Truth or Consequence

In a previous post, I slagged the CBC and Rex Murphy for spouting climate denier nonsense. The response from the CBC was interesting, including the claim that the CBC was not obligated “to determine what is ‘truth’.” Truth was in quotation marks because the writer, the Executive Producer of The National, is of the view that truth is subjective; there is no such thing as objective truth. Several of the commenters wholeheartedly supported this view, which I mocked the lot of them for. It is amazing democracy has survived this long.

Let’s try again. I hold the belief that some things are true, that there is truth. Facts are true. For example: The Earth revolves around the Sun. Or, Smoking greatly increases the risk of getting cancer. Certain principles are also true, such as “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….” If you don’t believe that some things are true, how do you get through the day?
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Photo Credit: Seeker401

Magna International, (TSX:MG.A) in joint partnership with the National Research Council, is opening a new $7.2M research and development facility in Concord, Ontario with the help of the federal government. This facility will focus on the development of lightweight, low cost, environmentally friendly, safer and more durable car parts for future cars designed with reduced fuel consumption needs in mind. The Magna-NRC Composite Centre of Excellence will be fitted with state of the art moulding equipment for thermoplastic compounds such as direct long fibre and sheet moulding compound.

Bob Brownlee, President of Magna Exteriors and Interiors, stated that “the Magna-NRC Composite Centre of Excellence will help reinforce Magna’s position as a supplier of lightweight, cost-effective composite solutions to the global automotive market.” Although this may not create a substantial amount of new jobs, Canadian Auto Workers union economist Jim Stanford says “It’s very important for Canada to develop our made-in-Canada expertise in the auto industry. For too long we relied on foreign companies to bring the technology, the machinery and the products to us and then we would manufacture them.” Soon the world will be looking to Canada for automotive parts and the technology to build them. Global fuel concerns make this project an exciting endeavor. Reduced weight equates to reduced consumption.
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Photo Credit: CBC

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Première Dalton Mcguinty seems to feel that during this recession- the biggest global economic recession in 80 years – it is necessary to review Canadian assets and look at the possibility of selling off certain properties such as Hydro One, the OLG and Racetracks, and the Liquor Control Board. Two banks, CIBC World Markets and Goldman Sachs Group, are reviewing these assets in addition to others, to determine whether selling these off would indeed be beneficial in slimming down the $24.7 billion deficit which Tory MPP Peter Shurman explains was of the Premiers own making. A final decision has yet to be made but the proposal is on the table.

Critics point out that the government would be able to book revenue only to the extent that the sale price exceeds the book value of the asset, making this option less attractive when viewed in the proper context. NDP leader Andrea Horwath said: “It’s quick cash but you wind up paying through the nose everyday. This government is reaching into the past for a tired old idea that doesn’t work.” She explained that selling off public assets is a disastrous idea that will cost Ontario in the long run. “It’s very clear that when these public assets are sold off, the public gets a bad deal,” she said. Ironically, it was just the other week when Finance Minister Dwight Duncan stood up in the Legislature and reamed the PCs for having sold off Highway 407 to a private company that can now raise its toll rates at will.
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Liberal MP Scott Brison Photo Credit: CBC

Scott Brison, a Liberal MP, recently mailed out his Christmas card to constituents and supporters. As politicians’ Christmas cards go, it is pretty typical. It is attractive and depicts a pastoral scene. The only difference from other cards is that it includes Brison and his same-sex partner. It is also the first same-sex married MP Christmas card. Predictably, there were some hateful, homophobic comments posted on websites, and these sites removed these postings and closed the comments sections.

A few caveats are required. As a heterosexual male, I don’t claim to be an expert on gay culture, but I do sympathize with homosexuals and others when they are faced with discrimination and hostility. At the same time, I do not think it requires a lot of courage to do so, since I believe the level of hostility toward gays has diminished (although obviously has not been eliminated) over the past few decades. Homophobia in Canada, I believe, may now be approaching the degree of stigmatization that racism towards African Canadians has today. The stigmatization of these hateful sentiments, of course, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist or that polite racism and bigotry doesn’t occur.
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The Christmas Card

The House of Commons has adjourned until January 25th, so the well of political intrigue might be a bit dry for the next few weeks. In the spirit of the season, though, one of the things that stirred up some political watchers this week was a Christmas card. Not the economy, torture in Afghanistan, nor the mess in Copenhagen. No, the issue that had (some) Canadians rushing to the blogosphere was Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison’s Christmas card.

The photo on the front of Mr. Brison’s card is a family portrait. It shows him and his husband, Maxime St. Pierre, posing against the pleasant backdrop of a rural Nova Scotia landscape in the company of a golden retriever. The marriage itself is old news (it happened in 2007) and Mr. Brison has been “out” for several years. Being openly gay has not hurt his political fortunes in the least, and even after crossing the floor to join the Liberal Party, his constituents happily returned him to office.
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Promoting Politics: Quentin Durgens, MP
Photo Credit: CBC

This article was sparked by an earlier posting from Jason Darby and deals with the elephant in the room or I guess more precisely the digital elephant in the blog. How do we encourage more political participation and an informed vote among Canadians?

