Tag: Group Projects

Group Project: Western Alienation And The Olympics

We’ve spent a lot of the last 20 years hearing how that bit of Canada known as the West – the bit between BC and Saskatchewan – isn’t understood, doesn’t fit and (quite conversely) wants to rule us all. What has that done, all that cultural decentralization. Well, the Globe speculates this morning that it has made us all so not an “us” that the Olympics are viewed very differently inside host province of BC and elsewhere:

Firstly, Canadians outside British Columbia have been mostly immune to the debate that has raged on the West Coast over the cost of the Games. And secondly, the torch relay has only recently returned to British Columbia after 90 days or so whipping up Olympic fever across the land. Still, the degree to which the rest of Canada has embraced these Games has been impressive. Which leads to the question: Are these Canada’s Games or British Columbia’s? And whose interests and considerations should prevail when it comes to decisions where there may be conflicting interests or differences in opinion?

I was wondering what the heck the guy was suggesting by “the degree to which the rest of Canada has embraced these Games has been impressive” until I remembered the Globe is part of the corporate glom that includes CTV which is the host TV network. I was scratching my head as I have not heard one Canadian say they are excited about the events thousands of kilometres to the west. As with Santa at Christmas, I’ll be nice about it with the kids but after years of political training that out there is some place else, I have a deep sense that these events are somewhere, you know, else. Right now, I am far more interested in the run the Syracuse Orange are putting on in the NCAAs than whether a Canadian comes 17th or 27th in biathalon.

You? Do you care after all the years and the billions in hype?

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Group Project: Does Ministerial Responsibility Exist?

Maybe it’s just like the memories of Christmastime from when I was a kid. The snows were deeper, the tree more packed with presents. But I also recall a time when Ministers of government actually stood down for events they were involved with – sometimes quite tangentially. Yet thoughts of ministerial responsibility past dance in one’s head at the news today that…

Peter MacKay, Stockwell Day and Gordon O’Connor, then senior cabinet ministers, met the head of the International Red Cross in the fall of 2006 as the humanitarian organization tried to focus Canada’s attention on alleged abuses in Afghan prisons, The Canadian Press has learned. Precisely what Jakob Kellenberger told the three, as well as Robert Greenhill, then president of the Canadian International Development Agency, in the Sept. 26, 2006 meeting is blanketed by diplomatic secrecy.

See, just one month ago the news was that “reports amounted to evaluations of the Afghan prison system based on second- and third-hand evidence” and that “when the government had “credible” evidence, it acted in 2007 to strike a new deal.” So, is the understanding of the head of the International Red Cross not credible? Is the problem that if one cannot trust the Governor General, the judiciary, the news media, the military, the premiers, scientists and even our diplomats one also cannot be expected to trust the Red Cross because it isn’t a part of the PMO?

The sad thing for the Tories appears to be that if they had taken a different approach in this matter, admitted that 2006 was a bad year for the Afghan detainee file, this would have gone away quickly. Just as this is most certainly not about the actions of the military, it really did not have to become about the actions of members of the Federal cabinet in 2006 or 2009. But now it has.

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Group Project: How Americanified Do You Feel?

Being in a border town where I can see another nation out my office window, I suppose it is not odd that I am affecting by doings down south. But sitting here between the AFC and NFC championship games and the Superbowl as well as the day before the inauguration of their next President, this is a pretty USA-ified point in the calendar. Heck, they even have a holiday Monday today. Am I jealous of that? Of course. But am I also jealous of their strength of affiliation to the football, to the republic? Do I wish I was a Yank? Some days, I think I do.

This is supposed to be a hard thing for a Canadian to admit or even imagine. Sure, we are grateful to the nation to the south for the military security blanket – you know, ever since it stopped being about smothering us into capitulation. And we should thank the Lord for the economic power they extend to us as their greatest trading partner, even during a recession. But should we seek to even be closer? Do you want to? Frankly, ever since we Canucks stopped caring in any way for a national championship in any sport – do we deserve our own country? Plus, given all the tepid but easily tossed around separatist movements – Quebec, western and even Newfoundland – not to mention the lack of respect, dignity and even administrative skill that is the hallmark of the Federal government these days, what is left to love to fill that nation of love of country? What is left of that chip all Canadians got somewhere along the way that told us no matter what we are better. Than America.

Dontcha wish when you called yourself a Pittsburg Steelers fan there wasn’t that little cringe inside that you weren’t talking about the Ti-cats? Dontcha really wish you had the pomp and ceremony of the new Presidency to call your own? How jealous are you of the folks down south? And even if you aren’t jealous, aren’t you really culturally speaking 98% American now anyway.

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Group Project: Remember Ruling From The Centre?

Ja ‘member? That was good.

