more gender neutral.

Now, I still haven’t decided if I’m for or against this, I see both sides, but that isn’t even close to the point.

Here is the thing – what was dominating almost every news show last night?  What is the top story in the National Post, Toronto Star, and Ottawa Citizen¹ this morning?  What story is dominating Canadian morning shows today?

Of course it’s the proposal to change the lyric “all thy sons command” in O Canada.  Not the fact that Stephen Harper decided to take three months off in order to change the direction of his government, and returned to present a regurgitation of old policies.  No no… everyone is covering the change to the anthem.

For Harper this was brilliant.  He’s pulled the toque over Canada’s eyes.  People are talking about the anthem instead of what actually matters.

Good work Steve… I just hope you don’t have any more fun tricks like this with the budget this afternoon so Canadians can see your plan just as it is – an old, recycled, tired platform that for some reason took three months to come up with…

I think Harper just proved that he didn’t prorogue to “recalibrate” because he could have come up with that set of priorities over a weekend.  He was clearly running away because the heat from the Afghan detainee scandal was becoming too much and he wanted to change the discourse.  Shame on you Stephen Harper.  Shame on you for lying to your country and running for away from your responsibilities.

¹ – I have not seen the print versions, so I am referring to the top story on their websites, assuming this is the front page story.

Yes… Today the Harper government proved it truly needed three months off to recalibrate their agenda.

The Speech from the Throne today was a complete 180 in direction for the Harper government.  It was obviously 100% necessary for them to have taken off so much time to help change this direction.

Wait… No it wasn’t.

I think Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff put it best in his response to the Speech from the Throne this evening when he said that this speech was “not a recalibration, [but] a regurgitation.”  Because this is exactly what it was.

Really, what was “new” about this speech?  About this new direction?  Nothing at all.  Well, except for wanting to change the lyrics to O Canada, but I’ll get to that later.  The reality is that the Conservative government took the last 3 months off of work in order to “recalibrate” and presented us the same old tired vision for Canada.

The only things in this speech that can be seen as “tangible” change are in reality anything but that.  I am speaking of three things that specifically stood out to me: the creation of a Senior’s Day, changing the lyrics of O Canada in order to be more gender neutral, and the freezing of MPs salary’s.

On the surface I agree with all of these things, but I have to agree with Michael Ignatieff, who when asked about these three specific proposals after the Speech from the Throne responded “every time this government is asked to do something real it does something symbolic.”  This is a very on point response, because these three initiatives are indeed very symbolic responses, not tangible responses, to significant problems in the country.

The reality is a Senior’s Day is a great idea to pay tribute to deserving citizens, but what does this do to actually address the significant problem of changing demographics in Canada?  Changing the anthem’s lyrics is a nice gesture towards gender equality, but what is this government going to actually do to help us move in the right direction and implement reasonable child care and equal salaries?  Lastly, freezing your own salary is a good idea when many people across the country have been asked to do the same, but how are you going to actually start to pay down the deficit?  This certainly is not going to be enough.

The reality is that symbolism, while nice, is not a plan or strategy.  It is just that, symbolism.  We have had enough of that, now it is time for action.  Enough symbolism smoke and mirrors, and lets move forward with tangible action.

This Throne Speech neglected to mention any strategy on the environment or energy use.  It didn’t touch on how they would create green jobs either, even though it is apparently one of their goals.

The speech barely touched on unemployment either, beyond simply mentioning it.  They gave no clues around their strategy for job creation.  They say job creation is a priority, but didn’t give any clues as to how they would do this.  The speech also didn’t touch on the specific but dire issue of overwhelming unemployment for recent graduates, who have an unemployment rate of double the country as a whole.  They provided absolutely no plan on how to address this.  Also, there was no mention of improving Employment Insurance benefits, which are running out soon for thousands of Canadians across the country.  I hope this will be addressed in the budget tomorrow, but from the lack of mentions in today’s speech I have low expectations that they will.

From the language used in today’s speech you can tell cuts are coming.  The speech mentions an end to stimulus spending, fiscal restraint, and dropping the deficit.  The question now is where are the cuts coming from to accomplish this?  Obviously we will know more about this tomorrow, but we know they are coming and I fear for many of our vital programs.  I won’t speculate on what may be cut, but I know there are many programs that need more funding (EI, retraining, etc.) and not less.  I hope Harper’s budget keeps these needs in mind.

So the question I have to ask of any Conservative out there is this – what is it about this speech (and moreover, tomorrow’s budget) that required shutting down our democratic process for the last three months?  The Conservative government presented us the same old tired Conservative ideology in this speech, and nothing more.  Why did this warrant prorogation?  Well, it didn’t.

We knew the Conservatives weren’t working during this period already, so I really shouldn’t be shocked… but as always I am incredibly disappointed with this government.  They lied to us about why they wanted to prorogue (Afghanistan anyone?) and now present us the same old tired policy points once again.

It’s time for a new government – clearly Harper doesn’t want to govern anymore.  If he did he would actually be innovative and creative in his programs… instead he gives us the same old broken system.

Obviously we need to wait until tomorrow’s budget presentation to judge this government entirely, but right now it is not looking promising. The impression I am getting is that Harper is not going to give this country what it needs, and instead stick to his partisan ideology, which is quickly sinking us as a country.

So in December Stephen Harper closed down Parliament to “recalibrate” his government’s priorities.  I have been quite vocal about being angry about this, but I will try to not get into that too much here – because this isn’t the point.

One of the main points cited my MP’s as a clear positive was the ability to spend more time working in their ridings for their constituents.  This point was cited to me directly by my MP Lois Brown when we spoke on prorogation earlier this year.  Fair, I guess… well, if they actually felt the need to have done work in their ridings.

Now it turns out that they did the exact opposite of “working in their ridings.”  As a matter of fact the majority of MPs worked no days at all (77 of them) while the other 68 barely worked.  As a matter of fact, my MP who promised me she would be working is only recorded as having worked 2 days.  I’m sorry Mrs. Brown, but I don’t consider that working.

How do we know this?  The Conservatives admitted it themselves!  Yes, the sheet does admit that the list is not exhaustive, but lets be honest here – knowing that this sheet was going to be analyzed with a fine tooth comb considering the controversy surrounding prorogation they would have included everything they possibly could have, despite the disclaimer.  Either that or they are incredibly stupid.. but I  know Harper’s communication people are incredibly shrewd, and I don’t feel they would have actually left out much from this document, because it makes them look just awful.  Why would they do that on purpose?  They wouldn’t.

So this is the fact – the Conservative government gave themselves a holiday.  A legitimate holiday.  They were not “working in their ridings,” they were at home watching TV.  Harper was really the only person who worked, so good on him.

So when the Conservatives reappear in Ottawa today don’t let their “we were working at home” BS effect your thoughts on them.  They weren’t working – they were at home doing nothing related to work.  They’ve admitted it themselves.  They’ve admitted they have done essentially no work, lets not let them forget it.

People kept commenting on my posts or telling me to concentrate on the issues and policies, and to stop “whining” about Harper making appearances at the Olympics.

The reality though is that in politics image is just as important as policies.  It may sound vein and even somewhat belittling to the political process but it’s a reality.  Image and perception alters voting patters just as much as legitimate policies and actions.

My point has been proven as well.  The latest Ipsos-Reid poll puts the Conservatives ahead of the Liberals for the first time in 2010, where previously it was a dead heat.

Why have they gone up?  Well, no policies have been implemented.  There was certainly no new budget or Throne Speech.  Also, no new programs have been created.

Oh, but Steve was sitting in the audience (with Gretzky nonetheless) at the Gold medal hockey game, among many other events he attended with Canadian athletes.  Also, there was always a camera there (including the PM’s own camera person) to properly “catch the moments.”

Yet, did his polling numbers go up?  For no reason other than these appearances?  Yes.

So, was I talking down to Canada?  No.  Was I not giving enough faith to Canadians?  No.

Point proven.

According to the Toronto Star Kenney decided to remove the rights of gays from an immigration guide, not just by accident, but clearly on purpose as they were previously included in a draft of the same guide.

Mr. Kenney – yes, you personally may disagree with gay marriage, but this is not up to you. These gay rights have been passed by Parliament, and are law. When making a comprehensive list of rights in our country for immigrants the onus is on you to include all of the rights we as Canadians find vital. To be honest, I may have been able to accept an honest mistake mentality if you had omitted the information by accident, but we know you did not. This information was in a previous draft and was removed by you because of your moral objections.

Shame on you Mr. Kenney – these are morals and laws many Canadians feel are vital, and you would rather just white them out because you find them objectionable. Our immigrants deserve to know the whole story of our rights, not just your morally edited version. Put in the laws our Parliament has passed, stop using your influence to push your personal morals on the country.

I guess this is just another sign that the Harper government is waiting for a majority to “fix that gay marriage problem”… so lets make sure that doesn’t happen.

So the Olympics are over and I already feel like I’m entering withdrawal. Pretty much watching just the Olympics over the last 17 days puts you in a bit of a state of shock once it is all over. It was great to be able to put on the TV at any point in the day and have great entertainment. I loved it, and I already miss it.

Surprisingly, one of the things I loved the most actually came out of the CTV coverage I was often critical of. This was the Olympic Morning coverage on CTV hosted by Jay Onrait and Bev Thomson, and had many other Canadian TV personalities involved as well. Simply put, this show was great coverage of the games with hilarious and amusing hosts. Jay and Bev together were just brilliant. I’m already missing this show. Jay Onrait needs to get off Sportscentre… not that he isn’t great on there, but he will do incredibly well on a higher profile show, though that is just my opinion.

I definitely liked James Duthie and Lisa LaFlamme in the afternoon, and of course Brian Williams in the evening as well. The hosts themselves were just fantastic. They all had great insight into the games. Obviously some of the personalities I had problems with (ie. Ben Mulroney, MTV’s Jessi and Dan…) but for the most part I really liked the coverage many of the personalities provided. My “anti CTV” tune definitely changed from the beginning to the end of the Olympics. My only real complaint at the end of these Olympics is the ridiculous overplaying of ‘I Believe’ but many people have told me that they like it, so maybe it was mostly just my preference. Overall, I think the CTV/TSN broadcasts and personalities were great for the most part.

On the same topic, there were some other really great things with the Canadian broadcasting team. First, I loved how many channels the sports were on. This way we were able to have (generally) one channel doing highlights, while the rest were showing full uncut events. This is something that has rarely happened in the past. Also, the website CTVOlympics.ca was a great site, from their news and updates, to the full broadcast schedule, to the online streaming it was just great. Also, Vancouver2010.com, the official site of the Vancouver games was fantastic as well. The live results pages worked really well, and gave you a lot of detail you weren’t shown on TV.

This clip is another favourite part of the Olympics for me – Brian Williams from CTV meeting Brian Williams from NBC. It’s a funny clip, check it out.

On the same topic of Brian Williams, the NBC version of wrote a very nice and touching thank you note to Canada as him and his team left.  Another thing to check out.  Makes me proud to be Canadian.

The American coverage, from NBC (and of course Stephen Colbert’s “Vancouverage”) I think was very well done, and no better than in the Tom Brokow clip shown prior to the Opening Ceremonies explaining the Canadian/American relationship.  This was a great piece on our country.

I also love how we can make fun of ourselves.  Yes, the lighting of the torch at the Opening Ceremonies was a bit of a debacle when one of the arms did not raise, but how they rectified it at the Closing Ceremonies was very well done and quite amusing.  For anyone who didn’t see it, they started the ceremony with the arm still down, then had a mime pretend to pull it up, then Catriona Le May Doan finally got her chance to light the torch.  It was funny, and a good way to rectify a bad situation.  Well done.

Definitely a very fun part of these Olympics, for me at least, has been how social media has been involved in them.  To sit on Twitter as big events are going on, seeing other people’s comments, to have discussions as events are live, is just fantastic.  To get real-time responses from across the globe is a really interesting experience.  Also, I was following a National Post list of Canadian Olympians, which was also very interesting, seeing comments from the athletes themselves as the events went on was really cool.  Lastly, because of Twitter I got the change to go to Molson Canadian Hockey House Toronto (#mchhTO) last night, which was a lot of fun, and a great way to end the games.

On another note, I can’t get through this blog without addressing how much of an inspiration Joannie Rochette is to our country.  I have absolutely no idea how difficult it must have been for to skate after losing her mother, but somehow she did it, and won a Bronze medal.  That is the Olympic spirit if I have ever seen it.

Our athletes did an amazing job.  Yes, there were some criticisms early in the games after a few upsets (because there were definitely some overhyped chances) but by the end of the games we came out with a few records – most Gold medals ever as the host nation of the Winter Games, and the most Gold medals ever in the winter Olympic games.  These 14 Gold medals mean we won the most events in the game, and I couldn’t be more proud of our athletes.  We did indeed Own the Podium.  I just hope that Harper doesn’t continue on his path of not committing to continuing the program, because it has been a huge success, and had brought our country together.

On the topic of Mr. Harper (you didn’t think I could go a whole blog without addressing him, did you?) I have a few points to make.  First, by the end of the games I was so sick and tired of the Harper photo ops during the games.  Yes, as was pointed out to me, it makes sense to show the PM in the crowd if he’s there, but to me these seemed more like staged photo ops than shots of him as a spectator.  He was singing the anthem with Gretzky, hanging out with medalists, etc.  To me these shots were just annoying, and something I didn’t want to see while enjoying myself.  I know Harper is going for the Olympic bump, which I have blogged on before, and I have no doubt his popularity level will jump in the next set of polls.  With the budget, and Question Period returning I hope that people’s opinions remain around the issues though, and not based on the patriotic bump which can come with the Olympics.

After these Olympics though I must point out that I may just have a new favourite sport… or close to it.  Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross.  If you didn’t catch any of these events, check them out online.  They are fantastic and exciting new sports.  Amazing spectator sports, and I look forward to seeing them grow and get on TV more often.

In the end though, I am incredibly impressed with these Olympics and with Canada as a whole.  I don’t care even a little about the BBC’s criticisms of our games – I can’t wait until they host the Olympics in two years and the international media can rip on their every misstep.  It will be great to see.  I also love the way Canadians celebrate.  From Jon Montgomery’s walk down the streets of Whistler carrying a pitcher of beer, to the Women’s hockey team’s controversial on-ice celebration (which really, not a big deal, they were having fun!), to the entire country taking to the streets last night to celebrate our Men’s hockey win in a jubilant but peaceful manner, I just love how this country celebrates.  We do well, we have fun.  It’s fantastic.  To see thousands of people in red and white (and specifically wearing those red mittens) makes me a very happy person.  I love Canada’s patriotism, and I love my country.

So I leave you with Canada’s Gold Medal moments.

And Stephen Brunt’s fantastic video essay on the Olympic games.

I love the Olympics far too much. I feel there will be little politics on this webpage for the next while, so instead I give you the random Olympic updates and links.

Update: February 16/10

Five days in and just as many medals.  And moreover not just one Gold, but two.  The first two Gold medals we have ever won on our own soil.  Amazing showing thus far from the Canadian athletes.

