So now what? Have we merely staved off the inevitable non-confidence vote? Will Harper learn to love Canada as much as himself? Will Dion be gone at an accelerated pace? Will we find some adults to supervise Question Period? Will Canadians keep caring about their country enough to continue to engage at a meaningful level and not just be reactionary? Here are some observations and prognostications:
Dion: He has to go sooner than May 2009. His work here is done. The country is too volatile and split for the Liberals to wait for the next Godot to show up. Dion has considerable talents but political leadership and retail politics are not his strong suits. He has brought Harper to heel but he lacks the skill set and the mind set to make him sit shake-paw and beg. Those are the critical training objectives for Harper to master if he wants to extend this reign.
Harper: He is a man of many faces. It is as if being two-faced is not enough for him. He is not well intended in the service of the country and pathologically insincere in word and deed. As a result of such serious character flaws he suffers from a syndrome of serious integrity lapses. But he can be trained. Like all good puppies, he will learn because he responds to rewards and fears punishment. Harper is not yet House broken but he has finagled his way out of the House and into the dog house. He has pissed off most of the country with his snarling and aggressive behaviours. He is on a choker leash now and if he does not behave, he will be muzzled. If he continues to behave like a brighter but smart-ass George Bush he will be “put down” - politically at least.
Liberal Leadership: Let’s get the Liberal leadership over by the end of February – at the latest! The candidates are decided and known. This sequel promises to be less engaging that the first season and with fewer survivors left in “the Great Race.” The political climate is so fragile and the country is so uncertain that one lingering political uncertainty is unwise and unnecessary. Dion is done and the Liberals will be too if the dither.
The Coalition: This edition of a united opposition is likely over. It has done its job. It has humbled and humiliated Harper and for that we owe the leaders a debt of gratitude. If there is a new Liberal leader decided on a fast-track the second edition of an on-going opposition coalition ought to be part of the plan going forward. We need to look carefully at the concept of coalitions given we are on our third minority government in a row – and who know how many more will be coming.
Old Canada Redux: Canadians are still split on partisan lines and Harper has revived the regional animosities again. I would like to see a coalition government for a short term, like a year or so. It would serve as a potential test run of what governing would be like as a result of Proportional Representation. It would not be as a result of PR but it would be a consequence of PR.
The Next Canada: We are about to be tested as a nation and as a society. Our old orienting mythologies of being an inclusive, fair, caring and careful and cautious society are going to be put challenged due to this economic crisis. Our character as a nation will be highlighted as we work our way through the coming calamities. How we deal with big issues urbanization, climate change, immigration, aboriginal relationships and our place in the world and our roles and responsibilities as citizens are going to be highlighted.
The Next Election: Are we going to come through this as a new progressive society, stay as a consumptive at all cost “growth” society, or will be retreat to a traditionalist model? The next election will set that course. If Harper wins a majority we will retreat into a conservative ideological mode of thought noted for a moral discipline with an expectation of obedience to authority. Harper will be portrayed as the strategic manager and experienced economist will be the strict father figure to get us through the economic mess but based on fears and insecurities. More George Bush?
If there is some other election outcome we may see a different more progressive Canada emerge that is a more caring and nurturant society. We may see a new political culture that has government and leadership that is attuned to empathy, responsibility and hope where we protect, empower and care for each other in a more vibrant sense of community and common cause that includes the individual but is larger than the individual. More Barrack Obama?
One thing that seems certain, given the causes and courses of the economic meltdown, the status quo is not on. We are not longer able to afford and presuming we can continue to abuse the planet for personal gain at the expense of the “others.” We are embedded in a globally interdependent and vulnerable world that is facing an ecological peril that is more dire than the ensuing recession/depression.
As George Lakeoff says in The Political Mind “A new understanding is emerging about what is means to be human. Our political institutions and practices reflect our collective self-understanding. When that changes dramatically, so should our politics.”
He closes the book with the chilling observation “But we better hurry up. The ice caps are melting.” Amen!
Showing posts with label Dion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dion. Show all posts
Friday, December 05, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Harper Hype on Green Shift Impact Exposed as MISLEADING
Steve Chase of the Globe and Mail has an excellent piece in today' paper exposing the misleading and unsubstantiated Harper rhetoric about the Dion Green Shift. It has generated a lot of interest with 145 comments already noted as I write this post.
Nice to see some serious MSM reporting on this policy with comments from experts and not just swallowing the Harper hype as if it were reliable and accurate.
This piece shows Harper is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER.
Harper can't be trusted. He is a danger to democracy.
Nice to see some serious MSM reporting on this policy with comments from experts and not just swallowing the Harper hype as if it were reliable and accurate.
This piece shows Harper is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER.
Harper can't be trusted. He is a danger to democracy.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Greens Get to Debate. Harper and Layton Fold. Canadians Win!
Green lights for Elizabeth May! She is the election debates. YES!!!!
The forces of evil (Harper and Layton) have been vanquished…or at least they are humbled and brought to heel...by the power of engaged and enraged citizenship. Good start Canada. Now keep it up for the rest of this unnecessary and expensive election.
This is what can happen when citizens take back the power from the politicians and the patricians. This election is not the private property of the politicians and the political parties. Elections are about citizens deciding what is important going forward and who they dare trust to move us forward in the best way possible.
Good start Canada. Now keep up the good work and let Harper know we don’t buy his phony excuses about why we are paying $400,000,000 for an unnecessary election. It is not appropriate for him to screw us around just because he wants majority and has his heart set on breaking and bankrupting the Liberals...just for his personal political and power hungry purposes...and the hell with democracy.
Tell Duceppe he was right to move off the national stage as he thought to do earlier this term. The option open to him now is not the leadership of the Quebec PQ but to get off the national political stage entirely - and preferably PDQ!
Tell Layton to quit worrying if May is eating his political lunch – she is! Deal with it like a statesman not an henchman. If Layton is so delusional that he thinks we will buy his pretense that he is the Canadian Obama, he doesn’t know Jack…but we Canadians do! Give him a reality check.
Stephane – you need to start getting busier and bolder about explaining what will be the dire consequences to Canada if Harper get to have his way with us...not just a majority government...if any kind of Harper government.
Thoughtful progressive Canadians can't afford to abdicate our responsibility for active political engagement. It is our duty and our obligations to define OUR sense of democracy and not delegate it to Harper.
Cynicism is not an option – unless you want Harper to take over everything and control all of us like he does his caucus. Harper will end up ruling over us like a mini-me combination of George Bush and the Dick known as Cheney.
BTW:
Observation on the stupidest media question the campaign so far…to Steve Harper about what kind of vegetable he would be…if he were one! Most telling political answer given in the campaign so far! Harper’s reply to the stupidest question! He would rather be a fruit…! He is right. He would not be sweet and colourful as he aspires and alleges. He is a fruit, a prickly pear…pure and simple...but without appeal. (sic).
The forces of evil (Harper and Layton) have been vanquished…or at least they are humbled and brought to heel...by the power of engaged and enraged citizenship. Good start Canada. Now keep it up for the rest of this unnecessary and expensive election.
This is what can happen when citizens take back the power from the politicians and the patricians. This election is not the private property of the politicians and the political parties. Elections are about citizens deciding what is important going forward and who they dare trust to move us forward in the best way possible.
Good start Canada. Now keep up the good work and let Harper know we don’t buy his phony excuses about why we are paying $400,000,000 for an unnecessary election. It is not appropriate for him to screw us around just because he wants majority and has his heart set on breaking and bankrupting the Liberals...just for his personal political and power hungry purposes...and the hell with democracy.
Tell Duceppe he was right to move off the national stage as he thought to do earlier this term. The option open to him now is not the leadership of the Quebec PQ but to get off the national political stage entirely - and preferably PDQ!
Tell Layton to quit worrying if May is eating his political lunch – she is! Deal with it like a statesman not an henchman. If Layton is so delusional that he thinks we will buy his pretense that he is the Canadian Obama, he doesn’t know Jack…but we Canadians do! Give him a reality check.
Stephane – you need to start getting busier and bolder about explaining what will be the dire consequences to Canada if Harper get to have his way with us...not just a majority government...if any kind of Harper government.
Thoughtful progressive Canadians can't afford to abdicate our responsibility for active political engagement. It is our duty and our obligations to define OUR sense of democracy and not delegate it to Harper.
Cynicism is not an option – unless you want Harper to take over everything and control all of us like he does his caucus. Harper will end up ruling over us like a mini-me combination of George Bush and the Dick known as Cheney.
BTW:
Observation on the stupidest media question the campaign so far…to Steve Harper about what kind of vegetable he would be…if he were one! Most telling political answer given in the campaign so far! Harper’s reply to the stupidest question! He would rather be a fruit…! He is right. He would not be sweet and colourful as he aspires and alleges. He is a fruit, a prickly pear…pure and simple...but without appeal. (sic).
The Internet is a Political Game Changer.
The Harper recent apology for the continuation of pooping puffin bullying of Dion on another campaign website is merely an attempt to cut the story short in the MSM. And it will likely do the trick.
The problem is in the Internet age is the story never dies. It may go dormant but it lives on through the search engines – for-friggin’-ever. It will resurrect in the strangest places and times and can get a new life in a different context and hound Dion and hopefully Harper too.
Political campaigns are very different these days. More people than ever are getting their political news from the Internet. A June Pew Institute Report on the 2008 American election shows 46% of Americans use the Internet to get political news AND share their thoughts. “Online video and social networking sites have taken off, according to the study done by Princeton Survey research Associates for Pew.
The ancient ploy of politicians refusing to talk to reporters to take the oxygen out of a story is not as effective as it once was. YouTube has become a preeminent source of video on candidate’s comments and carryings-on. The study found that 39% of internet users go online to read and watch “unfiltered” campaign material. In case you think it is just kids and propeller heads that are doing this online, 29% of all adults are accessing campaign information that is “unfiltered.”
The Internet is not a panacea for participatory democracy but it is a game changing campaign tool. There is no doubt that the Internet is notorious for being replete with misinformation. Just like the Harper election campaign. When it is good, it is very good…and when it is bad it can be devastating and dangerous. Just like the mainstream media.
So who can we trust to tell the truth? How do we get authoritative and authentic information about who we can trust to run our country and speak in our name? The traditional news media has started to catch on and realize that they are being played by political campaigns. The games get played out in ways that serves the symbiotic needs of the politicians and the media…but not necessarily the public interest. The photo-ops, staged and symbolically visual events with pithy and timely sound-bite policy announcements are all designed. The political purpose is to prepackage and frame the message, get the exposure and trigger an emotional response to garner support for a candidate or a policy position.
