Many of the worst excesses of the age of greed occurred in markets that were anything but free, anything but transparent. Government must be there to clean up markets riven by fraud, corruption, insider trading and toxic products that made risk systemic. Competition demands that governments are prepared to use their anti-trust, anti-monopoly functions to dismantle institutions that have become “too big to fail.”
The above excerpt, taken from a piece recently written by Michael Ignatieff, sounds great, doesn't it?
Unfortunately, like his other suggestions found in the article, none will ever become reality for one simply reason: Today's political parties and their leaders are usually much more concerned about their own fortunes than they are about those of the larger society they govern or aspire to govern.
A safe prediction for 2012: Nothing will change.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Industry Canada Fails Yet Another Group of Canadian Workers
Hot on the heels of the Harper government's capitulation to U.S. Steel in Hamilton, yet another failure by Industry Canada to protect the interests of Canadians is evident in the latest contract 'offer' from London, Ontario-based Electro-Motive Canada, a subsidiary of U.S. industrial giant Caterpillar Inc.
The C.A.W. has taken a strike vote, with a Saturday night deadline, after the company offered to chop the workers' $35 hourly wage in half, the rejection of which seems to have bewildered the company:
We are disappointed that a competitive collective agreement could not be reached with the union,” the company said in a statement through Toronto public relations firm Fleischman-Hillard.
What is especially demoralizing about this situation is that it comes three years after $5 million in tax breaks [were] announced on the factory floor by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Although since sold to an American company, the government refuses, as it did in the U.S. Steel takeover of Stelco, to reveal the terms stipulated by the government in the purchase; Industry Canada, an increasing oxymoronic and redundant department thanks to the Harper government's policy of appeasement of the all things American, states: “It would be inappropriate to comment on this matter until the future of the plant is more clear.”
Happy New Year, everyone. Thanks to the incompetence or indifference of our political 'masters,' it sounds like 2012 will see 'business' as usual for unfettered capitalism and our rapid return to being hewers of wood and drawers of water.
The C.A.W. has taken a strike vote, with a Saturday night deadline, after the company offered to chop the workers' $35 hourly wage in half, the rejection of which seems to have bewildered the company:
We are disappointed that a competitive collective agreement could not be reached with the union,” the company said in a statement through Toronto public relations firm Fleischman-Hillard.
What is especially demoralizing about this situation is that it comes three years after $5 million in tax breaks [were] announced on the factory floor by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Although since sold to an American company, the government refuses, as it did in the U.S. Steel takeover of Stelco, to reveal the terms stipulated by the government in the purchase; Industry Canada, an increasing oxymoronic and redundant department thanks to the Harper government's policy of appeasement of the all things American, states: “It would be inappropriate to comment on this matter until the future of the plant is more clear.”
Happy New Year, everyone. Thanks to the incompetence or indifference of our political 'masters,' it sounds like 2012 will see 'business' as usual for unfettered capitalism and our rapid return to being hewers of wood and drawers of water.
Friday, December 30, 2011
If You Are What You Eat .....
Many thanks to my son for sending this link to a story that may give pause to those who are eager consumers of burgers from McDonald's.
Makes me also wonder how successful we can be at composting such fare.
Makes me also wonder how successful we can be at composting such fare.
Rick Salutin on The Decline of Deference to Authority
As is so frequently the case, The Star's Rick Salutin has written a thoughtful and original piece, this time on some of the factors involved in our increasingly dynamic resistance to traditional sources of authority. Thanks to the arrogance of the financial world, even after receiving massive taxpayer bailouts for their incompetence, coupled with the vast array of information afforded by the Internet, people now have a much greater opportunity to effectively challenge the status quo, as evidenced by the Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement, and even in the give-and-take of readers' forums on media sites.
It is an article that provides a framework for the changes we are seeing all around us.
It is an article that provides a framework for the changes we are seeing all around us.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Coming To An Institution Near You
I have long held a very critical view of institutions. Whether they be political, educational, religious, charitable or protective, I believe the effectiveness and integrity of any organization declines with age as self-interest, self-promotion, and lust for power and control supplant the original purposes of serving the common good.
Two recent reminders of the inevitability of institutional senescence are found in today's Toronto Star. The first details how an RCMP officer, Const. Susan Gastaldo, is facing dismissal after she was coerced into a sexual relationship with her superior officer, Staff-Sgt. Travis Pearson, while Pearson himself only faces the possibility of a demotion:
Lawyer Walter Kosteckyj, who represents Gastaldo in a separate civil case against the RCMP, says his client’s situation shows that those who bring forward complaints about the RCMP are more severely punished than those found guilty.
“Susan Gastaldo refused to bow down to pressure and, as a consequence, she could lose her job. The RCMP board decided she was more guilty than Pearson was even though he was a senior officer and maintained his denial up to the last day,” said Kosteckyj, a former RCMP officer.