Two things are sticking out in my mind though.  First relates back to the CTV coverage of the games.  Only 5 days in (lets be honest, I was thinking this long before they even started though) and I am hoping CBC can win the Olympics back in the next bidding process.  I know that CTV holds the next few at least, but it may be more… but when CBC gets the chance they must get them back.  This coverage is simply insufferable.  I never want to see the immature and idiotic broadcasters from MTV or MuchMusic on the CTV coverage again.  I know that I won’t get my wish, but they are so embarrassing.  They are unprofessional, and immature.  I can see their purpose doing coverage on their own networks, but please get off of CTV.  That is the legitimate coverage, and you are embarrassing.  I feel this wont be the last time in these games I will come back to this point.  There are some good personality’s on the broadcast (Jay Onrait, James Duthie, Brian Williams, and Michael Landsberg to name a few, in addition to a number of athletes who are doing coverage) but there are definitely a number of people standing out as just awful.

Look at tonights Men’s Hockey broadcast – they have clearly put together a random mix of broadcasters from each network, but while doing this have but together a simply awful broadcast team.  First, I just hate Pierre McGuire.  He is an awful commentator who needs to get off my TV – forever.  But in addition to him is the random mix of people on their panel like Darren Pang and Nick Kypreos who I don’t know why they are there.  They annoy me and provide no positive substance to the broadcast.  I swear Kypreos is only there because Sportsnet wanted one of their people on the broadcast, so they sent that guy.  Uggh.  But enough complaining about CTV.  I think I have made my point clear, and I will probably come back to this later this week.  Whenever they annoy me next.

The other thing I want to talk about are the criticisms being levelled at these games from international broadcasters, which quite frankly I think are unfounded.  One thing I keep hearing is related to the death of the Georgian Luger, and more specifically how some people feel that Canada’s “Own The Podium” program may have contributed to the dangers being faced.  To me this is ridiculous, but I keep hearing it.  I feel it is completely unfounded because, yes, Canada did limit the amount of time other country’s could use those tracks but that happens in every Olympics, not just Canada.  That is the benefit of home turf.  It’s not like other country’s couldn’t get in any practice at all, as a matter of fact the accident was on a practice run.  Now, I’m not trying to be insensitive, because it was clearly an awful tragedy, but to put the blame back on the host nation is just ridiculous.

The other point I keep hearing is about how the weather is ruining the games, and moreover, this is being blamed on us.  Yes international media, sorry, we pissed off God.  Come on, yes Vancouver is typically a more moderate climate than the rest of Canada, but is is usually colder than this.  It is an unlucky coincidence (and I won’t even get into that whole “global warming” thing here, because circumstantial evidence like this is just as irresponsible to cite as Fox News’ recent claim that global warming doesn’t exist because of the huge winter storm which hit the east cost of the US).  But back on topic, yes, it’s unfortunate, but it’s not like events are going to be cancelled entirely.  Events are being moved, yes.  Some events are changed slightly and others are running on less than ideal surfaces, but the reality is everything is still running and there is still incredibly high levels of competition.  Let’s move on.  This is not anyones fault, and VANOC is compensating the best they can.  Really the only bad thing that has come out of this are the fans who have lost their General Admission tickets in Cyprus because of the conditions.  This would clearly be angering to be them, but that is not a huge black eye on the games – it happens, and is for their own safety!  I think the international media is watching a different set of games I am seeing on TV and different than the reports I keep hearing from friends who are there – because everything looks great to me.

I am incredibly proud of the show which is being put on internationally by the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, and by the performances being put on by our athletes.  Now, I must get back to watching the Canadian Men’s Hockey team beat Norway!  7-0 as I post this right now!  GO CANADA!!!

Update: February 14/10

So excited to see these things start – and so jealous of those who are actually there.  Must be an amazing experience.

Opening ceremonies?  Amazing to watch.  Some great imagery, appearances by some amazing Canadian artists (albeit lipsynching), an amazing reception for our Canadian athletes, and an amusing/only in Canada dysfunctional lighting of the torch and Great One ride on a Chevy.  But overall I think it was a great ceremony.  Yes, a very odd ending, but to see the number of fantastic Canadians honoured they way they were (including Catriona Le May Doan, Rick Hanson, Betty Fox, Jacques Villeneuve, Anne Murray, Donald Sutherland, and of course the great one Wayne Gretzky, among so many others) made all of the flaws go away in my mind.  It was a great showing by Canada on an international scale.

Now we already have two medals (bronze and silver) at this point on day 3, and a chance of many more to come.  Our athletes are making Canada very proud.  I’m excited to see Canada’s medal tally grow, and especially to see that first gold medal on our own soil.  That is going to be a great moment for us all.

I think one of my favourite things so far about these Olympics has been their presence on social media – Twitter specifically.  To follow along with the events with various TweetDeck searches as well as watching the reactions from my followers is just amazing.  Often informative or just amusing (depending on the situation of course) it has been great to follow the comments of others during these Olympics.  Twitter really is a powerful medium for events like these.  Also, it has been really interesting to watch the tweets of various athletes who are competing at the games.  The National Post has put together a great list to follow (link at the bottom of this post) of these athletes.

A huge downfall so far though?  CTV (and their affiliates) coverage.  Now, Brian Williams, James Duthie, and Jay Onrait are all great and do a good job, but for the most part everyone else has just frustrated me.  CTV has brought in far too many non-sports people to cover these games, and you can clearly see through their ignorance of what is going on.  It is just bad TV.  But what makes it worse?  When they bring on the people from MuchMusic and MTV to knock everyones intelligence down about 40 IQ points.  I know some people are amused by these guys, but keep it on your own channels – not the official broadcast.  It’s unprofessional and embarrassing. I miss CBC.

Oh, and I’m also especially excited to see the Canadian Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams both take the gold… Even more now because US Vice President Joe Biden told Michael Landsberg of TSN yesterday that the US is going to take them – so I can’t wait to prove him wrong.  As much as I like Joe.

GO CANADA GO!!!

Some Good Links

Vancouver 2010 Official site (with a good RSS feed)

CTV Olympics – CTV Olympics Programme Guide (Plus watch events online there too)

National Post’s Olympic Athletes Twitter List

Now, I am rather Olympic obsessed.  The 17 days of the Olympics it is way more likely you are going to find me glued to my couch watching either hockey, or luge, or skiing, or heck, even curling.  It really doesn’t matter to me what is on, I am going to watch it – I just love the Olympic games.  It is great entertainment, great international camaraderie, and in this instance a great opportunity to showcase Canada to the world.   Yes I know there is some controversy surrounding the Olympics (see the torch protests, which do hold some merit) but to me there is very little which will ruin the spirit of the Olympics.

Admittedly, the new broadcasters (CTV, TSN, Sportsnet, etc.) have thrown me off a bit, because I am a large proponent of the CBC and was a huge fan of their work with the Olympics.  What I have seen so far has been below satisfactory broadcasting and promotion.  First, I hate their “believe” campaign.  I think it is stupid.  Second, their commercials are simply insufferable, and I had to watch what I believe was 4000 of them during the Superbowl on Sunday.  Really, their only saving grace at this point is that they have Brian Williams broadcasting as the evening anchor – but I am afraid of who the afternoon and morning anchor’s are going to be… I have no idea and fear Ben Mulroney.  I will give them that I do like their website though, especially the interactive programming guide, and I am looking forward to the number of channels they are going to be broadcasting on, which will give us significant choice.

I digress though, because this blog isn’t about the broadcasters, it’s about politics.  And it is really politics where I am fearful of these Olympics.  I am fearful because of the overwhelming patriotism which comes out of the Olympics, which will likely lead to a positive bump in approval ratings for Stephen Harper and the Conservative party.

Why?  Because Stephen Harper is going to get a significant amount of airtime in a non-political and non-partisan light.  To those who do not regularly pay attention to political news and don’t know the things which Harper has done to hurt our country he may appear as a strong leader.  Harper will be on the air praising our athletes and the Olympics themselves, and unfortunately he will likely come off well.  His image people will be out in full force, because this is a great opportunity for them, and this is what they are good at.  People will like him – and that scares me, because it will not be about politics but because of a great opportunity to create a more positive image for the PM, especially after the proroguing Parliament backlash.

Simply put – it is very likely that the Olympics will raise Harper’s poll numbers, possibly significantly, because he will gain a large amount of exposure, which will all be positive, and likely have nothing negative.  To those not paying attention to the major embarrassments and bungles that compose the Harper government’s last term this constant exposure on national and international television will likely give him a more positive image – and this is bad.  This newfound positive image will have nothing to do with his and his government’s actual performance, but about taking advantage of the opportune situation that is the Olympic games.  This is truly unfortunate because Harper has caused a significant number of domestic problems, runs a painfully secretive government, has greatly damaged our international reputation, and is working to disintegrate the democratic principles of our system.  In my opinion there should be no positive image to be found in Harper’s government, but the Olympic games are likely to create one anyway – everything in the Canadian media will be centered around the Olympics, and likely be positive to our government.

To me the worst part about this is that the Liberal and NDP critics will not be able to be overly critical of Harper during the Olympics because they will get a quick “unpatriotic” or “we don’t want to hear about politics during the Olympics” backlash.  There is very little they will be able to do openly because people will simply not want to hear it during the Olympics – Harper and the Conservatives have the significant upper hand and there is really nothing the opposition parties will be able to do about it.

In the end I really hope that all the positive media attention and exposure Harper receives in Vancouver doesn’t help him as much as I fear.  I for one will be constantly reminding people who speak positively of him of the things which he has done to hurt this country, and I hope that Canadians are smart enough and observant enough to remember these things too… because we all have to remember that any positive image being that Harper gains as a result has nothing to do with politics or the Conservatives ability to govern, it is all about image and taking advantage of a great opportunity. It has nothing to do with legitimate policies or programs. Not one bit.

We can just hope as Liberals, or really anyone who is disappointed by our government, that Harper makes some significant gaffe, because I’m afraid of what this positive exposure will do to his poll numbers… especially with an election on the horizon.

So, a non-partisan moment here… because, although I may not always agree with the policies of the NDP I do have great respect for Jack Layton.  He is an incredibly valuable opposition voice in the House of Commons, and incredibly valuable to Canada as a whole.  He has done so much great work in his political career.

So, that said, I just wanted to say get well soon Jack.  I know you’re a fighter.  Luckily it seems that your prostate cancer was caught in time, so this is very good news.  Many Canadians are diagnosed with and survive prostate cancer every year and I know you will be one of them.  Keep on fighting.  You’re a good man, and I expect to see you and the stache back fighting Harper in the House of Commons soon!

Now, I’m no expert.  I certainly don’t have all the answers, but from talking to many people recently (because my conversations almost always digress into politics) I have noticed a simple theme.  That theme is that the Liberals need to explain why they would be a better government than Harper’s and moreover, exactly what they would do if in power.

I have expressed previously my happiness about the current work the Liberal party is doing during Harper’s little vacation, because they are engaging stakeholders and presenting legitimate ideas, but now it is time to go further, much further.  They have their Thinkers Conference coming up, so I understand the reluctance to release anything too substantial at this exact point, but as soon as that is done they need to go much further than they have.

My thought is that they need to put out their ideas and policies in one simple sheet or policy book.  Inform Canadians of their main points.  Work from the starting point of “how are the Liberals going to help Canadians?”  Provide clear, concise, and well-researched policies.  This is the key.  Canadians want, and need to know, the specifics of how a Liberal government will be better for Canada than the current Conservative government.  This is currently what is missing, and from my recent conversations what is holding many people back from actually supporting the Liberals.  The Liberals need the support of these undecided voters… and to get them the Liberals need to let them know exactly why they should be voting for them.  Exactly why, provide specifics.

As a note, yes – a party can get into trouble promising too much.  If you are not able to accomplish it all it can look bad, but this is a risk the Liberals should take.  If they honestly think they can and should do something then they should put it out there.  If in the end they can’t do it (which with the experts around the table should rarely happen) they simply need to be honest about it, apologize, and move on.  Right now Canadians want ideas and this is what the Liberals should be providing us.  Honest, progressive, tangible, and feasible ideas.

The key is to get ideas out there.  This is what Canadians want, and is how a party will get votes.  Obviously, as a Liberal I have faith in the party, and I honestly feel that they are be the best party to run this country.  The Liberals need to keep in mind that there is a very large undecided vote out there and these people want to know why they should vote for a particular party – so Liberals, get on it and explain why you are best fit to govern this country, because you are… but right now people don’t know why this is true.  Tell them.

So Liberals, put together your policy book and prove you have ideas, because right now people are doubting it, and moreover don’t see why you are a good alternative to Harper.  You need to prove it.  Harper’s prorogation, and the backlash that went with it, has created an opportunity for the opposition to shine – take this opportunity and run with it.  The next election is yours to lose.  Prove you deserve it.

Really, what is next in Canadian politics?

Liberal and NDP MPs are currently hard at work in Ottawa, and those on their self-imposed vacation will come back when Parliament returns in early March.  At that point we get a Throne Speech and then a confidence vote.

What happens after that?   How does that vote go?

Poll numbers are slowly creeping in favour of the Liberals, but it is still a dead heat.  Do they want to risk an election at this point?  I’m not sure.  It could be a huge risk, because there is no guarantee in victory, but they have certainly had a good showing over the past couple months, which I’m sure has increased their confidence levels.

But do Canadians want an election?  Last time that threat was made the Conservative polling numbers jumped up.  I fear this will happen again.  We have had far too many elections (for the non-political dork types like myself) in the last couple years, and I know Canadians have definitely tired of it.

On the other hand, one of the best Conservative talking points, made quite clear the other day by Tony Clement, is that “if you don’t like us then vote us out.”  This applies to the parties in power as well.  By not voting out the Conservatives in confidence votes does make the opposition look weak on some levels.  I can see this as a good point.  In a pure and simple argument, if you don’t like the government in power you shouldn’t support them in votes of confidence.  Unfortunately this perspective is simplifying it far too much.  In the current Canadian political climate people don’t want an election.  Voting out the current government will likely severely hurt your polling numbers – and this is not what the opposition wants, because then they will lose the election, and bring us back to exactly where we are.  The trends in the polls seem to show that Canadians care more about not having an election then the actual actions of the parties.  I’m sure this will change soon enough though, once a reasonable amount of time has passed from our last election.

My honest opinion is that the current situation, especially for the Liberal party, is quite the Catch-22.  They can’t support the government, but they can’t vote them out.  It’s tough.  This is going to require some great strategy on behalf of the Liberal team.

My personal opinion?  Take the heat and support the government for a while longer.  This is a self-imploding government in my opinion.  They have multiple scandals, plus the prorogation right behind them.  They are losing control of the fantastic messaging they have held for the past few years, and losing their lead in the polls.  Give them time to further damage their image, because when they come back they are going to be pummeled with questions about their anti-democratic agenda and the Afghani prisoner scandal.  If given enough time Canadians will be more inclined to go back the polls, allowing opinions to rest on ideas instead of  the “I don’t want an election” sentiment.

Simply put – further expose the scandals and incompetence of our current government, while developing a good rapport with the Canadian public and publishing many solid platform policies.   The Liberals have the ability and talent to move forward with a strong plan like this, but they need to be patient.  They need to ensure they execute their strategy properly and slowly move the polls towards them, but this will take time.  Do it properly and build to a strong Liberal government – preferably a majority.

Yes, I know the title in of itself is going to create some comments, but right now this is what I honestly believe.  Really, I’m not as partisan as some people seem to believe, I have been very critical of the Liberals in the past (see Stéphane Dion) but right now, during Harper’s prorogation vacation, they are doing a fantastic job engaging the public and releasing policies on things important to Canadians.

First – Michael Ignatieff’s recent college tour.  What an amazing and simple idea, engage the young vote.  Yes, a cohort who do not always come out to vote in droves, but that is because we often feel that politicians don’t listen to us or care about us.  Michael has proven that he cares about the young voters and is very willing to engage us in conversation.  This is huge, and unprecedented.  This impresses me so much.

