Polls, Power, and the Race to be Prime Minister

Stephen Harper actually had to start campaigning this week, when his party's popularity took a dramatic swan dive. All the better for Canadians, I must say.

Not better in the sense that we will once again have a minority government and most likely have another election within two years. Not better in the sense that Stephen Harper won't be Prime Minister, either, because the Conservatives will still come out ahead until the left decides to join forces.

Better for Canadians, because now we get to see what Harper and the Conservatives are truly planning.

If not for the polling change, the Conservatives may not have released an official platform detailing their plans to Canadians. I believe that every party must release such a document, formal or informal, in order to properly inform the voting public.

If you can't tell me exactly what you plan to do, you don't have my vote. Period. I'll consider what you have to say, and what the other party platforms promise, and take it into account when I cast my ballot.

My underdog heart cheers on the Green Party as they surge to new popular heights, though it is doubtful they will elect an MP. That an environmental party can receive more popular votes than another "traditional" party (I'm pointing fingers at the Bloc, who shouldn't even be considered a national party as they only run candidates in one province) warms my little cockles. I'd like to cheer Elizabeth May on in Central Nova, if she weren't running against Peter MacKay, one of the best politicians in Canada right now.

My favourite reason to be cheerful? A drop in support for Jack Layton. It's about damn time. Will someone please tell Jack he will not, I repeat, will not be Canada's next leader, that he doesn't have a hope in hell? Oh, and please get back to vying for the role of Opposition. I'd like to see him put his vote where his mouth is, after all his lambasting of Liberal non-voting in the last Parliament. He might not be so quick to bring down the house himself.

That, my friends, is my political rambling for the day. Remember to laugh, and remember to vote.

Financial Meltdown=Conservative Majority?

Yesterday was another Black Monday on the world's financial scene. Unless you've been under a rock, you may have noticed that Bush's proposed Wall Street bailout plan was narrowly voted down by Congress.

Perhaps, after a glance at their stock portfolios this morning, dissenting members may change their vote. While protesting against the bailout of Wall Street, one of the major complaints was the use of taxpayer's money to finance the mistakes of the rich and ridiculous.

Today it is evident that yes, while the money was going to the financial sector, it very much goes directly towards helping everyday people in their lives. How?

By providing life insurance, mortgages, and secure pension plans. How many retirees living on their investments are now in serious financial difficulty? How many people, having paid into RRSPs and company pension plans for a lifetime, are now left with nothing?

Canadians aren't exempt. No one is. The Americans spread their greedy fingers all over the world, and we are all going to suffer the consequences.

Stephen Harper has been saying that the Canadian economy is strong. He's made the point repeatedly that we are not part of the US. However, our economy is heavily dependent on the exports of natural resources to the States; if they aren't buying, we're in trouble too.

This was evident in the TSX nosedive yesterday. America's migraine is our headache as well.

Now this election should get interesting. The televised leaders' debates are this week, and it's obvious what the hot issue will be. Basically, the NDP, Liberals and Greens have over-promised themselves and will have to seriously reconsider its promises to the public. Since the Conservatives haven't actually released a platform or made any big spending promises, Harper can project himself as the safe choice.

You know, it might just work. If only Canadians would actually watch the debates and take interest in other issues.

Harper is right on many fronts, and not on others. While making good on many of their policies, healthcare has been a major failing. They not only failed to keep their promises from the last election, they directly went against many of them. But that's a whole other post.

Meanwhile, please watch the debate. It should be highly entertaining, and your interest will actually make a difference in this election.

Candidate Credibility

I'm going to say this once, and let the whole matter drop.

Politicians, doctors, lawyers, celebrities of all shades, and normal people are all alike. We are human. We make mistakes. We do stupid things.

We tell off-colour jokes when we shouldn't, we get drunk on planes and gossip to the people sitting next to us, we steal pens from the office, we tried illegal drugs when we were younger. Okay, so some of us didn't do any of these things, and never will.

Those people are boring, righteous, and never make it anywhere in politics because of it.

I'm tired of listening to precious news time getting used up by digging skeletons out of candidate's closets. So far I haven't heard anything that is really worth mentioning. More importantly, candidates are becoming fearful of drawing attention to themselves in a race that is SUPPOSED to bring them attention. It drives me crazy.

So unless a candidate is breaking a law, violating human or constitutional rights, or is a raving lunatic, I really don't care. If we pick every single candidate apart, we'll have no one to run the government. Let them apologize, forgive them, and get on with it.

