More Lies From Harper Inc.

By now, most Canadians are probably aware that truth and the Harper regime are total strangers. Whether talking about the cost estimates of F-35 jets, knowledge about the Wright-Duffy-Wallin Senate scandal, reasons for taking rides from military helicopters to return from the cottage, spending $50 million on gazebos, everything the government says is suspect. People become used to such dishonesty, deceit and contempt, but I hope they never become inured to these egregious signs of overweening pride and arrogance from the people who 'serve' us.

Recent claims of revisions to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program that would ensure employers offer jobs to Canadians first appear to be yet just another lie issued by the government to quell widespread discontent. A story in today's Edmonton Journal reports the following:

Hundreds of Alberta employers are being allowed to bring temporary foreign workers into the province at minimum wage despite a federal government requirement they be paid at or near market rates.

Internal documents reveal officials at Human Resources and Skill Development Canada are letting businesses like big restaurant chains and large nurseries pay imported employees as little as $9.75 an hour.

The Alberta Federation of Labour, which gained the truth through a federal access to information request, says of the foreign workers,

“They’re being used as pawns by employers who don’t want to respond to the market signals that are telling them they need to raise wages”.

And the implication of this deceitful practice has implications far beyond the temporary workers directly affected:

Don Drummond, a former chief economist with TD Bank and deputy minister with the federal finance department, worries the documents show the TFW program is being used to artificially suppress wages in the province’s labour market despite a robust economy.

“If this program is creating a substantial number of positions at minimum wage,” said Drummond, “it’s dragging down wages throughout the province’s entire economy.”

Predictably, Dr. Kellie Leitch, the federal labour minister, did not respond to written questions about why this is being allowed.

Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865 with the 13th Amendment to the Consitution. Apparently it continues under another name in our own country today.

Oh I Can Think Of So Many Ways This Is Relevant

They Still Walk Among Us

I have always felt a deep, abiding respect and affection for people of integrity. During my career as an English teacher, I took special delight in teaching plays like Arthur Miller's The Crucible and Robert Bolt's Man For All Seasons, which told stories of real-life people who made the ultimate sacrifice to stay true to themselves and their beliefs.

Happily, those with integrity are not confined to either the history or literary pages. They still walk among us. People like Munir Sheikh, the former head of Statistics Canada who resigned his post rather than have his name, reputation and work brought down into the slime by the Harper regime. People like Nelson Mandela, who, rather than grasping at early release from prison in exchange for renouncing the African National Congress, served 27 years in prison and later became both the president and moral leader of South Africa.

People like Kevin Page.

Page, the Parliamentary Budget Officer about whom I have written several times on this blog, will be completing his mandate and leaving office on March 25, no doubt much to the relief of the Harper regime, which has been persistently reminded of its fiscal ineptitude, lies, and manipulation of public information by his indefatigable quest for truth and accountability. The F-35 fighter jet debacle is perhaps one of the most obvious examples of the above litany of Harper shortcomings, and a steady target of the PBO, but not the last.

The Star's Tim Harper has a profile of the self-effacing Page in today's edition that is well-worth reading. As well, this editorial in the Montreal Gazetter, this piece in The Star, and this article from Macleans are also well-worth perusal.

For the sake of our national psyche, I believe it is incumbent upon us to honor heroes while they still walk among us.

More From Allan Gregg: In Defence of Reason

Pollster Allan Gregg, now spending much of his time offering critiques of the Harper regime and its dangerous demagogic inclinations, has written a followup to his talk “1984 in 2012: The Assault on Reason.”

Writing in today's Star, he discusses public reaction to his speech, which essentially went viral, and offers some thoughts on where we can go from here in channeling our dissatisfaction with the dangerous anti-intellectual approach to government embraced by Harper and his acolytes.

I encourage anyone who wants better for this country to spend a few minutes with his ideas.

A Q&A With Allan Gregg

Many thanks to Accidental Deliberations for providing information on this Q&A with Allan Gregg, a good companion piece for his Assault On Reason article/speech. This Hill Times article on Gregg's thesis is also worth perusal.

If You Say It Enough Times ...

Recently I have been writing about the vital role critical thinking plays in a healthy democracy; this morning, after reading the letters section of The Star, I couldn't help but think about one of the oldest and most frequently-used techniques to inhibit that process: repetition.

Repetition , a strategy frequently accompanied by displays of demagoguery and fear-mongering, works on the premise that if you say something frequently enough, it will be perceived by many as true. A strategy especially favoured by the reactionary set, perhaps one the best examples is the myth that both small and large-c conservatives are good fiscal managers. A check of the fiscal health of both Canada and the United States over the past 30 years or so when under conservative rule easily puts the lie to that fable.

Yet the belief persists.

This morning, a letter written by Gary Brigden from Toronto, in part addresses this issue. Enjoy:

Re: Canada getting less competitive, Business Sept. 6

Once again the facts get in the way of pronouncements from the Harper government.