Second – the roundtable conversations going on in Ottawa with the Liberal MPs.  These discussions have covered a plethora of important topics with many different stakeholder groups.  From what I have heard amazing conversations and possible policies have come out of these meetings.  This is something that should be happening on a regular basis, because this sort of input and discussion will always lead to strong and well thought out public policies.  I hope the Liberals continue this once Parliament comes back, and other parties jump on board.

The largest thing out of all of this, and my being impressed with the Liberals right now is that they have presented legitimate policies going forward.  They, as a party, have already presented election platform ideas.  That is key, Canadian’s don’t need spin or bickering like we are used to – we need productive ideas which will help Canadians, and that is exactly what the Liberal party is giving us.  Michael Ignatieff is proving himself to be a strong leader right now, and I hope Canadians are taking notice, because it is the leadership he is providing his party that this country needs.

I’m going to say both.  And yes I know that seems strange.  Especially from a Liberal.

Before I get to hypocritical, I figure I should explain why it is a good day.   Why is it a good day?  Well, as a friend pointed out to me, there is one less excuse for Harper now.  He can no longer say “the Senate is blocking our legislation” so he can’t use that as an excuse for being unproductive, or proroguing parliament anymore.  It just isn’t true anymore.  So I hope to hear less spin from our Prime Minister going forward – he has the majority in the Senate he was looking for.  Time for new reasons for not doing your job Steve.

But here is the deal – today Prime Minister Harper appointed five new Senators: Current Ontario Conservative MPP Bob Runciman, Vim Kochhar from Ontario, Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu from Quebec. Elizabeth Marshall from Newfoundland and Labrador, and Current Conservative MLA Rose-May Poirier from New Brunswick.  I will be honest, beyond Runciman I have very little clue who these folks are, but that is beyond the point.

The point is that for the third time in one year Harper has appointed Senators, while he campaigned on and still claims that he wishes to make significant Senate reform, which may actually be the only Conservative platform point I actually agree with.  Unfortunately he hasn’t even close to lived up to this promise, and keeps doing the exact same thing his predecessors did – stack the chamber in their favour and neglect to actually move forward with reform which is so sorely needed.

So the Conservatives now hold a majority in the Senate.  They have a higher proportion of seats than they hold in the House of Commons.  Now that makes sense to me.  Democracy in action folks.  And considering Harper keeps going back on his word on this?  Hypocrisy in action.  Always great from the leader of our government.

So in the end, as much as I hate that Harper is once again being a hypocrite, I can’t neglect to say it would have been nice to get one of those Senate seats myself.  Now that is job security.  Apparently I need to be all buddy buddy with Steve to get in on that though, and that’s never going to happen.

Your YouTube video is an embarrassment.  Amusing?  Yes… but not for legitimate politics.  This is the type of thing I expect to see out of the “popular” candidate in student elections, not someone vying for the most powerful job in Canada’s largest city.

I know you’re trying to have this video go viral and get your name out there, but it’s not going to work.  People may know who you are, but you’re going to turn off voters.  No one wants a Toronto Mayor who you can’t take seriously.  You sir have made yourself a joke before even “officially” entering the race…

It was an amazing turnout in Toronto

Conservative spin drives me nuts. I absolutely hate it. But as much as I dislike what many Conservatives are saying about the “bad turn out” of the rallies this past weekend, I feel it is important to listen to their point. Why? Because on some level I can understand their arguments. Yes, compared to many historical rallies, compared to the number of people in the Facebook group, and moreover compared to the overall population of Canada, yes, the rallies were not attended by an insane number of people. It is certainly not unprecedented to get a few thousand people out to a rally. Period. What I disagree with was that these rallies were not a success, because they absolutely were.

Why were they a success? Just because this was not the largest rally known to Canada certainly does not mean it was not successful. We had an extremely large group on the streets showing our disappointment with Harper. We didn’t need hundreds of thousands of people in one place to prove that we have created a solid movement. We had a strong and concentrated effort across Canada to show our discontent with Stephen Harper. There were not just one or two rallies; there were more than 60 across the country. For the largest rallies, I have heard significantly different attendance numbers, but I can say from my own presence in Toronto there were definitely more than 3,000 people as many are claiming. I don’t know what the “official” numbers were, but if you were there I’m sure you agree with me. It was a huge and imposing crowd, and it was absolutely a success.

I really don’t care what the Conservatives who are spinning the rallies to be a failure are saying. To be honest, if they thought it was such a failure they would be simply ignoring that rallies even happened… instead they won’t stop telling us it was such a failure. That in of itself says something.

Lastly, this rally took place in January in Canada. We got thousands of people out on the streets. Canada is not warm in January. Enough said I think.

Also, we have a Facebook group with over 200,000 people across the country who are disappointed by the Prime Minister’s abuse of power. Yes, to the critics, it doesn’t take a lot of work to join a Facebook group – but here are the facts: there are now over 200,000 Canadians who are now informed about this anti-democratic situation, and are very likely passing off their discontent and knowledge to others. This was all done with little effort, and would have likely not happened without this Facebook group. Why? Because the younger generation often does not get their information from traditional forms of media such as news shows or newspapers, but they do from the internet, and specifically through forms of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. This is why the Facebook group has been a huge success. I will disagree with anyone who says otherwise.

This morning John Moore interviewed me on Newstalk 1010 about the protests and he did ask me one interesting question, which I will address once again on here. Essentially he asked me if Stephen Harper will care about these rallies. My honest answer to that is – no, he will not care. Not even one bit. This is not a Prime Minister who is willing to bend his agenda to the will of Canadians. His agenda is just that – his agenda, not that of the electorate. He will not change his plans because of a rally. On the other hand I do feel that these rallies have motivated the opposition and have started to change the electorate’s opinion on the Harper government – you can see it in the polling numbers. The Conservatives and the Liberals are in a dead heat now, which was not even close prior to Harper proroguing Parliament. We have a motivated opposition with significant momentum. This is very good for Canadian democracy.

In the end I feel Harper, the Conservatives, and their spin machine are running scared. These rallies were a huge success, and because of this they have to be out in full force ensuring people believe they were a failure when they clearly were not. Thousands of Canadians took to the streets in 60 different rallies across the country, and that made it a success. We have the Conservatives running scared… now is the time to capitalize.

As Canadian as you can get. Tim Horton's and all.

First off, this was actually my first protest/rally experience in my almost 25 years on this earth… and this was certainly not by accident.  For the most part I am against the concept of protests.  I feel they often get out of hand, get off point, and are generally ineffective.

That said, why did I attend this one?  Well, it was for a cause I truly believe in, but moreover, I knew that with the large numbers that were expected for this rally I felt it actually could make a difference.  Now honestly speaking, I have absolutely zero expectation of these rallies changing Stephen Harper’s policies, but I definitely do think it will motivate the opposition parties knowing so many Canadian’s are behind them and moreover will motivate Canadian voters to vote against Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.  This is why I attended this rally.

Now, was it successful?  Well, in Toronto I definitely think it was.  There were definitely thousands of people out at Yonge-Dundas Square, numbers I have heard ranging up to 7000 and that is a number I would absolutely believe.  It was a gigantic crowd.  I was impressed.   Canadians are disappointed with Stephen Harper’s blatant sidestepping of the democratic process, and today we were heard loud and clear.

The crowd had many great/amusing signs, but there was one thing in particular that did bother me – the NDP’s overbearing presence (in terms of signs) at a rally that was specifically designed to be non-partisan.  The Green’s and Communist Party (yes, the Communist Party) had signs there as well, but there was no party as obvious as the NDP.  I actually only saw one Liberal sign all day, which I was impressed by.  The NDP didn’t seem to understand the concept of a non-partisan rally, and this disappointed me as I feel their blatant partisanship hurt the message of the rally.

I thought this was non-partisan, Jack?

Beyond that I was certainly a little confused by strange songs at some points (Oh Canada to anti-Harper lyrics offended me a little) and some speakers who were a little more radical than I would have liked, but for the most part the rally was a very positive experience.  I would say, other than those few minor points I was very impressed with the rally.  We got a huge crowd, which was for the most part happy, peaceful, good spirited, sometimes amusing, and appropriate for families.  I always fear protests can get a little extreme and dangerous, but today’s protest stayed safe and good spirited.

In the end, and despite the minor gripes I did have, we held over 60 separate rallies across the country – and the reality is that today we got our message out.  I hope the media coverage tonight is strong, because Canadians who were not out deserve to know what was going on today and why.  Stephen Harper – I know you wanted Canadian’s to not care that you decided not to show up for work, but we do.  You’re not doing your job, and we are not happy.  Now Canadians need to stand up in the next election and show their frustration at the ballot box.

Check out my photo album of the rally.

Hey Steve, look at the crowd. We do care. Too bad for your anti-democratic agenda.

What I am urging people is that if you are going to stay in tonight and watch these telethons make sure you actually make a donation.  If you’re like me you may not have a lot of cash right now, but think of it this way – whatever money you may have spent going out tonight (paying for entertainment, drinks, etc.) donate to the Haiti recovery.  It doesn’t have to be much, but make sure you do it.  Spend the money you would have otherwise spent going out tonight and put it towards this great cause… think of it as a small charge for a great night of entertainment which in turn can help so many people.

Last night I gained even more respect for him.  This video is not mine, but I did get the honour of being present for this.  Albeit, much farther back.  This was taken at last night’s Liberal Party Victory Fund GTA Bash which featured many great speeches, including one from Michael Ignatieff, and Bob Rae playing a fantastic song.  This is the clip.  I hope this clip will make its rounds.  Not only can Harper appeal to the masses with a Beatles song, the Liberals can too… and they bring a good message at the same time, not just a random PR move.

First off, Cabinet shuffles are routine in the Canadian system.  And no, not Harper’s version of “routine” which has led to other angry rants lately, but legitimately routine.  Both Harper and McGuinty have shuffled their respective Cabinets this week, and I have no problem with either.  Sometimes these things just need to happen.

That said, today I noticed this brilliant tweet from the Ontario Leader of the Opposition Tim Hudak (@timhudak): “About to go on 610 AM CKTB re: McGuinty Cabinet Shuffle that resulted in now six Lib Cabinet Ministers abandoning ship within a year #pcpo”

Here is where I don’t get his spin – no one has “abandoned ship” as he is trying to play off.  Yes, one instance, David Caplan, stepped down because of his mismanagement of his ministry.  We all know that.  But the remaining five?  Not even close.  Both George Smitherman and Jim Watson are pursuing other interests outside of provincial politics by running for Mayor of their respective cities.  The three ministers who left the Cabinet yesterday – Donna Cansfield, Ted McMeekin, and Aileen Carroll are all on their way out it looks, and not seeking reelection after long public careers.  What would be the point of keeping them in Cabinet when there is an opportunity to elevate some backbench MP’s to a strong leadership position in Cabinet to show what they can do?  From an electoral success prospective, looking to prove you have many strong leaders in your caucusmis a very smart move.

Clearly Hudak is grasping at straws to make McGuinty look like an idiot, and for some reason it is working.  I have definitely addressed the danger of Hudak’s misleading spin before and this is just another example of the same.

See, I have no problems with Harper doing a Cabinet shuffle.  Admittedly, I would have put different people in different positions, but that is not the point.  The simple point is there is really little reason for Hudak to be spinning this beyond selfish partisan reasons.  And of course it is in his typical vein, incredibly misleading to the public, on the verge of lies.  I honestly don’t understand why the people of Ontario seem to be resonating with his spin – it is almost completely baseless.

This just reminds me that the Ontario Liberals really need to step up in their message communication.  This is their major problem right now.  Their policies and moves haven’t been bad ones, but the spin machine of Tim Hudak is strong and misleading to the public… and worst of all much stronger than the Liberal communications department.  The Ontario Liberals need to step up their communication, and quickly, or Hudak is going to get what he wants.  The current polls show it is working, and that scares me, because there is no legitimate reason it should be.  He has zero legitimate talking points.

I am no expert on protests, but I definitely know when a protest is going to make no point to the public.  This is when they get out of hand and try to push ridiculous spin points only the most indoctrinated actually believe.

Unfortunately this is my fear for the protests across Canada protesting Harper’s prorogation of Parliament.  Not because the leaders of the rallies and the participants aren’t very well intentioned, but because large angry groups can get off track.

So simply put here are my simple hopes for the protests:

• Stay peaceful.  There is no reason to not be peaceful.  As a matter of fact any violence will destroy the legitimate message.
• Keep the message simple and factual.  We are against the Prime Minister abusing their powers to avoid legitimate questioning.  We want our MP’s to actually be doing their job.  Things like this.
• Don’t BS the public.  We know what is wrong.  Don’t push the message too far.  Stick to the simple points.
• Have fun.  Your simple presence proves the point.  Enjoy it, and you will get your point across.

That is really it.  I hope people get out and show their support for the movement.  We need significant democratic reform in Canada to avoid these abuses in the future and hopefully these rallies will be the first step to showing out political leaders that we are fed up with their antics.  Hopefully they will take us seriously though…

Well, we can hope, right?

I leave you with the best thing to ever happen on The Jay Leno Show… Jimmy Kimmel coming on Jay’s lame 10@10 segment and simply destroying him.  This clip in of itself made my life just that much better.  It was great seeing someone say these things to Jay’s face.  He deserved it.  I am not a huge Kimmel fan, but I now have a whole lot more respect for the man.

That is apparently what our brilliant Prime Minister believes.

Let me repeat that: Stephen Harper believes that the legislative process of our elected officials makes Canada unstable.

Check out this article in The Ottawa Citizen.  Apparently this is what he told BNN in a recent interview.

So if Parliament makes Canada unstable, what exactly does he want?  Well I can tell you.  He wants to further strengthen the power of the already far too strong Executive Branch, and avoid all accountability to the elected legislature.  This is why he prorogued Parliament, and this is clearly what he wants more of – No accountability.

In reality though, this is an incredibly asinine comment by the Prime Minister.  It is not Parliament that makes us unstable.  It is a government that refuses to bend their agenda in a minority situation that makes us unstable.  Stephen Harper, simply put, refuses to govern properly in a minority situation.  He should be negotiating with the opposition parties and finding true middle ground on issues because he does not have a majority of seats.  If he did this there would be significantly less instability in the House of Commons because the other parties would actually support him because they would have buy-in to his legislation.  Harper needs to stop trying to govern like he holds a majority, because this is what is causing the instability.

It is the Harper government, and the Harper government alone that is making Canada unstable, not Parliament.  If they governed properly in a minority situation there would be no reason for instability, but because Harper refuses to admit that the Canadian voters did not give him a majority he causes this instability… it’s on you Harper, stop playing the blame game.

The Conservative spin machine drives me nuts, but as I keep myself politically engaged I am constantly hearing from them.  Especially since Harper prorogued Parliament because they are trying their hardest to find a way to legitimize their selfish, partisan, and undemocratic move.  I’ve spent some time on this subject in a previous blog but since the Harper spin machine keeps rolling on I feel I need to address the “newest” baseless spin points coming out of the Conservative camp.

Argument #1: “While Stephen Harper has been in Ottawa over the holidays, Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton have been on vacation”

Well, first – everyone deserves a vacation.  Unlike those making this argument I don’t expect my elected representatives to be doing nothing but governing.  Yes, it’s their job, but our MP’s put in a lot of hours over the year – if they want to take a vacation over Christmas, honestly who cares?  That is their right.