I want to know if my candidate will voice my concerns in Parliament, fight for my rights and my needs. I want to know that he or she knows the issues and has a firm stance. I want to know what the heck the eventual winner of this election is going to do with my hard earned money.

I want to know if I'm going to be able to find a family doctor in the next ten years. I want to know what the government is going to do to protect my air, keep my water clean, and keep my energy costs low. I want to know if my nieces and nephews will get an adequate education. I want to know that my parents are going to receive the health coverage they need. I want to know that my government isn't going to spend itself into a giant deficit.

I don't care if a candidate smoked dope, or had an extra-marital affair, or tried acid. I DON'T CARE. Now, as a society, can we please move on to the truly important things?

Off with their tongue: Why Conservative cabinet ministers aren't allowed to speak for themselves

Gerry Ritz is the current Minister of Agriculture in a Conservative minority government.

Did you know his name? I'm not surprised if you haven't. The first time he made a splash in the press was during the current listeriosis controversy. Stephen Harper keeps a very tight rein on his cabinet, and no one speaks to the press without the approval of his office.

Now I thought this was a silly way to function, a top-down control paranoia that creates an aura of secrecy and implied incompetence.

Apparently the prime minister has good reasons to keep a muzzle on his minions. Gerry Ritz made headlines yesterday for his ill-timed and malicious listeriosis jokes. He's since apologized for joshing of his hopes that the first PEI listeriosis victim was Liberal MP Wayne Easter.

Leaving classified documents in the open, joking about a nationwide bacteria outbreak, dismissing the criticism of a fallen soldier's father as just another Liberal supporter, pooping puffins--the gaffs are starting to add up.

And we've got weeks to go yet.

Harper, Williams Displaying Symptoms of Conservative Foot in Mouth Disease

Unless you've been living under a rock (or possibly in Toronto) you have heard that Danny Williams, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, does not like Stephen Harper. I'm not sure "Steve" is all too fond of Danny, either.

For those of you emerging from under the rock (no Newfoundland puns intended) the storyline goes something like this:

Newfoundland finds lots of oil. Newfoundland makes plans to develop oil. Suddenly their economic outlook brightens.
Ontario and Quebec take economic hits in manufacturing. Western provinces are booming as usual.
The Maritime provinces remain in their constant precarious state (the culture of defeat, according to Harper).
Earlier this year, Harper decides to revamp the equalization payment formula to reflect the changes noted above. Danny doesn't like it.

I can understand how Williams feels. After years of barely keeping her head out of the water, Newfoundland and Labrador was set for a substantial financial windfall. Time to pay off some of that crippling debt, do a little infrastructure work, and hey, maybe even have a little fun. I feel the same way when I look at the opening line of my income tax statement.

Of course, I can see the other side of the coin as well. The old debate about have/have not provinces has been kicked, beaten, flogged, buried, exhumed, beaten some more, and re-buried more times than I can count. More importantly, federal transfer payments aren't really an issue in this election. Well, except to Danny Williams.

Part of me finds this personal vendetta amusing, but overall I think it's damaging, particularly to the Conservative party. Danny Williams may be a conservative provincially but he was, until he started this mess, a frontrunner to follow Harper as leader of the federal Conservatives. Maritimers like him, and a great number of former Maritimers now living in western Canada like him as well. Standing up to Harper brought him positive attention on a national scale in March. He knows how to make money, he knows how to speak, and he knows how to make enemies.

This current ABC campaign is anything but positive. Not only does it foster the deep rifts separating Canada's diverse regions, it has the potential to cause rifts among Conservative supporters.

The only reason Stephen Harper was able to form a minority government (outside of the best Liberal attempts to bury themselves in scandal) was the joining of the Canadian Alliance and PC parties. If the NDP, Liberals, and Greens were one party, they would hold a majority. The numbers are simple. What Williams is doing might separate that successful union.

Who knows? Maybe that is exactly what Williams intends to do. Perhaps he wants the Reform Party to head west on a wagon train and take the reins of the PC movement into his own hands.

All I can hope is that he knows what he is doing, because he is standing on very thin ice.

Environmental Economics with Jack Layton

When it comes to public speaking, Jack Layton is by far the greatest orator among the major party leaders. Listening to him as he cagily avoided answering Anna Maria Tremonti’s questions this morning I was impressed with his skills but wary (and weary) of his rhetoric on the environment and the economy.

The New Democrats are enjoying recent polls reporting that 62% of Canadians would like to see the NDP as the Official Opposition. Can the NDP move from political conscience to political power? Layton thinks so. (I’m slightly more skeptical.)