Sophisticated political advisors know the MSM attention span and the behaviorally modified public consciousness means the key red-meat stuff of political messaging must primarily be emotional, tied to personal experiences and can even be factual, but that is not a requirement. If there is time to be accurate and contextual then facts may make it into the story too. But who really cares about context and factual accuracy when the next political adrenaline jolt is about to be injected into the reporter pool and the pack moves on.
As an example, yesterday’s Edmonton Journal front page headline blasted out “Libs, NDP anti-family: Harper.” This is a perfect example of what I am talking about. Allegations of Dion’s “hidden agenda to carbon tax, raise GST and cancel child-care benefits” in the subhead add to the emotion and tie into the experience aspect. The reader is invited to jump immediately to the obvious conclusion, as framed by Harper, even though it is factually inaccurate and devoid of context.
Each of these emotional laden headline issue frames of Harper’s henchmen is factually incorrect and contextually misleading. Dealing with just one example, there is a carbon charge on polluters in Dion’s ecological policy – but it is not just a “tax.” But there are also income tax cuts and rebates for low income citizens to compensate for the additional costs. The concept of making polluters pay and reducing tax burdens on good things like worker’s income and savings and investors who improve productivity are also part of the context of this story.
The hidden agenda angle gets the headlines because it feeds the competitive gamesmanship of politics and the facts get buried. The balance is lacking. The questioning is lacking and one suspect the reporter failed to read the Dion policy document so as to put context on the Harper hype.
What is the solution for citizens in such situations? Same as is has always been. First is the hard part. Become an actively and aggressively engaged citizen on the issues that are of interest to you. Come to the election campaign with a healthy sense of skepticism about the motives and manufactured messaging of political operatives. Then let your family and friends know what you think. This second part has never been easier, thanks to the Internet.
The problem is in the Internet age is the story never dies. It may go dormant but it lives on through the search engines – for-friggin’-ever. It will resurrect in the strangest places and times and can get a new life in a different context and hound Dion and hopefully Harper too.
Political campaigns are very different these days. More people than ever are getting their political news from the Internet. A June Pew Institute Report on the 2008 American election shows 46% of Americans use the Internet to get political news AND share their thoughts. “Online video and social networking sites have taken off, according to the study done by Princeton Survey research Associates for Pew.
The ancient ploy of politicians refusing to talk to reporters to take the oxygen out of a story is not as effective as it once was. YouTube has become a preeminent source of video on candidate’s comments and carryings-on. The study found that 39% of internet users go online to read and watch “unfiltered” campaign material. In case you think it is just kids and propeller heads that are doing this online, 29% of all adults are accessing campaign information that is “unfiltered.”
The Internet is not a panacea for participatory democracy but it is a game changing campaign tool. There is no doubt that the Internet is notorious for being replete with misinformation. Just like the Harper election campaign. When it is good, it is very good…and when it is bad it can be devastating and dangerous. Just like the mainstream media.
So who can we trust to tell the truth? How do we get authoritative and authentic information about who we can trust to run our country and speak in our name? The traditional news media has started to catch on and realize that they are being played by political campaigns. The games get played out in ways that serves the symbiotic needs of the politicians and the media…but not necessarily the public interest. The photo-ops, staged and symbolically visual events with pithy and timely sound-bite policy announcements are all designed. The political purpose is to prepackage and frame the message, get the exposure and trigger an emotional response to garner support for a candidate or a policy position.
Sophisticated political advisors know the MSM attention span and the behaviorally modified public consciousness means the key red-meat stuff of political messaging must primarily be emotional, tied to personal experiences and can even be factual, but that is not a requirement. If there is time to be accurate and contextual then facts may make it into the story too. But who really cares about context and factual accuracy when the next political adrenaline jolt is about to be injected into the reporter pool and the pack moves on.
As an example, yesterday’s Edmonton Journal front page headline blasted out “Libs, NDP anti-family: Harper.” This is a perfect example of what I am talking about. Allegations of Dion’s “hidden agenda to carbon tax, raise GST and cancel child-care benefits” in the subhead add to the emotion and tie into the experience aspect. The reader is invited to jump immediately to the obvious conclusion, as framed by Harper, even though it is factually inaccurate and devoid of context.
Each of these emotional laden headline issue frames of Harper’s henchmen is factually incorrect and contextually misleading. Dealing with just one example, there is a carbon charge on polluters in Dion’s ecological policy – but it is not just a “tax.” But there are also income tax cuts and rebates for low income citizens to compensate for the additional costs. The concept of making polluters pay and reducing tax burdens on good things like worker’s income and savings and investors who improve productivity are also part of the context of this story.
The hidden agenda angle gets the headlines because it feeds the competitive gamesmanship of politics and the facts get buried. The balance is lacking. The questioning is lacking and one suspect the reporter failed to read the Dion policy document so as to put context on the Harper hype.
What is the solution for citizens in such situations? Same as is has always been. First is the hard part. Become an actively and aggressively engaged citizen on the issues that are of interest to you. Come to the election campaign with a healthy sense of skepticism about the motives and manufactured messaging of political operatives. Then let your family and friends know what you think. This second part has never been easier, thanks to the Internet.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Stelmach to Harper - Stop the Attack Ads! They are Offensive.
Good for Albert a Premier Ed Stelmach for coming out against personal attack ads in this federal election. The Harper Conservatives have been bending the election advertising rules by spending millions of unaccountable dollars on television attach ads designed to mislead Canadians about Liberal leader Stephane Dion.
Harper is always looking for some tactic, angle or scam for personal political advantage. He would be better advised to concentrate on looking for better ways to do the right thing FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. Harper sees politics as all about personal political power and gamesmanship…never it seems is he focused on providing good old-fashioned honest, open, accountable and transparent government.
Ed Stelmach faced the same kind of misleading propaganda attach ads about his character and capabilities in the recent Alberta election. The anti-Stelmach ads were sponsored by some labour unions but the Alberta Liberals got blamed for them…and punished in the polls. They did not work. They backfired as Stelmach got a huge majority that rivaled anything Lougheed or Klein ever received...and Stelmach did it the first time out.
These attack ads don’t work unless they are truthful. Harper’s attack ads are not true and he doesn’t care about that. Dion is now calling Harper a liar for the propaganda ads - and other reasons of misrepresentation of the facts.
Albertans don’t like these sleazy and sneaky campaign tactics. Canadians don’t either. Only Stephen Harper’s party seems to be using this American style Karl Rove dishonest campaign tactics. Not surprising given his proclivity to follow the George Bush neo-Republican political playbook since he became the Conservative leader.
At election time citizens what to know if they can trust Stephen Harper’s character and integrity! They gave him a minority government as a chance for him to prove his worthiness to govern.
Harper has failed the test. He has only shown us his sly, conniving and disingenuous side. He has shown that he has no understanding or capacity to serve in the best interest of the country…only his own. He is out of step with the fundamental values of Canadians around fairness, justice and inclusion.
There are viable alternatives to vote for this time and Harper knows that. We are about to decide the nature and future of our country this election. I think Canadians want a new majority government and are tired of the status quo.
Harper is showing us that he is out of touch and out of ideas. He has displayed time and time again that he is deficient as a leader and a danger to democracy. That is why he is so focused on belittling his opponents instead of showing us HIS own better angels…if they exist.
Harper is always looking for some tactic, angle or scam for personal political advantage. He would be better advised to concentrate on looking for better ways to do the right thing FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. Harper sees politics as all about personal political power and gamesmanship…never it seems is he focused on providing good old-fashioned honest, open, accountable and transparent government.
Ed Stelmach faced the same kind of misleading propaganda attach ads about his character and capabilities in the recent Alberta election. The anti-Stelmach ads were sponsored by some labour unions but the Alberta Liberals got blamed for them…and punished in the polls. They did not work. They backfired as Stelmach got a huge majority that rivaled anything Lougheed or Klein ever received...and Stelmach did it the first time out.
These attack ads don’t work unless they are truthful. Harper’s attack ads are not true and he doesn’t care about that. Dion is now calling Harper a liar for the propaganda ads - and other reasons of misrepresentation of the facts.
Albertans don’t like these sleazy and sneaky campaign tactics. Canadians don’t either. Only Stephen Harper’s party seems to be using this American style Karl Rove dishonest campaign tactics. Not surprising given his proclivity to follow the George Bush neo-Republican political playbook since he became the Conservative leader.
At election time citizens what to know if they can trust Stephen Harper’s character and integrity! They gave him a minority government as a chance for him to prove his worthiness to govern.
Harper has failed the test. He has only shown us his sly, conniving and disingenuous side. He has shown that he has no understanding or capacity to serve in the best interest of the country…only his own. He is out of step with the fundamental values of Canadians around fairness, justice and inclusion.
There are viable alternatives to vote for this time and Harper knows that. We are about to decide the nature and future of our country this election. I think Canadians want a new majority government and are tired of the status quo.
Harper is showing us that he is out of touch and out of ideas. He has displayed time and time again that he is deficient as a leader and a danger to democracy. That is why he is so focused on belittling his opponents instead of showing us HIS own better angels…if they exist.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Re: An Election! Harper is Entitled to His Own Opinion But Not His Own Facts.
Mr. Harper is still posturing for his own political purposes. First he shuns the Chinese by not attending the Olympics and now he is trying to tell the Governor General she can’t attend the Paralympics to represent Canada because he might want to resign.
Then he fakes us along even further by saying he is trying to set up phony crisis meetings with other party leaders, some of whom he thinks are not leaders anyway and spends hundreds of thousands of donor money on TV ads to say so.
He brags about how well he has done achieving his five point mandate while leading one of the longest, if not the longest, serving minority government in Canadian history. Now he tells us Parliament is dysfunctional, won’t support his agenda (which he has hidden so far) and therefore we need an election. Parliament is not even sitting. How can it be dysfunctional? What is his agenda for governing or is that a secret he will spring on us after the next election?
He fears a shift in sentiment in Canada emerging out of the November U.S. Presidential elections if Obama wins so he wants to go now. He wants to avoid embarrassing and damaging findings from his own In-Out Advertising manipulations so he wants to go now. He want to avoid the continued personal linking to his mentor, former PM Brian Mulroney as the public inquiry over Mulroney/Schreiber lobbying cash while an elected Member of Parliament.
Harper is bad news anyway you want to look at him. His reputed strong management skills have proven to be bluster and bullying. His great strategic mind is only aimed at serving his personal purposes not his duty to serve the public interest while sitting in the highest office in the land. He is devoid of qualities of statesmanship and scoffs at the responsibility to provide good governance. He is all about power and politics and pettiness.
Harper is apparently prepared to cancel the four by-elections, three of them happening September 8th. Instead Harper wants to go for a full scale national election now and uselessly spend over $300,000,000 of taxpayer’s money. This “strategy” is instead of governing and as our Prime Minister, having the courage and character to meet the Canadian Parliament scheduled to open on September 15th.