There is no doubt that political apathy and political cynicism has increased significantly around the world over the past four decades. The reasons for this are numerous. People have significantly less free time these days. Moreover, there is now a lot of what has been referred to as “ Data Smog”. Whether one is a politician, a businessperson or an entertainer, you have a lot more competition these days and you have to compete for attention in a glut of information in the news media and internet.
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Rex in all his controversy...
Photo Credit: National Speakers bureau

As of late anyone reading InformedVote will have noticed the writings of Brian Gordon and his vitriol against Rex Murphy. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are litanies of reasons why I too personally despise the man, but I cannot bring myself as far as Mr. Gordon to demand that he be obligated to report what Brian thinks is the true NEWS.

Before digressing into the whole issue of “what is NEWS”, let us clear up a few things on the topic of Rex Murphy. Like most people from western Canada I find him uncouth, unsophisticated, and possessing of the ranting-ignoramus-fisherman personality us Westerners are often too eager to paint on anyone born east of Riviere de Loop. As unfair as we out West may be at times, the painting of this brush on Rex has, for ontological reasons, been fair. My own problem with Rex is not that he has strong opinions, just that when I look at his analysis it appears that he sets out to take contrarian views (often actually popular minority opinions) simply for the opportunity to intentionally produce a rant that will both offend a predictable opposition, but at the same time not be so extreme as to create any serious blow-back from a unified Canadian front. Let me be clear on this – I believe Rex does this intentionally, calculated, methodically, and simply to be in the spotlight. This is precisely why I, and no one else who takes seriously thought, learning, and writing, can honestly have a soft spot for the man. One cannot purposely be a contrarian; being a contrarian is a burden that one bears BECAUSE one has sought out truth – this is supposed to be an involuntary burden. Now for ontology…
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What will it take for Canadians to rebel against the mismanagement of their hard-earned tax dollars?
Photo Credit: DoobyBrain.com

If you can’t tell right off the bat, I’m blatantly plagiarizing the not-yet-late and great Bob Dylan. But whereas Bob was talking about peace and love, I’m talking about pure old cash. That’s right. The evil force that makes our world go round (second most powerful force after gravity). You see, I’m getting exasperated folks. Unemployment rates are sky-rocketing while many individuals and businesses have been forced into bankruptcy because their money-making niche has flat-out disappeared. Governments are cutting back on social programs, dipping their hands into public coffers while denying the public of much needed community programs. Everyone’s running in the red. What is going on, we wonder. It’s a recession, we’re told. You and I both know that if I were to join the crusade of investigative journalism, all I would have to report are useless and senseless facts and figures which even the most uneducated person in Canada with a wit of common sense would disparagingly shake their head at. Not to mention a bunch of “did not return my call” and “refused to comment”. In the face of so much adversity, how can we possibly get at the truth?
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Should they share the blame?
Photo Credit: The Age

As the world turns its attention to the climax of the climate summit in Copenhagen this week, it is worth considering some of the criticism that has been aimed at the Canadian government over the last month or so. Much of it has been vitriolic in nature and seemingly unrelenting in the build up to the meeting in the Danish capital. And as has been the case in the preceding months, much of it has centred on the issue of the Athabasca Oil Sands and the lingering fallout from Canada’s failure to adhere to their Kyoto pledge of lowering carbon emissions. The question though, is whether this sustained anger is justified?

George Monbiot, writing for the British Guardian newspaper last month, declared that ‘’this thuggish petro-state is today the greatest obstacle to a deal in Copenhagen.” And while Monbiot is known by some in his home country for his reactionary journalism and bluntly made points, it was still enough to provoke a reply from the Canadian government. In an article, also published in the Guardian, Jim Prentice, Canada’s minister for the environment, claimed “Canada will continue to play an active and constructive role at Copenhagen.” Prentice’s claims seem to have been in earnest, as UN climate change chief Yvo de Boer commented last week that Canada has been “negotiating very constructively” in Copenhagen.
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Embattled Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Photo Credit: CBC

In a span of just a few short weeks, Stephen Harper and his minority Conservative government have demonstrated a near total lack of credibility on two important issues which have dominated Canadian news – their stance on the environment and their knowledge and involvement in the alleged torture of detainees in Afghanistan.

The two issues are not by themselves connected, but they have managed to induce Mr. Harper and his government to deal with them in a strikingly similar fashion; that is, they first vehemently deny that any such issues exist, then they categorically refute that they have played any role in creating or contributing to the existence of these issues, and finally they attempt to downplay any legitimacy of the criticisms cast against them for their inability to deal forthrightly with the repercussions of their actions and or inactions once the issues and the government’s complicity with them have been exposed.
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