The Canadian Election: Good News and the Bad

Canada survived the election.   Why not, we're certainly in practice, the third election in seven years,  and the good news is that there will NOT  be another Federal election for 4 years.  Maybe that's the best news. 
   The Conservatives and Stephen Harper now have a majority government and a mandate  to do with Canada as they will, not to be hindered,  stymied, threatened or made ineffective as they so piously  pleaded in their previous minority status whilst they ruled.
     Throughout the campaign,  with canned, planned rhetoric void of fire but hinting of  brimstone,  they attempted to instil fear in the hearts of the electorate  at the possibility of yet another minority and potential coalition conspiracies galore.   Mission accomplished.    Please, now,  with that majority, please do not repeat that canned speech one more time lest you drive us all around the bend, never to vote again.
 The Bloc Quebecois was wiped out,  left with four seats,  having occupied those many fine leather chairs in the House of Commons  for far too long --and what other destiny could be more  appropriate for a naval-gazing, regional, separatist, non-representative Canada-destroying party?  Gilles Duceppe,  their fierce leader failed to survive the NDP onslaught in Quebec, and  he is resigning.    From what he is resigning we know not, for without party status,  nothing remains but indignant whispers and a few crocodile tears.  
Smiling Jack Layton, the upstart fiery  cane-wielding New Democratic leader was the real story for the night;  wounded or not,  Jack and the NDP swept Quebec  at the expense of the Liberals and Conservatives to become the 'official' opposition with over a hundred seats.  Heady stuff for Jack.   He gave a speech that was befitting a Prime Minister.  Blew the Liberals and Michael Ignatieff out of the water like a surfacing whale.  That was  good news for him.
The bad news is that as official opposition facing a strong majority Conservative government across the floor,  even with 104 seats  he probably has less power now than he did when the government was a whining  minority suffering  the whims of aggravated opposition ---and Jack was often deal-maker of choice.

Hastily scribbled on the back cover of the Liberal Red Book is  Michael  Ignatieff's resignation;  he will likely to return to academia---and  Justin Trudeau,  yes, the son of Pierre Elliott T. himself  --is already considering  acquisition of that broken leadership and it's broken toys.   Go figure.  That didn't take long.

Thing is, with the  central-left Liberals it's either take on Justin and die or try to reinvent themselves, lick the wounds, and maintain silence and dignity if at all possible, without trying to alienate the electorate any further than they apparently already have .

Bottom line, left  with only a paltry 35 seats, for the Liberals, it's either that or conjure up a leaderless merge with the Leftist NDP,   Bob Rae seems to like that idea, visions of sugar plums at 24 Sussex Drive  dance in his head,  but  the crabby old boy's Red Tie Power  club has 4 years of vacation ahead of them  to figure out how to  politely remove Iggy from the seat of power and  put Justin in charge without offending Bob anyway. Oh, tell them not to bother;  Iggy resigned today.  That was easy.

Way out in the greenest part of B.C, out on the  Saanich-Gulf Islands , a place I always wanted to visit since it's always green on Saltspring,  there's  Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party, who made her own  history by being the first  Green member of Parliament,  let's repeat that,  the first elected member of the Green Party of Canada to be sent to Ottawa.   Watch out, boys.
     Listen up, Stephen.   Now Elizabeth can storm the  leader's debates without the stigma of being the only party leader without a seat.  Now she has one. and it's a nice  Green one  just like the dozens  conveniently vacated by the Bloc for this special occasion, and the point is,  --shall we recall,-- she whupped a Conservative to get it too.  Feisty girl.   She is going to restore civility to the House of Commons single-handed. 
That's good news. Canadians are tired of watching children at play, and  by the way,  Canadians are entering dangerous territory with a government that not only prorogued  parliament twice,  but was also ruled in contempt of parliament.  How soon we forget?  uh-uh...Will the majority status "improve" that marginal tendency to dictate?  What shall we have, a majority anarchy? 
So, that's the bad news?  That's the pointed question.  Maybe the bad news  really is that we're just facing another 4 years of the same old political partisan gamesmanship. 


As my  brilliant friend John says,  "We shall see what we shall see".   Just don't hold your breath while you wait. 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Campaign 2011: Off to the Races...and ( yawn.....)