Why on these tactics? Because he will do poorly in those by-elections in part because he has been the government and by-election results are always a means to send the government of the day a message. Harper sees himself as the Emperor of Canada. He doesn’t need a bunch of ticked off by-election voter sending him any kind of message – particularly one that may be critical of his divine right to rule.
Want more? Just look at his Orwellian explanation as to why he is prepared to go to the polls. He claims he has been trying to meet with Dion for “several weeks” even if by telephone, when in fact the idea of a meeting was floated eight days ago. Dion offered to meet Harper August 26 but his office declined. The PMO realized it was dishonest to claim any urgency to meet and then refuse to do so. They then changed their minds and tried to accept the Dion offer but other commitments were already made by Dion’s office. Now this is all Dion’s fault.
Harper is looking like a dufus with all this pomposity and posturing. He is a man in fear. His bullying has not worked nor has it served him well to improve his image as a leader worthy of our consent to govern us…all of us – not just his friends. He has reverted to Bush-like dishonesty to hide his true motives behind a “need” for an election. He is now making false claims about the facts as he tries to engineer a sense of crisis in the land that simply does not exist. Harper is turning into his own weapon of political mass destruction as a result.
I don’t think an election now will clear the air or decide much of anything because there has not been enough time for any thoughtful attention to be paid by Canadians to the alternatives they would be offered. Canadians have not warmed to Harper and don’t trust him in two and an half years. His best before date has long since expired.
They don’t know Dion yet and therefore they still don’t trust that he is different from the old-style Liberal presumptiveness. The NDP are a spent force and the Greens are just that – too green to govern…experience wise not ecologically. They should be rewarded with some seats next election, in October 2009, when it should happen by law, so they can get some serious seasoning.
The only thing Harper has going for him is people are still pretty allergic to politics and may not show up to vote. That only serves his purposes of personal power and not the best interests of the country or its citizens. I blame Chretien and Martin and their long time warring factions within the Liberal Party for most of this mess today. Their long standing personal and internal squabbles created a Canadian version of the Weimer Republic and the Adscam to fraudulently pander to Quebec to insultingly buy them off to move away from separation was the last straw for federalist in Quebec and the moderate majority of the rest of Canada.
We had sent them a message in the form of a Martin minority government but not enough changed and with the ugly truth of Adscam we’d finally had enough of them and decided to throw them out in January 2006. We choose Harper in what we thought would be the lesser of two evils but did not really trust him with absolute power; hence a minority Conservative government emerged on Election Day. So far Harper’s leadership has proven him to be “lesser” for sure in terms of his governing ability, vision for the country and his leadership capacity. But he has also shown us he is no less evil than the worst aspects of the former Liberal Party.
So the moral of the story is always, we get the kind of government we deserve in a democracy. If there is going to be an unnecessary election Canadians better wake up and take it seriously. To stay asleep and ignore the power of the ballot will only hurt your family and your future.
Then he fakes us along even further by saying he is trying to set up phony crisis meetings with other party leaders, some of whom he thinks are not leaders anyway and spends hundreds of thousands of donor money on TV ads to say so.
He brags about how well he has done achieving his five point mandate while leading one of the longest, if not the longest, serving minority government in Canadian history. Now he tells us Parliament is dysfunctional, won’t support his agenda (which he has hidden so far) and therefore we need an election. Parliament is not even sitting. How can it be dysfunctional? What is his agenda for governing or is that a secret he will spring on us after the next election?
He fears a shift in sentiment in Canada emerging out of the November U.S. Presidential elections if Obama wins so he wants to go now. He wants to avoid embarrassing and damaging findings from his own In-Out Advertising manipulations so he wants to go now. He want to avoid the continued personal linking to his mentor, former PM Brian Mulroney as the public inquiry over Mulroney/Schreiber lobbying cash while an elected Member of Parliament.
Harper is bad news anyway you want to look at him. His reputed strong management skills have proven to be bluster and bullying. His great strategic mind is only aimed at serving his personal purposes not his duty to serve the public interest while sitting in the highest office in the land. He is devoid of qualities of statesmanship and scoffs at the responsibility to provide good governance. He is all about power and politics and pettiness.
Harper is apparently prepared to cancel the four by-elections, three of them happening September 8th. Instead Harper wants to go for a full scale national election now and uselessly spend over $300,000,000 of taxpayer’s money. This “strategy” is instead of governing and as our Prime Minister, having the courage and character to meet the Canadian Parliament scheduled to open on September 15th.
Why on these tactics? Because he will do poorly in those by-elections in part because he has been the government and by-election results are always a means to send the government of the day a message. Harper sees himself as the Emperor of Canada. He doesn’t need a bunch of ticked off by-election voter sending him any kind of message – particularly one that may be critical of his divine right to rule.
Want more? Just look at his Orwellian explanation as to why he is prepared to go to the polls. He claims he has been trying to meet with Dion for “several weeks” even if by telephone, when in fact the idea of a meeting was floated eight days ago. Dion offered to meet Harper August 26 but his office declined. The PMO realized it was dishonest to claim any urgency to meet and then refuse to do so. They then changed their minds and tried to accept the Dion offer but other commitments were already made by Dion’s office. Now this is all Dion’s fault.
Harper is looking like a dufus with all this pomposity and posturing. He is a man in fear. His bullying has not worked nor has it served him well to improve his image as a leader worthy of our consent to govern us…all of us – not just his friends. He has reverted to Bush-like dishonesty to hide his true motives behind a “need” for an election. He is now making false claims about the facts as he tries to engineer a sense of crisis in the land that simply does not exist. Harper is turning into his own weapon of political mass destruction as a result.
I don’t think an election now will clear the air or decide much of anything because there has not been enough time for any thoughtful attention to be paid by Canadians to the alternatives they would be offered. Canadians have not warmed to Harper and don’t trust him in two and an half years. His best before date has long since expired.
They don’t know Dion yet and therefore they still don’t trust that he is different from the old-style Liberal presumptiveness. The NDP are a spent force and the Greens are just that – too green to govern…experience wise not ecologically. They should be rewarded with some seats next election, in October 2009, when it should happen by law, so they can get some serious seasoning.
The only thing Harper has going for him is people are still pretty allergic to politics and may not show up to vote. That only serves his purposes of personal power and not the best interests of the country or its citizens. I blame Chretien and Martin and their long time warring factions within the Liberal Party for most of this mess today. Their long standing personal and internal squabbles created a Canadian version of the Weimer Republic and the Adscam to fraudulently pander to Quebec to insultingly buy them off to move away from separation was the last straw for federalist in Quebec and the moderate majority of the rest of Canada.
We had sent them a message in the form of a Martin minority government but not enough changed and with the ugly truth of Adscam we’d finally had enough of them and decided to throw them out in January 2006. We choose Harper in what we thought would be the lesser of two evils but did not really trust him with absolute power; hence a minority Conservative government emerged on Election Day. So far Harper’s leadership has proven him to be “lesser” for sure in terms of his governing ability, vision for the country and his leadership capacity. But he has also shown us he is no less evil than the worst aspects of the former Liberal Party.
So the moral of the story is always, we get the kind of government we deserve in a democracy. If there is going to be an unnecessary election Canadians better wake up and take it seriously. To stay asleep and ignore the power of the ballot will only hurt your family and your future.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Harper Should Resign and Dion and Layton Should Form a Coalition Government Until October 2009.
Before Dion meets with Harper to discuss cooperation for the pending parliamentary session he should meet with Layton first. A couple of reasons come to mind. First they ought to see if they can work out a collaboration to see if they can run a minority government until the fixed election date of October 2009.
If Harper wants to resign OK that is his business. But that need not automatically trigger a $400m useless election. The Governor General can accept the Harper government resignation because, as Prime Minister, he apparently feels Parliament is dysfunctional.
That is not the case. He has to admit it, given how he brags that he has delivered on his mandate in the past 2+ years that he has been in power. Harper is such an unabashed obfuscater with his self serving mewing about a dysfunctional Parliament. Consider that he has his henchmen draft a 200 page guide for his Caucus instructing them how use cheap political tricks and tactics just to disrupt Parliamentary Committee proceedings. And he now says Parliament is dysfunctional. Well I wonder who is to blame for that.
I like the idea of Harper resigning now. But I don’t think the only option coming out of that decision is an election. It is entirely within the Governor General’s purview and powers, given the minority situation, to consider inviting a coalition of Liberals and New Democrats to try and govern. I think that is a viable alternative for the short term until October 2009.
I think before any behind-closed-doors horse trading goes on with Harper, Dion and Layton ought to look at cutting coalition deal as an alternative to an election that dishonors the new fixed date election law they all just passed.
Such a Dion/Layton chat would also serve another purpose. These two parties ought to see if they can agree on what conditions they would require of Harper for continuing support. They ought to demand that they meet with the PM together so they don’t get inveigled and misled by the PMO in the post meeting patter, positioning and pandering.
If they can’t meet the PM together, they better take a witness and record the conversation too. Of course they should be able to trust the PM, after all he holds the highest and most honourable office in the land. But this is politics and it is always best to be able to verify what was actually said – just so everyone stays honourable.
I think a few reasonable conditions to present to Harper would be an immediate proclamation of his Accountability Act so it becomes binding on his government now. He honours it now more in the breach and that is unacceptable. Why not demand an immediate alternate strategy to provide for the 250,000 daycare spaces the private sector was supposed to provide but has been swept under the carpet. Struggling young families are not making it just with his taxable $100 per month per infant. He promised these day care spaces but has conveniently forgotten young families.
The Mulroney/Schreiber Inquiry has to be started immediately as well and not be a kangaroo court of his design. It needs to be a full fledged public inquiry to help restore public confidence it he Office of the Prime Minister – at a number of levels. The delays are deplorable and are undermining democracy. And while you at it, insist that Harper drops his U.S. clone copyright proposal called Bill C-61 and start over.
The best outcome I see would be for Harper to go the GG and resign and then she appoints a coalition Liberal/NDP government that would serve until the October 2009 - legal election date. They could go into a fall session and use it to undo some of the mess Harper has made like reverse the political interference in the judicial selection process, restore the arts and culture funding cuts and preserve the safe injection sight in Vancouver. There a many more such Harper ideological screw ups then need reversing right now and no need to wait for an election to fix them.
It is time for Harper to go – and he says is thinking of resigning. But an immediate election is unnecessary to achieve that end. The GG can accept his resignation and then look to other parties to form a government. When the next election happens, in October 2009 according to law, and if we end up with another minority, then Dion and Layton will have some experience in a coalition. Perhaps they can continue to replace the Cons then too, if necessary.
