More And More Canadians Are Rejecting The Mores and M.O. Of The Harper Regime

At least these letters from Star readers suggest thus:

Pollster warns Tories their support is slipping, March 1

In addition to the concerns of university-educated male voters between the ages 45 and 64 identified in the article, there is another significant reason that this and many other demographics are deserting the Conservative party. It has to do with the values that have evolved to become associated with the party brand.
Whereas the demographic in question had hoped once that the Conservatives would herald economic prosperity based upon a broad new vision for Canada, what the Conservatives have delivered is a petty, mean-spirited, hyper-partisan, autocratic government bereft of any vision beyond the next election.

In the minds of many Canadians, the values that have become the hallmark of the Conservative party are lying, cheating, bullying, and hypocrisy. As the saying goes, “actions speak louder than words” and because of their actions as a government, these values have become identified as an integral part of the Conservative brand.

Unfortunately for the Conservatives, many demographics, not just the 45 to 64 year old males in question, are beginning to realize that, as tolerant and respectful Canadians, they do not share these values.

Lyle Goodin, Bowmanville

Cairo, Bangkok, Caracas, Kiev ... such places may seem remote. But proximity to a Walmart or Pizza Hut is no reliable predictor of civil unrest or calm. I marvel, therefore, that North American and European “leaders” still appear oblivious to the simple fact that people the world over are tired of being stolen from and lied to.

Or maybe they aren’t. Maybe that’s why we are spied upon by our own governments, corporations can buy congressmen, and, here in Canada, Harper’s mob have destroyed the sovereignty of parliament and politicized every aspect of the federal bureaucracy.

As Thomas Walkom nicely points out, elected governments lose their legitimacy when they systematically undermine democratic principals.

Harper and his like may think they are manipulating their power cleverly, but in the end they are writing their own epitaph.

Randy Busbridge, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Climate Change: Lines of Evidence Parts 3 & 4

If you missed the first two parts, you can see them here.

Part 3: Greenhouse Gases




Part 4 : Increased Emissions

Slavery, Then And Now

Not being a regular moviegoer, much preferring the tightly-scripted fare offered on cable that is adult in the best sense of the word, I only know from media reports that 12 Years a Slave won the Oscar for Best Picture. According to the Internet Movie Database, it is about the following:

In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

While not intending in any way to minimize the terrible suffering and exploitation suffered by black people in the United States then and now, it would be remise of me not to point out that here in Canada, we have our own form of slavery, which we call unpaid internships.

While I have written about corporate exploitation of young people's desperation before, this seems a propitious time for an update. As reported in The Toronto Star, unpaid internships appear to be on the rise throughout Canada, thanks to a patchwork of regulations and the reluctance of interns to 'blow the whistle' on their corporate exploiters lest they withhold their much-coveted letters of reference.

According to some estimates there are "as many as 300,000 people currently working for free at some of the country’s biggest, and wealthiest, corporations."

Perhaps this egregious example serves as emblematic of the sorts of abuses that are taking place:

Last fall, Vancouver’s Fairmont Waterfront Hotel sparked an uproar after it posted an ad seeking people to bus tables for free.

“As a busperson you will take pride in the integral role you play in supporting your food and beverage colleagues and ‘setting the stage’ for a truly memorable meal.” The ad was quickly taken down amid a social-media furor.

Isabelle Couture and James Attfield, both University of Victoria students in the Master’s of Public Public Administration program, are conducting a survey for the Canadian Research Association. They discovered, much to their surprise, that unpaid internships are being tracked neither at the provincial nor the federal level. And the need for organized tracking is great:

“When you ask a lot of these companies, like Bell — which has a massive internship program — they make it sound like they’re doing people a favour, that they’re generously providing work and experience,” says Attfield.

“But it’s really nothing more than a way to save money; they’re obviously not doing it out of generosity.”

Ma Bell, of course, repudiates such odious suggestions of corporate malfeasance:

A Bell spokeswoman says its internship program, which employs about 300 people a year, “offers learning opportunities in a real-world corporate setting. None of the participants’ activities replace work by Bell employees or support our business operations.”

Hmm. I guess that begs the question of what all those young people at Bell are doing while interning there. Sharpening pencils, perhaps?

There may be some relief on the way. On Tuesday, Ontario New Democrat MPP Jonah Schein introduced a private member's bill (no word yet on whether party leader Howath has yet tested the political winds to see where she stands on the issue) introduced a private member's bill that calls for the following:

- Grant unpaid interns more protections under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, such as regular work day, eating periods, and holidays

- Require employers to provide written notice to the Ontario government when they take on unpaid interns. This would assist the Ministry of Labour with data collection and enforcement.