But here is where this argument works right against the Conservative spin machine.  Harper has been in Ottawa while no one else has been.  Isn’t that exactly what the Conservatives are trying to do?  Keep everyone else away?  Well they got their wish.  It allows the Harper government to continue on their work with their almost unlimited unchecked executive power, which is even more unchecked when no one is around.  Harper tells everyone to stay away from Ottawa and then they are attacked for doing so?  I can’t wait until the Liberals return on the 25^th.

Argument #2: “But the other guys did it”

Seriously folks, that is your argument?  We can do it because the Liberals have done it in the past?  Well, first off there has never been a similar situation to this one, despite what the Conservative spin points say, but that is not even the point I am really going to make here.  Here is the reality – just because other parties did it does not make it right.  A government should never run away from the elected legislature as soon as the questions get tough.  That is simply undemocratic.

Honestly, I would love to see Michael Ignatieff not only promise to not prorogue Parliament like Harper just did, but to apologize for the steps previous Liberal governments took which in part led us to the democratic deficit we currently have today.  Plain and simply – just because pother parties did it, even in different situations, does not make the decision of the Harper government right.  Harper’s Conservative party needs to take accountability for the fact that they shut down Parliament to avoid tough questions.  Honestly, what are they hiding on Afghanistan?

Argument #3: “It’s only the elites that care”

Now this one is my absolute favourite.  Minister Tony Clement was quoted as saying the following:

“I know it’s a big issue with the Ottawa media elite and some of the 
elites in our country, but I got to tell you if reaction in my
 constituency is any indication, I’ve had maybe three dozen emails”

Oh Tony, you are a very mislead man.  You may have very few emails yourself, but have you noticed the grassroots movement?  Have you seen the speed at which it is growing?  Or are you so out of the loop that you don’t know what this darn fangled “Face Book” thingie is.

Also – it is your party that is the elitists in this country.  Your party helps out the richest people in this country, so if anyone would be considered “elitist” it would be your party’s supporters.  These “elite” are regular Canadians who are legitimately disappointed at the democratic deficit that your party has created.  Maybe if anyone is reading this that is an “elitist” and is against the proroguing of Parliament maybe send a quick email to Minister Clement and let him know.  He seems to be out of the loop.

Yes, a blatant departure from my last number of blogs, but this is definitely something I wanted to address.  Obviously not of the same level of importance as politics, but… well… I am a huge Conan O’Brien fan, and think what NBC is trying to do to him it total and utter BS.

A comedian I highly respect, Patton Oswalt, described his feelings on this situation in a very blunt but accurate manner here, which I think people should check out.  It seems as if many of the big Hollywood names are on the same page that NBC is blatantly screwing over Conan.

The worst part of this in my mind is that NBC should have learned from their mistakes.  In the early 90’s when Johnny Carson retired there was a very similar situation with David Letterman and Jay Leno vying for the hosting job of The Tonight Show, which inevitably lead to NBC screwing over Letterman, and him packing up his show and taking it over to CBS.

They are seemingly doing the same thing again with Conan.  My impression is that they are trying to push Conan out in order to place Leno back in the Tonight Show’s hosting gig.

Yes, Conan’s ratings are lower than Leno’s were.  Yes, Leno is hurting the lead in to the 11 o’clock news.  Does this mean that after the short amount of time that they given Conan’s Tonight Show to grow that they should already screw over Conan and his show?  Absolutely not.  I don’t necessarily disagree with NBC pulling the Jay Leno Show, because it has been just awful, but Conan’s Tonight Show has actually been really good, and it is getting better every day.  NBC has not given it a chance.

So NBC wants to put Leno back at 11:35 and push Conan and Fallon back until 12:05 and 1:05 respectively.  Just an awful idea.  That half hour will simply kill the ratings of Conan and Fallon, and is just not fair.  Apparently the other option is for Conan to walk and Jay just take over the Tonight Show again.  Either way, Conan will not be at 11:35 on NBC anymore, and that is just not fair to him.

What I honestly don’t understand is why Leno just won’t retire.  He said that was his plan, but he went back on it.  So because he had a change of heart, Conan gets screwed over?  Leno has more than enough money, and can continue his other stand-up gigs, so why can’t he just move on like he said he was going to?  It seems really selfish to me that he wants to push Conan out.

Also, NBC is clearly missing the boat on the long-term upside to Conan O’Brien.  He has an incredibly dedicated young audience.  That is the key.  Yes, his ratings may be lower than Leno’s were, but he has a great long term upside.  His fans are going to continue to watch for years.  On the other hand, Leno does not connect with my generation, and the generation he does connect with will no longer be watching him so late very soon.  He is at the end of his popularity, and only has the ability to go down from here.

In the end, choosing Leno over Conan is an awful idea.  NBC is neglecting to see the long-term upside of Conan, and I hope they lose out because of it.  I personally hope that Conan takes Fox up on their offer and he moves his entire show to their network, because hopefully they will actually care about his show, like CBS did for Letterman.  Conan deserves better than NBC is willing to offer.  They owe it to him and the rest of his show to let them out of their contracts and let them move to Fox, because they clearly don’t want them on their network.

We have seen that we have a broken system in recent years.  We need many reforms to avoid these legislative problems that stem from our far too powerful Executive branch.

Someone commented on my reform post that we will never accomplish any of these reforms without a leader with a legitimate vision for Canada.  But the reality in my mind is that we are actually in need of someone with more than just vision.  We need a leader who can facilitate a collaborative vision building exercise with diverse stakeholders, and then carry out this vision.

The key is that we do not need a blatantly partisan vision for Canada.  We need to be inclusive of out country’s diverse people and needs, and this will only be accomplished through collaborative vision building, and then building a tangible platform on top of this.  These goals, for the sake of Canadian democracy, need to include significant Parliamentary and democratic reform.

We need a leader who is willing to do this, and carry out the tangible goals.  No playing politics here – work in a multi-partisan light to achieve the legitimate reform that is needed to restore strong democracy in Canada.

As a Liberal I keep wondering if Michael Ignatieff is indeed this leader.  To be honest, this remains to be seen.  He had a shaky first year to say the least, but he has the background, knowledge, and intelligence to do incredibly well.  Has recently put a great team around him, which will help him succeed.  It is now time for Michael Ignatieff to stand up as the leader of the Liberal party, start soliciting views and ideas from across the country, which he has started doing with his current campus tour.  When he is done this he needs to continue, and hit as many important stakeholder groups as he can.  Once done consulting, he must put together a strong and tangible platform which includes a significant democratic reform package.

Michael Ignatieff can be the leader Canada needs, but he needs to prove it to Canadians.  He needs to put together a collaborative platform, and show Canadians why the Liberal party is the right party for Canada… because simply taking shots at Harper is not going to be enough to win over enough Canadians to win a government.  Canadians want ideas, not mudslinging.  Be the better party.  Give Canada ideas.

I do keep hearing about it on the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook Group though, so I felt the need to address it. What I’m not sure is why it’s getting any traction, because it is such an awful idea.

Now I haven’t been paying attention to exactly who keeps posting about it, so for all I know it could be the same person over and over, but the idea scares me, and I hope no one actually joins it.

Now beyond a simply awful website, which is worse than mine (and I have absolutely no web design experience) the idea of a “United Party” thus reducing Canada to a two party system is just a terrible idea.

Canada does not need a polarized two party system in my mind. We can see from a distance how this does not work in the United States. Two polarized parties create so much tension that barely anything can get accomplished. Being a multi-party system we are actually at an advantage, because minority governments can happen. Now the last few years we have seen bad examples of minority governments, but theoretically I believe they are much better than a majority. They should allow for legitimate compromise between parties, creating policies and laws more in line with what Canadians as a whole want, not just those who voted for a particular party. A two party system loses all the advantages of the multi-party system we currently have.

Also, our system allows for legitimate coalition governments, which despite last years backlash, actually can be a great idea. Party’s striking a compromise on a number of issues agree to function as a coalition (often because their combined seats equal a majority) in order to form a stable majority coalition government for a certain amount of time. This is actually a good idea, but Canadians need to get it into their head that it is, because right now the idea is unreasonably hated.

Being completely honest though, the “United Party” idea never going to gain traction, so I feel I have no reason to worry. If a “United Party” was ever to be created it would be only between the Liberals and the NDP, certainly not the Bloc because the have their own agenda. Also, it is not likely to begin as a random group of discontented Canadians. It would be from significant backroom dealings between party reps from both sides, and only at a point when there is a serious concern that a divided Left/Centre cannot feasibly gain enough seats to create a majority. And that certainly will not come this quickly after being out of power. Let’s be honest, Harper has not been in power that long… it will not happen yet, and will only happen if Harper was to get a sustained majority. This isn’t even close to being on the table at this point.

These are my thoughts – and lets hope I never have to address this again.

___________________________________

Update: February 3/2010

Just a note, I have closed comments on this topic.  I said that I didn’t care to speak anymore on this topic, because the United Party of Canada is a complete and utter joke which will never take off… yet, a number of not-so-brilliant United Party members felt the need to constantly badger me about this topic, rip on my integrity, and pretty much not leave me alone.

Simply put – I do not care about your comments – I disagree with you.  Your party is never going to take off, your talking points are substance-less, and you are probably excited that one blog even covered your existence.  I said many times today while you were commenting that I did not care to comment again on this, but you continued to badger…. so I cut you off.  So I’m done.  I don’t care to comment anymore, and I don’t care what you have to say.

So go ahead and continue your quest to become even more redundant while the actual political parties move along.  Have fun wasting your time and money.  And feel free to give me a call when your party takes off.  But it wont.

The Problem

Ok so we’re all frustrated with Stephen Harper.

We’re going to protest what he did.

His actions are blatantly degrading our Parliamentary system and rendering our House of Commons more and more redundant with his every move.

We all agree?  Alright, so what’s next?

Being completely honest here we need to realize that at this point Parliament is not going to be called back until March.  It is great the Liberals are going back, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see the NDP and Bloc follow suit, but lets be honest, Parliament will not formally resume until March.  This is not going to change.  We are all angry about it obviously, but lets focus on legitimate goals moving forward.

So when Parliament resumes in March what will be on the agenda?  Obviously the economy and some of the scrapped bills will be reintroduced… but what else?

Well, this whole debacle (and last year’s painfully similar debacle) has shown us that we need serious democratic reform in Canada.  People from all party’s seem to agree these days, with the exception of the Conbots who are stuck on their baseless talking points, but even a good number of Conservatives I have spoken to agree with me here.

This article in the Globe and Mail was the one that really got me thinking about this.  It’s a very smart article, and I hope all Canadians take a read though it.  I think it is very important.

But to actually be successful at democratic reform our party’s need to drop the partisan talking points and do what is best for Canada, not what’s best for their party’s electoral chances. This needs to include the Liberals taking accountability for their part in the degradation of our Parliament, because this was not solely a Conservative problem.  Canadians need a democratic, responsive, and effective government but there needs to be significant change in order for this to happen, and this change will take multi-partisan cooperation.

There have been many times Canada has taken on Constitutional reform – 1982, Meech Lake, Charlottetown – but I can’t, at least off the top of my head, think of a time that Canada’s government focused directly on overall democratic reform, but this is what we need right now.

Most of the reform ideas I have heard of recently have been focused in certain areas – Senate reform and Electoral reform the most popular of these – but recently there have been no high level talks about a legitimate overhaul of our democracy as a whole.  Admittedly this will be a lot of work, but for the integrity of our country’s government it will be completely worth it.

We need a legislative system that cannot be called to a halt on a whim.  We need a legislative system where our MP’s have the power and ability to actually represent their constituencies, without the fear of the party whip.  We need an electoral system that allows for the number of votes cast to actually be represented in the House of Commons.  We need an Upper House that has a purpose and some semblance of democratic legitimacy. Canadians are becoming very disillusioned with our system and it can be seen in both the grassroots Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament movement and can be seen even clearer in our abysmal voter turnout in recent elections. Our system has many problems, and we need to look towards a solution to restore our Parliament’s legitimacy both domestically and on the world stage, because our current system is a massive embarrassment.

The Solution

It is time to restore Canadian democracy, and this will be through how we legislate.

We need to look at everything we do and look at the best practices of other countries.  We need to assemble a multi-partisan group of leaders to lead this charge along with top political academics.

I am not going to claim being an expert on the subject, but I do know that we need significant change in this country.  Just off the top of my head I can think of a good number of areas that we need to look at:

Ties to British Monarchy. Honestly, why are we still a part of the monarchy?  To me this makes no sense.  The Governor General herself has proven the position redundant over the past year or so.  She gives in to every request by the Prime Minister, costs taxpayers a fortune, and runs “ceremonial” events.  We have other people who can do these things.  And by getting rid of the Governor General we can then vest ultimate power in Parliament.  What a novel concept…

Our electoral system. Our current system consistently elects false majority governments, the last few aside.  Often majority governments are elected with significantly less than a majority of the legitimate votes cast, making many Canadian votes mean essentially nothing.  Groups like Fair Vote Canada have been working on this for years, as well as referendums have taken place in multiple provinces.  It is time that our Federal government starts to look at a more fair electoral system.

The Senate. Ah the Senate.  Honestly, what do you do?  Yes you read through and pass bills from the House of Commons.  Often you send Bills back for review as your position of “sober second thought.”  There are generally three options I hear on this one.  First, keep our current system.  Second, elect our Senators, and realign where Senators come from in the country (equal representation).  Third, simply abolish it.  There are arguments for all three, but this is something that needs to be seriously looked at from a Constitutional level.  This body is incredibly expensive for Canadian taxpayers, so it certainly better serve a purpose, and in my opinion, right now it barely does.

MP’s job description. MP’s need to be more independent.  They need to be able to do investigative research – not just depend on what the PMO will agree to release.  They should actually be responsible to their constituencies because lets be honest, right now they are far more responsible to their party brass than to the constituents who they theoretically represent.  Also, MP’s who show discontent and disagreement within a party should be allowed to do so.  Someone shouldn’t be turfed from the party or blocked from running for reelection for having a different opinion.  Obviously, from a party’s standpoint, there is always hope that unity holds up, but if there is enough disagreement between backbench MP’s and the Cabinet (for example) it is likely that they could change the course of the party.  Right now we have a Parliamentary system where the individual MP’s opinion doesn’t matter.  They must submit to the will of the leader, and that is the end of the story.  In this system there is little or no way for an MP to effectively represent their constituency.   This needs to change

Number of MP’s. This I feel should be seriously looked at.  How many people can one person effectively represent?  Is it more, less or the same as our MP’s currently are representing?  Especially if their job is recalibrated to be more legitimately representative to their constituents this number may be significantly different.  We need to do studies and figure the proper number out.

Size, purpose, and power of cabinet. We have a very powerful executive in Canada.  Now it would be completely idiotic in my opinion to suggest getting rid of this function because then nothing would ever get done, but to look at its size, purpose, and specifically power would be a very good use of time.  The cabinet needs to remember that it is indeed responsible to the legislature, but historically has not always done this.

House of Commons procedure. As it is the topic of the day, lets use prorogation of Parliament as an example here.  We need to look at who holds decision-making power over procedures like proroguing Parliament, and why.  Should there be a majority vote of the House of Commons needed?  In any case, there needs to be serious discussion into placing limits and rules surrounding these procedures.

Coalition governments. Is this term almost a curse word in Canada these days?  I have no idea why coalition governments are such a scary concept to Canadians.  They actually allow a minority government to function because you can have a majority of MP’s on the same page.  We could actually have stable and long lasting minority governments if a coalition was an option to Canadian political parties.  We as Canadians need to accept that this is a legitimate option.