Because the Liberals are promoting a carbon tax, the NDP oppose it. Layton is promoting the cap and trade system of punishing corporate polluters, setting definitive targets and enforcing legislation. As a side note, he mentioned that four provinces, 11 states, and several European nations have committed to a cap and trade system, but avoided saying he was following US environmental policy. No mention of the eight EU nations that also have carbon tax systems or BC's carbon tax plan (brought in by a Liberal government).

The New Democrats have been upstaged by both the Liberals and the Greens in environmental policy, so they are downplaying this issue and turning it into a matter of economics. It’s a sad day when the NDP would rather agree with the Conservatives than their comrades on their own side of the political spectrum. Layton makes a big show about opposing Stephen Harper, but is ready to plop on his cap and cardigan in this case.

But I digress. The revenues from this proposed cap and trade system ($2.5 billion in the first year) would then be invested in public transportation, green home renovations and a green manufacturing shift.

Investing cap and trade revenues in public transportation is a noble and worthwhile goal. Canada’s public transit is an absolute disgrace. I like this part.

Layton has been quoted as saying he would stop oil sands development. On CBC radio this morning, he quantified that statement, saying that he would not approve any further development without solving the environmental and health concerns that are currently a huge problem. In other words, he isn’t going to stop the development, just trip it up in red tape. The NDP would also immediately stop tax subsidies for large oil companies.

Okay, so Layton wants to punish big polluters (aka oil companies), stop their subsidies, and slow oil sand development. Fact of the matter is, the oil sands are providing income for not only Albertans but many, many other Canadians. You would be hard pressed to find a resident of BC, Saskatchewan or the Maritimes who hasn’t got a relative in Fort McMurray right now. Stop this development and those people end up back at home without work, drawing unemployment and welfare, depressed and addicted to drugs. If you think I’m exaggerating, I urge you to visit rural New Brunswick.

Pull subsidies from oil companies, roll back their corporate tax cuts, then introduce carbon penalties? That sounds like a great way to drive a company into the ground or send it to friendlier territory. You might as well wave big “get the heck out of my country” flags and flip them a Trudeau salute. You cannot treat a company, any company, in such a manner, and expect them to gratefully stay within your borders and employ your citizens. Business does not work that way.

Yesterday Layton stood at an auto manufacturing plant and announced $8 billion in proposed spending ($2 billion a year) to boost and restructure the manufacturing industry. He promised balanced budgets every year, should he gain power and the creation of a jobs commissioner to address employment and retraining of manufacturing employees. He also discussed keeping Canadian raw materials in Canada (such as oil and softwood lumber) to create manufacturing jobs.

Unless Canada violates its trade agreements, it is not feasible to restructure and grow the flagging manufacturing industry by processing raw materials at home. Jobs commissioner? Leave it to the NDP to spend more of our tax dollars on government salaries.

Where will this $8 billion dollars come from to aid the manufacturing industry? Cap and trade penalties? Unlikely. Increased corporate taxes? Excellent. So the NDP will take money from profitable businesses through taxes, sink it into unprofitable businesses and bureaucrat salaries, and hope it will right our economic wrongs. Sounds like a great plan to me. Excuse me if I don’t run out and order an NDP lawn sign.

Shifting to green manufacturing and green products is a good idea. Helping Canadians retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient is also a good step. A government cannot, however, spend money making products that are not in demand. You can make all the solar panels you want, but until Canadians have a good reason to buy them, they won’t.Especially when they are forced to pay more for the same products than our neighbours to the south. But wait, they won't be buying much of anything without income.

First you create the demand, then you increase product production to meet the demand. Simple economics.

That brings up the issue of NAFTA, which Layton doesn’t like. He didn’t go so far as to say he wanted to throw it out the window, but he did say it needs serious restructuring. On this, he and Barack Obama agree.

We all have a conscience. Aren’t you glad it doesn’t run our country?

Jack Layton: Get Canadian Troops Out Now

Jack Layton has gone to war, but he wants Canadians out.

Afghanistan. Layton is on the campaign warpath, stating he is against the war and wants Canadian troops out. How fast? Immediately. Speaking on CBC Radio this morning he said that it would be his first announcement as Prime Minister. When asked for a time frame, he stated that the pull out would happen as soon as it was safe to do so. He would then work with NATO and the UN to produce a new strategy in Afghanistan, addressing civilian safety, the drug trade, and corruption. He believes that Canada needs to restore its peacekeeping and peacemaking reputation.

