It is very interesting to note that despite their often uneasy relationship, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has learned some lessons about how to use budget omnibus bills to gut environmental protection from that master of duplicity, Stephen Harper. Thomas Walkom provides the details in today's Star.
Well, I see that our national poster boy for privileged stupidity, the putative Defense Minister Peter MacKay, is at it again, showing how he really feels about our brave men and women in uniform.
No matter what age we may attain, I doubt that we ever lose our need for heroes. Certainly, as we grow up, the definition of hero must mature, changing from someone with superpowers who fights evil and injustice, to someone who looks very much like we do, has no special abilities affording protection from the negative vicissitudes of life but who, when put to the test, show all of us what humanity is ultimately capable of.
Who may be considered a hero depends to a large extent on personal points of view and values; from my perspective, a hero is someone who takes actions while aware that those actions will likely lead to real problems and suffering in his or her life. The one true hero in my life is Nelson Mandala, a moral giant whose story needs no retelling here, but whose life is a testament to integrity, courage, and, for me, the existence of the transcendent.
Although perhaps not of the magnitude of Mandela, I do believe that we have heroes among us in Canada today, people for whom integrity is paramount. I have written in the past about Munir Sheik, the former head of Statistics Canada who resigned that position rather than to go along with the Harper-perpetrated lie that the elimination of the mandatory census was just fine with the statisticians.
Currently, another person showing all of us the stuff he is made of is Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, a man appointed by the Harper government but who has already incurred its anger exposing lies that government has pedaled to the public. His latest foray into fortitude is reported on in today's Star, which outlines how Harper's acolytes are breaking the law by refusing to provide details of the government’s spending cuts to Page.
Rather than 'going along to get along,' Page said his last recourse is go to Federal Court to seek disclosure of the information though he added that “nobody wins” under that scenario.
“That said, we have to draw a line in the sand with respect to the Act of the Parliament and the provision of information,” he said.
The very existence of the aforementioned individuals must be an affront to our craven politicians, the ones who, for example, have aided and abetted the Harper omnibus budget, Bill C-38, forsaking their duty to their constituents and their country in the hopes of promotion within the government, something worth about 30 pieces of silver by my measure.
Given that the Harper mandate doesn't end until 2015, Kevin Page will likely lose his job in the near future, something I'm sure he is very much aware of. Yet despite my very cynical nature, it is the people like him walking among us who keep me from ever making a final submission to absolute despair.
Those of us who thought that the Vatican was rampant with corruption and political power struggles now know better, thanks to this communique from the Pope's second-in-command.
Beshrew my cynical mind!
The second, which I am taking the liberty of reproducing below, is yet another example of the wisdom of Toronto Star readers. In this case Bill Livingstone of Toronto punctures the myth of conservative fiscal prudence and sees a more sinister purpose served by Harper running the current deficit:
Every so often, we elect a conservative government. It seems we just can't tolerate a balanced budget or we just let our emotions over some silly scandal carry us away. In recent memory, no conservative government anywhere in the world has balanced a budget. It's their goal to create a deficit in order to have an excuse to cut social programs. For the Harper Conservatives, this is all working out to plan, with a little help from the recession of 2008 where the debt was increased by so-called Keynesian economics but did more to help GM and the banks than stimulate the economy. In truth, our banks didn't need help, at least not in the way someone starving on welfare needs help, but we gave them money anyway.
Anyway, now that we have a big deficit, we can cut OAS and EI. Without the deficit, people might be up in arms. With the deficit, even most seniors will still vote conservative in the next election while they give the government billions as they cash in their RRSPs. So far, all is going according to the conservative playbook. So what comes next? The conservatives are not forthcoming but history is quite clear on this. All the cutbacks and austerity will almost certainly lead to a depression. And history shows that conservatives always have the excuse that they didn't cut deeply enough or fast enough. That is rather a deception. The real reason is that, as history can surely reveal, even in a depression there are winners. Hint, follow the money.
Eventually, a democracy (if we still have one) will bring in a liberal government with real Keynesian policies that actually stimulate the economy and all will be well again. But then eventually, after a couple of good decades, when memory fades about why we regulate and why we really pay taxes, we will vote in another conservative government . . .
Bill Livingstone, Toronto
