Undoing The Damage

During this 'interregnum' period, I have felt less inclined to write my blog; with the incoming government yet to make its mark, and the outgoing one something I prefer to think about as little as possible, I don't have as much to say as usual. Nonetheless, things are undoubtely happening beneath the public radar, and it seems that one of the first orders of business facing Mr. Trudeau and his cabinet will be repairing some of the extensive damage done by the Harper regime.

In the following excerpt from Power Play, law professor Carrisima Mathen discusses some of those issues:



Over at The Star, Bruce Camion Smith writes about restoring the mandatory long-form census, which will surely be a triumph of knowledge over the ignorance and ideology so firmly embraced by the out-going regime:

...the Liberal platform outlined a commitment to “immediately restore” the mandatory long-form census “to give communities the information they need to best serve Canadians.

“Without accurate and reliable data, Canada’s communities cannot plan ahead,” vowed the Liberal platform, which also committed to make Statistics Canada “fully independent.’

According to a Liberal source, the new government intends to act on its long-form census pledge soon after taking office Wednesday.

The mandatory long-form census, replaced by a voluntary one included in the 2011 National household Survey, is crucial both for government and business planning:

The 61-question long-form census — sent to one in five households –— included questions on language, aboriginal heritage, ethnicity, education, employment and commuting habits and was meant to provide greater insight into the country and its citizens.

The responses to those questions — and the trends revealed from one census to the next — helped public officials plan infrastructure and urban services and give private businesses insight into their customers.

While the Trudeau government will undoubtedly face many challenges in the weeks, months and years ahead, quickly undoing some of the damage done by Harper and his acolytes will send a powerful message to all Canadians that there is indeed a new sheriff in town.

The New Trudeau Cabinet

While the eyes of many Canadians will be on the television screen Wednesday to witness Justin Trudeau's swearing in as our new Prime Minister, equally riveting will be the introduction of his cabinet the same day. Given the wide-range of talent his party saw elected, both new and veteran MP's will likely be harbouring high hopes of securing one of the coveted positions.

In the Sunday edition of the paper, The Star's Bob Hepburn indulged in some interesting speculation, reminding us of the factors to be considered:

These factors include the size of the cabinet, gender equality, ethnic diversity, regional distribution and a balance of new and veteran MPs, but leaning to young and new versus old and experienced.
Some critics have suggested Trudeau is putting gender and regional concerns ahead of talent as the top priority in selecting the ministers.

In reality, though, any cabinet, regardless of whether it is Liberal or Conservative, “is never a pure and simple meritocracy,” says a key Trudeau adviser. “Obviously there are expectations if you are elected, such as every province gets a cabinet minister, and you look at regional balance, gender, and diversity as well as competence.”

As well, yesterday's Question Period saw former Liberal cabinet minister and deputy prime minister, Anne McClellan, along with political analyst Scott Reid, considering the possibilities:



Given the historical and infamous infighting that has bedeviled the Liberal Party, much would seem to be riding on Trudeau making some very wise choices here.

Revisiting The Old Days

I am old enough to remember the days here in Ontario when getting alcohol of any kind from the Liquor Control Board (fondly known here as the LCBO) was a ritual conducted without joy. Far in the future lay today's attractive displays of myriad products from around the world, inviting consumers to try new libations through samples, etc. Back then, choosing from a printed list of products, one would fill out an order on a small piece of paper, tender that order to an anonymous clerk behind a barrier who would hand it off to another employee who then disappeared into a stockroom (no displays allowed!) and returned with your purchase in a discreet brown bag. The customer would promptly leave, perhaps feeling a certain unease at having been involved in a transaction that did not seem to be wholly sanctioned by society.

It was not an atmosphere that encouraged enthusiastic consumption.

My reminiscing was prompted by a documentary I watched the other night on CBC called Reefer Riches which was made when the chance of a Liberal victory and their promised legalization of marijuana seemed remote at best. As I wrote in a recent post, I have little doubt legalization will occur under Trudeau, and I do think it will serve a greater good, but only if it is handled properly, something the documentary made very clear to me.

Justin Trudeau has stated that legalizing pot will be a means of helping keep it out of the hands of kids and reducing the multi-billion-dollar black market. Since the war on drugs has been a proven and costly failure, this makes sense. Moreover, the steps taken by American states that have embraced legalization can serve as cautionary tales that can help ensure Canadian legislation strikes the right balance between access to and promotion of marijuana.

As you will see if you watch the documentary posted below, Colorado appears to be a pothead's paradise. With open displays of plants, tinctures and edibles, daily specials and a growing 'pot tourism,' the emphasis is clearly on the promotion of consumption. It is a model we would do well to avoid if our purpose truly is to control and not promote access. As one of the speakers in the film points out, Canada can learn a great deal from the mistakes that were made in jurisdictions that have legalized the drug. In my mind, our country would do very well to avoid the open commercialization you will see in the film, and instead adopt a very understated, discrete and perhaps slightly intimidating model similar to what once existed in Ontario: no displays, a product list, and access limited to government-run stores.

A bit regressive and Puritanical? Perhaps, but still a model that repudiates prohibition without extolling cannabis consumption.

UPDATED: The Devil Canada Has Made A Deal With

Although it generated some heated discussion during the election campaign, don't expect the $15 billion armoured vehicle deal the Harper government signed with human-rights-hater Saudi Arabia to be rescinded now that a new government is about to be sworn in. Because the country is seen as a stabilizing presence in the Middle East and a source of jobs in Canada, pragmatism will undoubtedly trump principle in a deal that no party exactly denounced as our votes were being courted.