If Harper wants to resign OK that is his business. But that need not automatically trigger a $400m useless election. The Governor General can accept the Harper government resignation because, as Prime Minister, he apparently feels Parliament is dysfunctional.
That is not the case. He has to admit it, given how he brags that he has delivered on his mandate in the past 2+ years that he has been in power. Harper is such an unabashed obfuscater with his self serving mewing about a dysfunctional Parliament. Consider that he has his henchmen draft a 200 page guide for his Caucus instructing them how use cheap political tricks and tactics just to disrupt Parliamentary Committee proceedings. And he now says Parliament is dysfunctional. Well I wonder who is to blame for that.
I like the idea of Harper resigning now. But I don’t think the only option coming out of that decision is an election. It is entirely within the Governor General’s purview and powers, given the minority situation, to consider inviting a coalition of Liberals and New Democrats to try and govern. I think that is a viable alternative for the short term until October 2009.
I think before any behind-closed-doors horse trading goes on with Harper, Dion and Layton ought to look at cutting coalition deal as an alternative to an election that dishonors the new fixed date election law they all just passed.
Such a Dion/Layton chat would also serve another purpose. These two parties ought to see if they can agree on what conditions they would require of Harper for continuing support. They ought to demand that they meet with the PM together so they don’t get inveigled and misled by the PMO in the post meeting patter, positioning and pandering.
If they can’t meet the PM together, they better take a witness and record the conversation too. Of course they should be able to trust the PM, after all he holds the highest and most honourable office in the land. But this is politics and it is always best to be able to verify what was actually said – just so everyone stays honourable.
I think a few reasonable conditions to present to Harper would be an immediate proclamation of his Accountability Act so it becomes binding on his government now. He honours it now more in the breach and that is unacceptable. Why not demand an immediate alternate strategy to provide for the 250,000 daycare spaces the private sector was supposed to provide but has been swept under the carpet. Struggling young families are not making it just with his taxable $100 per month per infant. He promised these day care spaces but has conveniently forgotten young families.
The Mulroney/Schreiber Inquiry has to be started immediately as well and not be a kangaroo court of his design. It needs to be a full fledged public inquiry to help restore public confidence it he Office of the Prime Minister – at a number of levels. The delays are deplorable and are undermining democracy. And while you at it, insist that Harper drops his U.S. clone copyright proposal called Bill C-61 and start over.
The best outcome I see would be for Harper to go the GG and resign and then she appoints a coalition Liberal/NDP government that would serve until the October 2009 - legal election date. They could go into a fall session and use it to undo some of the mess Harper has made like reverse the political interference in the judicial selection process, restore the arts and culture funding cuts and preserve the safe injection sight in Vancouver. There a many more such Harper ideological screw ups then need reversing right now and no need to wait for an election to fix them.
It is time for Harper to go – and he says is thinking of resigning. But an immediate election is unnecessary to achieve that end. The GG can accept his resignation and then look to other parties to form a government. When the next election happens, in October 2009 according to law, and if we end up with another minority, then Dion and Layton will have some experience in a coalition. Perhaps they can continue to replace the Cons then too, if necessary.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Harper The Bottom Feeder to Dion: "Fish or Cut Bait."
Harper was preaching to his “peeps” in Quebec today and acting up with his usual bullying and bluster. He is suggesting Dion “fish or cut bait” for a fall election is rich coming from Harper.
Dion has been trolling and playing the Harper bottom feeders for a few months now. Steve is frustrated because he doesn’t know how to govern and he can’t learn fast enough now.
He has been trying to engineer his defeat for over a year and a half. He has used every cheap procedural trick in the Commons Committee Procedural Manual to keep from delivering on a promise for a Public Inquiry into the Mulroney/Schreiber Affair. We are still waiting Steve.
He has made a mockery out of Parliament by insisting that even the most mundane of his legislative tripe was indeed a confidence vote. He has been conning Canadians since January 2006. And Canadians still don’t what an election – they have been waiting patiently and hoping to see if Harper can show up and prove he can govern the country like a leader and not like a mini-George Bush. Harper is in a minority government and will have to earn the trust and confidence of Canadians to get a majority. So far all he does is try to defeat the Liberals. You did that in January 2006 Steve. Now you have to try and win one, not wait for the Liberals to lose.
If Harper wants an election now - all he need to do pay a visit to the Governor General and resign. Pretty simple stuff. Why won’t he do it? Because he needs someone to blame for things. Like the “defeat” of his “government.” He lacks the character, courage and the conviction to run on his own merits.
Harper’s suggestion that there is “current work of government” going on that is being delayed and he “can’t get on with his mandate is also laughable. There is now current work of government, at least not anything of merit or substance. And Harper has been bragging for over a year he has already delivered on his five point mandate. So he can’t use that excuse with any credibility.
It is all cheap Rovarian-like campaign theatrics right out of the Bush Republican playbook. To most Canadians that old style politics is very tiresome. Unfortunately no one in the Harper brain trust apparently knows how to adapt to the changing attitudes and circumstances in the land. A one-trick bully is all they are.
Quit acting like an opposition leader Steve and start acting like a real Prime Minister. Grow up and show us a man with leadership ability. Show us someone who is capable of governing from a position of empathy and statesmanship. Show us a government that is prepared to strengthen Canada and Canadians with a governing style that protects and empowers us.
If you like this PM gig and you want to keep it you will have to prove yourself to be worthy of the consent of Canadians to govern. It is not just good enough for you to continue to be a schoolyard bullying who’s only talent is political brinkmanship.
Dion has been trolling and playing the Harper bottom feeders for a few months now. Steve is frustrated because he doesn’t know how to govern and he can’t learn fast enough now.
He has been trying to engineer his defeat for over a year and a half. He has used every cheap procedural trick in the Commons Committee Procedural Manual to keep from delivering on a promise for a Public Inquiry into the Mulroney/Schreiber Affair. We are still waiting Steve.
He has made a mockery out of Parliament by insisting that even the most mundane of his legislative tripe was indeed a confidence vote. He has been conning Canadians since January 2006. And Canadians still don’t what an election – they have been waiting patiently and hoping to see if Harper can show up and prove he can govern the country like a leader and not like a mini-George Bush. Harper is in a minority government and will have to earn the trust and confidence of Canadians to get a majority. So far all he does is try to defeat the Liberals. You did that in January 2006 Steve. Now you have to try and win one, not wait for the Liberals to lose.
If Harper wants an election now - all he need to do pay a visit to the Governor General and resign. Pretty simple stuff. Why won’t he do it? Because he needs someone to blame for things. Like the “defeat” of his “government.” He lacks the character, courage and the conviction to run on his own merits.
Harper’s suggestion that there is “current work of government” going on that is being delayed and he “can’t get on with his mandate is also laughable. There is now current work of government, at least not anything of merit or substance. And Harper has been bragging for over a year he has already delivered on his five point mandate. So he can’t use that excuse with any credibility.
It is all cheap Rovarian-like campaign theatrics right out of the Bush Republican playbook. To most Canadians that old style politics is very tiresome. Unfortunately no one in the Harper brain trust apparently knows how to adapt to the changing attitudes and circumstances in the land. A one-trick bully is all they are.
Quit acting like an opposition leader Steve and start acting like a real Prime Minister. Grow up and show us a man with leadership ability. Show us someone who is capable of governing from a position of empathy and statesmanship. Show us a government that is prepared to strengthen Canada and Canadians with a governing style that protects and empowers us.
If you like this PM gig and you want to keep it you will have to prove yourself to be worthy of the consent of Canadians to govern. It is not just good enough for you to continue to be a schoolyard bullying who’s only talent is political brinkmanship.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Facts Behind Harper's Libel Action Get Murkier
The Cadman Affair is getting murkier as Prime Minister Harper puts more pressure behind his libel action against the Liberal Party of Canada. The latest audio expert from an FBI expert who dealt with the Nixon Watergate tapes and the Linda Tripp tapes around Clinton and Lewinsky. He can’t say if the tape recording of the Prime Minister was doctored.
Two earlier experts say it was edited. Another American expert concluded "with scientific certainty that this tape has been edited and doctored to misrepresent the event as it actually occurred.” Pretty bold statement and a very dramatic conclusion I’d say.
Tom Zytaruk, the author of a book on the Cadman Affair, and the person who recorded the interview with Prime Minister Harper has provided a plausible explanation. He said the tape was not edited but the recording was turned off when he believed the Harper interview was over. According to media reports the Prime Minister then continued to comment and the tape recording was started again by Zytaruk. Hardly and editing and doctoring designed “…to misrepresent the event as it actually occurred.”
Other contradictory allegations of fact are coming from Mr. Zytaruk and Mr. Cadman’s wife. What is adding to the murkiness of the facts is Mrs. Cadman apparently wants to run as a Conservative candidate in the next election for Mr. Harper. Will that have any impact on the weight a court will give to her version of the facts?
The libel action is also interesting because it is possibly a pure political and tactic device. Could this legal action be just another media strategy in the perpetual election campaign the Harper minority government has been conducting in the two and a half years since first elected? The Harper libel action against the Liberal Party is also easy MSM news fodder. It takes the media and public attention away from the more serious, significant and complex issue surrounding the Cadman Affair. It has the potential to push out media coverage on the Bernier-Coulliard Affair, the Mulroney-Schreiber Affair, the Conservative’s In-Out Campaign Advertising Affair, the Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation process, and ongoing concerns over the Air India Inquiry, the Maher Arar Affair and the Omar Khadr Affair, just to name a few.
I believe Canadians want to know what, if anything was offered to Mr. Cadman by the Prime Minister’s emissaries and what the Prime Minister actually knew about any such offer. What are the legal implications of such an offer, if it was made? What if the courts found there were such an offer and that it determined to be an attempt to “buy” Mr. Cadman’s critical vote. If this actually happened, is it influence peddling or vote buying? Where does this all this fit in relation to the provisions of the Criminal Code about such matters? Will the civil libel action get any answers to these questions?
CORRECTION: A READER (see comment by paulstuff) NOTED THE ORIGINAL POST WAS IN ERROR. I WAS CLAIMING THAT THE HARPER GOVERNMENT WAS ASKING MR. CADMAN TO VOTE TO BRING DOWN THE HARPER GOVERNMENT. THAT IS WRONG. THE REQUEST WAS ALLEGEDLY MADE TO MR. CADMAN TO SEEK HIS SUPPORT TO DEFEAT THE MARTIN BUDGET OF MAY 2005. MR. CADMAN SUPPORTED THE MARTIN BUDGET AND PASSED AWAY IN JULY 2005. MR. HARPER'S MINORITY GOVERNMENT WAS NOT ELECTED UNTIL JANUARY 2006. A GREAT SUMMARY OF MR. CADMAN'S LIFE IS ON WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Cadman
This libel action could go right to the personal integrity of the current Prime Minister and the integrity of the Office of the Prime Minister too. I think this all needs to be clarified for the sake of the Prime Minister’s reputation, and for the good of the country. Do we need to restore or retain the public’s confidence in the Office of the Prime Minister? Will this lawsuit afford Mr. Harper the opportunity to reassure the country of his continuing suitability to serve as our Prime Minister? I hope so.