Set election dates. Ontario has implemented this quite effectively, but federally Harper’s attempt was killed by… umm who again?  Oh, by himself.  This is an initiative I do agree with though, because it allows all party’s, not just the sitting government, to know when an election is coming up in order to properly prepare.  This of course comes with challenges when it comes to minority governments, but if we effectively move forward with democratic reform minority governments should be much more stable, like in most of the world, thus making set election dates possible.

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If all of the sitting party’s were to get to work on the task of democratic reform it would also be a great opportunity to practice being a minority government.  No one party’s single agenda should or will be the one passed.  There need to be negotiations, party’s giving up things in order to get others.  It’s a give and take people.  You run a minority government (Harper, listen up here) and everyone should get a say at some point, proper negotiations need to take place.

Lets restore confidence in our government by creating a system that actually works – because clearly our current system does not.  We have a Prime Minister running a minority government, but acting like a majority because when an opposition party threatens an election the Prime Minister’ polling numbers skyrocket because Canadians don’t want another election.  He can call off the legislative session whenever he wants and run away from controversy.

Canadians clearly want a Parliament that actually works, and the one we have does not.  You can look at the plummeting voter turnout rates simply to prove this.  Canadians have become apathetic because of a broken system (incredibly successful Facebook group aside) and it is time for the Canadian political party’s to step up, take responsibility, and fix it.

I realize this will take a lot of work, and both legislative and constitutional changes, but if it restores our Parliament to a high standard of governance it absolutely makes it worth our legislators investment of time and resources.

There are two arguments I keep hearing about the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament group on Facebook.

1. As my Conservative friends keep reciting to me, “who cares?  That is only 0.3% of the Canadian population”; or
2. A fantastic grassroots movement mobilizing 100,000 Canadians for a mutual cause.

The reality is somewhere in the middle though, and really depends entirely on what people do from here.  I’m not trying to be pessimistic about this group – it really is quite the accomplishment to get so many Canadians on the same page for a single cause – but I’m trying to be realistic at the same time.

To my Conservative friends? 0.3% of the population can make a huge difference, and you’re starting to see it in the polling numbers.  It may not be a huge portion of the population, I admit that, but look at the press it is making.  Look at the influence that social media can have on the public discourse.  We have a large group of discontented Canadians at our fingertips, ready to help out the cause.  Facebook has allowed active citizens to congregate in a single place, and has pushed out the word that Harper is playing partisan games by proroguing parliament, and subsequently, Canadian democracy.  Harper wantd to hide behind the shroud of the holidays and the Team Canada announcement when he announced he was proroguing parliament, but never assumed a movement like this would form.  He bet wrong on the complacency and apathy of Canadians, and we are proving this.

To those in this group? It is time to make the doubters eat their words.  We can’t just rest on the fact that we have put a large number of people in a group.  We need to be active from here in.  We need to use the platform that has been created to move our agenda forward, but that means we all need to become active outside of this group

• Write your MP, write Stephen Harper, write the Governor General, write the opposition leaders.  Let those people know your opinion.
• Come out the rallies on January 23^rd.  These rallies will be incredibly important in letting Stephen Harper know Canadians aren’t as apathetic as he hopes we are.  At the rallies we can let him know that he cannot run this country like a dictator, he has to be responsible to the legislature, and thus the citizens of Canada
• Get involved with and donate to a political party.  Admittedly, I would love to push everyone to become a member of the Liberal Party, but I am going to avoid being too partisan here.  Join, get involved with, and donate to a political party.  Heck, even the Conservatives.  The members set the agenda for these party’s in many ways, and if the members of the Conservatives were to stand up to Harper and tell him to cut out tactics like these, it is likely he would.  Political party’s are the root of our system, and they need support to do their work.  Get involved with one.  Put your time and your money – really anything you afford – towards their cause and you will indeed make a significant difference.

In the end we need to let Stephen Harper know that his agenda will not be allowed to move forward unchecked.  He has a minority government for a reason and needs to start governing like he has one.  Canadians clearly do not want an election right now; we just had an election 15 months ago.  He needs to start governing properly, like a minority government.  Negotiate, and bend your agenda to find mutual ground with other party’s.  That is how a minority government is supposed to operate.  Don’t simply push your agenda like a majority and expect Canadians to accept it.  You know Canada doesn’t want an election and this is why you feel you can govern as you do.  You think if you go back to the polls that you will get a majority.  Canadians need to show Harper he is wrong.  If he really wants to push an election we need to ensure he gets the exact opposite of what he wants – removed from his office.

Become an active citizen.  Don’t just rest on the fact that you have joined the Facebook group and have “done your part.”  You haven’t.  Get out there, contact those who can make change, attend rallies, and get involved.  You can make a huge difference, but only if you step out of the Facebook group and become a legitimate active citizen.

My favourite:  “When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.” (Stephen Harper, Canadian Press, April 18, 2005)

Absolutely not.  Well, not anymore.  Historically, I could make an argument that the position formerly had a utility, but I don’t feel the same applies in the least anymore.

Our current Governor General, Michaëlle Jean has proven herself completely useless over the past two years.  Her position is supposed to act as a check, but for some reason consistently allows he Prime Minister walk all over her.  This would be almost understandable in a majority government situation, but not in a minority.  She has the ability to seek out advice from opposition parties, but clearly has not considering her two largest decisions – to prorogue parliament twice in one year – were asked for by the Prime Minister and granted despite the opposition parties vehemently disagreeing with the decision.  In a minority government opposition input should be more important than ever in the Governor General’s decision making, yet she seems to neglect this option.  She has proven that no matter what the PM says she will go with it, which in my opinion makes her and her position redundant.

The office of the Governor General costs taxpayers, if I remember correctly here, about $25 million a year between the multiple official residences, world travel, and who-knows-what else.  The question I ask is do we really need a person whose job is little more on a regular basis than shaking hands and holding fancy events?  Absolutely not.  Especially at the cost… especially when they neglect to do the most important jobs properly.

Other people can do these things – the PM, cabinet ministers, etc.  Spread out the jobs the Governor General does to our elected officials.  There is no reason at all for us to have a purely ceremonial position.  If foreign dignitaries are meeting with someone from the Canadian government wouldn’t look better for them to meet with someone who can actually do something instead of an expensive, useless figurehead?

I’ve generally been against our ties to the monarchy, but it has been hard to convince people that we should cut ties in the past. Fortunately for my argument, Michaëlle Jean has helped me out.  She has proven herself redundant, and we should remove her position.  Save Canadians cash, and let the elected people do her “job.”

In the end I am reasonable though and I know that we are not going to be getting rid of the Governor General position any time soon.  It would require a massive constitutional amendment and would be a significant restructuring of our government.  What I do hope to see out of this is the Governor General and her successors remembering what has happened in the last year and work towards making their position effective once again.  They need to avoid incompetent decisions like the ones Michaëlle Jean has made allowing Harper to suspend democracy twice in one year.  Only competent and well-thought decisions will restore confidence in the Governor General’s office.

Apparently Canadians aren’t all that apathetic after all Mr. Harper.

This morning I woke up to the fantastic statistics from the recent EKOS poll showing that Conservative support is dropping since Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Canadian democracy.

And then I read my favourite publication, The Economist, and read two harshly critical articles on Harper’s decision to prorogue parliament – Harper goes prorogue and Halted in mid-debate.  One of the most respected publications in the world has gone after Harper’s actions showing that this discontent is not just partisan hackery, but is very legitimate and should be a huge concern to Canadians.  Harper’s actions are clearly an embarrassment to our country on an international level, and that’s sad.

As Canadians we need to avoid becoming complacent between now and March.  We need to keep the pressure on Harper and his goons.  We need to ensure that this story stays in the press.  We need to ensure that Canadians know why what Harper did was wrong and blatantly circumventing our democracy.

We cannot let this discontent disappear between now and the return of Parliament, because despite what Stephen Harper insists I still bet he is hoping to force an election right after the Olympics to ride the post-Olympic election patriotism all the way to a majority.

Come out to the rallies, write your MP, and inform the uninformed.  Donate money to an opposition party to ensure they can keep up the fight.  Ensure that we, as Canadians, show that we are not as apathetic as Harper seems to assume.  Show him in the next election that we disagree with his methods of governing.  Show Stephen Harper that his government will not push us around anymore.

Last night an article in Now Toronto was brought to my attention, discussing how the Facebook Group asking MP’s to get back to work, despite its size, would essentially change nothing. I can’t lie, this article made some good points and definitely got me thinking.

Of course, then this morning I woke up to two relatively ignorant editorials in the National Post (here and here) in somewhat the same vein, but in a rather condescending tone. Really all I got out of the National Post articles is that they are clearly unaware of the value and impact of social media… which is sad for them, because they are going to be left behind, and possibly why they are so close to bankruptcy – their inability to move past traditional media thinking. The Now Toronto article on the other hand made some valuable points.

Here are my thoughts. As for the Facebook group – I agree with all of those articles on the surface. In reality, that group means nothing in of itself. Harper isn’t shaking in his boots because of it, and he is certainly not going to change course on his policy because of 65,000 odd people in a Facebook group (although it is still growing). But on the other hand the group is a great place for those of us who are discontented to congregate, but now we need to actually take action. The group is great to find other likeminded people but we need to move forward from here.

We need to use this group to plan action moving forward. If we can use this group to get people to take action (plan and attend protests, write MP’s, vote differently in the next election, etc.) then it will have a legitimate impact. There are protests being planned, and I know I have been posting my letter to MP’s and opposition leaders regularly, but now we need to act on these things and make sure our voice is heard outside of this group… because in reality it’s far less than 1% of our population who are in it. Here is the reality –people simply joining the group means absolutely nothing. Only if this group motivates every member in the group to take some form of action outside of the group will it actually matter.

This group has reinforced to me that there are a large number of people in Canada who are not apathetic towards Canadian politics, which makes me very happy, but now we need to use this fantastic forum to its potential and actually force this government to make change. The reality that I hope people accept is that by simply joining this Facebook group is akin to doing nothing. Even posting comments equals nothing. Harper is never going to pay attention to this, lets be honest with ourselves here. We now need to take this large congregation of discontented Canadians and force change. Write your MP’s, help plan and attend protests, make your voice heard, and most importantly show your discontent with your next vote. Stand up to Stephen Harper and his anti-democratic agenda.

First off, kudos to my MP Lois Brown who called me personally yesterday morning to discuss my position on her government’s decision to prorogue Parliament. Although we disagreed on many points I definitely can say this – she is super nice, and I really appreciated the call. The call showed that even though I thoroughly disagreed with her government’s decision she was still willing to reach out to me to explain her position. That said, I still vehemently disagree with the Conservative position on proroguing parliament, and feel that all of their talking points are political spin with little to no substance.

I understand Harper loves to keep his MPs in line and stick to the message, but I honestly have trouble understanding how anyone can defend this move by Harper. A few people (Mrs. Brown included) have tried to convince me but in my opinion I have yet to hear a good argument. I honestly feel that this was a painfully partisan move and subverted the democratic process in Canada.

She made the point that there is plenty for an MP to do in their constituency, which I agree with on some levels, but lets be honest here, there is little MP’s can do beyond pander for votes and spin the policies and actions of their party leaders to discontented constituents. Why? Well, by the book (or how our system is supposed to work) there should be plenty of constituent linkage and representative work MP’s can do, but the reality of the our system is that MP’s are significantly more accountable to the leaders and party whips than they are to their constituents. Thus there is really little or no reason for MP’s to need to spend time in their riding. Especially this extended amount of time.

Ms. Brown made the point to me that there are typically five throne speeches in a government – which is true, I can’t deny that. But the point she neglected to make is that most governments run a five year term, so it makes sense for that many throne speeches. The reality is that this government has prorogued government twice in an approximately one-year period, double what should be expected. Also, lets be honest, this minority government is certainly not going to last five years, so the argument there is null in my opinion. Also, generally a throne speech doesn’t come after an arbitrary prorogation. They typically come planned far in advance with the parliamentary schedule, so all parties know the timeline they have to wrap up their agendas. Harper did not grant the opposition this courtesy as only his party knew this was coming.

Another note she kept reiterating was that with the planned Olympic break (that I did not know about, can anyone confirm this was to happen?) only 12 days were to actually be lost. There is a huge point missing from her argument though. There is a significant difference between 12 days of legislating being lost versus what they are doing. They are starting from scratch – everything done prior has been scrapped, wasting significantly more time than 12 days. Wasting the same time that it took to create the 37 bills that have now been thrown out.

The convenient timing of this prorogation leaves many questions in my mind. Harper prorogued right as Parliament asked for documents relating to the Afghan detainee scandal to be released and was becoming a large point of public contention. It also was convenient timing because it allows Harper to name new Senators which will shift the balance on key committees to allow his agenda to move forward more easily. It is convenient timing because the embarrassment that was the Canadian showing at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit was starting to give the Conservatives bad press and many opposition questions. Lastly, it is convenient timing because it will allow for significant non-contested, non-political media attention for the Prime Minister during the Olympic games, which will likely raise his popularity numbers for no legitimate political reason.

In the end, the Conservatives were getting a whole lot of bad press because of the awful policy decisions they have made in the past year, and wanted to shut up the opposition because they were stoking the fire that is their incompetence. There is no historical precedent for proroguing parliament in this type of situation, and it was clearly done for partisan gain and partisan gain alone. It makes me sad to see democracy in our country eroding to this level, but as long as Harper is in charge I can’t expect this problem to get better.

It was recently pointed out that it would make many people’s lives easier, and possibly more likely to write the leaders if I prepared a form letter for you to send to the opposition leaders/your MP encouraging them to show up to work on January 25^th.  I have posted this letter below.  Feel free to make edits or customize them to your personal feelings, but hopefully these will make your lives easier and encourage more of you to write.

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Mr. Ignatieff [or] Mr. Layton [or] Mr. Duceppe [or] MP of your riding,

I am writing you because I want to see my elected Members of Parliament return to work on January 25th.  Just because Stephen Harper has decided that he and his party do not want to do their jobs does not mean that the opposition parties need to follow suit.  Although I understand that no official business can take place without the government attending there is much that can be done between the three parties who actually control a majority stake in the House of Commons.

I want to see the opposition stand up to Mr. Harper and show up for work.  If you cannot use the House of Commons, find another location.  Debate and work can be done in any location.  Show Canada that there is not just work to be done, but that the parliamentary agenda can indeed be moved forward without Stephen Harper and his Conservative party.

I want the opposition parties to show Canada that Harper’s decision was undemocratic and for no other reason than partisan interests.  You can do this through showing up for work as scheduled on January 25th, continuing to work on legislation, and continuing the debates that are necessary for the democratic process.

Stand up for democracy in Canada – show up for work and continue the legislative process… with or without the government.

Sincerely,

Your Name Here

_____________________

M. Ignatieff [ou] M. Layton [ou] M. Duceppe [ou] député de votre circonscription,

Je vous écris parce que je veux que les élus du Parlement retournent à leur poste le 25 janvier courant. Ce n’est pas parce que Stephen Harper a décidé que lui et son parti ne veulent pas faire leur travail que les partis d’opposition doivent leur emboîter le pas. Même si je comprends qu’aucune mission ne peut avoir lieu sans que le gouvernement n’y assiste, beaucoup peut être fait par les trois partis qui constituent effectivement une majorité à la Chambre des communes.