After some minor distractions, we at Incoming Bytes  are once again compelled to discover that the political campaigns in Canada's election are in full swing. The fact is, nothing exciting has happened.  An election?  Really??

The campaigns are already  half over, so now what ?  Nothing is new, or different,  but should we expect it to be?  The Canadian electorate has a right to be skeptical. 


The glorious  "Corporate-Approved"  television debate was held  sans Elizabeth May,  the Green Party leader,  but that didn't seem to make any difference;  the one-on-one's were not exciting anyway,  the counter-attacks were bland to non-existent,  overall, it was dull and  yawn-worthy;   the participants performed much as were expected.  

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Conservative (minority) leader now wants a majority and is offering the saving of Canada from the coalition  and the separatists  and other terrible probabilities,   and is  insisting a majority will result in better government too.
But will it?  Not likely. Is anyone  really convinced?  Isn't that fear-mongering?  It doesn't work. 

Michael Ignatieff, the intellect PM  wannabe  poo-poos the idea of a Conservative majority, saying that Harper et al  cannot be trusted.  He's probably right, for  although all politicians seem trustworthy while campaigning,  no politicians can be trusted once they are ELECTED.  There is a subtle difference.   The Liberal  fortunes in this election are questionable. Polls aren't being nice..that's it.
 
The question the electorate  really should be asking is:
  " WHO can be trusted?"  

The answer must be " Nobody" ;  --and certainly not a "Michael Ignatieff Liberal " government either. 

Liberals promised  to protect Canada's Universal Health Care system--   (well, doesn't EVERYBODY  PROMISE ? )  --but previous Liberal Governments reportedly hijacked a stash of cash from health care and  U I  to help defeat the deficit back in Paul Martin /Chretien days, balance the budget, play games,  fun for all was had, --downloading costs to the provincial governments.  Private clinics seem to be  encouraged,  popping up here and there....how cute.  

The thin edge of ( the USA  private  health care health-care-only for money system )  wedge was smacked into the skulls of Canadians ...imagine that.  Shall we trust Iggy? No.  Shall we trust Stephen, who is on record as being pro-private enterprise in the field of health ?   No.
 
     There is little wonder  Gilles Duceppe and the BLOC  Quebecois  plunk themselves down in plush leather chairs  located in our Federal  House of Commons,  the better to keep an eye on federal scoundrels. 

  Nice office....  C'mon, Gilles,,, you got into the debate as a  special interest representative,  throwing red herrings  around left and right, confusing the issue,   so why can't  you spread candidates far and wide across Canada so you would be a REAL Federal political party, and  some people might even be tempted to vote for you?   What's the matter,  you afraid of losing ?     We think so, but  in the Big Bloc book,  it's better to sit and whine, isn't it, and NEVER have to actually prove you have a better idea, a better system.   Right.  Form your own country.   Ever heard of: 
  "Those who flee oppression oft' flee to oppression of their own?"  
Stranger things have happened.  What if  Gilles did win a majority?    

     Being on location in Ottawa all the time,  the Bloc  can complain, promote the removal of not only Federal  funds,  by blackmail or otherwise, but  help  malcontents,  even encourage in-house  traitors  to  remove the very Province of Quebec itself from Canada..
....*alas..  Gilles and Co. are always content to decorate debates,  sit on comfy  leather, complain,  and  threaten  another referendum.   

A  few tries later later  Gilles has discovered it's quite a lot of  fun and  more profitable  to blackmail Ottawa for big bucks and keep milking the glorious and generous Canadian Cow. 
Imagine that.  No fear of  majority a la Gilles.

It seems that Jack Layton, the New Democratic leader, unhindered by his recent surgery and EXCELLENT medical treatments via the  Universal Canadian Health system  has recovered quite nicely ---whether it was a real hip replacement or not.....or  just a little bit of metal, they say, not a real hip replacement, no matter what sis  said.  Just a slight family misunderstanding, it was. 


Everyone says Jack did very well in the "official debates" ....and  he continues to travel the country, recovering, shaking hands,   smiling and laughing...and progressing surprisingly well in the polls too.  Go figure. The Liberals  and  Michael are nervous, not surprisingly.