Given the importance of these stakes to our democracy and our pubic confidence in our highest governing institutions, I welcome Mr. Harper’s libel action. I believe this libel action needs to go to court so we can determine the facts from testimony taken under oath and for a Judge to then weigh the veracity of the various parties involved. We need this libel action to be decided based on the rule of law not on the rule of raw politics or trial by media, as is currently the case.
Two earlier experts say it was edited. Another American expert concluded "with scientific certainty that this tape has been edited and doctored to misrepresent the event as it actually occurred.” Pretty bold statement and a very dramatic conclusion I’d say.
Tom Zytaruk, the author of a book on the Cadman Affair, and the person who recorded the interview with Prime Minister Harper has provided a plausible explanation. He said the tape was not edited but the recording was turned off when he believed the Harper interview was over. According to media reports the Prime Minister then continued to comment and the tape recording was started again by Zytaruk. Hardly and editing and doctoring designed “…to misrepresent the event as it actually occurred.”
Other contradictory allegations of fact are coming from Mr. Zytaruk and Mr. Cadman’s wife. What is adding to the murkiness of the facts is Mrs. Cadman apparently wants to run as a Conservative candidate in the next election for Mr. Harper. Will that have any impact on the weight a court will give to her version of the facts?
The libel action is also interesting because it is possibly a pure political and tactic device. Could this legal action be just another media strategy in the perpetual election campaign the Harper minority government has been conducting in the two and a half years since first elected? The Harper libel action against the Liberal Party is also easy MSM news fodder. It takes the media and public attention away from the more serious, significant and complex issue surrounding the Cadman Affair. It has the potential to push out media coverage on the Bernier-Coulliard Affair, the Mulroney-Schreiber Affair, the Conservative’s In-Out Campaign Advertising Affair, the Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation process, and ongoing concerns over the Air India Inquiry, the Maher Arar Affair and the Omar Khadr Affair, just to name a few.
I believe Canadians want to know what, if anything was offered to Mr. Cadman by the Prime Minister’s emissaries and what the Prime Minister actually knew about any such offer. What are the legal implications of such an offer, if it was made? What if the courts found there were such an offer and that it determined to be an attempt to “buy” Mr. Cadman’s critical vote. If this actually happened, is it influence peddling or vote buying? Where does this all this fit in relation to the provisions of the Criminal Code about such matters? Will the civil libel action get any answers to these questions?
CORRECTION: A READER (see comment by paulstuff) NOTED THE ORIGINAL POST WAS IN ERROR. I WAS CLAIMING THAT THE HARPER GOVERNMENT WAS ASKING MR. CADMAN TO VOTE TO BRING DOWN THE HARPER GOVERNMENT. THAT IS WRONG. THE REQUEST WAS ALLEGEDLY MADE TO MR. CADMAN TO SEEK HIS SUPPORT TO DEFEAT THE MARTIN BUDGET OF MAY 2005. MR. CADMAN SUPPORTED THE MARTIN BUDGET AND PASSED AWAY IN JULY 2005. MR. HARPER'S MINORITY GOVERNMENT WAS NOT ELECTED UNTIL JANUARY 2006. A GREAT SUMMARY OF MR. CADMAN'S LIFE IS ON WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Cadman
This libel action could go right to the personal integrity of the current Prime Minister and the integrity of the Office of the Prime Minister too. I think this all needs to be clarified for the sake of the Prime Minister’s reputation, and for the good of the country. Do we need to restore or retain the public’s confidence in the Office of the Prime Minister? Will this lawsuit afford Mr. Harper the opportunity to reassure the country of his continuing suitability to serve as our Prime Minister? I hope so.
Given the importance of these stakes to our democracy and our pubic confidence in our highest governing institutions, I welcome Mr. Harper’s libel action. I believe this libel action needs to go to court so we can determine the facts from testimony taken under oath and for a Judge to then weigh the veracity of the various parties involved. We need this libel action to be decided based on the rule of law not on the rule of raw politics or trial by media, as is currently the case.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Canadians Are Becoming More Unsure of the Harper Conservatives Ability to Manage the Key Issues.
Nik Nanos’ recent poll for the Sun newspapers is very telling and has to be a bit unnerving for the Harper Con-Troll types. With 2.5 years as Prime Minister, Mr. Harper has not gained any traction or more momentum with the Canadian electorate. He has had virtually total control over the public agenda and the political process. It is not as though he has not used these levers but they have gotten him nowhere since the last election.
I have been saying for some time now that Harper is past his best before date as PM. Nik’s recent poll results on who do you trust to manage key issues indicates that Harpers’ best days as Prime Minister of Canada may also be passed him.
The Con strong policy suits, so we are told, are the economy and Afghanistan. While the PCs are ahead of the Liberals (+8% on the economy and +6% on the war) on the economy they equal to the combined totals saying None of the Above and Unsure at 32%. As for the war in Afghanistan the Cons are -10% compared to the None of the Above and Unsure at 38% to the Cons at 28% confidence.
On the management of the other key issues on the minds of Canadians like Healthcare, Environment and National Unity, the Harper’s Cons are trailing the Liberals in every instance. On the Environment the Greens are seen as being the best issue managers buy 13% of Canadians. That has to be encouraging for Elizabeth May.
Comparing Harper to the combined None of the Above and Unsure again he is -10% on Healthcare, -16% on the Environment and -9% on National Unity.
So this means that while Dion is not yet a clearly acceptable alternative to Harper for the swing voters. They are also not particularly enamoured with the capability of the current Harper minority government to manage key issues. This all means no election in the near future, unless of course Harper voluntarily resigns himself. That kind of pre-emptive election strike by Harper could happen if he starts to fear that Canadians are starting get to know the Liberals and a viable alternative.
Harper has to be concerned if the Canadian voter starts getting serious about an election a year from now and concurrently discover the real Dion and get to know him better. I’m talking about getting to know the real Dion and not the phony Conservative attack ad characterization of Dion in last year’s television attach ads. Notice how quiet the Conservative’s have become over their recent failed and flailing pre-emptive attack advertising efforts to mislead citizens on Dion’s Green Shift plan - even before it was released. The last two years has seen Harper desperate for an election. The next two years will likely see him desperate to avoid one.
The times are a'changin' and it is all going to make for some interesting and unsettling times in Canada, economically, environmentally and socially. We will have to see what happens in the Presidential election this November in the States. What will Canadians be looking for as the ballot questions as the Conservatives approach their drop dead date for Harper’s fixed election timing of November 2009. All of this is very fluid but fundamental in what our next election will bring out in Canadians, regardless of when we vote.
I have been saying for some time now that Harper is past his best before date as PM. Nik’s recent poll results on who do you trust to manage key issues indicates that Harpers’ best days as Prime Minister of Canada may also be passed him.
The Con strong policy suits, so we are told, are the economy and Afghanistan. While the PCs are ahead of the Liberals (+8% on the economy and +6% on the war) on the economy they equal to the combined totals saying None of the Above and Unsure at 32%. As for the war in Afghanistan the Cons are -10% compared to the None of the Above and Unsure at 38% to the Cons at 28% confidence.
On the management of the other key issues on the minds of Canadians like Healthcare, Environment and National Unity, the Harper’s Cons are trailing the Liberals in every instance. On the Environment the Greens are seen as being the best issue managers buy 13% of Canadians. That has to be encouraging for Elizabeth May.
Comparing Harper to the combined None of the Above and Unsure again he is -10% on Healthcare, -16% on the Environment and -9% on National Unity.
So this means that while Dion is not yet a clearly acceptable alternative to Harper for the swing voters. They are also not particularly enamoured with the capability of the current Harper minority government to manage key issues. This all means no election in the near future, unless of course Harper voluntarily resigns himself. That kind of pre-emptive election strike by Harper could happen if he starts to fear that Canadians are starting get to know the Liberals and a viable alternative.
Harper has to be concerned if the Canadian voter starts getting serious about an election a year from now and concurrently discover the real Dion and get to know him better. I’m talking about getting to know the real Dion and not the phony Conservative attack ad characterization of Dion in last year’s television attach ads. Notice how quiet the Conservative’s have become over their recent failed and flailing pre-emptive attack advertising efforts to mislead citizens on Dion’s Green Shift plan - even before it was released. The last two years has seen Harper desperate for an election. The next two years will likely see him desperate to avoid one.
The times are a'changin' and it is all going to make for some interesting and unsettling times in Canada, economically, environmentally and socially. We will have to see what happens in the Presidential election this November in the States. What will Canadians be looking for as the ballot questions as the Conservatives approach their drop dead date for Harper’s fixed election timing of November 2009. All of this is very fluid but fundamental in what our next election will bring out in Canadians, regardless of when we vote.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
People Need to Read Dion's Green Shift Plan BEFORE They Comment
I wasn’t going to post today given other priorities. However, I am so frustrated with what it going on I had to comment on the superficial reaction I have been noticing for the Dion Green Shift Plan. Dion sure has his work cut out for him but with no need for an election until November 2009, there is enough time to get his plan understood.
GWYN MORGAN ON CROSS COUNTRY CHECK UP
I have just listened to most of Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio One. Listening to a variety of callers to only talk about the Green Shift to gasoline and the inflationary costs it would cause make me wonder if any of those callers actually read the Green Shift Plan. Most notably fixated in this way was Gwyn Morgan, former CEO of EnCana. He said he would have agreed to a carbon tax to support Kyoto ten years ago but was silent on how vociferous the energy lobby was absolutely against Kyoto back then.
He also said the Dion $10 per tonne charge on CO2 would be inflationary but said nothing about the offsetting income tax cuts and allowances to help northerners, framers and low/fixed income earners in the Green Shift Plan. There was no comment on the use of the carbon levy to stimulate new technologies for cleaner fossil fuel extraction and refining processes and enable alternatives.
Morgan’s comments totally ignored the enormous windfall profits the energy sector is now making with $140 oil and the inflationary impact that is having on virtually everything in our lives. I found it not at all curious that he did not offer a cut in energy sector profits by suggestion a windfall tax to be used to reduce inflation, help the little guy.
GARTH TURNER'S BLOG POST
Then I scanned Garth Turner’s recent and oft reviled blog post. Garth is very thorough and thoughtful in his posts on the energy issues. He is apparently placing the blame for the regionalization resentments on a certain kind of person apparently a “…self-aggrandizing, hostile, me-first, greedy, macho, selfish and balkanizing separatist….” As an Albertan I did not find anything in his recent posts objectionable or inaccurate.