According to the World Economic Forum, Canada has slipped to 14th place in world standings in global economic competitiveness. Since 2009, Canada has slipped five spots in global competitiveness. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been in charge the whole time, yet he always speaks about how well Canada is doing compared to the rest of the world.

How is it that with all of our natural resources, our stable banking system and supposedly superior education system, we continue to slide downwards in global competitiveness?

Well, it turns out our education system is not training youth for the jobs of the future. Our research and development lags way behind most countries. And, most importantly, our government’s role in promoting innovation through procurement practices is severely lacking.

Ironically, while the Harper government seems to think lower wages, less safe work environments brought about through legislation and less attention to the environment overall will miraclously boost our GNP, the opposite is true.

As is usually the case, democratic socialist goverments account for 8 of the top 10 placements in global competitveness.

How is it again we keep hearing from Conservative and Republican governments that we must give more tax breaks to the corporations and rich people to create jobs, while the facts claim and prove the exact opposite?

The Assault on Reason

Yesterday I wrote a post on the important role education plays in the development of critical thinking skills, skills that are crucial for anyone who aspires to being something more than a puppet of government and corporate propaganda. Unfortunately, as I noted, current education reforms under consideration in Ontario will undermine the building of those skills.

Last evening I read an excellent article by Allan Gregg, essentially the speech he gave at the opening of Carleton University’s new School of Public Affairs.

Using Orwell's 1984 as his framework, Gregg offers a disturbing analysis of how the Harper government is in fact enacting the very practices that Orwell warned about in his novel. For example, Ignorance is Strength, a well-known oxymoronic slogan from the novel, seems to be one of the chief strategies at work in the Harper formulation of public policy; the elimination of the long-form census, the muzzling of scientists, the dismantling of research stations and the substantial reduction of workforce at the Library and Archives of Canada are but four very disturbing examples.

I cannot recommend his piece strongly enough. Although somewhat lengthy, it is well-worth the read for anyone who recognizes the vital role that an informed and reflective citizenry plays in a healthy democracy.

And ours is without question a democracy whose health is under threat; in my home province of Ontario, for example, young Tim Hudak begins the process of trying to rebrand himself, a rebooting whose success without doubt will be dependent on the voters' collective amnesia and short attention spans. Federally, of course, the Harper regime seems intent on giving corporate profits supremacy over sound environmental protection, just one of the many challenges posed by a government contemptuous of its citizens.

Congratulations To The Harper Government

May the Prime Minister and his party enablers wear this award with distinction!

P.S. Check out some of the readers' comments on the site as well.

On Corruption and Political Disengagement

Last night I had a long telephone conversation with my good friend Dave, who lives in Winnipeg. Like me (and probably more so), Dave has a keenly developed sense of justice and fair play, and when those values are violated, he is outraged. Last evening, as he was telling me about the latest developments in what seems to be a deep well of corruption, cronyism and conflict of interest infecting Winnipeg municipal politics, I asked him how the malefactors, who barely seem to be making an effort to conceal their nefarious deeds, escape civic accountability.

A good part of the answer, and the part I feel I can discuss here, is voter apathy and disengagement.

I have written previously on the problems our democratic traditions are experiencing these days under a federal government that displays egregious contempt for what the electorate thinks or wants. My own theory is that the Harper regime is doing everything it can to disillusion and estrange citizens from participation so that only the true believers (right-wing ideologues, for example) turn out at the polls while most others remain at home. That surely explains, at least in part, what happened in the last federal election when a minority of Canadians gave Harper the majority he so long coveted.

And it explains Harper's refusal, to take any responsibility for having lied to the public about the true costs of the F-35 jets. Equally damning and shameful, he refuses to require any ministerial responsibility, in this case from the incompetent and dishonest Minister of Defense, Peter MacKay.

However, this is one small speck of light on the horizon, as explained by Bob Hepburn, who writes about Harper’s cynical assault on democracy in today's Star. I hope you will find the time to read his piece.

More Fabrications from MacKay

The Indefensible Defense Minister, Peter MacKay, continues to insult the intelligence of all thinking Canadians. As one who has followed the F-35 jet issue somewhat closely for the past year, I am astounded by his latest contemptible 'explanation' that he says proves there was no intention on the part of his government to mislead anyone on the acquisition costs of the jets: an accounting nuance explains the $10 million discrepancy between the real cost of $25 billion and the $15 billion the government adhered to.

I won't even bother wasting my time or yours in pointing out the absolute inadequacy of his explanation. The moral bankruptcy surrounding this issue and indeed the entire Harper regime is obvious for all to see, as is their contempt for all of us.

One more note: As pointed out recently by the always thorough Sixth Estate, throughout the election campaign the Tories referred to the inviolate contract they had for the purchase of the F-35 jets at $75 million a pop. Recent weeks have seen those same Tories claim no contract has been signed, and so no money is in jeopardy. In today's Globe, MacKay warned there would be a cost to cancelling a multi-billion-dollar purchase deal with Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor.

You figure it out. I'm going to pour myself another cup of coffee and get on with my day.