Apparently that thing called “the West” that stretches from the BC’s eastern border to the far western reaches of Saskatchwan is up in arms about the rest of Canada getting in bed with the separatists. They are so mad they are planning to separate. Jay seems to be going that way and Darcey is well past that point and even uses some sweary Mary language to describe his feelings. So a few questions:

  • Will you feel better or worse if PM Harper manages to hold on to power?
  • Would the Tories have a better chance of maintaining power if Harper quits and they reverse policies to return to the center?
  • What the heck is the coalition actually going to do? Do you want them to rule from the center?
  • Why isn’t the Bloc legitimate? I mean I support Scottish separatism or a degree of useful autonomy if the people want it.
  • And isn’t “the West” threatening to separate as a group of Albertans suggest because the Liberals have made a pact with the Quebec separatists just a teensie-weensie bit odd? Who stands for the nation?

For me, it started with Mulroney and the cutting of national programs like the train and the post office. Maybe even further back and the changes to the military’s uniforms and structure. It continued for another two decades with more and more removing and cutting and denigration of the land as a whole in favour of local interests and a do nothing attitude. The Government of Canada is for disassembling. It’s not so much as these programs and institutions were sacred but they were not replaced by anything that made the federation stronger.

Recently, I had the honour to go to a US village council on official business and witnessed the pledge of allegiance being recited before the meeting began. It was a casual, competent and fully aware moment of commonality by everyone of all persuasions in the room that could have been played out anywhere in the nation. Not jingoism. They just love their country. We have nothing like that. Maybe we did once.

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Group Project: Defending Blogging – Stale Dated Or Free?

This is quite a charming piece. Doc Searle. Remember him? Rob1 (there used to be a Rob2) to the right posted it on Twitter and I thought it was worth asking you about. I, obviously, have something about blogging as I do it daily and have done so for about 12% of my life. But is it actually that zone of freedom that social networks lack? It could be. But it takes a heck of a lot of work, too, not to mention requiring a bit of an obsession.

I compare that to my very recently discovered obsession with Last.fm – finally a collaborative web thing. I have long kicked at the web for being such a loner zone. And you have to admit that even Facebook has that “I’m down here in this pit!” feel to it, right? So do blogs actually reign supreme? Or would only an obsessive blogger think so?

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Group Project: Should There Be Different Grades Of Sorry?

I have to admit I know so little about the background that I am somewhat unsure what tho think about the recent incident of the Prime Minister’s apology. But perhaps you have an opinion on what happened:

…Mr. Harper ignored their advice. He offered the apology and left the stage immediately afterward, without waiting to see if his host would deliver the pre-arranged thank you speech. Jaswinder Singh Toor, the grandson of a passenger on the Komagata Maru who was sent back to India, said he was shocked to hear Mr. Harper’s comments “It was unbelievable,” he said, adding that he did not understand why the Indo-Canadian community was not treated in the same fashion as Chinese and Japanese communities that have received apologies for historic wrongs. “Only the Indo-Canadians are being treated differently,” he said. “This is not right.”

It is often said that Mr. Harper does not suffer fools greatly but that I think is a bit of a euphemism. It certainly does not mean he has a license to be unkind and ungracious as he represents my nation as opposed to his personal opinion. Leaving abruptly would seem to be unkind and ungracious.

But has he been placed in an unfair spiral of expectation? The one man cannot be expected to wear the entire mantle of representation of the national government. He may have played a big part in creating the expectation that he is his own PR representative, the figurehead as well as the leader of the administration. For a person who wants to weaken and decentralize the land, he sure likes the strength of centralization of authority. Ought this outreach to communities and history be the job of the Governor General or even the next Royal visit? If it is left to a politician – any politician – is there not a risk of the consideration of an important historic matter becoming politicized?

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Group Project: McCain’s Visit To Ottawa

I don’t usually get caught up in the bashing of various news sources. The Toronto Star gets its share of grief from folks with a variety of levels with incoherent thought – leaving the brighter stuttering when they see the error of their ways. But this column/article/piece, for me, is worth a bit of finger pointery:

He brings to Canada his message that Barack Obama’s desire to unilaterally renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement damages relations between steadfast allies and he will highlight the benefits of the trilateral deal in his speech Friday at an Ottawa hotel. The Conservative government in Ottawa and the Canadian Embassy in Washington are seeking as much cover as possible from the McCain visit, but the optics hurt Prime Minister Stephen Harper and everyone around him. Having the man most Canadians would see as the embodiment of the third George W. Bush term extolling your policies is no favour for the Conservative government.

Most Canadians?!? First, I would think most Canadians really have no opinion on McCain and his position on Canadian policy. Most Canadians think BBQ is a chicken wiener on a hibachi. We like to talk up how much we know about the US but most Canadians are fairly ignorant generally of our neighbour’s governance and specifically who John McCain is. Second, Canadians will gush because US breakfast TV shows may be broadcasting from Canada. Nothing excites Canucks as much as being noticed by US media. Canada could be on fire from coast-to-coast but, as long as there were US camera crews up here, there would be a silver lining. Third, Canada has done very well under trade agreements – as long as we didn’t have an artificially inflated dollar primed by speculators pumping up the cost of a barrel of oil to the benefit of the few.