I smiled when he noted in his Blog he was “chewed out by Dion” for his comments. Good for him and good for Dion. Can you imagine any of the Harper Con-Trolls actually having an independent thought, then having the courage to express it openly and then publicly admitting his leader called him up and “chewed him out?” At least the Liberal Party is prepared to accept there is a representative democracy in the land AND with free speech rights, even for its MPs.
I am thankful for the fact Turner and Dion let us know that there is a range of thought in their caucus and even disagreement within the ranks. That is health for democracy and good for politics and even better for our confidence in their suitability to govern. It shows respect differences of opinion and gives some credit to the intelligence of citizens to consider the differences and to make more informed judgments about complex public policy issues. We Canadians can not only handle disagreement within a political party, we can appreciate and respect the fact not everyone in the Liberal Caucus has to genuflect to the absolute power of the Leader on all matters and all the time - like in the case of the Harper Cons.
LORNE GUNTER
I actually started out the day reading Lorne Gunter's column. I occasionally agree with Lorne but I find he mostly lives in a yesteryear time warp. I understand that it seems that he just can’t help himself. His facts are often wrong in this column, for example like claiming Dion is saying Alberta and Saskatchewan is “…deserving of a big hit from his new carbon tax.” That is not the Dion position and Gunter offers no authority for this accusation. Gunter’s commentary is definitely reflective of a hostile, macho, selfish and balkanizing political position as noted by Garth Turner. His framing of the issues on climate change is so passé and tired. This positioning and issue framing is typical of the old-style hard-core Conservative ideology that has no shame in being inaccurate, dated and misleading, so long as it speaks to the base, in their Party and otherwise.
He then has the cheek to write there is no separatist movement in Alberta while admitting “Yes, there are websites for parties claiming to be separatist.” He notes that there are “odd farmers” who may paint a separatist message on his barn and “occasionally a caller to a radio talk show” may make a separatist comment. But he notes Alberta has never elected a separatist government or held a sovereign association referendum, as if the acid test to say there is "NO SEPARATIST MOVEMENT IN ALBERTA.”
So, according to Gunter, there is no separatist movement here because we Albertan’s don’t share the same cultural difficulties in Confederation as Quebec does and we have not yet had our Quiet Revolution? Well Lorne we have our Firewall guys. They are public intellectuals largely from the University of Calgary Poli-Sci Department, the so-called Calgary School. The Firewall guys included Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but that was back in the day when he cared about Alberta. They could be the seeds of a Quiet Revolution, Alberta style, don't ya think?.
There is a separatist movement in Alberta and while it is small and fragmented they have received as much at 8% of the popular vote. They elected a guy named Kesler as an MLA under the Western Canada Concept banner in the early 1980’s. Less than two years ago, one of the popular Alberta Progressive Conservative Party leadership candidates made comments that if Alberta did not get its way with Ottawa we should perhaps look at our future in Confederation.
Fomenting separatist aspirations and regional resentments in Alberta has resulted form past policies like the NEP, that was ironically agreed to by Alberta and the Lougheed government of the day. That same reality is not happening today with Dion. Like so many hard-core Conservative political myths, the facts are rarely considered nor actually talked about openly and accurately in a public discourse. They just presume that they can govern us based on creating fears and excluding and dividing us based on perceived differences.
GWYN MORGAN ON CROSS COUNTRY CHECK UP
I have just listened to most of Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio One. Listening to a variety of callers to only talk about the Green Shift to gasoline and the inflationary costs it would cause make me wonder if any of those callers actually read the Green Shift Plan. Most notably fixated in this way was Gwyn Morgan, former CEO of EnCana. He said he would have agreed to a carbon tax to support Kyoto ten years ago but was silent on how vociferous the energy lobby was absolutely against Kyoto back then.
He also said the Dion $10 per tonne charge on CO2 would be inflationary but said nothing about the offsetting income tax cuts and allowances to help northerners, framers and low/fixed income earners in the Green Shift Plan. There was no comment on the use of the carbon levy to stimulate new technologies for cleaner fossil fuel extraction and refining processes and enable alternatives.
Morgan’s comments totally ignored the enormous windfall profits the energy sector is now making with $140 oil and the inflationary impact that is having on virtually everything in our lives. I found it not at all curious that he did not offer a cut in energy sector profits by suggestion a windfall tax to be used to reduce inflation, help the little guy.
GARTH TURNER'S BLOG POST
Then I scanned Garth Turner’s recent and oft reviled blog post. Garth is very thorough and thoughtful in his posts on the energy issues. He is apparently placing the blame for the regionalization resentments on a certain kind of person apparently a “…self-aggrandizing, hostile, me-first, greedy, macho, selfish and balkanizing separatist….” As an Albertan I did not find anything in his recent posts objectionable or inaccurate.
I smiled when he noted in his Blog he was “chewed out by Dion” for his comments. Good for him and good for Dion. Can you imagine any of the Harper Con-Trolls actually having an independent thought, then having the courage to express it openly and then publicly admitting his leader called him up and “chewed him out?” At least the Liberal Party is prepared to accept there is a representative democracy in the land AND with free speech rights, even for its MPs.
I am thankful for the fact Turner and Dion let us know that there is a range of thought in their caucus and even disagreement within the ranks. That is health for democracy and good for politics and even better for our confidence in their suitability to govern. It shows respect differences of opinion and gives some credit to the intelligence of citizens to consider the differences and to make more informed judgments about complex public policy issues. We Canadians can not only handle disagreement within a political party, we can appreciate and respect the fact not everyone in the Liberal Caucus has to genuflect to the absolute power of the Leader on all matters and all the time - like in the case of the Harper Cons.
LORNE GUNTER
I actually started out the day reading Lorne Gunter's column. I occasionally agree with Lorne but I find he mostly lives in a yesteryear time warp. I understand that it seems that he just can’t help himself. His facts are often wrong in this column, for example like claiming Dion is saying Alberta and Saskatchewan is “…deserving of a big hit from his new carbon tax.” That is not the Dion position and Gunter offers no authority for this accusation. Gunter’s commentary is definitely reflective of a hostile, macho, selfish and balkanizing political position as noted by Garth Turner. His framing of the issues on climate change is so passé and tired. This positioning and issue framing is typical of the old-style hard-core Conservative ideology that has no shame in being inaccurate, dated and misleading, so long as it speaks to the base, in their Party and otherwise.
He then has the cheek to write there is no separatist movement in Alberta while admitting “Yes, there are websites for parties claiming to be separatist.” He notes that there are “odd farmers” who may paint a separatist message on his barn and “occasionally a caller to a radio talk show” may make a separatist comment. But he notes Alberta has never elected a separatist government or held a sovereign association referendum, as if the acid test to say there is "NO SEPARATIST MOVEMENT IN ALBERTA.”
So, according to Gunter, there is no separatist movement here because we Albertan’s don’t share the same cultural difficulties in Confederation as Quebec does and we have not yet had our Quiet Revolution? Well Lorne we have our Firewall guys. They are public intellectuals largely from the University of Calgary Poli-Sci Department, the so-called Calgary School. The Firewall guys included Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but that was back in the day when he cared about Alberta. They could be the seeds of a Quiet Revolution, Alberta style, don't ya think?.
There is a separatist movement in Alberta and while it is small and fragmented they have received as much at 8% of the popular vote. They elected a guy named Kesler as an MLA under the Western Canada Concept banner in the early 1980’s. Less than two years ago, one of the popular Alberta Progressive Conservative Party leadership candidates made comments that if Alberta did not get its way with Ottawa we should perhaps look at our future in Confederation.
Fomenting separatist aspirations and regional resentments in Alberta has resulted form past policies like the NEP, that was ironically agreed to by Alberta and the Lougheed government of the day. That same reality is not happening today with Dion. Like so many hard-core Conservative political myths, the facts are rarely considered nor actually talked about openly and accurately in a public discourse. They just presume that they can govern us based on creating fears and excluding and dividing us based on perceived differences.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Torqued Story Claims Enviroment Falls to #3 Issue - Balderdash
The front page of yesterday’s Globe and Mail has torqued a story so badly that it can’t go without comment. The story is about a new poll from the Strategic Counsel just did for the Globe and CTV.
The torqued headline says “Energy Crisis Supplant Environment as Top Concern.” The sub-head torques even more and says “Poll reveals a shift in attitude that could prove fatal to Dion’s proposed carbon tax.”
First, Strategic Counsel does great work and I have no comment or concerns over the poll or its results. What is so bad is the actual interpreting and reporting on the poll results by the Globe and Mail.
The story says…”The environment, last year’s top issue has been pushed to No. 3 with just 16 percent of Canadians now saying they now consider it their primary concern.”
The fact is the poll found the top three primary concern issues were Economic/unemployment at 18%, Gas Prices at 18% and Environmental at 16%. The poll of a 1000 people in the field for 10 days in June has a margin of error of 3.1% The three issues are all statistically of equal concern given the margin of error. To say environment has dropped to #3 is absurd. In fact, with the margin of error the story could be torqued the other way to say the Environment is still the #1 issue. But that would be wrong too.
The next piece of torque is to presume this is bad news for Dion’s Green Shift project. It is not just a carbon tax policy and to only focus on that aspect of the proposal is also torque. To presume this is bad news for Dion because there are three dominant issues that all inter-relate to the environment concerns is misleading torque. The Dion Green Shift proposal may in fact benefit from this triumvirate of primary Canadian concerns because they are all part of the comprehensive and integrated aspects of the Dion plan. But the trick is to get folks to read and understand the plan.
We need to look at the consequences of our behaviours, lifestyle choices and future focuses on growth as a society. We need to learn to adapt to some harsh realities about our impact on the environment, the economics of our future and get serious about where our jobs will be coming from in the face of globalization. We need to get focused on what we can do about cleaning up our fossil fuel uses and to aggressively encourage conservation and the development of additional alternative energy sources.
These are part and parcel of the context of the primary concerns of Canadians found in the Strategic Counsel poll. Unfortunately they are not part of the Globe and Mail interpretation of the poll’s findings.
The foundational concept of Dion’s Green Plan is to get Canadians into a serious conversation and decision making mode to deal with these primary concerns. We need the MSM to move beyond the horse race kind of political coverage this story perpetuates.
The Globe and Mail is currently doing an excellent job of bringing serious and considered attention to the reality of mental illness in Canada. Mr. Greenspon, as the Editor of the Globe and Mail, please bring the same journalistic substance to encourage a meaningful public policy conversation in Canada about the way we deal with the environment. Stop the silly horse race personality based political coverage and help citizens to look at our environmental policy options in an integrated holistic way.