He went on to say, “Time and time again, we have seen the RCMP is not interested in dealing with harassment and is more interested in protecting their present culture.”
As a retired teacher, I know only too well the measures that administrators will take to silence those it feels compromise the status quo or their own upward career trajectory, so the RCMP's reaction is hardly surprising to me.
The next instance involves a little girl being harassed, threatened, and both verbally and physically abused by a religious institution. No, I am not talking here about the Taliban, but rather another group of religious fanatics, some ultra-orthodox Jews in the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh who think they are doing God's will by expressing hatred and intolerance for those who don't share their views, which include the desire for sidewalk segregation of the sexes, and the use of “modesty patrols” which they have dispatched to enforce a chaste female appearance and [hurl] stones at offenders and outsiders. Walls of the neighborhood are plastered with signs exhorting women to dress modestly in closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts.
The little girl who has been an especially vulnerable target to this hate-group is 8-year-old student Naama Margolese. These religious fanatics have spat on her and called her a whore for dressing “immodestly.”
Nama attends a religious school and dresses with long sleeves and a skirt. Extremists, however, consider even that outfit, standard in mainstream Jewish religious schools, to be immodest.
Unfortunately, this kind of criminal behaviour has apparently been countenanced by the authorities because the Ultra-Orthodox hold a fair bit of political power.
I rest my case.
Two recent reminders of the inevitability of institutional senescence are found in today's Toronto Star. The first details how an RCMP officer, Const. Susan Gastaldo, is facing dismissal after she was coerced into a sexual relationship with her superior officer, Staff-Sgt. Travis Pearson, while Pearson himself only faces the possibility of a demotion:
Lawyer Walter Kosteckyj, who represents Gastaldo in a separate civil case against the RCMP, says his client’s situation shows that those who bring forward complaints about the RCMP are more severely punished than those found guilty.
“Susan Gastaldo refused to bow down to pressure and, as a consequence, she could lose her job. The RCMP board decided she was more guilty than Pearson was even though he was a senior officer and maintained his denial up to the last day,” said Kosteckyj, a former RCMP officer.
He went on to say, “Time and time again, we have seen the RCMP is not interested in dealing with harassment and is more interested in protecting their present culture.”
As a retired teacher, I know only too well the measures that administrators will take to silence those it feels compromise the status quo or their own upward career trajectory, so the RCMP's reaction is hardly surprising to me.
The next instance involves a little girl being harassed, threatened, and both verbally and physically abused by a religious institution. No, I am not talking here about the Taliban, but rather another group of religious fanatics, some ultra-orthodox Jews in the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh who think they are doing God's will by expressing hatred and intolerance for those who don't share their views, which include the desire for sidewalk segregation of the sexes, and the use of “modesty patrols” which they have dispatched to enforce a chaste female appearance and [hurl] stones at offenders and outsiders. Walls of the neighborhood are plastered with signs exhorting women to dress modestly in closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts.
The little girl who has been an especially vulnerable target to this hate-group is 8-year-old student Naama Margolese. These religious fanatics have spat on her and called her a whore for dressing “immodestly.”
Nama attends a religious school and dresses with long sleeves and a skirt. Extremists, however, consider even that outfit, standard in mainstream Jewish religious schools, to be immodest.
Unfortunately, this kind of criminal behaviour has apparently been countenanced by the authorities because the Ultra-Orthodox hold a fair bit of political power.
I rest my case.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Santa's Hit List
Well, here it is, Christmas Eve, and Santa has been rechecking his list, and five have been struck from it. This sad distinction goes to the following, who perhaps can be consoled by the fact that they have something in common: they are devoid of any recognizable morality; they have shown consistent contempt for the opinions and values of others, and they are all members of the same club, The Conservative Party of Canada.
5. Minister of National Defence Peter McKay - Peter has been an exceedingly naughty boy this year, living large at the expense of the taxpayer, and abusing what he mistakenly believes are his toys and lying when he gets caught. My sources reveal as a consequence of his bad behaviour, he will be on the no-toy list for decades to come.
4. Government House Leader Peter Van Loan – Struck from Santa's list for defending the indefensible, his novel but morally depraved explanation of why spreading false stories about Irwin Cotler was an exercise in free speech and good for democracy. Santa has grave doubts about whether he will ever see the error of his ways, and so a lifetime ban from the list is likely.
3. Jason Kenny, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism - Jason has had a busy year sowing discord and promoting Islamophobia, but his biggest sin, in Santa's eyes, is his betrayal of Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave Afghan interpreter who put his life and the lives of his family in danger to provide services to our troops, only to be told he really isn't in danger and thus can't emigrate to Canada. Another lifetime ban from Santa.