So why do the optics hurt – why would Harper hide? – well, you know other than he seems to always hide as a first tactic. Sure his policies are a bit anti-trade, ensuring the short term gains for commodity vendors are undermining the solid economic gains made for twenty years in the 80 cent dollar world. Even if you aren’t conservative don’t you like your conservatives standing up for themselves proudly?

Or maybe it’s because McCain was an activist for funding reform and bipartisan cooperation. Maybe it’s because McCain is the sort of politician who Canadians want – engaging and fiscally conservative but a bit of a red Tory in some areas social and libertarian in others. Maybe it’s because McCain knows how to smile. Maybe because side-by-side Harper does not look as good to Canadians as his putative US right-wing counterpart.

Group Project: Do We Love Biofuels Or Hate Them?

Finally. A new crop farmers can grow – even in the third world – that the industrialized nations a desperate to get their hands on. But all is not well with biofuels. We should have heeded the warning of The House Martins from twenty years ago:

Me and the farmer get on fine,
Through stormy weather and bottles of wine,
If I pull my weight he’ll treat me well
But if I’m late he’ll give me hell.

And though it’s all hard work no play,
Farmer is a happy crook,
Jesus hates him everyday,
‘Cause Jesus gave and farmer took.

Actually, I have no idea what that song means except it’s the only theologically anti-farmer song I know.

The pinch is being felt in the land of beer where prices are rising as there has been a shift from planting barley to malt to other crops to turn into automobile fodder. There has been some indication that there may be an increase in general planting as the marketplace adjusts in response but the effect on food crops has caused the UN to warn a year ago and now scramble to find enough for people to eat at an affordable price. And our Canadian House of Commons is grappling with how last year’s darling has so quickly turned into this year’s curse:

When the legislation was briefly debated in the House on Monday, NDP MPs were overwhelmingly negative toward the government’s approach, expressing concern that biofuels could trigger “a global food catastrophe.” The Bloc is supporting the government bill, but that party’s environment critic literally squirmed this week when asked whether he supports his party’s position. “We have a party line. The vote will be in a few days. I don’t support corn-based ethanol,” said Bernard Bigras. Asked whether he was uncomfortable with his party’s position, he offered a polite “no comment” and left.

A tragic if stunning dynamic is noting how a “green” and “sustainable” principle has caused harm to the poor, thus causing a clash on the left – where 100% of Canada’s public debate is occurring.

So what to do? In the new price range and future expectations nuke, hydro and wind power fueling electric cars (like the forbidden Toronto one) are looking better and better. Maybe also regulations requiring expanded crop production for biofuels is matched by expanded crop production for food. Babbitts and Randian nutjobs will say it is none of government’s business, that if people starve – well, that’s the market! What do you want to burn in your tank? Do you care?

Group Project: The Chretien Book And Its Timing

I am now seriously considering taking down the Paul Martin posters in the rec room:

On the eve of Parliament’s re-opening, former prime minister Jean Chrétien has driven a new wedge into the federal Liberal Party with his indictment of Paul Martin as having blood on his hands over the deployment of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Mr. Chrétien makes the charge in the just-published second volume of his memoirs, stating that because his successor “took too long to make up his mind” about what should be done with Canadian troops stationed in and around the Afghan capital of Kabul, “our soldiers were … sent south again to battle the Taliban in the killing fields around Kandahar.”

That is really odd but, given the recent Mulroney book, the sort of thing we have come to expect. On a more fun yet devious level, this is clearly another ploy by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to drive a wedge in Liberal ranks. While it is unclear exactly how a wedge can be driven in something [Ed.: insert your analogy here – I recommend something scattered like or soft a gooey like a lump of butter] the effect on tomorrow’s speech from the throne is going to be dramatic/non-existent. I really enjoy these acts of maneuvering for control…much more fun than actually governing and being governed. The more the merrier.

Your job: compare and contrast.

Group Project: Now It’s Six Years On

A year has passed since I wrote this summarizing what I wrote over the previous years. While my point of view is pretty much the same, it’s less intense. Too many intervening events, I suppose: SARS, tsunami and Katrina, as well as fostering again and our own growing up. But I took part in an emergency planning exercise last week and it was interesting to note that through the day no one griped about it being for no purpose or badly organized. Things are taken seriously even if the militarization of Canada’s Arctic seems a side show. Those bound up in fear seem as odd as the anti-vigilant. Pre-9/11 thinking is just a silly phrase given how badly much of the post-9/11 thinking panned out.

So where are we now? Where are you? Argghhh, as usually, is a thoughtful place.