We need the conversation to start so we can better understand how our environmental policy changes can be done in ways that sustains prosperity for Canadians and enhances the social dimensions of our country. Canada can and should be a role model as a nation in dealing with these issues. Torquing stories that merely feeds the political horse race does not help move us towards this more serious and significant set of concerns shown in these poll results.
The torqued headline says “Energy Crisis Supplant Environment as Top Concern.” The sub-head torques even more and says “Poll reveals a shift in attitude that could prove fatal to Dion’s proposed carbon tax.”
First, Strategic Counsel does great work and I have no comment or concerns over the poll or its results. What is so bad is the actual interpreting and reporting on the poll results by the Globe and Mail.
The story says…”The environment, last year’s top issue has been pushed to No. 3 with just 16 percent of Canadians now saying they now consider it their primary concern.”
The fact is the poll found the top three primary concern issues were Economic/unemployment at 18%, Gas Prices at 18% and Environmental at 16%. The poll of a 1000 people in the field for 10 days in June has a margin of error of 3.1% The three issues are all statistically of equal concern given the margin of error. To say environment has dropped to #3 is absurd. In fact, with the margin of error the story could be torqued the other way to say the Environment is still the #1 issue. But that would be wrong too.
The next piece of torque is to presume this is bad news for Dion’s Green Shift project. It is not just a carbon tax policy and to only focus on that aspect of the proposal is also torque. To presume this is bad news for Dion because there are three dominant issues that all inter-relate to the environment concerns is misleading torque. The Dion Green Shift proposal may in fact benefit from this triumvirate of primary Canadian concerns because they are all part of the comprehensive and integrated aspects of the Dion plan. But the trick is to get folks to read and understand the plan.
We need to look at the consequences of our behaviours, lifestyle choices and future focuses on growth as a society. We need to learn to adapt to some harsh realities about our impact on the environment, the economics of our future and get serious about where our jobs will be coming from in the face of globalization. We need to get focused on what we can do about cleaning up our fossil fuel uses and to aggressively encourage conservation and the development of additional alternative energy sources.
These are part and parcel of the context of the primary concerns of Canadians found in the Strategic Counsel poll. Unfortunately they are not part of the Globe and Mail interpretation of the poll’s findings.
The foundational concept of Dion’s Green Plan is to get Canadians into a serious conversation and decision making mode to deal with these primary concerns. We need the MSM to move beyond the horse race kind of political coverage this story perpetuates.
The Globe and Mail is currently doing an excellent job of bringing serious and considered attention to the reality of mental illness in Canada. Mr. Greenspon, as the Editor of the Globe and Mail, please bring the same journalistic substance to encourage a meaningful public policy conversation in Canada about the way we deal with the environment. Stop the silly horse race personality based political coverage and help citizens to look at our environmental policy options in an integrated holistic way.
We need the conversation to start so we can better understand how our environmental policy changes can be done in ways that sustains prosperity for Canadians and enhances the social dimensions of our country. Canada can and should be a role model as a nation in dealing with these issues. Torquing stories that merely feeds the political horse race does not help move us towards this more serious and significant set of concerns shown in these poll results.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Dion Shifts From Neutral to Green - Harper Still in Reverse.
Here it is – the Dion “Green Shift” initiative that was announced today. This website is going to be one that I will book mark and visit often.
I, along with many other Canadians who are beginning to look seriously at new ways to address the challenge of climate change, need to get engaged and stay on top if this new policy initiative.
This is a great start and I see I have lots of reading and reflecting to do. Let’s see just how far, fast and deep this cultural change can happen. It is time we started pulling for the planet – each and every one of us.
I, along with many other Canadians who are beginning to look seriously at new ways to address the challenge of climate change, need to get engaged and stay on top if this new policy initiative.
This is a great start and I see I have lots of reading and reflecting to do. Let’s see just how far, fast and deep this cultural change can happen. It is time we started pulling for the planet – each and every one of us.
Dion's Carbon Tax-Shift Policy Will Give Canadians a Positive Choice for the Future
I expect the John Baird Character assassinator and Harper's Pit-Bully Peter Van Loan to be in full screaming rant today as Dion releases his tax-shifting policy approach to carbon reduction.
Starting today, there is going to be a definite difference in the political and policy choices being offered to Canadians over this summer. The choice Harper offers is a contuation of his rearview mirror approach of trying to perfect yesterday. Harper will be pushing political buttons with misleading messaging based on outmoded mental models that are reckless and feckless. He and his ilk still believe that growth at any speed in any way is the way to the preferred future regardless of the social and environmental costs.
Canadians will get to compare Harper’s perpetuation of the post-industrial to the Dion who is offering us the chance to change our attitudes. Dion will be saying we need get serious about taking on the challenges of our planet and design our future prosperity with a goal of sustainability. Dion messages will be thought-provoking and engaging. Harper will continue to be misleading and giving us mind-numbing messages telling us it is ok to go back to sleep and that we don’t need to worry.
We have to get serious as a species about learning how to adapt to an integrated stewardship approach to growth and prosperity. We need to take this reality to heart and engage with a head on focus and a sense of urgency.
I have not seen the Dion tax-shift carbon policy yet but all indications are that it is serious and significant. This policy is not one of those senseless ballot- candy ploys like a Harper 2% GST "reduction." I hope engaged and thoughtful Canadians will take the time to learn, understand and reflect on the substance and implications of what is being proposed. That means we will also be able to cut through the crap the Cons will be throwing out there.
Thought-leading and engaged Canadians need to look at their policy options and political choices beyond the canned commentary of the usual suspects in the mainstream media machines. I expect they will only look at this choice of futures as a political horserace and avoid the pith and substance of the policy options because that takes time to digest and vigor to explain.
Starting today, there is going to be a definite difference in the political and policy choices being offered to Canadians over this summer. The choice Harper offers is a contuation of his rearview mirror approach of trying to perfect yesterday. Harper will be pushing political buttons with misleading messaging based on outmoded mental models that are reckless and feckless. He and his ilk still believe that growth at any speed in any way is the way to the preferred future regardless of the social and environmental costs.
Canadians will get to compare Harper’s perpetuation of the post-industrial to the Dion who is offering us the chance to change our attitudes. Dion will be saying we need get serious about taking on the challenges of our planet and design our future prosperity with a goal of sustainability. Dion messages will be thought-provoking and engaging. Harper will continue to be misleading and giving us mind-numbing messages telling us it is ok to go back to sleep and that we don’t need to worry.
We have to get serious as a species about learning how to adapt to an integrated stewardship approach to growth and prosperity. We need to take this reality to heart and engage with a head on focus and a sense of urgency.
I have not seen the Dion tax-shift carbon policy yet but all indications are that it is serious and significant. This policy is not one of those senseless ballot- candy ploys like a Harper 2% GST "reduction." I hope engaged and thoughtful Canadians will take the time to learn, understand and reflect on the substance and implications of what is being proposed. That means we will also be able to cut through the crap the Cons will be throwing out there.
Thought-leading and engaged Canadians need to look at their policy options and political choices beyond the canned commentary of the usual suspects in the mainstream media machines. I expect they will only look at this choice of futures as a political horserace and avoid the pith and substance of the policy options because that takes time to digest and vigor to explain.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Looks Like Harper's Negative Ad Campaign Is Backfiring?
Looks like the Harper Cons negative ads are backfiring. This is according to a recent poll quoted in a story in the Hill Times this week. I found this quote from the story most telling:
"According to the Innovative poll, of those who were aware of the ads, 60 per cent said they were left with a negative impression of them, and 20 per cent said they were left with a positive impression, while 18 per cent said neither. "
That is not good news for the Harper message-controlling brain-trust.
The MSM has given the Cons more free "earned media" than they have spent on the ads themselves by the looks of it. Kind of reminds me of the MSM carpet bombing "news coverage" that was done on the personal tragedy that is Brittany Spears a few weeks ago. The MSM then finally looked at themselves, came to their senses, and decided to show some semblance of responsible journalism, and left her alone.
For those Cons who will want to equate my Spears comment to Coulliard, ask yourself if Spears was involved in relationships that undermined national security and Cabinet confidentiality.
The Cons ads are not news. They are not factual. They are not even relevant because the Dion tax shifting policy is not yet finalized. The negative campaign-style ads are just a political tactic that is infotainment masquerading as a public policy issue. Come on MSM, don't get fooled again.
"According to the Innovative poll, of those who were aware of the ads, 60 per cent said they were left with a negative impression of them, and 20 per cent said they were left with a positive impression, while 18 per cent said neither. "
That is not good news for the Harper message-controlling brain-trust.
The MSM has given the Cons more free "earned media" than they have spent on the ads themselves by the looks of it. Kind of reminds me of the MSM carpet bombing "news coverage" that was done on the personal tragedy that is Brittany Spears a few weeks ago. The MSM then finally looked at themselves, came to their senses, and decided to show some semblance of responsible journalism, and left her alone.
For those Cons who will want to equate my Spears comment to Coulliard, ask yourself if Spears was involved in relationships that undermined national security and Cabinet confidentiality.
The Cons ads are not news. They are not factual. They are not even relevant because the Dion tax shifting policy is not yet finalized. The negative campaign-style ads are just a political tactic that is infotainment masquerading as a public policy issue. Come on MSM, don't get fooled again.
Is Harper Afraid of An Election?
Harper Cons are all about political tactics – again. The anti-Dion election style negative ad campaign is admittedly a channel-changing fast-track strategy to divert attention away from the Cons catastrophic performance as of late. Not surprising and no longer very disappointing because Canadians expectations of the Harper government are so low and declining.
A few months ago Harper took great glee in trying to goad Dion into an unnecessary and unwanted election. Dion wasn’t ready nor were Canadians in any mood for another election so soon. They elected Harper to give him a chance and his constant efforts to engineer his own defeat was not what we expected from our newbie Con government.
Harper is now loathed to have an election and in fact fears that he might have to face the Canadian electorate on his record. He has no vision for the country and no sense of the nation and no plan for what to do next - other than bully the opposition and the provinces. Hence the quickie and expensive channel changing ad campaign intended to divert attention from the facts about his wobbling and wandering government.
Politics is so variable. In a few short months Harper has moved from being a political bully who was always mocking for an election, to today where he is a politically a dead man, balking and dreading the possibility of an imminent election.
A few months ago Harper took great glee in trying to goad Dion into an unnecessary and unwanted election. Dion wasn’t ready nor were Canadians in any mood for another election so soon. They elected Harper to give him a chance and his constant efforts to engineer his own defeat was not what we expected from our newbie Con government.