Je veux voir l’opposition s’opposer à M. Harper et se présenter au travail. Si vous ne pouvez pas utiliser la Chambre des communes, trouvez un autre emplacement. Débats et travaux peuvent se produire dans n’importe quel endroit. Le Canada montre qu’il n’y a pas seulement du travail à faire, mais que l’ordre du jour parlementaire ne peut en effet être avancé sans Stephen Harper et son parti conservateur.

Je veux que les partis d’opposition au Canada démontrent que la décision de M. Harper est antidémocratique et ne sert que ses intérêts partisans. Vous pouvez en faire autant en vous présentant au travail comme prévu le 25 janvier, en continuant à travailler aux textes législatifs et en poursuivant les débats si nécessaires au processus démocratique.

Levez-vous pour la démocratie au Canada – en vous présentant au travail et en poursuivant le processus législatif … avec ou sans le gouvernement.

Cordialement,

Votre nom

_____________________

People to contact:

Find your Member of Parliament here

Opposition Leaders:

Mr. Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Official Opposition
Email: Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.ca

Mr. Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party
Email: laytoj@parl.gc.ca

Mr. Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloc Quebecois
Email: DucepG@parl.gc.ca

What do we pay our Members of Parliament for?  We pay them to represent us, the citizens of Canada, in the House of Commons.  Unfortunately in order to avoid his responsibilities, our illustrious Prime Minister Stephen Harper has decided to prorogue parliament until March because he doesn’t want to show up for work and take responsibility for his actions.  Because of this he has effectively gave all MP’s an extremely extended Christmas vacation.

All of the opposition parties have been quite openly against Harper’s decision, but now is the time for them to prove it.  All opposition MP’s should show up in Ottawa on January 25^th as they were scheduled to and get back to work.  Just because our Prime Minister wants to act like a dictator and shut down parliament does not mean that the opposition MP’s should allow him to do so.  The opposition is the indeed majority, and it’s their time to stand up and do something about it.

This certainly does not mean  a coalition… it is just three separate parties who control the majority stake working on the issues that matter to Canadians.  This will allow Canadian government to move forward until the Prime Minister decides he actually wants to get back to work.  They can put together bills and policies that can be passed as soon as the House is back in session.  They can be productive, and prove that what Harper has done is wrong and only for partisan interests.  Most importantly the opposition can show that there is still work to be done and that there was absolutely no reason to prorogue our democracy.

If the MP’s aren’t allowed to use the House of Commons to debate in, find another location.  This will likely be the case, but who cares?  All they need to do is find a space, invite the media, and get back to work.  It’s the right thing to do.

In the end, we need leadership on this.  We need Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, and Gilles Duceppe to stand up, be loud, and show Canadians who is doing the right thing, and why Harper is in the wrong.  We need our opposition parties to stand up, get back to work, and do their job for Canadians.

Harper unfortunately has great timing with this.  He announced it at a time that few people were paying attention to the news – during the holidays.  This is a huge deal, and a ridiculous subversion of democracy, but unfortunately for Canada very few people are actually paying attention.  We need to get attention.  Join the Facebook group I have posted at the bottom and be loud.  Let people know you are angry and disappointed with your government and why.  Help spread the message, because until the population as a whole knows what is actually going on Harper is going to be able to continue his anti-democratic agenda.

As citizens we can all help make the opposition return to work.  Contact your MP.  Contact the leaders.  Let them know you want your representatives to get back to work and that you will support them in going against the Prime Minister and Governor General’s decision in doing so.  Help restore democracy in Canada.

Join the Facebook Group

Find your Member of Parliament and ask them to show up for work here:

Write the opposition Leaders and ask them and their parties to show up for work:

Mr. Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Official Opposition
Email: Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.ca

Mr. Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party
Email: laytoj@parl.gc.ca

Mr. Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloc Quebecois
Email: DucepG@parl.gc.ca

There really is no good reason for prorogation beyond taking advantage of the positive publicity around the Olympics, just as I blogged about yesterday – Harper is going to receive constant non-partisan attention which will help his poll numbers significantly, and moreover, with no parliament there will be no way for the opposition to properly do their jobs.  In my opinion there is no democratic reason for prorogation – it would be simply for Harper’s own gain.  The Governor General should not stand for it.

On top of there being no good reason this move is also horribly hypocritical. A few months ago they accused the Liberals of wanting to kill parliament during a this recession because they are “in it for themselves.”  They very clearly said that calling an election (which would end parliament) would greatly damage the country in this recession, but lets be honest, this prorogation would be just as long, if not longer than the break that would be caused by an election.  All this proves to me is that our government is painfully hypocritical and will do whatever it takes to achieve their partisan interests.

This is so obviously a government that only will do things that will clearly advantage them.  They want to have this break in parliament because the Olympics may advantage them, no other legitimate reason.  They are willing to severely hurt the political process for no other reason than partisanship.  Harper is clearly afraid to face the questions about and the consequence of his government’s actions.  This is the action of a dictator to suspend the legislature to avoid their questions, but somehow we are allowing it to happen.  All they want is to get the Afghan detainee controversy out of the spotlight and get the public love-in that is the Olympics.

It is a huge insult to democracy and Canadians need to stand up against Harper if the Governor General for some reason allows him to do this.  MPs should be in Parliament – that is what we as citizens pay them for.  All Liberal, NDP, and Bloc MP’s should show up every day that parliament is prorogued and prove there are things to be done.  Debate without the government.  Make a point.

Canadians should protest this – send emails to the Governor General and the Prime Minister.  Let the Opposition know that you support them in wanting parliament to continue.  Harper clearly doesn’t want to step up and do his job.  This is sad and should not happen.  Harper needs to stop avoiding his job and his responsibilities or get out of politics.  This move is just pathetic and is moving one step closer to destroying the democracy our country cherishes.

Important people to contact about this:

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada
Email: info@gg.ca

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

Mr. Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Official Opposition
Email: Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.ca

Mr. Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party
Email: laytoj@parl.gc.ca

Mr. Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloc Quebecois
Email: DucepG@parl.gc.ca

Let’s be honest here – Harper was elected on little more than that… to clean up Ottawa after the Liberal sponsorship scandal.  It wasn’t his economic or social platforms.  It certainly wasn’t his personality.  In my opinion the only reason he won is because he somehow made the sponsorship scandal into a huge deal, even though in reality it was relatively minor and overly politicized, but somehow mobilized Canadians to vote for his party because of it.  Now, kudos for that, the Conservatives did a great job communicating their thoughts to Canadians, and that got them elected.

The problem now is that they have completely gone backwards on every change that they promised which actually got them elected, yet Canadians for the most part remain blind to this and the Conservatives remain up in the polls.  The opposition needs to start doing a better job communicating these huge changes in Conservative policy to Canadians, because the Harper government has gone back on (and in many places gotten worse) the only promises they made to Canadians that actually got them elected.

Lets look at the Afghanistan torture scandal because this exemplifies how the Harper government has gone back on the promises they made to Canadians.  Now I do want to say that I do disagree with going to a public inquiry.  This is a matter of principle.  I just simply hate these things.  All they do is politicize issues far too much and cost a fortune, but actually get no legitimate results.  What needs to happen is that this situation should be dealt with through the proper channels, but these institutions need to be unafraid of losing their budgets and/or jobs by doing this full investigation.  Harper staffers cannot put undue pressure on these institutions, which they are unfortunately known to do, so they can do their job and get to the bottom of this.

To the issue itself though, the huge deal in my mind is their blatant refusal to release the documents they have despite a motion in the House passing requiring the government to do so.  I understand that there is a certain level of information that shouldn’t be released for the public good, but the House is not going to ask for documents that are going to harm Canadians.  To me, this refusal is putting themselves in contempt of the House of Commons, and is just simply unethical.  The government is responsible to the House of Commons, and should do as they say.  The only reason they can give the House the proverbial middle finger right now is because Canadian’s clearly don’t want an election right now, so despite the Conservatives minority status, right now they are essentially running a majority.

This goes completely against the concept of the open and honest government Harper promised Canadians when he was elected.  To make it worse, in this situation they aren’t just hiding things within the PMO, but they are blatantly defying the will of the House of Commons and refusing to release documents that Canadians should have access to.  This is painfully unethical on so many levels, and I hope Canadians realize this because their government is doing the exact opposite of what they promised to do when they were elected.

This scandal is just one small part of the problem.  The Harper government has created one of the most secretive and media unfriendly governments in Canadian history.  The Harper government has continued making partisan appointments to the Senate despite their promise to do otherwise.  The Harper government has continued to make other partisan appointments across the government despite promises to hold non-partisan hearings on significant appointments.  They have gone against essentially every major point that they were actually elected on and it is a shame.  While I certainly disagree with much of the Conservative platform, I do agree completely with these key points of open and honest government, which is unfortunately where they have gone against their platform.

It comes down to this – Stephen Harper was elected to do one thing and has done the exact opposite.  Canadians need to stand up and end the hypocrisy that is the Stephen Harper government.  We also need leadership from the Liberals on this – not just to further expose Harper’s hypocrisy, but to write policies on this, get elected on it, and actually stick to it.  Canadian’s deserve an open and honest government but right now we couldn’t be further from one… and that is truly unfortunate.

Harper, as always, disappoints me.  This man has taken more individual power than any of his predecessors despite having campaigned on the opposite.

Read through these two articles, great observations:

Travers: The year of governing secretly

Siddiqui: Harper acting like an elected dictator

One politician I must say I have a lot of respect for on this issue is Toronto Mayor David Miller – now I don’t always agree with his policies, but when he stood up in Copenhagen embarrassed for our country and begrudgingly accepted the “Fossil of the Day” award and then went on record that he is embarrassed of our record on climate change I was proud.  The Mayor of Toronto is an incredibly powerful person, and for him to step back from political correctness and really say what was on his mind was a great thing for him to do, and also showed that not all Canadians are in favour of the environmentally irresponsible Harper régime… there are many of us who are ready to move forward with change, and Miller was speaking on behalf of all of us.

Basically what I am saying though is that the Harper government is irresponsible when it comes to climate change and is horribly mismanaging this very real crisis.  As a matter of fact, I would say they completely ignore climate change.  The leadership in his Ministry of the Environment is a joke.  It is really his throwaway ministry, to throw in awful revolving door leadership – really a place to put someone to just make them a minster, but not really care about them or pay attention to them.  They have no effective programming and I assume essentially no money to do so if they even wanted to.

Canada is mostly an embarrassment because of our inaction on the Alberta tarsands, which contribute ridiculous amounts of CO₂ to our atmosphere, but for no reason other than money we allow this to continue.  It is absolutely an embarrassment.  Our government needs to do something, but huge shocker here, our Conservative PM hailing from Calgary won’t do anything to stop his province from making a fortune… even if it comes at the expense of the international reputation of our country as a whole.  It is sad, but one thing that does make me happy is that there are delegates from Ontario and Quebec in Copenhagen working to show it is not all of Canada who is in favour of this, and that there are some environmentally responsible parts of this country.

In the end it comes down to just this – the world needs an international agreement, and I hope the steps towards it comes out of this conference.  This, and Canada needs to both be an integral part of creating this agreement and a leader in implementing it.  Unfortunately I have essentially zero faith that Mr. Harper will care to do this.

That, given the undisputed privileges of Parliament under Canada’s constitution, including the absolute power to require the government to produce uncensored documents when requested, and given the reality that the government has violated the rights of Parliament by invoking the Canada Evidence Act to censor documents before producing them, the House urgently requires access to the following documents in their original and uncensored form;

• all documents referred to in the affidavit of Richard Colvin, dated October 5, 2009;
• all documents within the Department of Foreign Affairs written in response to the documents referred to in the affidavit of Richard Colvin, dated October 5, 2009;
• all memoranda for information or memoranda for decision sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs concerning detainees from December 18, 2005 to the present;
• all documents produced pursuant to all orders of the Federal Court in Amnesty International Canada and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association v. Chief of the Defence Staff for the Canadian Forces, Minister of National Defence and Attorney General of Canada;
• all documents produced to the Military Police Complaints Commission in the Afghanistan Public Interest Hearings;
• all annual human rights reports by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Afghanistan; and
• accordingly the House hereby orders that these documents be produced in their original and uncensored form forthwith.

Since this motion passed Harper and his people have been pushing back on actually releasing the documents, citing things like national security as their reasons for going against the House motion.

Personally I think this is ridiculous – Canadians deserve to know what is going on with our troops internationally.  Unfortunately our illustrious Prime Minister and Minister of Defence disagree and feel like continuing this cover up, even if it means going against the House of Commons motion.  What they need to realize though is that going against a House vote undermines our democracy.  The people who voted to receive these documents are the democratically elected representatives of Canadians and who would not vote on something that would put Canadians at risk for political reasons.  I trust that national security is non-partisan, and that no Canadian MP would do anything to risk it.  This is a completely reasonable and ethical motion that was passed.  If Harper and MacKay actually want to seem as if they respect the Canadian political process they need to allow for the release of these documents immediately and hold a public inquiry into the allegations because right now Canada looks awful on the international stage because of this debacle.

In the end it comes down to just this – Canadians have a right to know what happened and what was covered up (and by who) and those people responsible need to be prosecuted.  These are serious allegations with international ramifications, so our government needs to stand up and do the right thing.

This is specifically bad in two cases:

1. Rush times, because without a token (or Metropass) you need to go by a staffed collection booth, which can have incredibly long lines these days.
2. Late at night when subway stations only staff one entrance, so you have to go to whatever entrance that is to actually get in.

The latter was what I encountered last night.  While trying to get to one of the last trains of the night I went to an entrance that was unstaffed, thus unable to get through with my ticket.  So I had to go up two blocks while rushing to ensure I didn’t miss that last train.  I was lucky enough to make it on time, but I could see this being a big problem.

Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m whining here because of a rather small incident, so here is the point – the TTC has sacrificed a convenient and very functional feature of their service in order to avoid a few people saving 25¢ for a short period in the new year because they have saved up a couple tokens… because lets be honest here – this “hoarding” theory seems pretty ridiculous to me.  Yes I could see people saving up a couple tokens, but who is going to make a significant investment to save a quarter per ride down the road.  It just doesn’t seem feasible to me.

In the end the TTC should just start using the tokens again.  Maybe keep limits on how many you can buy (and if you wish to buy more than the limit then sell tickets instead) so they can avoid their “hoarding” paranoia, but tokens definitely need to be available in higher quantities than the single token you can get at the vending machines right now.  The TTC has significantly reduced the convenience and functionality of their system by essentially getting rid of the tokens and not allowing you to purchase high quantities from the vending machines.  This can be rectified easily and should be – because the reasoning they have behind the changes is just ridiculous and clearly not well thought out.  I doubt anything will actually change in the next few weeks, but I’m definitely looking forward to them returning to normal in January, even with the higher price.

What am I talking about?  The pitiful and divisive tactics employed by the Hudak PCPO throughout the past few months.  Two clear recent examples:

1. eHealth’s “billion dollar boondoggle” – a system that yes has flaws, but has already seen significant benefits in the H1N1 vaccination campaign.  Obviously work needs to be done, but the benefits of it are already rolling in.  Unfortunately Hudak and the PCPO made it seem as if it was nothing more than a billion dollars of wasted money with no legitimate benefit.  Misleading and irresponsible.
2. Anti-HST campaign – being painted as nothing more than a “tax grab” when that is clearly not the case if they actually look at the facts.  Read my last blog for more information on that.  Also, the embarrassing sit in of MPP’s Bill Murdoch and Randy Hillier over the HST showed contempt for the rules and parliamentary procedure, showing that the Hudak Tory’s have no respect for the Canadian political process.

