The Remaking of Canada in the Neo-Conservative Image

In the world of unfettered capitalism, everything has a price and nothing is sacred. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, the neocon knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. I was reminded of that this morning as I read Christopher Hume's latest column in the Star entitled The great public sell-off continues, in which he explores the consequences of trying to commercialize our public assets.

It begins, From sidewalks and schools to the CBC, the public realm is under siege at every turn.

He later offers the following observation about the consequences of the frantic effort to make money off of our public intstitutions :

But once that happens, it no longer belongs to us. Organizational needs will be served, but not those of the user. And as institutions are forced to turn themselves into businesses, our connection to them becomes a variation on the relationship between consumers and corporations. They act on their own behalf, not ours.

Federally, under the Harper regime we bear witness to the gradual and probably irreversible dismantling of the Canada that we have known for so long. In other jurisdictions, both provincial and municipal, the same process is apace.

If any of this concerns you, I hope you will spare a couple of minutes to read the rest of Hume's thoughts on the matter.