Harper is now loathed to have an election and in fact fears that he might have to face the Canadian electorate on his record. He has no vision for the country and no sense of the nation and no plan for what to do next - other than bully the opposition and the provinces. Hence the quickie and expensive channel changing ad campaign intended to divert attention from the facts about his wobbling and wandering government.
Politics is so variable. In a few short months Harper has moved from being a political bully who was always mocking for an election, to today where he is a politically a dead man, balking and dreading the possibility of an imminent election.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Harper's Greasy Little Spot Ads Backfire!
The Harper Cons “Greasy Little Spot” Ads are running into some slippery slopes of their own. Seems like the company that owns the advertising monitors on gas pumps that these anti-Dion diatribes were going to be imposed on innocent people do not want anything to do with the slick and oily political propaganda that is oozing from the Harper message machine.
What is more, there is some chatter on the blogosphere about boycotting any gas station running the ads. Big oil will not be amused if they get caught in the PR disaster that the paid and personal attacks by the Harper political machine could bring upon them.
More proof that the cheap political tactics of the Harper Cons are wearing thin for a growing number of Canadians. I want peace, order and good government Mr. Harper. So far you have given me is war, confusion and no governance…with a leadership style that is just conniving and bullying.
I don’t want an election now either. However, I would like a government I can trust and respect and that has the best interests of Canadian citizens at its core, not just a lust for personal political power. Is that too much to ask?
What is more, there is some chatter on the blogosphere about boycotting any gas station running the ads. Big oil will not be amused if they get caught in the PR disaster that the paid and personal attacks by the Harper political machine could bring upon them.
More proof that the cheap political tactics of the Harper Cons are wearing thin for a growing number of Canadians. I want peace, order and good government Mr. Harper. So far you have given me is war, confusion and no governance…with a leadership style that is just conniving and bullying.
I don’t want an election now either. However, I would like a government I can trust and respect and that has the best interests of Canadian citizens at its core, not just a lust for personal political power. Is that too much to ask?
Monday, June 09, 2008
Harper Goes Neo-Republican With an Ad Campaign Based on Truthiness
The Harper Cons are at it again. They are spending advertising money to frame the issues around Dion’s emerging carbon reduction strategy as just a tax grab. The Dion initiative is more about shifting taxes to discourage green house gas emissions and to reduce personal income tax to offset the overall government income and overall tax neutrality.
The Harper Cons are running “several thousands of dollars” (according to Jason Kenny) of election style attack ads (again) but spending funds raised from supporters donated for actual election costs. This is the tried and true Cons legal but ethically wrong tactic of using paid campaign advertising and kind of “pretending” there is an election so they can spend donor dollars and not be subject to the election spending limits. Remember the Cons have decided to sue Elections Canada for ruling they breach the law with their famous “In-and-Out” and very own election spending adscam. Remember?
This political tactic is an approach that is so American Republican and Karl Rovian in its style and substance. The MSM love the newsiness and the truthiness of the misleading story and give the Harper Cons scads of “earned media” (sic) for the sham. The coverage they give to this cheap political ploy actually makes it worth the money for the Cons. They get much more coverage and I’ll bet at a higher dollar value than the ads they actually buy.
Now the Cons will have our gas pumps talking to us about tax trickery in government. How Orwellian can you get? Sad and scary isn’t it? This is why most Canadians feel they just can't trust Stephen Harper. More and more they are coming to the conclusion that he is just too cunning and conniving to be trusted and worthy to continue to serve as our Prime Minister.
The Harper Cons are trying to convince us Dion’s climate change strategy will only be an old time traditional Liberal tax and spend policy. The Liberal’s under Martin cut spending and reduced taxes in record amounts. Harper is off base with the facts in this ad campaign but is is consistent with his major political talent of ignoring the inconvenient truths that contradict and hurts his political positioning messaging control with his Reform/Alliance base.
Dion better get his climate change strategy up and out there before he misses another opportunity to define himself, instead of letting Harper’s henchmen have at him. Polls show that Canadians are ready for some straight talk and honest effort at tackling the climate change issues and will take some pain to achieve those ends.
Harper is trying to buy his way into the Canadian consciousness and is telling us Dion is all about “raising taxes and increasing government spending.” Neither one of these Harper Cons misrepresentations are anywhere close to being an accurate characterization of what Dion is proposing in a climate change response strategy. Talk about being “tricky.” The Harper Cons take the cake.
The Harper Cons are running “several thousands of dollars” (according to Jason Kenny) of election style attack ads (again) but spending funds raised from supporters donated for actual election costs. This is the tried and true Cons legal but ethically wrong tactic of using paid campaign advertising and kind of “pretending” there is an election so they can spend donor dollars and not be subject to the election spending limits. Remember the Cons have decided to sue Elections Canada for ruling they breach the law with their famous “In-and-Out” and very own election spending adscam. Remember?
This political tactic is an approach that is so American Republican and Karl Rovian in its style and substance. The MSM love the newsiness and the truthiness of the misleading story and give the Harper Cons scads of “earned media” (sic) for the sham. The coverage they give to this cheap political ploy actually makes it worth the money for the Cons. They get much more coverage and I’ll bet at a higher dollar value than the ads they actually buy.
Now the Cons will have our gas pumps talking to us about tax trickery in government. How Orwellian can you get? Sad and scary isn’t it? This is why most Canadians feel they just can't trust Stephen Harper. More and more they are coming to the conclusion that he is just too cunning and conniving to be trusted and worthy to continue to serve as our Prime Minister.
The Harper Cons are trying to convince us Dion’s climate change strategy will only be an old time traditional Liberal tax and spend policy. The Liberal’s under Martin cut spending and reduced taxes in record amounts. Harper is off base with the facts in this ad campaign but is is consistent with his major political talent of ignoring the inconvenient truths that contradict and hurts his political positioning messaging control with his Reform/Alliance base.
Dion better get his climate change strategy up and out there before he misses another opportunity to define himself, instead of letting Harper’s henchmen have at him. Polls show that Canadians are ready for some straight talk and honest effort at tackling the climate change issues and will take some pain to achieve those ends.
Harper is trying to buy his way into the Canadian consciousness and is telling us Dion is all about “raising taxes and increasing government spending.” Neither one of these Harper Cons misrepresentations are anywhere close to being an accurate characterization of what Dion is proposing in a climate change response strategy. Talk about being “tricky.” The Harper Cons take the cake.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Dion Demands the RCMP Engage in Bernier Bungling
I see Mr. Dion is in the Globe and Mail today calling for the RCMP to come in a clarify if the Bernier bungling of classified Cabinet information is serious or not.
We need this to happen and I called for the RCMP to come in on this matter in my May 26th posting.
The Globe and Mail did a strong set of stories on the implications of l'Affaire Bernier on the weekend. Good job of serious journalism that is worth the time to read. It makes the point that it is not good enough to dwell on the titillation of the scandal. We need to know just what the Coulliard connection to Hell's Angles means to the quality of the security of our government. Her past biker gang relationships and her role in securing a contract to transport criminals in Quebec is cause for concern too.
The possibility that there was a Hell's Angel's contract out on Ms. Coulliard's life means we need to worry about her well being now too. The shift in attention has to be to the larger issues of security and public safety as well as the need to worry about the safety of certain citizens as well.
So far too many people who are i the know not talking for reasons of "national Security." The information vacuum is leaving the rumour mill to take over and fill in the blanks with bluster and conspiracies. This is all very silly at one end of the story but deadly serious at the other end.
Call in the RCMP Mr. Prime Minister and stop the silliness and use your power and office to get to the bottom of this serious situation.
We need this to happen and I called for the RCMP to come in on this matter in my May 26th posting.
The Globe and Mail did a strong set of stories on the implications of l'Affaire Bernier on the weekend. Good job of serious journalism that is worth the time to read. It makes the point that it is not good enough to dwell on the titillation of the scandal. We need to know just what the Coulliard connection to Hell's Angles means to the quality of the security of our government. Her past biker gang relationships and her role in securing a contract to transport criminals in Quebec is cause for concern too.
The possibility that there was a Hell's Angel's contract out on Ms. Coulliard's life means we need to worry about her well being now too. The shift in attention has to be to the larger issues of security and public safety as well as the need to worry about the safety of certain citizens as well.
So far too many people who are i the know not talking for reasons of "national Security." The information vacuum is leaving the rumour mill to take over and fill in the blanks with bluster and conspiracies. This is all very silly at one end of the story but deadly serious at the other end.
Call in the RCMP Mr. Prime Minister and stop the silliness and use your power and office to get to the bottom of this serious situation.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Harper's Old-School Politics of Command and Control Could be His Demise.
Lawrence Martin of the Globe and Mail is my favourite national political columnists. His analysis today about Stephen Harper leadership style and character and comments of Mr. Harper’s former mentor, Preston Manning are worth reading and pondering.
The man is all about tight command and control by the PMO. He applies it to everyone in the Harper government. The default talking point of every Conservative in Ottawa is to reference the sponsorship scandal. That is an old storyline that Canadians have moved beyond. However it is trotted out every time as the answer to any criticism directed at the Cons political, governance and statesmanship gaffe and shortcoming.
This centralized micromanaging and macro messaging control is Harper himself is bound to run its limits and try the patience of the voter. The sponsorship scandal as the Harper Cons answer to all issues is past frustrating, was never funny and now shows just how futile the Harper Cons are at real governing.
I love this African proverb and often think of it when I reflect on Mr. Harper as our pro tem PM. "If want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others." I like to add, if you want to do both you better transform the culture and find consensus. Tranfixing on dictating from the top will not go fast or far.
The Harper minority government has run its course. Unfortunately the Dion alternative is not seen as viable either. It is time for a different political approach and a different kind of person in politics. Given the nature of the job and the little upside for citizens to actually run for office, we may have ot wait a long time for that kind of change to occur.
The man is all about tight command and control by the PMO. He applies it to everyone in the Harper government. The default talking point of every Conservative in Ottawa is to reference the sponsorship scandal. That is an old storyline that Canadians have moved beyond. However it is trotted out every time as the answer to any criticism directed at the Cons political, governance and statesmanship gaffe and shortcoming.
This centralized micromanaging and macro messaging control is Harper himself is bound to run its limits and try the patience of the voter. The sponsorship scandal as the Harper Cons answer to all issues is past frustrating, was never funny and now shows just how futile the Harper Cons are at real governing.
I love this African proverb and often think of it when I reflect on Mr. Harper as our pro tem PM. "If want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others." I like to add, if you want to do both you better transform the culture and find consensus. Tranfixing on dictating from the top will not go fast or far.
The Harper minority government has run its course. Unfortunately the Dion alternative is not seen as viable either. It is time for a different political approach and a different kind of person in politics. Given the nature of the job and the little upside for citizens to actually run for office, we may have ot wait a long time for that kind of change to occur.
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