Terrorist Goose!

After a short, yet substantive joint investigation conducted by the FBI and CIA, the Bush administration has finally confirmed that terrorist birds were responsible for taking down US Airways flight 1549 into the Hudson River. Canadian Geese, grown, raised and trained in Canada by Al-Qaida were able to miraculously infiltrate the Canadian-U.S. border to conduct their attacks. It remains unclear how the birds were able to penetrate one of the most heavily protected borders in the world.

Bush wasted no time reacting to the terrorist attack, further showing his quick response rate to disasters and his ability to protect America. Fearing a second terrorist bird plot, FBI agents have been ordered to detain all Canadian geese found on U.S. soil. All detained geese will be sent straight to Guantanamo Bay pending an unfair trial. The move is expected to increase Bush’s approval rating as he nears the end of his term.
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Can Harper save the economy with his budget?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced some preliminary information on the upcoming budget today. Spending on infrastructure, tax cuts, and revamping the employment insurance program were all discussed as potential methods to revive our economy. As well, a discussion on how the money will be raised, in order to meet these goals, took place. Harper has definitely come an awful long way since denying there were any economic issues just a few months ago.

Will the budget stand its ground against the opposition parties? Based on this announcement, it seems like it can, as long as Harper genuinely intends to include said measures. Harper will also need to think of some creative way to procure the billions of dollars that are needed to see this plan come to fruition.
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CUPE National President Paul Moist denounces Sid Ryan's proposed resolution.

CUPE National president, Paul Moist, released a statement on January 13th calling Sid Ryan’s proposal wrong and discriminatory.

“As the national president of Canada’s largest union, with over 580,000 members, I can say that none of CUPE’s over 2,000 chartered bodies – including CUPE Ontario – have adopted such a resolution. I believe such a resolution is wrong and would violate the anti-discrimination standards set out in the CUPE Constitution. I will be using my influence in any debates on such a resolution to oppose its adoption.”
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In another embarrassing study conducted by the Dominion Institute, Canadians simply don’t know much about Canada or Canadian politics. A national survey has found that approximately 2 in 5 Canadians don’t know who our first prime minister was. For you 40%, it was Sir John A. Macdonald.

I’m not really surprised. Right after the recent fiasco that took place in our government, another study was released that showed a majority of Canadians don’t know we don’t directly elect our Prime Minister, who our head of state is, or how to describe our system of government.  Let me be even more specific for you: 51% of Canadians were unaware that we don’t directly elect our Prime Minister. 51%! No wonder this past federal election recorded the lowest voter turnout in election history, no one cares about Canadian politics! If you’ve ever bothered to exercise your democratic right to vote, you’d notice that nowhere on the voting ballot is the name of any of the Prime Minister’s running for the position.
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a far less dreary outlook on the state of the Canadian economy in a recent interview with Maclean’s magazine.

Harper believes that Canada is in a strong economic position compared with others and should be able to exit the recession relatively quickly.

Has Harper changed his tune for the benefit of the Canadian people? It’s obvious that this is a move of a political nature. Remember everyone, Parliament isn’t in session currently, and when it does come back, we may be heading back to the voting booths should the idea of a coalition government still be present. Yet, political observers believe that Harper will remain in power. As well, the Liberals have backed off from their attacks, and Harper himself has stated that he doesn’t want to go back to the polls.
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As an English Quebecer via BC and Ontario, I believe I might have a more well rounded view of the Harper Prime Ministership than some regionally biased political junkies. This is not to say that I am fat. Yet.

My recent Christmas visit to the East Coast unearthed an unbridled hate for Mr. Harper who in no particular order is: “taking Canada down the US Republican road,”  “destroying our cultural heritage,” “lacking in vision,” “ EVIL!” “stealing Atlantic Accords from deserving Atlantians” etc. etc. etc. Yet on the other coast, my British Columbia friends are prepared to turf every remaining Liberal west of Winnipeg as a result of coalition agreement signed with the NDP and the BLOC. And yes Jake, Iggy did sign the deal. Meanwhile, my Ontario friends sigh at the long road ahead for the federal Liberal Party. And mes amis en Québec are content to see who will give them the most money in the end.
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On Friday January 2nd, 2008, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty hinted at more tax cuts to “stimulate” the economy. He is trying, yet again, to fool Canadians who do not understand the details of how the economy works. For example, the people who need economic relief the most are those who are very poor or who are out of a job. How will a tax cut benefit someone who doesn’t have enough money in the first place to even pay taxes? Furthermore, lower and middle income earners will only receive a couple hundred dollars at most as a result of this tax cut. Will this really stimulate the economy? I don’t think so.
When Canadians get tax cuts, the only way that it can stimulate the economy is if people choose to spend their extra money on Canadian products. However, in times like these, Canadians are more likely to use the money to pay off their own debts, or if they do choose to spend it, they will likely spend it on cheap imported products from places like China. This means that much of the savings that Flaherty thinks will go into the economy will actually never do so.
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Multiculturalism is widely accepted by Canadians, and overall seen as a good thing. Many Canadians, in fact, pride themselves on living in one of the most pluralistic, diverse, and peaceful societies on earth. Trudeau, in 1971, said: “For although there are two official languages, there is no official culture.” His statement reflects the view of most Canadians today.

Since then, there has been a dramatic shift away from a “two founding nations” ideal, which emphasized Canada’s British and French roots. Many people see that Canada’s population has always been heterogenous: even before contact with Europeans, the 250,000 or 300,000 inhabitants of what is now Canada consisted of 50 distinct societies belonging to 12 linguistic groups. After the French arrived and colonized New France, those living in the Maritimes became differentiated from the rest as Acadians. Later, in the 1800s, the Métis emerged from intermarriages. Then, the English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh arrived – and soon after, German and Dutch individuals. Today, Canada takes in more immigrants per capita than any other nation, and first-generation immigrants make up over half of our annual population growth.

And just as with any idea (new or old) in politics, there are multiple criticisms that have emerged of it. These come from every angle on the political compass.
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Canada, along with the most powerful nations in the world, recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization. Throughout most of the history of the Gaza Strip, these terrorists have not recognized Israel’s right to exist. As a result, they suicide bomb, fire rockets, and do everything they can to maim Israel. In return, Israel responds by taking out as many of the terrorists as possible. The difference between the two sides is that one attacks innocent civilians and one attacks recognized terrorists. These are the facts. People may argue that there are innocent civilian casualties killed by the Israelis, but isn’t that a part of war? No military in the world would be capable of completely avoiding civilians in such a densely populated area such as Gaza.
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Just a day after the US unveiled its plan to provide $17.4 billion to cash-strapped General Motors and Chrysler, Canada has announced its intentions to provide $4 billion of emergency loans to support the Canadian subsidiaries of the Big Three automakers. Harper also announced that auto parts suppliers will get improved insurance while vehicle buyers will get more access to credit.

“We will extend additional account-receivable insurance coverage for automotive suppliers through the Export Development Corp. And we will create a new facility to support access to credit for consumers. Taken together, these measures demonstrate that Canada is taking a holistic approach along the supply chain — manufacturers, suppliers and consumers,” he said.

Ontario will provide $1.3 billion with the rest funded by Ottawa. During his speech, Harper made clear that this was not a “blank cheque,” and by March 31st, 2009, the automakers must show that solid restructuring plans are underway. In another excerpt from his speech:

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