2. Environment Minister Peter Kent – His cabinet title and his name together constitute one of the clearest examples of oxymoron that either I or Santa have ever seen. For betraying Canadian integrity, for thumbing his nose at the world by putting profit before the effects of climate change that are already very apparent, Santa predicts a stormy time ahead for this less-than-sterling steward of Mother Nature.
1. Prime Minister Stephen Harper – The dear leader gets primacy of place on Santa's hit list for one very obvious reason. Without Harper, the moral bankruptcy infecting Canada today would not be possible. Setting a tone that shows only contempt for democracy, the courts, public opinion, and the health of developing nations, he, as the master puppeteer presiding over a feckless and opportunistic group of marionettes, is responsible for our current political moral vacuum, thus ensuring the disaffection of large numbers of Canadians, record low turnouts in elections, and general disgust with the political process, all part of his grand plan to ensure the Conservative Party as Canada's natural-governing party.
Usually a jolly and optimistic fellow, Santa holds out absolutely no hope of an Ebenezer Scrooge regeneration for this man's shriveled spirit.
Merry Christmas to some, and to some a good night.
5. Minister of National Defence Peter McKay - Peter has been an exceedingly naughty boy this year, living large at the expense of the taxpayer, and abusing what he mistakenly believes are his toys and lying when he gets caught. My sources reveal as a consequence of his bad behaviour, he will be on the no-toy list for decades to come.
4. Government House Leader Peter Van Loan – Struck from Santa's list for defending the indefensible, his novel but morally depraved explanation of why spreading false stories about Irwin Cotler was an exercise in free speech and good for democracy. Santa has grave doubts about whether he will ever see the error of his ways, and so a lifetime ban from the list is likely.
3. Jason Kenny, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism - Jason has had a busy year sowing discord and promoting Islamophobia, but his biggest sin, in Santa's eyes, is his betrayal of Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave Afghan interpreter who put his life and the lives of his family in danger to provide services to our troops, only to be told he really isn't in danger and thus can't emigrate to Canada. Another lifetime ban from Santa.
2. Environment Minister Peter Kent – His cabinet title and his name together constitute one of the clearest examples of oxymoron that either I or Santa have ever seen. For betraying Canadian integrity, for thumbing his nose at the world by putting profit before the effects of climate change that are already very apparent, Santa predicts a stormy time ahead for this less-than-sterling steward of Mother Nature.
1. Prime Minister Stephen Harper – The dear leader gets primacy of place on Santa's hit list for one very obvious reason. Without Harper, the moral bankruptcy infecting Canada today would not be possible. Setting a tone that shows only contempt for democracy, the courts, public opinion, and the health of developing nations, he, as the master puppeteer presiding over a feckless and opportunistic group of marionettes, is responsible for our current political moral vacuum, thus ensuring the disaffection of large numbers of Canadians, record low turnouts in elections, and general disgust with the political process, all part of his grand plan to ensure the Conservative Party as Canada's natural-governing party.
Usually a jolly and optimistic fellow, Santa holds out absolutely no hope of an Ebenezer Scrooge regeneration for this man's shriveled spirit.
Merry Christmas to some, and to some a good night.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Harper To U.N: Call Us When You Have Another War, But Mind Your Own Business Otherwise
In what is emerging as a clear pattern with the Harper government, or, as I like to call them, Canada's national embarrassment, master puppeteer Harper has essentially told the United Nations to mind its own business about our domestic matters, especially when it comes to the third-world conditions on our Indian reserves.
As reported by The Star's Thomas Walkom,
James Anaya, the UN’s special rapporteur on indigenous peoples ... states the obvious — that conditions at Attawapiskat and many other native communities are “dire.” He expresses the UN’s concern, which is his job. And he asks the Conservative government to comment.
The response of 'our' government could be succinctly, if a bit crudely, summed up as 'the one-finger salute', a figurative gesture that Harper has become quite practiced with, given his disdain for all opinions that differ from his own 'enlightened' view of the world.
I don't pretend to know the solution to the disaster that is so many of our reserves. I do know, however, that ignoring criticism hardly constitutes a constructive path to a solution.
As reported by The Star's Thomas Walkom,
James Anaya, the UN’s special rapporteur on indigenous peoples ... states the obvious — that conditions at Attawapiskat and many other native communities are “dire.” He expresses the UN’s concern, which is his job. And he asks the Conservative government to comment.
The response of 'our' government could be succinctly, if a bit crudely, summed up as 'the one-finger salute', a figurative gesture that Harper has become quite practiced with, given his disdain for all opinions that differ from his own 'enlightened' view of the world.
I don't pretend to know the solution to the disaster that is so many of our reserves. I do know, however, that ignoring criticism hardly constitutes a constructive path to a solution.
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