Posted: 01/02/2012 3:34:25 AM
There’s been a lot of talk over the last five years among political geeks about voter suppression. Convincing voters that politics is so nasty that come election day people just stay home. Now up until now, to give them credit, nobody has ever accused the NDP of practicing this dark art.
Well that has certainly changed because I don’t think I have ever seen a greater example of voter suppression than the current NDP leadership race. It's like they designed it to disengage the public. Leadership races are tough on parties but they’re fun. They expose rifts, they lead to debate; things are said in the heat of the moment which causes excitement, which makes people care. Not with this crowd.
As of last count there were eight different candidates. And I use the term "different" very loosely. Because I don't know where you could find eight different Canadians who agree on as many things as these people. It's like the worst dinner party ever.
I watched the last leadership debate on streaming video. The most exciting moment happened at the 40 minute mark when I got a pop-up ad for a liberty coin from the Franklin Mint. And the nastiest exchange so far came when front runner, Brian Topp, who nobody knows, accused Mulcair, of being – wait for it – a moderate. Whoa those are fighting words. Can anyone on the left make a fist in this country?
I would like to say that there's a fine line between an exciting race and a race that is so dull it is actually detrimental to the democratic process but there's not. There's a huge gaping divide. And unless the NDP can fix this and get people to pay attention everyone loses. Because if you can't engage voters, you don't deserve voters.
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Posted: 25/01/2012 7:30:07 AM
Something fascinating happened this past week. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation attacked Members of Parliament saying their pensions were platinum plated. And then among the political pundits, the people who are paid to disagree with one another, peace broke out. They all agreed, slash those pensions.
Now I understand the sentiment. When I heard that Pierre Poilievre, Stephen Harper’s favourite MP of all time, qualified for a full pension at 31, I was physically ill. But we have to ask ourselves, “Why did he qualify for a full pension at 31?” Well for starters he got elected straight out of school; he never accomplished anything of any note; that's the type of person that’s getting elected. People who have done nothing but are experts in everything. We avoid those people like the plague in real life but for some reason the House of Commons is crawling with them.
So let’s just forget pensions. I want better MPs. I want the best and the brightest that Canada has to offer. And boy, is that not happening. And why? Well, the fact is, if you're mid-career with a family, leaving both behind and taking off to Ottawa for 6 or 7 years is not good for either of them. There's a very good chance at the end of the day both will be seriously damaged. And are we going to fix this problem and attract better MPs by making the job less desirable? No, we go down that road for every Pierre Poilievre there’ll be 10 more just like him.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like beating up a lousy MP as much as the next guy. But when we get a good MP, they aren't just worth their pension; they're worth their weight in gold. All the parties have them but they are few and far between. So what say when it comes to MPs instead of all of us piling on and lowering the bar, let's aim high for a change.
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Posted: 18/01/2012 7:13:42 AM
Democracy is very messy. In fact on paper it doesn't even make a heck of a lot of sense. For starters it involves all of us, and by all of us I mean the people. And what’s worse, people’s opinions, which only leads to debate. And let's face it, no matter what the issue, for every sensible person on either side there are two idiots who are addicted to the sound of their own voice. I should know I'm one of them.
But lately, I’ve noticed that some of the messy parts of democracy are slowly being done away with. Like debate. Remember debate? No, neither do I. It's been a while.
For example, a couple of months ago, Stephen Harper decided to change the name of the Canadian Navy to The Royal Canadian Navy. There was no debate. He just announced it. Now personally I don't care one way or the other, but people in the navy do. Some of them love it; some of them hate it. But the important thing is nobody asked for their opinion. Who cares what they think? They just serve in the Navy. Who cares what we think? We just pay for it. Nope, dad said, end of story.
And now we have this pipeline business. Now I realize I should have paid more attention to this a year ago, but like a lot of Canadians it's just showing up on my radar now. And honestly, I don’t know if the pipeline is a good idea or a bad idea. But the good news is I no longer have to look at both sides. None of us do. No, because dad has made it perfectly clear, there’s only one side to this issue. And anyone who thinks otherwise is an enemy to Canada. I’ve got to say this is way better than the old days when we had the burden of being informed citizens on our shoulders.
No, now we have a new job: to be seen and not heard. Welcome to Canada 2012. His house, his rules. God save the King.
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Posted: 06/12/2011 11:59:38 PM
I don't know what’s sadder - That this country woke up a few weeks ago and read the story about a school in Toronto banning the use of soccer balls on the playground or the fact that deep down none of us were really surprised. I know I wasn’t because I am familiar with the Vice-Principal Law of Enjoyment. Which, simply stated, is that for every instance of a child having fun there is an equal or slightly more powerful force that exists solely to stop that activity from happening.
And every generation is different. When I was in grade eight my school banned the Rubik's cube. And why? Because some kid was wandering down the hall with his head buried in the Rubik's cube, he went head first into a door and split his nose open. And I’m sorry, I remember that kid, he was always walking into doors. In fact if I bumped into him today I wouldn't recognize him without the nose bleed.
But the school, their rationale was, well we can't have kids walking around with their heads down, so they banned the cube. Meanwhile it is because we wandered around with our heads buried in our Rubik's cubes that my generation can safely navigate through traffic on foot with our head down while texting on our blackberries. You could say it saved our lives.
This is a war on fun. And it is a slippery slope. In 2014, and this is a fact, in Ontario school clubs will no longer be able to fundraise by selling chocolate, only nutritional items. There’s your future Canada. A sad child on your doorstep trying to sell you a bag of radishes so they can go to a band trip. Get used to it. Because if you let them take your balls your freedom is the next to go.
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Posted: 29/11/2011 11:02:29 PM
Conservative Member of Parliament Rob Anders fell asleep last week live on national television right in the middle of Question Period. Lots of people put it on the news because people found it funny. Meanwhile in Toronto last year some dude, whose job it was to sell subway tickets, took a nap on the job and it was front page news. People acted like he was history's cruelest monster. It was very telling.
As time marches on society changes and with it traditions die. It's tough but someone has to say we're closing down the buggy whip factory or that’s it, the VCR is going in the garbage. No one wants to be the one to stand up and say the Emperor has no clothes, so let me: It’s time to close the House of Commons – permanently. Let’s face it, it's a soap opera, its ratings are in the toilet and like all soap operas, it's filled with bad actors and nobody knows their names.
The first job of any MP is to hold Government accountable for spending our money. They don't do that anymore. MPs approved 50 million dollars for border security. The Prime Minister took the money and built a hockey rink and a gazebo in Muskoka. And nobody cares! Which is fine. The second job of an MP is to debate bills in Parliament. Those days are over. An agriculture bill in Cuba gets more debate than a Canadian crime bill. And nobody cares, which is fine.
But if MPs aren't going to do their jobs and they can't keep their eyes open long enough to pretend they’re doing their jobs, why send them to Ottawa? Keep them in their riding. Do something useful; help someone fill out a passport application.
And for the rest of the country, can we finally admit what everyone in Ottawa knows but no one will say out loud. MPs and Cabinet ministers have nothing to do with running this country. This country is run by 23 year olds who work in the Prime Minister's Office. They decide what bills are passed; they decide what countries we invade. Let them do their job.
And the Prime Minister? Well he can be CEO or Sun God or whatever he wants to be called. He can wear a gold hat. As long as he comes out on a balcony occasionally, waves, goes back in, does his thing, comes out five years later and stands for re-election. But it's his show and his show only. Let's stop pretending it's anything else but. And on that point - there is no debate.
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