Reflections, Observations, and Analyses Pertaining to the Canadian Political Scene
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The Sad Tale of the Bumbling, Prevaricating Defense Minister Continues
Would You Buy A Used Car From This Man?
In the half-century since that race, we rarely feel the need to ask that question anymore, our assumption being that politicians by and large can't be trusted, that they are in fact hiding a great deal from those whose electoral support they are seeking.
Thomas Walkom's excellent column in today's Star takes a look at Stephen Harper's abuse of the public trust, suggesting that once it is lost, it is very very difficult to regain.
After all, would you trust this man to buy an F-35 jet for you?
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
How Long Before This Lynch Mob Mentality Comes To Canada?
Linda McQuaig on Harper Austerity
She mentions a certain picture at the beginning of her column, which I am reproducing below:
An Inconvenient Truth For The Right Wing To Digest
Finally, the inconvenient truth that many of us believe is held by the majority of Canadians is emerging: most agree that a moderate increase in income taxation is both acceptable and desirable.
While I am sure that there are, even now, strategies afoot in the PMO to discredit it, The Broadbent Institute, the progressive analogue to the Manning Institute, has released the following poll results:
...a majority of Canadians — including most Conservative voters and wealthy individuals — would support higher taxes to fight income inequality.
Higher taxes are supposedly political dynamite but the poll — the first major survey for the newly founded left-leaning Broadbent Institute — suggests the toxicity of taxation has been exaggerated and is the product of a concerted “ideological” campaign, says Ed Broadbent, the institute’s namesake.
You can read the entire story in this morning's Toronto Star.
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Conservative Mind Equated With 'Low-Effort' Thinking'
For those of us who have been following closely the antics of the Harper Conservatives and their supporters, there are few surprises in the report.
UPDATE: Closely related to this study is an article on AlterNet etitled, The Science of Fox News: Why Its Viewers are the Most Misinformed.
Enjoy!
The Remaking of Canada in the Neo-Conservative Image
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.