Ron Hick's, Deputy Minister of Executive Council for the Government of Alberta is resigning effective September 5, 2008. One of the finest and most effective public servants I have ever worked with is calling it quits. This is a sad and unnerving day for good government in Alberta.
My mother used to say the graveyard is full of indispensable people. While that is true, this senior administrative retirement is one of a number of key losses to the Stelmach government as of late.
Speculation over the reasons will be rampant but pointless. Stelmach's government is losing another good one in the senior ranks of the civil service.
I say another good one because Ron is one of four senior people to leave in the past week or two. Paddy Meade, a long serving Deputy Minister of Health and Wellness just moved to the new health superboard. Gerry Bourdeau, Deputy Minister of International and Intergovernmental Affairs retired yesterday as did Deputy Minister of Justice Terry Machett, who was appointed to serve on the Provincial Court yesterday.
This is worrisome for the new Stelmach government. Lots of good people left but the wisdom and experience of this level of talent is a serious loss to any Premier trying to reinvigorate what as been a lethargic governance model in the last years of Klein's regime.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Big Tobacco Fined $1.5 Billion for Smuggling
Big Tobacco has just been fined for cigarette smuggling activities between 1989 and 1994. This was a guilty plea and was about a complex cigarette smuggling scheme. What about pursuing them for the same activities from 1994 to the present?
The Big Tobacco culprits are Imperial Tobacco who is liable to pay a fine of $200,000,000.00 now and $400,000,000.00 more over the next 15 years. Rothmans Benson & Hedges is on the hook for $100,000,000.00 in fines now and $450,000,000.00 more in civil payments over the next 10 years. Classy operators these guys!
It is easy and appropriate to blame the companies for this illegal activity. I want more. I want to know the names of the individuals in those companies who perpetrated these illegal activities. Companies don’t make decisions by themselves or in isolation. It is the leadership and management who are the active agents of corporate decisions and such misdeeds.
There is a personal obligation here as well. Who was it exactly that aided, abetted, enabled and executed this illegal activity within these organizations? If there is not personal liability as well for this stuff the corporate cultures that drive these behaviours may never change. I am not a big fan of more government regulation but I do like personal accountability and liability for illegal corporate activities, be they civil or criminal.
Release the names of the individuals involved in this illegal activity please. We may need more legislation that will enable personal actions to be brought against corporate management and individual directors who enable this crap to happen. Then things will really change for the better. Sarbanes Oxley was a start but personal accountability for corporate actions must obviously be expanded.
For the record, I worked with a consortium of Alberta based health based organizations to get legislation passed in Alberta to get smoking banned in public and workplaces in Alberta last year. I have seen the tactics Big Tobacco used in lobbying and PR based misdeeds too.
The Big Tobacco culprits are Imperial Tobacco who is liable to pay a fine of $200,000,000.00 now and $400,000,000.00 more over the next 15 years. Rothmans Benson & Hedges is on the hook for $100,000,000.00 in fines now and $450,000,000.00 more in civil payments over the next 10 years. Classy operators these guys!
It is easy and appropriate to blame the companies for this illegal activity. I want more. I want to know the names of the individuals in those companies who perpetrated these illegal activities. Companies don’t make decisions by themselves or in isolation. It is the leadership and management who are the active agents of corporate decisions and such misdeeds.
There is a personal obligation here as well. Who was it exactly that aided, abetted, enabled and executed this illegal activity within these organizations? If there is not personal liability as well for this stuff the corporate cultures that drive these behaviours may never change. I am not a big fan of more government regulation but I do like personal accountability and liability for illegal corporate activities, be they civil or criminal.
Release the names of the individuals involved in this illegal activity please. We may need more legislation that will enable personal actions to be brought against corporate management and individual directors who enable this crap to happen. Then things will really change for the better. Sarbanes Oxley was a start but personal accountability for corporate actions must obviously be expanded.
For the record, I worked with a consortium of Alberta based health based organizations to get legislation passed in Alberta to get smoking banned in public and workplaces in Alberta last year. I have seen the tactics Big Tobacco used in lobbying and PR based misdeeds too.
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.
Does Big Telco Really Want To Charge for Internet Site Access?
