At a recent G7 meeting in Rome, finance ministers and central bank directors from the all seven nations agreed for the need to “take measures” in order to address and slowly reverse the current economic downturn, but also pledged to avoid protectionist policies within their countries.

Jim Flaherty in particular was critical of any shift toward protectionist policies, saying that it is “populist politics” to cater to short-term interests with policies that will discourage foreign ownership, tariffs, and quotas on imports as a method of stimulating economic activity domestically. Flaherty stressed that any policies that will interfere with the global free market would only lead to more severe consequences in the future, and explained that he made this point very clearly during the meetings in Italy.

For starters, Flaherty’s use of the word “populist” to describe protectionist policies is incredibly typical of Conservative party rhetoric. Dismissing anything that strays from their narrow ideology using extreme language is a favourite tactic of Harper and Co. We need only look at the proposed coalition government of late 2008 to see how intraparty letters instructed MPs and officials to refer to the NDP as
“socialists”.
(more…)

I’ve always been sceptical of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the government agency in charge of regulating broadcasting and telecommunications.

After all, it seems to be staffed by a group of public servants who are guided by the “let the market decide” mantra, as opposed to their legislated responsibility to create and sustain a viable broadcast and telecom sector that actually works for Canadians and delivers innovative, high- quality content and services.

Despite my misgivings, I have to admit that it seems as though the CRTC is actually on the right track … for now at least! Of course, this is only a recent development, so maybe I should hold back on my excitement.
(more…)

Democracy is about choice. It’s about the right to look at differing visions of the country and make a choice about which you think is best. Some people say the more political parties there are, the more varied the choice and, thus, the stronger the democracy. Is this true? When different political parties take similar stances, is that still a choice?

It has become painfully obvious that the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party no longer represent distinctive options to the Canadian electorate. Stephen Harper has proven time and again that he is willing to compromise his beliefs in search of his majority government (to see how far Harper has come, look up some old Reform Party platforms; the Conservatives are pushing for none of it). The Conservative Party is now far more centrist than it was intended to be, the most glaring proof being the acceptance of deficit economics. Meanwhile, Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals are suffering an identity crisis. Harper’s strategic move to the centre has taken a large piece of the electorate away from the Liberals. Stephane Dion’s response was to propose a radical environmental policy that was intended to win over all progressive voters. The left-of-centre vote never unified behind Dion (remaining split between the Liberals, NDP and the Greens) and drove more traditional Liberal supporters into the arms of the Conservatives. With that strategy deemed a failure, Ignatieff has been forced to subtly acknowledge that his version of the Liberal Party wouldn’t do things very differently than the Conservatives (see Ignatieff’s support of the budget). The Liberals are being squeezed out of the political picture, and since they can no longer offer anything distinctive in terms of policy, they are left hoping Canadians will think Ignatieff is the more capable leader.
(more…)

NDP Leader Jack Layton was the guest of honour at a fundraiser last night in Woodstock, Ontario. Layton showed up almost an hour late and was seen as a little disoriented. Here is the excerpt of his speech:

Ladies and gentleman, people of the free press, my brothers and sisters, dudes and chicks, comrades and all you other freaks out there,

“It is real…..groovy to be here tonight to fight for the right to smoke weed, man…uh um…for medicinal purposes. I support this cause with all of my MOJO. Because you know, just today I came down with a serious headache…and I was not avoiding my lady for some sugar, you dig….but when I get a nagging noodle ache or my moustache starts to drip because of my nose, there is nothing like a little Mary Juanna to smoothen things out and to take me on a different plane. Can I get an “AH YEAH!” from the audience?
(more…)

Internet neutrality is an issue of vital importance to all Canadians. As the last bastion of free speech on this planet, it is of crucial importance that we fight vigorously to retain the open nature of the Internet. If the CRTC allows providers to throttle the internet, large networks will prioritize US programing at the expense of documentaries, public forums and independent media sources such as Youtube.