Something that can’t be denied is that in a majority situation (like Ontario is in right now) the opposition needs to pull out different and strong tactics in order to get their point and message across – that is a given.  But simply put, the Hudak PCPO is going about it the wrong way.  They are painting a dangerously black and white “this is the right way, this is the wrong way” picture of Ontario politics, which is dangerously misleading, and far too reminiscent of the George Bush Republicans.  They control the message and paint the Liberals as purposely hurting Ontario for their own gain.

Why is this bad?  Because pragmatic negotiation and compromise is thrown out the window using these tactics, leaving only one point of view, which in the end hurts the end results.  Why?  Because I honestly believe that the best results come from compromise, but when a party uses the tactics like Hudak does there is simply no room for negotiation and the majority party just has to move forward without them.  In the end I hope people don’t give in to these tactics in 2011.  A Hudak government is the wrong government for Ontario.  They have already proven that themselves.

Before I start though I do have to admit this – honestly, I would never say I the best person to trust on this issue because, quite frankly, I’m certainly not an expert, but I do think that the HST is a good thing for Ontario.  To understand why I would suggest reading through a few great articles debunking the prominent myths about the HST:

• “Debunking myths about the HST” from the Globe and Mail
• “10 simple HST myths” from the Globe as well
• Andrew Coyne’s “A few kind words for harmonization” from MacLean’s.

I think these articles provide some great arguments and research to support the McGuinty government’s claim that the HST is good for Ontario.

The government has also put out three very good websites, which explain the move to the HST.  Now, admittedly these websites are partisan, but provide some good insight on where the government is going with this.

• Create jobs, cut taxes
• HST Exemptions
• Eliminating hidden taxes, dropping prices

Now at the same time I can’t deny that some individual product prices are going to go up – there are less things exempted from the HST (at least from my research) than were previously exempted from the PST.  Of course I would’ve loved to see more exemptions go into the system, but that isn’t going to happen, and to be honest, I’ve moved on.  These things just aren’t a huge deal in the big picture… which is unfortunately where many people are dwelling.

As I was saying before though – don’t trust me (or the partisan websites), look at what the experts are saying, and the majority of them are saying this is a good thing.  Check out the articles I posted at the top of my blog for sure.  Great insights and information.  The key really is though that with the HST being implemented your cost of living overall should be dropping.  And that is why I support it.  It’s not perfect, but right now it’s best for Ontario.

Today was certainly no exception to their fantastic track record as I read an article that really hit home for me.

Simply read this article:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/730069–tory-mp-calls-jobless-no-good-bastards

Tory MP Gerald Keddy apparently referred to the unemployed as ‘no-good bastards’ in a recent interview with a Halifax newspaper.

This really made me clearly happy as a recent university graduate who is unfortunately unemployed but certainly not sitting on my ass doing nothing.  Personally I spend hours a day looking for jobs and applying to them, as well as I have been spending my time engaging in politics (this blog), and learning about new media (because this is SO important in the future of any business).  The job hunt right now is HARD, and lets be honest, Mr. Keddy’s own government has much responsibility (although not all) to take in the fact that our unemployment rate is so high.

Not all (as a matter of a fact I assume that the vast majority of the unemployed) should ever be considered to be “no-good bastards.”  Lets be honest, the vast majority of us are working our butts off to become employed – it is nothing to do with lack or work ethic or skills… there are just so many people right now that are looking for the same jobs that it is extremely difficult.

They shouldn’t be ripping on us for the fact we don’t have jobs, they should actually be helping us get work, like a government should do.  They need to stop with their ridiculous propaganda around their “stimulus” plan and also make sure that the funding they are providing doesn’t just focus on one industry but on all industries and for all levels of employment.  Right now many areas are still massively underfunded and people who have much more experience but have been laid off elsewhere are taking positions that are generally considered to be “entry level”.  It is so hard for a recent grad right now as the positions we normally would be going into just don’t exist.

To me this is just another example of the rich-people-first and privileged Conservative government who simply don’t understand the needs of those below the $100K tax bracket.  We need a government who is going to understand and help ALL people in Canada and not mock and talk down to segments of the Canadian population.  Once again I am just simply ashamed of my government.

1. Spending significantly more money on Economic Action Plan advertizing than H1N1 information while there is significant confusion and concern by Canadians – http://bit.ly/F86aD
2. Shortage of H1N1 Vaccine because lack of pandemic planning and late ordering – http://bit.ly/1uMaBB
3. Economic Action Plan signs made in the United States… stimulating their economies? – http://bit.ly/1R6QXo
4. Sticking cities and municipalities with the bill for the Conservative propaganda Economic Action Plan signs – http://bit.ly/2hNPFX
5. Favouritism in the distribution of Economic Action Plan funds towards Conservative ridings – http://bit.ly/3qFEw3
6. Conservative MP’s (and strangely Olivia Chow) spending significantly more than other parties sending propaganda to their constituents – http://bit.ly/3nGfjM
7. Ending the Gun registry, despite its true utility – http://bit.ly/2LtRNd

In the end I hope these multiple scandals and idiotic decisions get one simple point across – the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has the wrong priorities and needs to be replaced.

All I can hope is that the opposition parties now effectively convey these brilliant actions by the Conservatives and the voting public rewards them properly – by removing them from office at the next possible chance.

I am getting quite fed up with those people who keep saying they will not be getting the H1N1 flu shot this year… and there are always a million different reasons for why they wont.

First – it is not going to turn you into a zombie, or make you sick, or anything like that.  Yes, there have been flu shots (decades ago) which had adverse and serious side effects, but if you haven’t noticed these things are done every year now and the technology has clearly advanced.  It is SAFE.  Really, stop fear-mongering and actually trust your government on this one.  I may be critical (often) but they are not out to kill you.  Trust me.  Also, it wouldn’t have been allowed to be released if it was not safe.  Admittedly, it has not passed all of the tests in Canada (yet) but that is because it is because we received it later than other countries.  Other places (including the USA and countries with a better HDI ranking by the UN than Canada) have completed these tests and it passed with flying colours..  The flu shot is SAFE.

Second – even if you still don’t want to get it, even if you think it is safe, for whatever dumb reason, get it.  The only reason in my mind to not get it is if you’re allergic to it – which I have heard does happen.  The H1N1 shot is not completely about you – it is about the high-risk people you can infect if you don’t get it.  Which brings me to the argument of “well, why don’t they just get it then?”  Unfortunately for this argument many people with compromised immune systems are ineligible to get the shot.  This is why we need to get it – to protect THEM.  Why would you ever avoid doing something that is easy, relatively painless and can save your own life and others.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.

I think that is my rant on that – to conclude GET YOUR H1N1 SHOT.  It won’t take much time (maybe some longer lines, but get over it), won’t really hurt, and can save lives.

Disgusting.  This is a serious issue, and a legitimate question.

Now as a background (while trying to not over simplify my opinion on the NDP policies), I generally feel the NDP’s policies are too ideological and too left wing.  It’s certainly not that I disagree with programs like Employment Insurance or stimulus plans when needed, but I feel that the policies of the NDP would encourage overuse of programs like these leading to less ambition of citizens because they can receive handouts instead.  Sometimes when I hear Jack Layton speaking I feel that he is in favour to way too many cash handouts, and it bothers me.  I won’t get into that too much, but those are my opinions in a nutshell.

Personally, I consider myself a “red tory” these days (which is rather unfortunate considering there is no longer a party that really represents me directly, especially with the election of Tim Hudak as Ontario PC leader).  Fiscally I believe that there is a need to reward hard work and ambition, and only have in place these welfare systems as a backup – I feel the NDP policies could definitely lead to abuse and overindulgence on public dollars.  This is almost beyond the point though.

The NDP convention itself generally made me laugh every time I read about it.  The most amusing part about it was the fact that it oftentimes reminded me of incredibly unproductive Board meetings I have been a part of in the past – a whole lot of talking, but since everyone wanted a change to speak and argue they never actually got anything accomplished.  They even had what could be a monumental motion on the table to change their name (which also garnered significant press) and they never even got to it on their agenda.  Whether you agree with it or not that has to be embarrassing.  The strangest part of the convention for me though?  After they accomplished nothing, and assumedly spent significant amounts of cash on the convention, Jack Layton said that the NDP was leaving the convention “revitalized.”  I honestly don’t know how this can be true.  The accomplished nothing, changed nothing, and expect to do better the next time around?  I really don’t get it.

Yes, there have been recent successes for the NDP provincially, but the reality is that the Federal NDP is not going to do any better with their current path, and specifically their current leader.  In reality, I have nothing against Jack Layton, but I feel he has been leader too long, and his party has become way too stagnant in the time he has been there.  I feel the party they have is relatively strong, but could never function as a legitimate government… and especially considering the path they are following will never receive the support of the public to do so.  On the other hand, I do feel they make an incredibly strong and important opposition, but I honestly don’t see the NDP forming a good government with the policies and strategy they are currently following.  Unfortunately for them they are continuing on the same path of trying to become the government, and not focusing on where they are most valuable – the opposition.

After all of that, why am I really talking about the NDP?  Well, I feel that this lack of movement and specifically lack of change in their strategy weakens them significantly in the upcoming election, and I feel that it is this weakness where the Liberal’s should be focusing much of their energy in order to win seats.  Of course, they need to go after Harper and the Conservatives, but strategically they could take power from this weakened NDP to gain many more seats in the legislature.  Of course I anticipate people disagreeing with me that the NDP is weaker after their convention, but I really do feel they have been.  The Liberal party should take advantage of this weakened NDP to sway any “fence sitters” over to their side and to vote Liberal.

I think the path is clear – don’t just target the Conservatives in an election, because there are many seats to be gained on the other side of the spectrum.  By focusing on just Harper, the Liberals would be missing a huge opportunity that has been given to them by no effort of their own, but by the complacency of the NDP and their leadership.

Now, beyond the cost in general there are many reasons to dislike the culture of bottled water – the environmental impact of the bottles and the ethical argument of turning a basic need into a commodity are two of my favourites – but in this situation those are not the leading concerns I have.  The reality is simple – the CNE is essentially a publicly run event and there are certain things that an event that is for the public good should be providing.  Now, yes I know the CNE isn’t directly tied to the government, but it was created under the Canadian National Exhibition Association Act of 1983 and every year through a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Toronto receives the use of the site and buildings as well as financial and operational support from the city.  In my opinion these things make the CNE essentially a public event.

My opinion is this – water is a necessity, and even more during an outdoor event that takes place in the summer.  I also believe that it is not the responsibility of the vendors to be providing this, and moreover I don’t fault them for the inflated prices, as that is simply business.  This responsibility falls to the governments that support the CNE and the CNE itself.  I have been to other events where water stations are provided by various levels of government such as the Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival earlier this summer and SARS-stock a few years ago.  I really wonder why the CNE has not followed suit.

As I said before, the CNE was created by legislation and that its services should be serving the public good – in my opinion this includes providing, free of charge, a necessity like access to water.  If water stations were provided visitors would be able to bring refillable bottles or even be able to simply refill a water bottle you buy so you only have to get gouged once.  Yes, bathroom sinks can be used for filling water bottles, but if you’ve ever been to the CNE before I’m sure that you agree – the majority of washrooms there are pretty disgusting and are probably not safe to drink water from.  They’re not exactly pleasant.

Overall I was very disappointed with the situation.  I feel a public service like the CNE should not be gouging for things like water – in the summer water is a necessity and the CNE should be providing it.  My solution?  They are already charging $15 to get in, so they could really just charge another dollar or two and have water refills included.  Yes, raising costs may be a bit unpopular, but it would easily cover the cost of having water available to all of their visitors and would save visitors a lot of money in the end because they won’t have to dish out $3 every time they get thirsty.

With all of that said, I’m going again next Saturday.  I may be thirsty, but Bill Clinton is going to be there, and really, who can pass that up?

I also know that many of my friends are like me and follow politics quite closely, so I don’t doubt I will get some responses with the things the various leaders are up to, but that isn’t what I am getting at.  From my perspective this summer it really appears as if there is essentially nothing going on in terms of politics.  And that is the problem.  Lets be honest, there is a federal election looming and no party is really out there in the ears of the uninformed voter.  After the near collapse of the government this spring I have heard essentially nothing – and that is a huge problem, especially for the Liberals if they want to actually win this election.  There has been absolutely no outreach to groups that do not seek out on their own what the political parties are up to.

I had really high hopes for a Liberal pre-campaign this summer, but in reality nothing has really panned out… or at least nothing that has been very visible.  The only thing I have heard from the Liberal party this summer is something about Rocco Rossi (president of the Liberal party) canoeing up the Ottawa River for a pretty successful publicity stunt.  Now, this is all well and good, but let’s be honest here – why is someone who is not running for election the person in the spotlight?  It should be Iggy and a parade of high profile MPs running around the country and pushing the Liberal vision for the country and the specific policies they plan on putting in place to get to this vision.

This is another key – policies.  Clearly there have been many things stated, but if the Liberals want to get Canadians back on board with them they need to establish a clear vision for Canada and the policies they will be using to get us there.  The Liberals need to establish these things ASAP and then ensure they are in print and publicized so everyone has access to them.  This also must be targeted at the less involved citizen – short soundbytes, simple documentation… stay concise and to the point to retain interest.  Right now even the most informed person isn’t sure exactly where the Liberals are headed (although there are some clues) and lets be honest, less informed or uninterested Canadians have no idea where the Liberals are going.  All I am confident most people know about Ignatieff and the Liberals is what they have learned in the Conservative attack ads, which is clearly not good for their chances (although, at the same time I do doubt the effective those ads).

I can give Iggy one thing – he is not the only leader who has gone AWOL this summer.  I also have little idea what Harper has been up to, but at the very least as Prime Minister he always stays in the spotlight somewhat through government announcements and such.   It’s quite difficult for the PM to disappear completely.  For the NDP, Jack and Olivia haven’t really disappeared but at the same time also haven’t necessarily done much politically.  I see them in random clips at things like Carabana, but I haven’t heard anything all that productive from them.  At the same time, they do appear to be having fun this summer – which I’m kinda jealous of.

In the end I’m simply disappointed that there has been no summer pre-campaign because the advantage in this upcoming election could have been very well secured over this summer.  People who are in the loop and follow politics closely may know where the leaders are and what they have been up to, but to the common and mostly unformed voter who don’t attend party events and conventions and really only get engaged when the parties come to them (aka, elections) there has been nothing.  This is a shame, because with a huge federal election on the horizon at least one political party could have (and should have) stepped up and taken advantage of this summer break.  Any major party could have shown themselves as the clear frontrunner in the election, but none did.  I had high hopes that Iggy and the Liberals would pick up and be that party this summer, but unfortunately I was wrong…

The CFL is a Canadian institution in my mind.  Now, I can’t say that I was as big of a fan growing up as I am now, but the CFL was definitely a part of my life when I was a kid – I got to go to a few Argos games and my family generally had a Grey Cup party every year, all of which are great memories for me.  My case certainly isn’t unique either, the league has been a part of Canadian culture and families dating back generations and I really hope it remains for many more.

The CFL is also home to some of the most legendary sports franchises in the country, if not North America.  First off, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the namesake to Labatt Blue, which I’m sure everyone has had one or two of in their lives.  Also, my favourite team the Toronto Argonauts are the oldest sports franchise in North America, founded in 1873.

