Canadian Politics – Page 5

Pondering the US election from a Canadian perspective

Canadians often find US politics mystifying, no more so than during presidential elections. It’s not just their byzantine electoral college system (which truly baffles us – even when explained concisely as in the video below). It’s not just the differences between America’s republican governance system and our parliamentary system (although they do contribute mightily to the confusion since they are so dissimilar). These are process issues that can be sorted out through reading and study. What baffles us – or at least me – is the increasingly vituperative language of the candidates, their advertising, and even of the post-debate analysts (not the … click below for more ↓

Gambling: money and statistics

2012-10-19 2012-10-19 Books & Reviews / Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Games & Gaming / Internet & Social Media / Municipal Politics / Social Order & Disorder / What I'm Reading Now5 Comments

No, I’m not going to write about the morality of gambling.* I’ll save that for another post. This is about money. And numbers. I attended the OLG four-community presentation in Wasaga Beach, Tuesday, and it got me thinking about what gambling means to the economy, what it means to the government, what effect it might have on things like growth and recession. It also made me wonder how governments became addicted to gambling revenue, but that, too, is for another post. I also found some of the statistics presented interesting enough to do some extrapolation, which I’ll get to at the end. … click below for more ↓

The Erosion of Civil Debate

2012-09-21 2012-09-21 Books & Reviews / Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Municipal Politics / Personal Reminiscences / Social Order & DisorderOne Comment

I’ve been dismayed by the tone of the recent debate over the town’s proposed and new recreational facilities. Not by the debate itself – I love the engagement and interaction, even arguing because it’s intellectually stimulating – but rather by what has become an increasingly strident, angry, confrontational and personal tone in many of the comments council has received, or which have been directed towards council. I’m disappointed because I know we, as Canadians, can have rational, calm, thoughtful debate without rancour, without resorting to insults and name-calling, without raising our voices in anger, without resorting to gossip and rumour … click below for more ↓

Zellers closing mall store is another blow to local economy

2012-07-30 2012-07-30 Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Municipal PoliticsLeave a comment

Collingwood’s main anchor store in the Blue Mountain Mall, Zellers, will close by March, 2013, according to a story in this week’s Globe and Mail. It is one of 29 scheduled to close in Ontario, and one of 64 across Canada. As the Globe and CBC pointed out in their stories, with an average of 100 people per store, that means a net lost of around 6,400 jobs, Canada-wide. The impact locally is much greater. 100 jobs in a community of 20,000 people is a lot, even if most are part time. Many retail outlets and supermarkets here offer only … click below for more ↓

Patronage: Canada’s Shame

2012-06-06 2012-06-06 Canadian Politics / Municipal PoliticsOne Comment

Patronage is the dirty secret behind most nations and governments. It’s a shameful, embarrassing, corrupt and very undemocratic practice in which friends, supporters and benefactors get plum contracts, jobs, appointments, cash, perks and bonuses. These are usually parcelled out not on the basis of achievement, ability, or talent, but rather simply because of political cronyism. Canada is no better, and probably somewhat worse than most Western nations in how its governments practice this loathsome act of onanistic rewards. But unlike many more democratic nations, Canada maintains an official, government-sponsored body for patronage: the Senate. Our patronage Senate is something you’d … click below for more ↓

Horwath needs to read her Machiavelli

2012-04-20 2012-04-20 Canadian Politics / History & Biography / Municipal Politics3 Comments

Andrea Horwath needs to do some more reading before she decides to negotiate further with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. Specifically, she needs to read more Machiavelli. The Prince, in particular. This week the Globe & Mail reported that Horwath announced that, “…NDP Leader Andrea Horwath (is) now abandoning another major proposal in return for her party’s support of the governing Liberals’ budget, it will be easier for the two sides to strike a deal.” Her “proposal” – actually a demand in exchange for the NDP’s support of the Liberal budget – was to remove the provincial portion of the harmonized … click below for more ↓

Could ‘Advanced’ Dinosaurs Rule Other Planets?

2012-04-11 2012-04-11 Canadian Politics / Politics / Science & Technology2 Comments

That’s the question asked today in an article posted on Science Daily. To which I might add: Why not? Dinosaurs didn’t die out: they have ruled parts of this planet in the guise of fundamentalist theocracies for decades. They thunder and roar in Iran like rutting Stegosaurs. The Taliban raptor rampaged through Afghanistan until they had to slink back to their caves while NATO knocked them about. But it’s not just theocracies. Brontosaurs stomp about in Republican and Conservative parties in so-called “advanced” nations. Ceratopsians rule North Korea and Myanmar. Living fossils in China still brutalize the Tibetan mammals. If … click below for more ↓

Please preserve the CBC: no more cuts!

