Photo Credit: Canwest News Service

On January 18, the Harper government announced the appointment of a new chair to the Commission for Public Complaints about the RCMP (CPC) – the organization tasked with conducting investigations into complaints about our national police force. Ian McPhail, a lawyer specializing in wills & real estate and a long-time contributor to the Conservative Party was appointed to the position despite having no previous experience in criminal law. In an interview with Colin Freeze of the Globe & Mail, Mr. McPhail told Freeze “you probably know more about the background [of the CPC] than I do”.

Paul Kennedy, the outgoing chair of the CPC expressed concern over McPhail’s qualifications, as well as the seemingly partisan nature of the appointment. Both he and Shirley Heafey, the previous CPC chair, had extensive experience working with federal security and regulatory bodies before taking on the role as chair of the CPC. McPhail’s only experience working with a federal security agency was his week long appointment as vice-chair of the CPC just prior to the January 18th announcement.
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I am a firm believer that despite everyone’s claims, very few are in fact informed voters. We settle for half truths and in many cases have no concept of what our rights are as voters. It is up to us to make decisions we feel good about and our current political system does not allow for that. Most tend to vote for the best of the worst as opposed to someone they have confidence in whose platforms actually address the realities facing society. Someone who will make good on what they promise us. Someone who will stand up to corporate pressures, and do what’s right, not what the highest bidder wants them to do. Someone you can look in the eye, ask a question, and get a real legitimate answer. Most of all, what we need is someone who is not afraid to make tough, yet necessary decisions. Someone who will be accountable for those decisions. Someone who has some actual experience dealing with the problems they are charged to solve. I mean, seriously, how can someone who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth actually have a viable solution for poverty and homelessness? They can’t. And this disconnect is what ails society the most. This part of society has no political voice as in order to get a politician’s ear, your checkbook needs to be in your hand. Yet, ironically it is these people that need a strong government and leadership the most.
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The Canadian government's bureaucracy is hiding the ineffectiveness of our current political system.

My esteemed colleagues here at InformedVote.ca have done an amazing job over the last week bringing to light non-publicized, yet incredibly important facts and figures normally lost in the massive bureaucratic vacuum that is organizing and leading this country of ours down the road to…where? I no longer know what to think. What are we achieving as a country? Delinquent on our promises to reduce emissions, maintain economic integrity, fight terrorism and protect social services, it’s becoming obvious to me that Canadians as a whole have lost their idealism. We can blame our politicians all we want, but the sad fact is that these public figures we’re so quick to criticize are elected by us, the Canadian public.

Once every few years, a steadily declining number of us don our thinking caps, pay attention to a few of the insults thrown back and forth between political parties, and decide to grant stewardship of this great nation to the group that appears to be the least ignorant, arrogant and threatening.
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We may have escaped a general election this fall, but four ridings are going to the polls November 9 for by-elections. The two Quebec ridings will likely remain BQ, but the other two ridings, one each in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, are in play, largely between the Conservatives and the NDP. The outcomes won’t shift the balance of power in Ottawa, but they could test Harper’s ability to win a majority. And for child, youth, and family advocates, they isolate and juxtapose these two parties’ family policies in a way that’s usually not possible.

In the BC riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam, there are four candidates, but it’s really a two-horse race between NDP Finn Donnelly and Conservative Diana Dilworth. This riding has swung between NDP and Conservative for years, both candidates have been municipal politicians for years, and both work for environmental non-profits. Donnelly, born and raised in the area, is a local hero for twice swimming the length of the Fraser River to bring attention to sustainability issues. Dilworth’s bio notes that, as a single parent of two adult children, she understands the stresses of raising a family. But she also understands business, having worked in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and having run her own business.
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I’m confused.

After years of experiencing the slow, muddling governments of Ontario and the swashbuckling antics of British Columbia politicians, I’m baffled by the laissez-faire provincial ministrations in Quebec. Mind you, I’ve only lived here since 2001. I’m part of the first wave of a growing English migration moving into the province – for futures sake.

Let me say straight off, as a writer, that moving to Montreal has been one of the better decisions of my life. This is a truly wonderful, welcoming and creative city – with a brightening future. This despite being about two generations behind the rest of Canada in some ways – thanks to previous political upheavals.