As for Elizabeth May, being excluded from the debate doesn't seem to have harmed her positive  attitude  at all. She hasn't got any "seats" yet, but she's got lots of Green and a pretty green platform to stand upon while she watches with interest, deciding which of the parties she should really consider a full  merge with.  Go figure...  "Only in Canada", you say?   (Yawn......)


That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.



 

Will a Federal Election stop Re-branding, and Improve the Entertainment Value of Government?

As a mildly-entertained  observer of politics but a dedicated voter in Canada,  a few days ago I was a tad annoyed to hear that the "Government of Canada" was making noises about re-branding itself  as  "the Harper Government".  
My previous post expressed a certain dislike for such egotistical shenanigans by politicians, as older, honest generations might gently label them.  Such tricks are also known as "creative embellishments" as  the herd  of "politically-correct"  talking heads  in Ottawa might  so aptly name them.  Not so fast, let's clean out the  Rideau Canal,  we have new stinkers going down fast.
Let us politely call  the latest political tricks what they are;  self-serving, opportunistic and distasteful symptoms of a disregard for democracy, and an abuse of power.  "Quite natural, it is,  since power corrupts; it seems we have quite a lot of that going around, in the world. "  That's   always added  tongue-in-cheek by politicians  just in case the next government  that may be a different variety with cheek-to-cheek affiliations  gets caught with it's fingers in the cookie jar next round.
That does sound like the opposition talking, doesn't it.... but no matter.
Time is of the essence; a major Federal budget is due in the house shortly.  Would that be called a "Harper budget" now?  A  Harper election?  An  Ignatieff opportunity for a vote of non-confidence and a  bold  Layton Government agreement to prevent the precipitation of an immediate Harper election?  Opinions vary, depending on who is blackmailing who,  whether adequate political deals are made to please the "Duceppe  Bloc"  and other such "branded conditions" are met, shopping lists are filled,  etc. etc.   

Regardless, to make the question even more visible "in your portfolio", a.k.a. "in your face",      now the  non-partisan  "Speaker of the House" presiding in the House of Commons, always dedicated, suitably generic and non-partisan,  has politely ruled against the Conservative Government of Canada  (a.k.a.  the wannabe Harper Government) on two matters of protocol,  which everyone knows is "the standard, supposed-to-be-correct, and generally-accepted " method of doing official Government things by official government people in official public office.   
To wit, interpretation of the Speaker's announcement might be:  "The dance is over,  there shall be no altering of documents or last minute changes of committee recommendations on typed documents even if done  by hand in black ballpoint pen or black marker,   no misleading the house,  and no diddling with electioneering funds via "In-Outs",  "up-downs-down-towns" or any other  transient transfer of funny-money.  
The reaction off-camera to his speech  may really  have been wink -wink , "where's the money you were diddling with last time, you  big tease, you did it too,"  wink- wink yadda, yadda ".
 
It really  no longer  matters what the details are.      The  real fact of the matter is that both rulings announced  by the Honourable Speaker  suggest that the  "ruling" party  may be no longer ruling by the rules of democracy, (to put it politely, as interpreted by the opposition )   but by personal preference, personal style, and personal edict.  The spirit of democracy has been offended and sullied.
 
Here is the question of the day to ponder:  Which government is doing those naughty things?  How do we even know we have a government since we cannot trust the news?  Choose one.     Do we have a minority special-interests- big business government?  An old -time "Government of Canada" like old Dief used to run?   A new-fangled minority "Harper government" ?  A minority dictatorship ?   --Or is it just an out-of-control  minority anarchy,  a  P.E.T. "fuddle duddle" moment  --where each elected Minister does exactly what he or she wishes,   once firmly ensconced  in an oaken seat of power?
 I couldn't resist asking that question.

Now I have to ask another pointed question;  Does that announcement and apparent confirmation of a breach of propriety on behalf of your elected representatives mean winter-weary Canadians all   are duty-bound to hold another Federal election at a cost of $350Million which is going to come out of the pocket of  financially-stressed taxpayers already fed up to the ears with elections first,  politics second, and politicians third, regardless of order or lack thereof?   
What is this "election" going to prove?   That  we can't allow crooked stuff  (a.k.a. creative finagling, )  to go on in Ottawa?   Really?  Let us roll on the floor in laughter.  