2012-03-28 2012-03-28 Arts / Canadian Politics / Media Issues2 Comments

Canadians who care about media content, journalistic integrity and fair reporting are anxiously watching for tomorrow’s federal budget announcements. Big cuts to the CBC are expected, according to this Huffington Post story: Cuts to CBC funding expected in the upcoming federal budget could have dramatic implications, touching everything from popular television programming to foreign news bureaus and eliminating hundreds of jobs, observers predict. The CBC’s own story about the predicted cuts doesn’t mention the CBC, but it does say, “…many public servants in Ottawa are bracing for staffing cuts, which may not arrive through relatively painless attrition or early retirement … click below for more ↓

Is Machiavelli relevant to today’s municipal politicians?

2012-03-20 2018-09-05 Books & Reviews / Canadian Politics / History & Biography / Municipal Politics / PoliticsLeave a comment

Are the political theories of a 16th-century Italian diplomat relevant to today’s municipal politics? Yes, assuming you know and have read his works, not just the bumper-sticker over-simplification that says, “The end justifies the means.” Actually, Machiavelli never wrote those words. That’s a modern condensation. It’s also an erroneous paraphrase of what he wrote in The Prince, because it overlooks a lot of his comments on the effect of some types of behaviour on the honour and reputation of the ruler. Machiavelli stressed the cause and effect of a ruler’s actions on his power, his honour and his reputation. He … click below for more ↓

That squiggle cost taxpayers HOW much?

2012-03-10 2012-03-10 Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Language & Grammar / Municipal PoliticsLeave a comment

I read in the latest edition of the Collingwood Connection that: “Regional Tourist Organization 7 (is) now Bruce Grey Simcoe.” Were you even aware of Regional Tourist Organization 7 before that story? According to the Connection, The organization announced its new brand and logo on Thursday at the Bear Estate in Collingwood. Bruce Grey Simcoe is one of 13 regional tourism organizations across the province. Executive director Jeffery Schmidt said the group has been doing research and marketing over the past year in preparation for this announcement, as well as future initiatives. He said creating the brand cost about $80,000 … click below for more ↓

Grim outlook for Canadian manufacturing

2012-03-07 2012-03-07 Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Municipal Politics / PoliticsLeave a comment

The outlook for Canadian manufacturing, warns the CIBC, will remain grim as long as a strong dollar keeps labour costs high, “deepening the hollowing out of the industrial heartland and boosting regional income inequality in the years ahead,” says the Huffington Post. The Canadian loonie looks good for shoppers who buy consumer and retail goods made outside Canada. Our import prices are actually 10% lower than they were a decade ago. Back in 2002, when the loonie was $0.62CAD to the $USD, our labour costs were lower, so it made Canada a good place in to make products. Now we’re … click below for more ↓

The Drummond Report: economic disaster or salvation?

2012-03-03 2012-03-03 Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Municipal PoliticsOne Comment

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRToWKtrfCo&feature=related”] “It’s not all doom and gloom,” quips Rick Mercer in this video. “Drummond predicts the province could still turn things around, if it acts now, and no one gets sick, needs a job, or educates their children, for the next… ever.” The Drummond Report – from the Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services headed by economist Don Drummond – was released last week. It’s a sweeping, 529-page, brick-thick study of Ontario’s fiscal policies and structures, with 362 recommendations about how the province should run its public service. It reads like the findings of an inquest after a … click below for more ↓

Was Marx right after all?

2012-02-21 2012-02-21 Canadian Politics / PoliticsOne Comment

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0″] While Marx didn’t say exactly that the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” he did state that under capitalism, poverty would inevitably increase while more and more wealth would concentrate in fewer hands. Increasing profits and increasing wages, he claimed, were contradictory. Adam Smith – the “father” of capitalism – said much of the same thing, by the way. They were right. Marx’s economic and world views were fermented in the mid-19th century’s industrial age, an age without any of the mass communication technology of today. He was right about many things, but wrong about others. He … click below for more ↓

Let’s get the terms of this debate correct

2012-02-09 2012-02-09 Atheism & Spirituality / Canadian Politics / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

There’s a recent story in the Winnipeg Free Press with the headlines that, “Liberals fear pro-lifers trying to take over weakened federal party.” Gawd, I hate such inaccurate, slanted reporting. It’s bad enough when politicians engage in it, but the media should be more objective. Let’s get the terms straight, shall we? Then we can try for objectivity. To call one side “pro-life” is to give credibility to the implication that the other side is “anti-life.” That’s spinelessly accepting a one-sided spin on the debate. It appeals to the emotions, not the facts, and certainly not to logic. Neither side … click below for more ↓