- Create a complaint system that allows complaints to be submitted by third parties and interns anonymously

- Require employers to post a poster with information about intern’s rights in Ontario in the workplace prepared by the Ministry of Labour

And on the federal level, last fall Toronto MP Andrew Cash introduced a private member's bill, Bill C-542, calling on the government to establish a legal framework for the labour laws that govern what has become the new normal in the Canadian job market: precarious employment. Cash calls his proposal the Urban Workers Strategy.

Will any of these efforts bear fruit? Given the current mentality pervading all political parties (and yes, that includes the NDP) whereby businesses and corporations, not people, are now the chief objects of government ministrations, I am not especially hopeful. But, as with all worthwhile causes, it is crucial that the fights for the betterment of people be vigorously conducted.

Otherwise, we might as well all admit defeat and just give ourselves over totally to the forces that care not a whit for any of us.

Climate Change: Lines of Evidence Parts 1 & 2

The National Research Council has created a series of short videos offering a very clear explication of climate and the irrefutable evidence that it is changing. While you can click here to watch the entire series, which is about 26 minutes in length, for the next few afternoons I am going to post successive parts. That will offer those who can't commit 26 minutes at one sitting the opportunity of viewing brief sequences in a very digestible form.

Part 1: What Is Climate?



Part 2: Is Earth Warming?

On Democracy And Political Leadership

I have a somewhat busy morning ahead, so for the time being I offer the following:

Is the answer to things like this,


this?

Re Manning Takes Aim at Tory Election Bill (March 3):

The Conservatives’ Fair Elections Act is anything but. Instead, it’s about ensuring they’ll form another majority in 2015. There’s only one realistic way to ensure that won’t happen: co-operation among the opposition parties.

Here’s a novel idea: We need leaders who will lead. Elizabeth May has already figured it out; Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair need to hold their noses and go for one-time-only co-operation. Kindergarten students understand the rules that ensure fair play/good outcomes for one and all. For Canada’s sake, Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Mulcair need to take a lesson from the sandbox.

Debra Rudan, Meikle Turner, Kingston

Gone, But Never Forgotten

Each year, George Carlin's acerbic commentary and observations become more and more relevant.



If we don't want a repeat of what happened last time, then it's up to us to educate those who wilfully or otherwise do not know that Harper & the CONservatives have sold us out.

H/t Politicked - Stop The Harpocrisy

Some Days A Reactionary Just Can't Catch A Break

At least if you are a reactionary in the Harper vein. First came the bad polling news showing increasing numbers of Canadians growing increasingly suspicious and weary of the relentless divide-and-conquer tactics of the so-called master tactician. Then came some stinging rebukes from that old icon of conservatism, Preston Manning, who, over the weekend, suggested that it is time for the Harper regime to start focusing on policy rather than politics, perhaps a veiled way of suggesting it might be time 'to try that sincerity thing.'

Even that once-trusted source of cabal strategy, Tom Flanagan, weighed in as he told an audience at the Manning Centre that the Conservatives are paying a price for the “perceived hyper-partisanship of the prime minister.”

Ah, but the abuse of the reactionary Harper mind-set continued beyond the confines of Manning's think-tank. In yesterday's Star, Haroon Siddiqui showed that he has Harper's number as well.

Entitled How Stephen Harper divides and conquers our many minorities, his piece begins with what many would agree is an accurate assessment of the chief failing of the prime minister:

Stephen Harper governs not so much for Canada as for his Conservative party. He used to do it by stealth. Now he does it openly.

He cites as evidence the following:

The Fair Elections Act, which will gut the power of the chief elections officer Marc Mayrand (who had taken the Tories to court for breaking election laws) and make it more difficult for voters to cast ballots but easier for political parties to raise money.

John Baird’s trip to the Ukraine, which excluded any opposition party members, thereby allowing the Harper regime to take full credit for its 'concern' over events there.

The government’s boycott of the opposition from the Aga Khan’s speech Friday at Massey Hall. As Haroon notes, even Chrystia Freeland, the riding's MP, was frozen out.

And so it goes on. All of this deeply repugnant partisanship is part of a well-established pattern — Harper’s “you are with us or against us” approach to governing; his hijacking of Canadian foreign policy to serve Conservative interests.

Increasing numbers of Canadians seem to be awakening to the truly odious nature of Harper's rule. This can only be seen as an encouraging sign of the possibility of regime change in the near future.