Will an election stop the re-branding of the Government of Canada entirely, and restore stiff-upper-lip dignity to Ottawa,  or will it merely provoke  a  convenient  "brand change" , sell tickets to a different circus,  which will do little but  waste  time, money and energy better spent elsewhere?
Will an election result in a majority government? Not likely, especially now with the latest revelations,  opposition accusations, and atmosphere of finger-pointing.  Clearly the opposition has forgotten previous gaffes  such as  Ad Scam et al,    but Canadians have long memories, and there are many  dry skulls  in many closets best left undisturbed by opposition types lest they come back to bite.
Maybe it's time to start thinking outside of the political ballot box instead.

With our "new improved " judicial system, how about a nice judicial  "slap on the wrist",  a resignation of the minister(s) responsible,  withdrawal of their fat pensions,  an apology by the Official Government of Canada,  replacement of all and any missing funds, real jail time in some of those new penitentiaries if criminal activities are involved, and how about  a Universal promise by all parties to never prorogue Parliament again, while we're at it, no matter who is  found to be  G.U. I. C.P.  (Governing under the influence of corruption and power)  -- and just get on with the business of good governance?

Will "good governance" happen just because we make Stephen sit on the other side of the House of Commons behind  between  Elizabeth and  Jack, one row in front of Gilles, who will continue to whisper sweet nothings in his ear ?    No. 
Is the election of another batch of new, inexperienced, and equally foolish politicians in power the answer?  Clearly not.  Is the status quo acceptable?  Clearly not.  Will an election solve anything?  NO.
Clearly, we need to rebuild our political system. It is broken.  There can be no productive governance with a constant struggle for television air time  to grandstand and a chance to show off, calling down political opponents in "polite language" to avoid offending the decorum of the House.    Someone is always in opposition, causing problems, wasting time, and  embarrassing whoever happens to be unfortunate enough to be  leading or making decisions.
Is it a profitable  and logical system of checks and balances?  No. The existing system is more like a grade IV  class studying earthworms.   Dump them on the floor.  "Worms, go east! " the leader yells.
The opposition points fingers and says  "The Honorable member is incompetent, Mr. Speaker, they're going every which way!"
In other observations, there can be no majority government  made up of  politicians that do not honestly represent the people of Canada. Canadians  have no desire for other forms of government such as a  well-coiffed  monarchy, fancy wedding-of-the-century coming up or not, and there is absolutely no desire for a  branded fascist state,  a branded dictatorship or a corrupt ideological American-style Republic,  no matter how many banana trees may be promised to bloom.
There is also clearly no room in Canada's Parliament for self-serving  political parties clearly bent on the destruction and fragmentation of Canada. The Bloc Quebecois offers NO representation to Canadians outside of the Province of Quebec, so what business do they have in the Federal House of Commons?  Run candidates all across Canada  like a real political party, or  stop whining, and do not show up in Parliament demanding a seat. You are fragmenting the vote, get it?  Surprise, surprise, you may even garner a few cross-Canada votes, considering the  nature of the existing choices being displayed to date. 


 What are our ELECTED representatives thinking with?  Perhaps the reader can  ponder that question.  If you come up  with the inevitable answer "Not much", you win three more weeks of winter. Welcome to Canada.

The sad fact of the matter is, it is time to dump "Party Politics" entirely  in favour of a system of elected representation from ALL Federal ridings,  devoted individuals that can be replaced every four years  by voters --or at any time if necessary,  and fired just as quickly should they decide to misbehave,  "alter documents",  involve themselves in questionable stupidity, or  try to remove parts of the Country known as Canada.
Gone immediately would be individuals   attempting  to blackmail OR commandeer The Government of Canada.  The controlling factor for a representative House could be a similarly elected, non-partisan experienced Senate.
Gone immediately would be loose cannons attempting to  gain fame and fortune by re-branding the Government of Canada  as  "the  Argyle Sweater Team", or   the "-I-  won't-run-a  closed Dictatorship " team.
Gone equally,  would be behind-the-scenes manipulators, as  "Jack's Improved Government,  "   and   "  Better Greenies "  which would become even less relevant, and  would certainly not be allowed to become  "brands" of government.  No government would be allowed to consume the meager pensions of the  growing senior population. 