Yet we should all be as familiar as possible with the devil Canada is trafficking with.

Readers may recall the case of Raif Badawi, the 31-year-old Saudi blogger who ran afoul of authorities for his criticisms of the country's religious establishment:

Badawi was sentenced in 2013 to seven years in prison and 600 lashes. In 2014, he was resentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes.

While it may provide him with cold comfort, his efforts yielded him the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought yesterday. It is unlikely that he will be released to receive the award, and, indeed, should the lashings be carried out in full, he will die.

However, Mr. Badawi's plight may seem mild compared to what is facing young Ali al-Nimr, also a Saudi citizen who

was arrested at age 17 for participating in anti-government protests. The government has said he attacked police officers and rioted, but the only known evidence is a confession apparently extracted under torture that left him a bloody mess.

Now he is facing beheading and crucifixion:

His appeals following his court sentence for this grisly execution have been exhausted, so guards may lead Nimr to a public square and hack off his head with a sword as onlookers jeer. Then, following Saudi protocol for crucifixion, they would hang his body as a warning to others.

International outrage at his sentence appears to have had no impact on the Saudi government. Last month, a

group of United Nations human rights experts ... urged the Government of Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who was convicted for a crime reportedly committed as a child. He may be executed at any time.

“Saudi Arabia may so far this year have executed at least 134 people, which already represents 44 more than the total for the whole of last year,” they noted. “Such a surge in executions in the country makes Saudi Arabia a sad exception in a world where States are increasingly moving away from the death penalty.”

The lash and decapitation seem to be expressions of a worldview that can only be described as medieval and barbaric. In the country considered to be our ally, there are at least 16 'crimes' that warrant the death penalty, including murder, adultery, gay consensual sex, apostasy, consumption of intoxicants and sorcery and witchcraft.

To embrace and sell armaments to such a benighted nation says, perhaps, more than we would like to consider about our own country and principles, doesn't it?

UPDATE: In his response to this post, The Mound of Sound has pointed out some things that go much deeper than mere beheadings and crucifixions in Saudi Arabia. Take a look at what he has to say here and here. The implications are profoundly disturbing.

Rick's Rant: About Those Conservative Newspaper Endorsements

Redoubtable Rick is relentless in his excoriation of both The Globe and Mail and The National Post for their corporate-driven endorsements of the Harper regime during our recent election:

He Is Either Supremely Arrogant Or Extremely Delusional

"He" would be the outgoing but hardly lamented Minister of Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Alexander, who allowed his transfixation with power to corrupt and ruin him. The damage may indeed be permanent.

As you will see in the following video report, his inability to purge himself of the Conservative Kool-Aid means he accepts no responsibility for the party's recent fall from power but blames everything on outside perfidious forces such as the Liberals debasing and poisoning the campaign culture and liberal media distorting the truth. This is hardly an encouraging augury of his potential for rehabilitation:

Potential And Reality

I remember when I first started teaching, everything seemed so clear, so obvious: students, for example, were no longer writing very well because they weren't taught grammar; a rigourous and systematic approach would fix that. I soon learned, however, that such a prescription was unspeakably naive. Like everything else, it did not exist in a vacuum, but rather was tied to so many other factors over which I had little or no control, such as family environment, motivation to read voluminously, etc., etc.

In some ways, and I really hope I am wrong, I wonder if Justin Trudeau's winning approach to electoral victory may partly mirror the naiveté I had so many years ago. After years of exposure to Stephen Harper's toxicity, expectations are very high among Canadians for a new political culture, and Trudeau's potential to disappoint is great. If he succeeds, his impact on the health of our democracy could be quite substantial.

Lawrence Martin writes that there is much to change:

If Canadians thought the operation run by Stephen Harper was ugly before, look at what we’re hearing now. Not from Mr. Harper’s opponents, but Conservatives themselves.

“They had almost a Stalinistic way of looking at things,” Philippe Gervais, a former Tory campaign co-director, told iPolitics . “You were either on-side, or you were dead.”

Here’s Geoff Norquay, the long-time Harper defender on TV panels. In the next edition of Policy magazine, he writes what the political operation was really like under Harper favourite Jenni Byrne: “They ran a closed circle, they humiliated staff, they berated candidates, they pushed every reasonable argument far beyond its logical limit, they shut out others with a different view.”

One of Trudeau's strongest suits is his style:

Style doesn’t make the man, but as Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy illustrated, it can change the morale, bring a new spirit to a country. Mr. Trudeau is no Reagan and he is no Kennedy but he has some of their charismatic attributes. If he doesn’t settle for half-measures, he could bring a new spirit.

That infusion of our waning spirits was clearly evident in the increasingly large crowds Trudeau attracted as the campaign wore on, and in the enthusiasm with which many greeted his majority government.

In more substantive matters, a test for the incoming prime minister will be how he handles dissent:

The wise leader doesn’t demand agreement from everyone in his party. If the news media gets all excited about an MP going offside on some issue, he should take it in stride, as in, “So what? That’s what a democracy is all about. The freedom to speak your mind.”

Lawrence Martin has several suggestions for Trudeau as his time in office draws near, but I'll end with one that I think all of us would agree upon:

To restore civility to our politics, Mr. Trudeau should ban personal attack ads. To restore sanity to Question Period, the Speaker needs to be empowered so that questions are answered.

Now wouldn't that be something to truly behold?