This Is Most Gratifying

I suspect that Adam Carroll, the Liberal staffer who established the Vikileaks Twitter account revealing embarrassing yet publicly-available information about Public Safety Minister Vic Toews was speaking for many of us today during his voluntary appearance before the Commons ethics committee today.

Despite the predictable bullying from member Dean Del Mastro, who insisted that Carroll must have been part of a Liberal conspiracy, Carroll said,

“I disagree with everything Mr. Del Mastro has said. To use his words ‘baseless smears’ or, in the acronym, B.S.”

You can read the entire satisfying account here.

A Solution to Our Political Apathy?

I would like to think that one needn't be a political junky to have at least a reasonable awareness of what our federal government is doing 'on our behalf.' Yet the fact is that we have political disengagement in this country that is reaching historic lows, if election turnouts are any indication. And we are confronted with the consequences of that disengagement on an almost daily basis with the Harper regime regularly showing its disdain, even contempt, for the citizens of Canada through its lies, profligate ministerial spending, and outright incompetence.

Of Harper's ongoing muzzling of our Environment Canada scientists, decried internationally, I will not even speak.

Some pundits suggest it is the very fact of these myriad abuses of democracy that have turned off many people from the entire process, something that I have opined on this blog is very much a part of the Tory agenda. In today's Globe Lawrence Martin, one of the few writers for Canada's self-proclaimed 'newspaper of record' that I have any respect for, has a suggestion that might address this problem, as well as give the federal NDP some staying power in its current momentum. Martin suggests the following:

The New Democrats need to show Canadians a new way, something at which the Liberals failed. Mr. Mulcair needs a far-reaching plan to reshape the way Ottawa works. A “restore democracy” charter that curbs absolute prime ministerial power, that clearly sets out checks and balances, that returns credibility to the committee system, that removes the Kremlin-like muzzle on government communications, that gives the Speaker new powers to end the Question Period farce, that limits patronage, and so on.

You can read his complete article here.

The Art of the Possible

People have to give Andrea Horwath full marks for putting into practice the famous quote by Otto von Bismarck: Politics is the art of the possible. Through her willingness to compromise during negotiations with the McGuinty government, not only has she avoided an election that few wanted, but she has also managed to extract some significant concessions from the Premier, not the least of which is a surtax on those making over $500,000 each year, thus resurrecting a discussion that has been off the political agenda for some years now.

And my own political cynicism stands to be corrected. Wearied and jaded from watching the federal Liberals repeatedly debase themselves during the Harper minority years when the party would condemn and vote against confidence measures but always ensure there were sufficient members absent from the House to ensure the passage of the odious measures, I had erroneously predicted the same behaviour for Horwath.

The biggest loser in this entire process is, of course, young Tim Hudak, the increasingly hapless leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives who, in a reflexive move that yielded all of the power of the opposition to Horwath, rejected any possibility of compromise when the budget was introduced by flatly stating that his party would vote against it, once again demonstrating that he just doesn't have what it takes to be a political leader.

On a related note, while Hudak is busy recycling rhetoric from his Mike Harris years, advocating for smaller government, more tax cuts and a 'business-friendly climate,' the Wildrose Party suffered a crushing defeat in Alberta, despite all of the advance polls showing them on the way to forming a majority government.

One wonders if there is a message there for our Prime Minister?

BTW, for an insightful analysis of the Ontario compromise, take a look at Martin Regg Cohn's column in today's Star.

A Victory

Every once in a while, there is a win for the good guys and gals. I don't know about you, but it is enough to keep me going.

Meanwhile, the predictable response from young Tim Hudak, who once more amply demonstrates that he just isn't ready for prime time politics.

A Short But Not So Sweet Letter

Here is a copy of the letter that I just fired off to my Conservative Member of Parliament, David Sweet:

Dear Mr. Sweet,

Although I am sure you are only too aware of the hypocrisy involved, it seems more than passing strange that your government should suddenly cancel the Katimavik program, leaving in the lurch young people who had opted for the program over university next fall (http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1166033--young-canadians-in-limbo-after-conservatives-cancel-katimavik ), ostensibly in the name of austerity, while your International Development Minister, Bev Oda, has no compunction about profligately spending the taxpayers’ money for her own comfort (http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/23/bev-oda-savoy-hotel_n_1444818.html?ref=canada).

Any thoughts on the matter, or should I just rely on the usual spin your government puts on all of its embarrassments?

Sincerely,

Lorne Warwick

Tempering My 'Enthusiasm'

Despite postings I have made on both critical thinking and avoiding fallacies of reasoning, I am well-aware that my own thinking and writing sometimes fall far short of the standards they demand. In my deep and abiding contempt for the neoconservative agenda and the simplistic, uni-dimensional thinking of its adherents, I realize that I at times resort to the same kind of demagogic tactics they employ, and while finding it hard to apologize for those lapses, I realize that little is accomplished by such outbursts other than a measure of ephemeral personal satisfaction.

I started thinking about this topic today after reading an article in this morning's Star entitled Connecting with nature is the key, activist learns. Unfortunately, the article is not on the Star's website at this time, so I will briefly summarize the salient points.

The piece, written by Stephen Bede Scharper, revolves around environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill who, in the 1990's, spent more than two years on a platform atop a thousand-year-old redwood tree in an effort to save it and some of the surrounding area from a clear-cutting operation. She ultimately succeeded in reaching a deal with the Pacific Lumber Co. that achieved her goal, but the journey to that achievement was both an arduous and instructive one.

Enduring the worst from both Mother Nature and human nature during her two-year battle atop the redwood, she went from being regarded as a kook by the workers to someone they developed a respect for. How did this happen? The turning point seems to have occurred shortly after a hail of gunfire whizzed around her platform, and Hill asked the workers if they felt better for venting their anger. This led to a discussion about how she ate and how she secured her food, after which the workers apologized for the fusillade and left.

Three weeks later they returned, this time with gifts of organic fruits and vegetables which they loaded into her rope-lifted basket. The lesson learned here? It was a seminal one for Hill: constructive engagement. Instead of being self-righteously strident, she began to see there was more value in being 'effective', i.e., learning to connect with those who opposed her.

Is this approach possible in the political battles we face in Canada against the forces of neo-conservatism? I don't know. My gut tells me there is little chance of success with that tact, but on the other hand, what are we accomplishing right now with simple denunciation and denigration, both of which, I readily admit, feel very good to practise?

Are there, indeed, better ways to try to achieve our goals?

Should this story later be posted on the Star website, I will provide a link.

Facing Death With Grace

I have a good friend who suffers from a chronic health condition for which he receives treatments that mitigate the symptoms. He faces very real limitations in his daily life as a result of his illness. I had a brother-in-law who died about three-and-a-half years ago from brain cancer. I also just finished reading Roger Ebert's memoir, entitled Life Itself, part of which reflects upon his life-altering illness.

What do these three have in common? Each of them, amidst consider suffering, have shown great fortitude and grace. I am fascinated and inspired by the strength of character they found within themselves to cope with their illnesses without self-pity or a sense of cosmic injustice, while at the same time, quite truthfully, I am sometimes haunted by the question of how I would/will react if and when I am put to the test.

From their examples I derive a sense of awe at what human beings are capable of, as well as the hint of a transcendent truth about our natures. Unfortunately, our world today pays scant attention to those subtle intimations, but I suspect they are everywhere if we care to really look.

My reflections were prompted by a touching story of a woman named Jackie Smith, who is facing a fairly imminent death. Her story is available in today's edition of The Star.