There are also some fantastic traditions that have held up over the years in the CFL.  Many teams have their own traditions, but one that sticks out in my mind across the league is the yearly Labour Day Classic.  Every year the same matchups are played on Labour Day, creating great rivalries and enthusiastic crowds.   I have gone to many Argos/TiCats Labour Day games, which every year renews one of the league’s longest standing rivalries and always provides for amazing action.  I think the CFL is on to another great tradition as well, as this year they played two of their season openers on Canada Day, which I could see becoming an amazing league tradition.  There was nothing like watching Canadian football while celebrating the country’s birth.  I loved every minute of it.

Despite all of this, the league has certainly had its ups and downs.  It had a relatively disastrous American expansion in the 90s which only fielded one successful team (the Baltimore Stallions who won the Grey Cup in 1995 – which to me is almost a sin).  There have also been notorious financial problems in the league, one of which came out recently when it was discovered that David Braley, the owner of the BC lions, had loaned a million dollars to the new Argonauts owners when they purchased the team in order to keep the franchise afloat.  Lastly, my favourite “down” of the CFL were the glorious seasons where there were two frighteningly similarly named franchises – the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  Despite all of this the CFL has remained to exist, and has remained as a strong institution of Canadian sports and culture.

So I guess the question still remains – “why am I a CFL fan?”  Well, to be honest, at first it was really about the simple fact that I could afford to be a CFL fan.  Going to CFL games is relatively cheap and unlike baseball you have a reasonable chance of being able to attend all of your team’s home games because their aren’t that many.  Over time and after attending a good number of games I really turned into a big fan fan.  Now, there will always be people who say the CFL is an inferior version of the NFL, but I honestly disagree.  The CFL is simply a different game – 3 downs creates a faster game and different strategy.  The game is highly entertaining, and I don’t think the two can really be compared.

When put simply, there are two reasons why I love the CFL.  First, the culture and size of the league really allows you to get behind a team in a closer way than most leagues.  Second, the live game experience is unlike anything else in Canadian sports.  CFL games are played in stadiums that are smaller than NFL stadiums (even the SkyDome) so you can get closer to the action and more into the game than you would at an NFL game.  Also, I love seeing the amazingly dedicated fans in places like Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, and Hamilton.  For these cities their biggest sport experience is the CFL and you can really see their passion for the game.  Even in Toronto where sports fans have a myriad of options when it comes to professional sports the Argos faithful always come out strong and provide an amazing and exciting experience for everyone in attendance.

Some of my best sports memories are at the SkyDome (sorry “Rogers Centre”) or at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton.  Beyond simply having a great time at the games (win or lose) I have gotten to attend the Grey Cup finals in 2007 and I witnessed Damon Allen becoming the all-time passing leader in football history (NFL included).  These are memories I wont soon forget.

The CFL, especially the Toronto Argonauts, do have an impending threat though – a possible NFL expansion to Toronto.  I can’t deny that this would be great for tourism and sport in Toronto, but I honestly believe that if it does happen the Argonauts need to be preserved, protected, and supported.  They are a great tradition in Toronto, have many loyal fans, and are a vital part of the Canadian Football League.  They need to be preserved – and I don’t think I am just saying this because they are my team, I think they are an integral part of the CFL.

At this point the CFL has a great opportunity to expand, which could be great for the league.  It is true that the US expansion in the 90s didn’t work out very well (and Ottawa has been shaky in the past) but there is significant potential in bringing the CFL to 10 teams in the near future.  Ottawa is all but ready to take on a new team starting next season, which is great for the sport, but the CFL really needs to start looking east.  An expansion team in the Atlantic region could be an amazing success story, and really should be tried.  I know that Halifax has tried in the past, but it looks like Moncton has the most potential at this point as they are building a stadium capable of holding a CFL team.  I think it is about time that the CFL started seeking out some owners for an east coast football club, because there could be an amazing culture created around a CFL team in the east.  Expansion would be great for the long term viability of the league (assuming all of the teams remain financially successful) and can expand the reach of the league to new markets, all while providing the amazing CFL experience to new areas of the country.

In the end, it is the experience of Canadian football that needs to be protected and supported by Canadians.  The last two nights I have been able to watch three amazing games and feel that those who stick their noses up at Canadian football are missing out.  At the risk of sounding like a commercial, if you’ve never gone to a CFL game before take the opportunity to go to one this summer, even if you’re not a huge football fan.  The atmosphere is amazing, the entertainment is fantastic, and it is a great value.  Check out an amazing Canadian institution, you won’t regret it.

The headline from the Toronto Star this past Sunday put it quite well – “Mike Harris protégé wins as Tories turn right” and if that simple headline doesn’t scare even the most moderate left-winger I really don’t know what will.  I’m sure everyone remembers Mike Harris quite well, who was elected in 1995 under his “Common Sense Revolution” which lead to irresponsible tax cuts, health care cuts, and education cuts (to be as concise as possible, there was more).  Personally, during this time I was quite young, as Harris was elected when I was 10 years old, but I still remember to this day how appalled I was at so many of the policies that his government implemented.

Hudak’s election marks a significant change in the path of the Ontario PC party, and one from a leadership standpoint I see as a huge step down from the person I believe was the best MPP to never get elected- John Tory.  Tory is intelligent, experienced, and had moderate policies which made him appeal to people like myself.  Unfortunately a few large mistakes during his tenure such as his stance on funding private schools and having similar policies to the Liberal party (making it difficult to differentiate the two parties) led to his demise.

Now I am certainly no expert on the career of Tim Hudak, but I have made some observations that have turned me off of him as a leader, although I can’t deny Hudak has a pretty impressive resume – he has been an MPP since 1995 and served various roles in Mike Harris’ cabinet.  Seemingly his combined experiences should make him a deserving leader, but from how I have seen him handle himself in the past I question his ability to be taken seriously.

This past year I had a number of opportunities to observe Question Period at the Ontario Legislature (which to a political nerd like myself is a beautiful spectacle).  While it is abundantly clear that Question Period is much more of a spectacle than a legitimate political process there is still a certain level of decorum that is usually upheld.  With that said, one person that has consistently stood out to me in Question Period has been Tim Hudak.  He stands out because I have never seen someone be so consistently over the top with their insults across the floor before I saw him. Now, I can’t deny I found him amusing at first, but as it continued day after day at the same level I lost more and more respect for the man.  Trust me, turn on Question Period on the Ontario Legislature Channel and see it for yourself.  To see him “in action” you won’t be able to take him seriously.  I know he has significant experience and education but I can’t look past his immature antics in the legislature in order to take him seriously as a party leader… and I don’t think many other people will be able to either.  I think of him as the Tie Domi (insert Belinda Stronach joke here) of the Ontario legislature.  He is great in his role of thug, but could never be an effective leader.  Hudak’s entire repertoire revolves around sarcasm and insults and that just doesn’t work as leader.

One thing I can see Hudak doing with his push to the right would be a departure from the long-established “Progressive Conservative” title in favour of the simpler “Conservative” moniker which would allow them to cuddle up nice and close to Stephen Harper’s federal Conservative Party.   Why would they keep the “Progressive” anyway?  It’s clear they aren’t, they might as well be truthful.

In the end, what can be seen in Hudak’s election as leader?  The PCs will be changing their tactics, policies, and mostly attempting to clearly differentiate themselves from the Liberals this time around.  Also, it is a very different political landscape from the last election.  Clearly there is the same Liberal leader but two new opposition leaders – Andrea Horwath for the NDP and Hudak have taken the reigns of their respective parties.  Both are strong opponents, but are they strong enough?

At the same time McGunty will be in a tough position after running the province during the financial crisis – which clearly is not the fault of any individual province (or even country) but he will be judged on how his government handles the crisis.  The results have yet to be seen, but when the election comes up it will all be hindsight – the opposition parties will have the ability to call the Liberals out on every mistake they made along the way, while the opposition leaders, both being new, will be able to maintain a relatively clean slate.

We will eventually see how all of this turns out, but I have my doubts that Tim Hudak’s leadership will work out as well as the PC membership is hoping.  Simply put, McGuinty has led a strong province and still currently holds significant public support.  A question that needs to be answered is will Hudak be able to differentiate his party enough from the Liberals?  Also, will his association with Harris prove to be a detriment?  Even John Tory, a moderate PC leader was unable to shed the Mike Harris preconception in Ontario because of the unions, health care workers, teachers and other industries who have a long memory and remember what Harris did to their respective industries.  Someone, like Hudak, who is directly linked to Harris will have an even harder time than Jon Tory did shedding this preconception.  Will Hudak’s return to conservatism be enough to get the PC party back in power in Ontario?  Only time will tell, but personally I hope for the sake of this province that it won’t.

A few minutes after I got on the bus I decided to check Twitter on my Blackberry, which one of the posts told me that Michael Jackson had been admitted to the hospital.  From that point it was really interesting to keep refreshing my Twitter feed and see how the story infolded.  Between Kitchener and Hamilton the updates went from “Michael Jackson rushed to hospital” to “TMZ says Michael has Died” to people doubting the legitimacy of TMZ’s claim to the announcement from legitimate media sources (I believe LA Times) of MJ’s passing.  The real time news updates I was receiving were so impressive.  Being somewhere I normally wouldn’t have recieved any information, with my Blackberry and Twitter I was one of the first of my friends to know what was going on.

What I am getting at is that, arguably, you can now be more connected when you are away from computers and newspapers.  I feel this because it was significantly more likely I was going to be randomly checking my Twitter updates in the boredom of being on a bus… and because of that I was more in the loop than I probably would have been at home.  From what I have heard it took the legitimate news outlets quite a while to catch up to what Twitter (and even TMZ.com) were able to do.

In this past week, which I can’t deny was a sad week for even a second, I found out about the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and just as I was writing this, Billy Mays, all through Twitter.  The speed at which news is able to travel through this new medium is really quite impressive – since I have started being a Twitter user it has been a heck of a lot more likely that I would find out about major news stories through Twitter than through legitimate news sources.

There is a major downfall to the medium though – rumors and hysteria.  Look at the night that Michael Jackson died.  That night alone I heard that Harrison Ford, Fred Savage, Jeff Goldblum, and a few others had died.  One major celebrity dies and all of a sudden the rumors start going.  I also think back a few weeks where rumors that Patrick Swayze had died were running rampant through Twitter.  I honestly do feel that Twitter can ramp up rumors like never before, and users need to be aware of this.  It certainly is inevitable for rumors to spread in a medium that allows news to travel so fast, but I think that Twitter users need to start ensuring the accuracy of what they are retweeting before they just press that button.  The more often rumors spread the less legitimate Twitter will be able to be as a source of information, so users should start taking more responsibility for the accuracy of their tweets.

I’m not one to often get sucked into the “cult of celebrity” and as a matter of fact I usually get annoyed by those who do… but in the end though we have lost four legends this week.  While it took a while for it to sink in, it definitely hit me last night while reading about Michael Jackson and listening to his music.  These are people who have had massive influence on society, although all in very different ways.

RIP Ed, Farrah, Michael, and Billy – you will all be missed.  Thank you for countless hours of entertainment.

Last night at 12:01 am Toronto public employee’s belonging to CUPE Local 79 and Local 416 went on strike.  When I first thought of writing this I was going to focus on who the strike directly impacted, but I realized the reality is that level of specificity doesn’t really matter –this is the wrong time for a public strike in general. The striking workers will figure this out soon enough, but unfortunately until then the people living and working in Toronto will have to deal with this strike that, in the end, is going to give the striking workers little more compared to the disruption to the city they will have caused.

My honest perspective – wouldn’t it be great to have a unionized job with solid job security and benefits right now? Well, these workers who are on strike do… and in a city with about 10% unemployment do they really expect sympathy? Of course they do – because the guy at home who just got laid off is absolutely going to be sympathetic when his garbage doesn’t get picked up. Heck, I look at my own situation – a student nearing graduation who is going to have to find a job soon. It’s certainly not going to be easy, but once I find one I am going to be a very happy man. I really have no sympathy for those who have a job but feel underappreciated or underpaid at this point. The reality is you have a job and when so many people are fighting to keep theirs or to get one you shouldn’t be complaining, and you’re certainly not going to gain much public sympathy for your cause right now.

I was particularly appalled this morning when I saw the Twitter account for @local416 which is nothing more than anger-laden propaganda which is going to gain no absolutely no support. As a matter of fact I would put money on the fact that it may just push some people on the edge of supporting them away. My favourite two tweets of theirs are: “Note to parents of kids in city-run daycares: Tough luck. How do you think we feel? If we get what we want, you’ll get what you want” and “Now on strike! Thanks to Toronto citizens for all the support. Enjoy living in filth for the next month, we are glad you understand.” All messages like these do is alienate the people that they need supporting them, and really I don’t understand the approach they are using here.

Why am I focusing so much on the image and ability of the striking workers to gain public support? The reality is in a situation like this they need popular public support to actually put the pressure on the city negotiators. If citizens are on their side it really puts the city negotiators feet to the fire. If the striking workers aren’t supported the city can continue negotiating like they have been, offering them incremental improvements to the contract until the union finally gives in when they realize that no one is actually supporting them.

With that said – I do understand the complaint I keep hearing: that other city unions received a 3% raise in their last negotiations, why can’t they? It is absolutely understandable, but the reality is that this is the wrong time – and when you have alienated someone like myself who is generally quite sympathetic of these things you have proved it. My advice? Sign a 2-3 year contract extension as a “sacrifice because of the economy” and when your contract comes up , and the economy is in better shape you can probably get an even better deal because of the “sacrifice and good will” you offered this time around… but instead you took the stupid and selfish route which is only going to alienate residents from your cause and force you to take a weak contract in the end when you realize your cause has no support.

*UPDATE*

Ok, so I have to admit that I did get one thing wrong.  Since it was pointed out to me, and the posts have become more obvious, the Twitter account I mentioned above @local416 is most likely a parody of the striking workers… or at least I hope it is.  But my sentiment still remains – this is the wrong time for a strike and the tactics being used are wrong.

My friend Dave Alexander (@readeverything) in his disagreement with my post reminded me I had forgotten to mention something, and that is the difference between this strike (being public) and a private industry strike.  The reality is that although the strike itself does provide leverage, in fact public opinion in this type of strike matters greatly.  Unlike in private industries where the company simply wants the workers back so they can continue to make money, a public strike like this one relies heavily on public opinion when forming the result.  A government is not going to reward the workers with a contract that is unpopular with their electorate – so if the workers have, in essence, pissed off the electorate they aren’t going to receive what they are asking for.  I feel that is as concise as I can be on that one.

I do want to say though that I discovered @torontostrike on Twitter after I posted this as well, and am quite amused by it.  They are essentially retweeting everyone who is frustrated with the strike.  Check them out.

I mostly plan on blogging on politics- probably for the most part Canadian politics but I am sure many random political topics will slip in there as well. Beyond that, I’m sure random non political things that come to mind will end up on here too. Sometimes I feel the need to rant, and now I have perfect forum to do so.

I also want to start conversation on politics. I love political discussions so I hope to get people interested and commenting on my blogs so we can continue discussing and getting different points of views. I’m pretty excited for this.

So yes, I had a temporary site before… it wasn’t very good so I never really took the opportunity to update it. I definitely like this site a lot better because it seems significantly more functional but if you have any thoughts feel free to pass them along because I’m certainly no expert here. I definitely like that I was able to integrate my Twitter account with this site though, I’m on it so much that it seemed like a missed opportunity to exclude it from my site.

Well, that is all. I will be blogging on legit topics soon, so check back. Also, feel free to connect with me through Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks for reading.

-Colin