I implore each and every one of you to take action by visiting saveournet and sign the CRTC petition voicing your opinion on this issue.
(more…)

The media/pundit response to Ignatieff and the Newfoundland MP commotion last week made no sense to me. I could appreciate words like “precedent” and “weakness” being applied to the situation, theoretically. But in reality, how did Ignatieff’s decision to allow MPs to vote against the budget make him a bad leader? Phrases like “Harper would never allow it” were being thrown around, but recklessly. Is Harper our yardstick for what a good leader is? I seem to recall Harper’s downfall having much to do with an inability to cooperate, listen…give a little… Others threw caution to the future. Apparently, Ignatieff’s leniency was set to “return” to “haunt him” in the form of other provinces throwing their weight around, or increasing demands from Danny Williams. But must we assume that Ignatieff will bow to all future demands because he deemed one demand legitimate? Can I suggest we cross that bridge when we arrive?
(more…)

Former Liberal leader Stephane Dion got more bad news today when his official backpack sponsor dropped him. The 30- year lucrative deal which was worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000 CAD per year was cut short by Targus Canada. A Targus representative could not be reached for comment but it is assumed all the negative publicity with Dion’s loss in the Federal election and his failed attempt in overthrowing Stephen Harper resulted in the termination of the contract.

Dion was disappointed but upbeat. “I was saddened by this fact as I enjoyed taking my knapsack everywhere. It is how my dog Kyoto got in to see everything in Parliament without anyone suspecting. I never put my paperwork in there because Kyoto has a weak bladder and the knapsack gets very heavy by the end of the day,” he added.
(more…)

Stephen Harper announced today that he will be firing all of his cabinet except himself. “I was wondering what I could do to cut government spending and at the same time hold on to more power”, he said with a constant twitching of his left eye. “As of today, I will be taking over all of the ministerial jobs in Foreign Affairs, Justice, Finance, Revenue, Indian Affairs, Inter-Governmental, Fisheries, Environment and any other departments I can think of. I will be giving myself a healthy raise for taking on this extra workload but rest assured that the rest of the savings will be passed on to Canadians. My first order of business is with the department of Technology. I have ordered them to develop a new device that will transfer all the information of the various departments straight to my brain,” he confided. Harper’s move means that his Conservatives have completely been relegated to backbencher status.
(more…)

Imagine small communities in Canada’s northern wilderness making unanimous and democratic declarations to separate from Canada. Less than a year later, Canada no longer has any land north of Edmonton. It is very unlikely to happen but it does point out the vulnerability of Canada as a nation.

Democracy has more than once been a threat to the Canadian confederation as a whole and surprisingly few politicians, writers and pundits have addressed this important issue. The United States fought its bloodiest battles in its own Civil War. The lessons learned from that bloody war is that America, the bastion of democracy, has placed value of its own security and continuity above democracy. The American nation must be protected at all costs from external and internal forces seeking its demise. The priorities are different in Canada because of our different background and history.
(more…)

Testifying before Canada’s national defence committee on the Hill two days ago (Monday, 9 February), Defence Minister Peter Mackay claimed that progress was being made in Afghanistan, albeit at a slower pace than would be ideal. Coupled with this unfounded rosy assessment of slow Afghan progress, Mackay also acknowledged a $331 million increase in Afghan war costs for this year.

Mackay’s insistence that progress is being made in Afghanistan goes against substantiated reports made by the British foreign ministry and President Obama’s new civilian proconsul for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The British now acknowledge that NATO forces are in a stalemate with Afghan insurgents. The new American administration prefers the term ‘mess’ in describing the situation. Both statements are true, unlike Mackay’s, but ultimately fail in describing the real problem in Afghanistan. The fact of the matter is that a majority of the Pushtan, a pro-Taliban ethnic group straddling the Afghan-Pakistan border that makes up about a third of Afghanistan’s population, will not stop fighting the established Afghan government until the Taliban is recognized as a legitimate force in Afghanistan politics. At least one British general has stated that progress cannot be made without making peace with the Taliban. The Taliban insurgency, which made more attacks against Western forces in the last year then in any other year of the war, has repeatedly shown that it cannot be stopped by military means.
(more…)