As a new arrival in sexy Montreal, you are handed a medical card, drug card, a cheap rent apartment and access to numerous free access socialized services like swimming pools, skating rinks and libraries. And you don’t even have to speak French all that much any more. Certainly less than 2001. Though it sure helps if you want a real job.
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Honourable Iggy thinks our PM is playing games again.  According to Lord Ig, Mr. Harper has no respect for Parliament because he’s letting a few choice budget details slip out beforehand. Before we all get our shorts in a knot, let’s not forget that this budget slippage scenario was I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) started by none other than … Paul Martin.

Mind you, Paul’s strategy was meant to gently stoke the peace loving natives and booming markets of our great Dominion – in times of plenty. Mr. Harper’s may well be designed to divide and conquer them. A measly $1-billion for displaced workers. Buzz Hargrove wanted that for the auto sector alone. Sure enough, he’s turning the air blue on the phone already.  But who is he talking to?  Is it smilin’ Jack and his blinkered bunch of budget busters. Or is it Iggy – Buzz’s future boss when he finally pursues his political career.

Meanwhile here in Quebec, Gilles Duceppe and Pauline Marois watch gleefully as their approval ratings climb – for doing diddly squat. And Premier Charest looks for another way to suck more dough out of the federal coffers to keep his propped up. God only knows where it all goes. Our provincial health care system is abysmal, our taxes outrageous, water pipes are bursting in air and we’re decades behind the R.O.C. on more than one portfolio.
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Could it be true? That the NDP party is going to become redundant in the next federal election. I sure hope so for the sake of a renewed federal Liberal party and a stronger two party system. After all, for a country of 30 million persons, do we really need five “national” political parties?

While the great infrastructure begging contest goes on in earnest, the NDP is sending clear signals that they’ll likely vote against the upcoming federal budget – no matter what it contains. Apparently, they’ve been overcome by the scent of power and would like to chance it on their own coalition terms.

Government cheques for everyone!
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President-elect Barack Obama Will Make His First Presidential Visit to Canada

President-elect Barack Obama has announced that his first international trip as the newly elected President of the United States will be to Canada.

The Prime Minister’s office confirms that the president-elect has accepted Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s invitation to visit Canada soon after he is inaugurated on January 20th.

Transition aides for the president-elect say that Obama picked the United States neighbour to north as his first trip within North America as president, but they could not discuss the date for the trip or its itinerary.

The Office of the Prime Minister has also said that it has been in close contact with Obama’s transition team and an official for the transition team says that aides for the president-elect and Harper have been discussing specifics of the trip in recent days.
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Canada’s Conservative Party would win a strong majority if an election were to be held today, according to a newly released poll by the Ottawa Citizen’s website. Canadians favour the Conservatives over the Liberals 45% to 26%. 12% of Canadians would vote for the NDP. These results come just 2 months after the Conservatives won a minority government with 37.6% of the vote.

So why the drastic change in public opinion? Canadians are just simply fed up with thinking about the prospects of another election or a coalition government forming. Almost two-thirds of respondents indicated they would prefer Ignatieff find a compromise with Harper to keep the Conservatives in power. After all, $300 million of taxpayers money was spent on the recent election. The poll also indicated the Liberals attempt to form a coalition with the Bloc a major factor in the shift of support towards Harper. As well, 7 out of 10 respondents agreed with the decision to prorogue government.
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The economy is fine... I promise!

I think Harper must be dizzy from all the turning around he has been doing about the economy. Harper had been saying for weeks and weeks that the economy was fine – both before and after the election. Then part way into November, he stopped and headed in the other direction, announcing that this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The next natural step would be to have his finance minister announce a sound economic plan to stimulate the economy to try and lessen the impact of this crisis. However, it appears that Harper, in his dizzy state, turned around once more and decided that the situation is not as bad as it seems.

This leaves Canada with no stimulus package in what is projected to be a very serious global recession. This has also left Canada with millions of angry individuals who are scared they might lose their jobs or may not be able to support their families. Included in those millions are a few important people such as the members of the Liberal, NDP, and Bloq Parties.
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