Posted: 04/04/2012 6:46:55 AM
It's been a very long time since I've been in school. And like a lot of Canadians, I see a yellow bus, I breathe into a paper bad and then I carry on with my day. But this past week I went back to school and why not? 47 schools from across Canada came together and raised a quarter of a million dollars for kids on the other side of the planet.
And I know, it was a contest. Who can raise the most money? But let's face it, no matter where you go to school, there’s always going to be a school that's bigger, nicer, richer, whatever. The kids know this and yet they still went to work and raised all that money.
Really? What is wrong with kids today? From where I’m standing, not much.
And how about the kids at P.C.V.S. in Peterborough? What a school! Great sports, great science, they got arts up the yazoo. They have an anti-bullying hotline that hasn't been called in eleven months. And still this year they were told out of the blue, their school was closing.
You know, in these situations you have two options. You can do what you're told or you can fight like hell. These kids, they went with the latter, and boy what a beautiful sight. They fought, they marched, they made the lives of the school board a living hell and they still went out and raised 50 grand for kids in Africa. These kids may not be able to vote but they could teach us all a thing or two about being engaged citizens.
In fact, if I could replace the entire federal cabinet with 39 kids from P.C.V.S. I would do it in a heartbeat. I take that back, I would replace them with 25 kids, Harper's cabinet is too big as it is. The president of the student council at P.C.V.S. has said they’re going to keep fighting because Canada needs more schools like theirs not one less. I tend agree, I'm just glad they lasted as long as they did. We're all better off because of it.
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Posted: 28/03/2012 6:08:47 AM
Consider this a public service announcement. If you found yourself this past week sitting at home on the couch, watching TV and relaxing and suddenly you found yourself watching an attack ad paid for by the Conservative Party – do not panic. There is not a rift in the space-time continuum. You were not suffering a small stroke or cerebral hemorrhage. And no, there is no federal election imminent. You were simply experiencing the new normal in Canada; the never ending campaign. Welcome to hell.
And I know we were all hoping that with the end of the minority
governments that there would be an end to the constant barrage of negative advertising. No such luck. In the old days between elections Prime Ministers used to devote all of their time to governing Canada. Not any more. Now a Prime Minister has negative ads to approve and reputations to destroy, being mean and cutthroat is not something you just do every four years. Now, it's a full time job.
Now I admit, sometimes I don't understand political strategy. So I asked a Tory friend of mine, I said, “Why? Why pay for attack ads three years before an election? And why attack Bob Rae, the Liberals are in third place and he’s got crazy scientist hair?” And the guy said, “Why not? We’ve got so much money we could buy every ad available in a seven game playoff series and the Olympics, and we’d still have more money left over than all the parties combined”. Great!
So I guess the moral of this story is negative ads are never going away. Ever. If that's the case may I suggest; we used to refer to these things as “American” style attack ads, and “American style” dirty tricks. I think it's time we give our friends to the South a break. It is the new reality, attack ads and dirty tricks aren't just American anymore, they ‘re Canadian as Canadian can be.
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Posted: 21/03/2012 6:54:34 AM
Like everyone else in Canada, I'm being worn down by this robocalls scandal. It is as nasty as anything we have ever seen in Canadian politics. But like everyone else raised on episodes of Law and Order, I like my crimes discovered, investigated and solved in 55 minutes. No such luck.
Instead, week after week in the House of Commons, we’re subjected to all the parties standing up and accusing all the other parties of destroying the democratic process. It's nauseating. When Dean Del Mastro opens his mouth I want to punch myself in the face. I wouldn't be surprised if he stands up and blames my mother next.
But the truth is, for all the grandstanding, none of the MPs actually know what happened in the last election. They’re MPs; the people who run the campaigns tell them nothing. You ask any MP, off the record, what happened in the last election, all they say is I hope it wasn't us.
The problem is the only people who can order a judicial inquiry are the cabinet. Which would mean investigating their own party. That's like asking Don Cherry to donate his brain to science - it's not going to happen.
Now luckily we live in Canada and we have another option. It is a long shot but it’s a real shot - the Governor General. He is, by definition, above it all. Which is exactly what we need right now. With one stroke of the pen he can say, “That's it, we’re getting to the bottom of it, a Royal Commission.” And why not? It's just our faith in democracy at stake and let's face it, Stephen Harper loves everything with the word royal in it.
Because if we don’t investigate this top to bottom, coast to coast, all the people out there that believe voting is useless will finally have their proof. And fans of voter suppression will have committed the perfect crime.
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Posted: 29/02/2012 4:22:22 AM
I have always loved politics. Politics has always been my baseball. I love the competition. I love the ideas. I love the brilliance, the pomposity, and the idiocy of some of the great characters that practice the art. And I have always believed it’s an art worth practicing.
Now I understand, in Canadian politics the bar is very low. Lets face it, you’ve got to get on your stomach and crawl to fit under there. But there has always been a little bit of sunshine. There’s always been a little bit of light. This past week, I’m not so sure – Robocalls.
We now know that in the last federal election hundreds of thousands of calls came out of Edmonton to Liberal and NDP voters in 18 different ridings claiming they were coming from Elections Canada, lying, sending people to voting booths that didn’t exist. And what’s really freaking me out is that I’m not angry. Which is a very bad sign because anger is my cardio. I think I may be disappointed. Either that or I’m having a stroke.
Now I understand in politics there have always been dirty tricks. But this is not some drunks tearing down some posters. This is not even a negative ad campaign. This is big money and technology targeting people who want to vote and trying to physically stop them. We can’t have this.
You put 10 Canadians in a room they will disagree on 10 things, fine. But we have always agreed that voting is a fundamental right. This is not a left or right thing. This is just a thing. If we don’t believe in that, what else do we have to believe in?
If stopping people who want to vote from doing so becomes the new normal we will have hit a new low in the sewer that is Canadian politics. Keep this up and we’ll need a snorkel to get under that bar. Any deeper and we all drown.
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Posted: 22/02/2012 7:52:41 AM
My guess is if the average citizen was told that they had five minutes left to live and they were alone in their house, a good percentage of Canadians would devote 2 or 3 of those last minutes on Earth to erasing their hard drives. Not because they’re criminals, but because it might contain something that’s, what's the expression I'm looking for? Nobody's business.
And that includes the Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews. Now Vic, Vic's a nice guy, but he's got this thing. He likes to peek. Or at least he wants to peek into your hard drive. He wants to be able to get your computer’s IP address without a warrant; he wants all of your computer online traffic recorded. It's his thing.
Now Vic says it's no big deal, it's like a phone book. Now I trust Vic, I do, but I asked a computer geek friend of mine and he says no, it’s nothing like a phone book. In fact it's like a fingerprint. Except it's a fingerprint that can tell Vic how much money you make, what you read, where you get your news, what you say to your best friend, what turns you on and how you vote. Gee is that all Vic? Because, um, that makes me uncomfortable.
Now Vic says we have a choice to make here. We can side with the Conservatives and let Vic peek or we can side with the child pornographers. Now unfortunately for Vic he forgot one very important thing. Canadians aren't that stupid. And thank God. Because Vic, you can call us all the names you want but that doesn't change the fact we’re not going to let you peek. That doesn't make us criminal it makes us Canadian. It's why we shut our blinds at night.
The state has no business in the hard drives of the nation. You want to peek Vic? Convince a judge and get a warrant.
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