We have a better idea, let's actually DO it.   Let's get back to work,  forget about childish,  ideological political partisan  gamesmanship,  and for once and for all,  be ADULT about the job at hand.  We all know governing  takes time, intelligence and dedication.  Governing  takes honesty. Government takes cooperation.  How about let's actually try and surprise Canadians with real governing for a change?  

If we MUST have an election,  Lord, please grant us the wisdom to  put MATURE people in Ottawa that actually care more about poverty and families and  hard-working seniors  than they do about Big Dirty Oil,  Big Business,  and the overly fat political  pensions paid for a couple years of  name-calling, disruptive childishness, and  pointing fingers across the House floor.  Let us not forget ravaging the free perk barrel  in Ottawa.
 "Only in Canada."   

"Good grief".

Mad Dogs, Desert Heat and Political Correctness

It is sad to note the furious and seemingly  demented leader of Libya,  Moammar Gadhafi  has unleashed  military might  against  innocent civilians in recent days, and sworn in endless publicized rants that he would  die a martyr, rather than step down.  Not surprisingly, the citizens of Libya have been protesting and calling for change, much like the rest of the Arab world. 
 Any sane, otherwise genuine leader  in a  country populated by people calling for change in the real world  would remember that any leadership holds ONLY  a mandate to do what is best for, and to protect the civilian population, but Gadhafi clearly  thinks otherwise.  He believes he can murder  unruly segments of his population with impunity and without recourse. 

At his orders, crowds of protesters  have been shot, --not with rubber bullets, but with live ammunition.   Gadhafi's  military, henchmen and even reportedly foreign mercenaries have killed hundreds of innocent people and the Libyan air force has bombed civilian targets  with  military aircraft.  
The pointed question must be asked:  
Why is the response of the civilized world not  one of immediate action instead of political correctness? Are we, yet again,  limited to  merely "condemning" crimes against humanity?

In CIVILIZED CANADA,  Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it was "outrageous and unacceptable" (1) .   Since when is murder of  hundreds of innocent people  merely "outrageous and unacceptable"?  
  It is, in  the real world,  mass MURDER.  Let us call it what it IS, an ongoing criminal act that must be stopped.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was  equally  "politically correct", saying in a statement: 
"The brutal attacks on the Libyan people by Libyan security forces are an affront to every standard of human rights," .
Again,  that description is hardly strong enough;  we believe we should call such attacks  what they ARE, the blatant and inexcusable,  abuse of power,  murder and a crime against humanity,  --and insist upon a global response. Political correctness is not sufficient.

Innocent protesters being killed viciously by their own military is outrageous, unacceptable, and  indeed "an affront to every standard of human rights", but the result, of that " affront" , is clearly mass murder,  genocide, and a crime against humanity which needs to be addressed immediately by the global community.   

Millions of people in the  so-called ' modern, civilized world'  have watched and  tolerated this rabid,  mad dog wandering around in the desert heat long enough.  Is the world to stand by mute, and watch another instance of mass genocide? 
In the real world, the time for political correctness has ended.  The "man" in Libya with "an alternative reality",  "anger management issues" and "delusions of grandeur" --- to be "politically correct",  must be removed from any position of authority and brought to justice by the global community,  and soon.  


That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it, politically correct or not.


(1) cbc.ca.news.yahoo.ca

Now we KNOW there's a Jack-Rabbit Election coming Soon

A Jack-rabbit start towards a federal election is now evident.  We  KNOW there's an election coming in Canada, most likely a spring election too, when politicians are seen  out buying influence. 
Jack Layton, the leader of the federal New Democratic Party  was seen  helping Chinese Canadians  celebrate their New Year, which coincidentally happens to be  the 'Year of the Rabbit." --the Jack Rabbit, that is.       
We do not know if  this latest effort will help Jack  and his New Democrats  or not, as  the signals are just a bit confusing;  
In Toronto's Chinatown,  Jack was  handing out chocolate dollars,  -- which one must admit is a Conservative sum;  Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be envious at Jack's ingenuity and careful control of his budget:
The loot being handed out is stashed in a Red envelope, which is Liberal,  and Michael Ignatieff will  undoubtedly wish he had thought of it first;
Jack  handed out one to every pedestrian pushing a stroller and every  businessman on the Bloc  while he was at it,  just to be safe.
  My pointed question must be, " Now where's MY chocolate dollar?"  I love chocolate.
 Everyone should get a chocolate dollar,  Chinese or not, that would be the Democratic way. Canadian politics at it's best-- sweet promises.
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!   