The backlash is starting against Big Telco and we ought not to let them off the hook (sic). Many years ago it was backlash against The Big Three automakers out of Detroit. We can see what is happening to them for lack of effective response to the public demands. Then it moved to Big Tobacco and, then Big Pharma. Now it is Big Telco’s turn to feel the marketplace backlash from the public.
Now it is a more interesting phenomenon and a more level playing field for the public because of the Internet. People (like citizens) are in an ugly mood and an Ipsos Reid survey says 55% of us are ticked, mad or angry these days. And 35% of us apparently feel helpless to change things and we bottle up our frustration. Change is not easy and activism take energy, focus and commitment but that is the price of freedom my friends.
Some notable examples of activism folks who have started Facebook Groups. Then we see the emergence and thriving of http://www.ruinediphone.com/. This site was originally an anti-Rogers site that has apparently morphed into a “…one-stop shop for ticked off wireless customers.”
I am worried about Net Neutrality and see the FCC has decided that it is illegal for Comcast, an cable operator in the States, to interfere with peer-to-peer Internet traffic. As I understand it some of Big Telco is planning to charge per-site fees on most Internet sites. This is a violation of our Charter Rights of free speech and free association. If that is not bad enough, it is really economic censorship. Those with money get access to information and those without, don’t.
This privatization of access to information is so 19th century. The open and free access to information on the Internet is one of the best guarantees of an open and accountable democracy. To allow Big Telco to determine who gets to access and use information based on fees for site access is a threat of enormous proportions.
Big Telcos seem to think the Internet should be like specialty subscription television. That is a stupid as saying television should be like radio. That said, given all the talking heads on TV these days, TV has become too much in common with radio.
The Internet is far from perfect and is down- right dangerous in some cases. I am thinking child pornography and sexual luring, especially of children. However it is society and our legislators who ought to be making the rules, settings the community standards and dealing with abuse. We ought not to delegate this social responsibility of dealing with the Internet to Big Telco.
Free speech is not free, and its protection demands vigilance by citizens. There is a price to pay to sustain the right of free speech. To allow Big Telco to set the rules, the standards and privatize free speech as they see fit is wrong and contrary to a free and democratic society.
Citizens need to get involved to protect their free speech rights, from government and industry and even some special interests kooks too. Speak out and let your voice be heard – at least amongst your neighbours, co-workers, friends and family.
Free Speech! Use it or lose it.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Edward Greenspan Also Questions if There is Competition in Cell Phone Services
The pressure continues to mount on Big Telcos to become more serious about competition – particularly with each other and comparatively with other countries. Rogers, Bell and Telus dominate the Canadian marketplace and are hardly rushing to reduce wireless rates in Canada that would bring them more in line with other countries.
Now Edward Greenspan, writing in his Sun newspaper column is now on the bandwagon to question what is happening here. Wireless is unregulated in Canada but with only three providers who dominate the market the consumer is not being well served by the “normal” market forces.
We are not alone in being taken for granted by a market dominated by a few service providers. Mexico suffers as well.
Wireless service is a commodity where competition should work well but is it not. One has to wonder why. One answer is consumers are not protesting to providers about costs and service levels. From the supplier side, if the market will bear the cost, why lower prices? Could it be that Pogo was right? We have seen the enemy and it is us?
If new providers are coming on to the market from the recent spectrum auction, we consumers have to support them if they are to inject some competition and restore a free marketplace.
Then we have to ensure the Competition Bureau monitors matters carefully so they do not get bought up by the Big Three as has been the history of Canadian wireless services.
Now Edward Greenspan, writing in his Sun newspaper column is now on the bandwagon to question what is happening here. Wireless is unregulated in Canada but with only three providers who dominate the market the consumer is not being well served by the “normal” market forces.
We are not alone in being taken for granted by a market dominated by a few service providers. Mexico suffers as well.
Wireless service is a commodity where competition should work well but is it not. One has to wonder why. One answer is consumers are not protesting to providers about costs and service levels. From the supplier side, if the market will bear the cost, why lower prices? Could it be that Pogo was right? We have seen the enemy and it is us?
If new providers are coming on to the market from the recent spectrum auction, we consumers have to support them if they are to inject some competition and restore a free marketplace.
Then we have to ensure the Competition Bureau monitors matters carefully so they do not get bought up by the Big Three as has been the history of Canadian wireless services.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)