So that’s what Jack Layton said. This is what I think of it.

An immediate and hasty withdrawal of Canadian troops would most likely throw the country into civil war (if neighbouring countries don't move in to take over first). The drug cartels and insurgents would most likely seize power. Withdrawal would place a huge burden on our allies left behind, weakening our good relations with those nations and most certainly increase their casualties.

Pulling out when we are so deeply involved without a plan in place or consulting our allies is absolutely ludicrous. Like it or not, our government made a military commitment, and it would be horrifying to begin pulling out without having a strategy in place. Note that, during this morning’s interview, Layton said troops would begin withdrawal immediately, no if, ands, or buts. No talks with NATO or the UN would change that. He would discuss options with those organizations, but the troops would be coming home.

How does it improve our country’s reputation as a promoter of peace to force a deeply troubled region into further chaos? Quite simply, it doesn’t. Yes, our soldiers are dying, and it’s horrible. My cousin is serving in Afghanistan right now, and I worry daily for her safety. I support our military personnel because they are doing all they can with the mission they have been given. Do I support the mission they have been given? No. But calling troops home now is completely irresponsible.

It is utterly disrespectful to the members of our military who have been tirelessly working in Afghanistan to simply withdraw. Hey, thanks for all your hard work and sacrifice, but we’re throwing it out the window. We’ll leave the mess for someone else to clean up.

Does the Afghan mission need to be rethought? Yes. Do we need to change Canada’s role in military operations there? Yes. But we cannot leave now.

Canada got itself into this mess, and it needs to see itself out.

Clarity and Transparency for...?

Well folks, it's not even nine thirty in the morning, and I've already had my exercise for the day. Exercise in futility, that is.

After listening to the local CBC morning host speak to various campaign organizers this morning, I decided that most Canadians don't have two sweet clues about individual party policy. My brilliant idea was to provide a simple breakdown of each party's particular policy on key issues, with a new post each day on a new issue.

Fairly simple, right? That's what I thought. Zip onto each party website, download and read their party policies, and sum it up without all the political gobblygook so the four people who read my blog can make an informed choice. That way, we should end up with four Canadians who at least know why they voted in the way they did.

The first website I searched was the Green Party of Canada, mainly because I was rather disgusted by the representative who had just spoken on the radio. The Greens have a link from their main page directly to a policy page. From there, they have further divided their policy documents into key issues, which can be viewed online or downloaded for convenience. Simple. Effective. This is what they stand for, this is what they want to do.

Next, I searched the Conservatives. Crafty as they are, the top Google search brings up the French version of their site, not English (hmm, wonder where they are campaigning?) and the alternate language button was hard to discern, but I found it. After reading about how cool Stephen Harper is, all the horrible things the Liberals did in the past fifteen years, how awkward Stephane Dion is (they have cartoon like pictures of him along the bottom, quite amusing), how incompetent the NDP are, and how the Bloc are destroying the country, I was still no closer to finding any policy documents. I gave myself a five minute search limit and hadn't found anything by the end of my time. If I couldn't find what I wanted in five minutes, the average click and go Net user isn't going to bother. So, I don't know what the Conservatives are planning, beyond a continuation of what we've seen this minority government do.

After that came the NDP, because Jack Layton sends me amusing emails telling me about how he's fighting big banks to reduce my credit card interest. The NDP are also conducting a leader-driven campaign-the site is all about Jack. Policy documents weren't anywhere easily found here, either. There was an abundance of information about the horrors of the Conservative government's recent decisions, Liberal bumbling, and how Jack Layton has been single-handedly saving Canadians from the Conservative horde. From what I understood, the NDP are going to do the opposite of whatever the Conservatives say they are going to do.

On the Liberal site, you can request a lawn sign. They like their lawn signs. There is also a large section on Dion and honesty (which talks about all the promises broken by the Conservatives). There is a small amount of general policy on the economy, the proposed green tax shift, and...that's it.

The Bloc Quebecois site, of course, is in French, so the English speaking parts of Canada may miss out on their policy. Which is sad, considering it isn't half bad. The only sticky part is that it is focused only on Quebec, and oh yeah, they want to separate from the country. In terms of finding policy documents, though, the Bloc have links directly from their index page to the key issues, again downloadable by PDF.

So I apologize that I couldn't give you an immediate, lazy researcher's overview of the Canadian election. I'll dig a little deeper, but if you want my opinion, the parties that seem to know what they want to do (other than slag their competition) are the Bloc and the Greens.

Let the games begin.