                                                                                                     photo: Flickr

A Canadian Federal Election "Nobody" Wants......

Parliament Buildings,  Ottawa,  Ontario

 According to my favourite  political guru,  CBC's  Rex Murphy,   nobody wants an election, that's why we're going to have one, and soon.  That sounds logical doesn't it? 
He says,-- and I can only  paraphrase his unique phraseology and chronology, but the gist is as follows:
"The Liberals don't want an election
The Conservatives don't want an election
The Bloc Quebecois doesn't want an election
The New Democrats don't want an election.
 so--we're going to have an election. "


About 85% of Canadians don't want an election either, Rex noted,  but it's more or less guaranteed we WILL have an election -and soon ! 
Rex is probably right. If I have to believe anybody, I'll believe Rex. He's honest. Rex doesn't pull punches. Rex tells it like it is.  
Why ? You may ask:   " Rex  is not a politician"  is the right answer.
Here are some more strange facts:
" We will have an election because 15% of some hereto unidentified fraction of our over-taxed, misinformed population seems to think we NEED an election".  We deny such illogical logic.
  "We will have an election because Canada  actually needs an election".  NO. Canada most certainly does NOT need an expensive election.
  "We will have an election because it is TIME to have an election".  Huh?  Who said so?
How about:  "We will have an election because each and every one of the political leaders are being secretive and actually dishonest about their true desires to seize power, therefore they MUST hold an election."
Could that be the reason?   YES. 
Each of the political leaders also  has their own private and  not-so-secret reason for WANTING an election.  The polls look good.   The conservatives are leading.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper believes he can win a majority, and in response to that happy state of mind,  even though he is out touring the world so that he doesn't have to answer any questions or take responsibility for negative attack-doggy ads,  he must have already authorized his minions to start negative attack-doggy ads on his primary opposition  target,  Michael Ignatieff of the Liberal party. 
 Mr. Ignatieff  is  pictured as shouting "yes yes yes"in one of those ads.  Said to be out of context, no matter. That's what negative attack-doggy ads do, they attack out of context.  That must be  Michael shouting his approval of holding an election, but it is also  reported that Michael seems to be an opportunist Prime Minister wannabe intellectual, who seems to imagine that his vision of the country, when he is IN Canada,  is superior in every way to that of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's vision of the same snow-bound block of real estate.  
What is it Michael  wants ?  Oh, right, the real estate,  he wants to live at 24 Sussex Drive  just because Pierre Trudeau  did.  In doing so, so he  can also tour the world endlessly like Prime Minister Harper is already doing at this time  whilst attempting to pretend he does not want an election.
The Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe doesn't want an election, and is even willing to use extortion  and /or  blackmail Ottawa into giving Quebec $5B, failing which he will magically "want" an election,  just so he and his elitist friends can retain comfy seats in the Canadian Parliament whilst resting betwixt feeble attempts to separate Quebec from Canada, but simultaneously multi-tasking and whining and wheedling more money out of Ottawa, trying to milk the cow dry before it  dies.
Mr. Jack Layton is secretly hoping Gilles and the  Bloc Quebecois will NOT succeed at their attempt to  blackmail  $5B  from the feds to support the upcoming federal budget, thereby forcing the election.  Jack is pretty straight forward.   Jack has the best of both worlds.  He doesn't have to stress himself, he knows the NDP isn't likely to win a Federal election anyway, so why worry about it?  With the Liberals not supporting the budget already a promise, however,  Jack is going to be in the driver's seat, and do his best to kill off the excessive Corporate Tax cuts that are promised by the Conservatives.  So.....we're having an election.


Conclusion of the day:   No wonder Canadians do not trust politics OR politicians.   Where have we heard that before?  Hey, Rex, I know....at Incoming BYTES,  of course...