Category Archives: conservative party

Ok, Maybe They Honestly Don’t Know What Those Words Mean

conservative party, democracy and good government

When the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing the Conservatives, you know something’s up. (Jason Kenney used to be their CEO, and all of the federation’s provincial directors have roots in conservative parties.)

Today, they’re upset that the government tried to keep a pay raise for senior officials under wraps. “What’s got my goat,” explained the CTF’s John Williamson, who gets extra points for using that goat expression I love so much, ” is that this is a government that was elected to be more transparent and accountable.”

Wait a minute…he’s right! It’s almost as this is becoming a bit of a recurring theme.

Conservative Party Using War to Fundraise

conservative party, democracy and good government, foreign affairs

According to Jeff Jedras’s blog, the Conservative party has sent out a fundraising letter that attempts to monetize Harper’s description of Israel’s strikes on Lebanon (which have left over 400 innocent people dead and counting) as “measured,” and to capitalize on the war itself.

I could try and respond, but I seem to have gotten myself a little worked up, and I’m worried my response wouldn’t be measured.

Read Jeff’s blog and the comments. That pretty much sums it up.

**goes into other room, closes door, swears loudly**

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Canada in the Middle (East)

conservative party, foreign affairs

It’s hard to know where to begin. It’s hard to know where this began.

Last night, watching Canada’s bungled evacuation attempt on TV was frustrating. Despite what Peter MacKay says, we’ve done a much worse job of evacuating our citizens than other countries. To be fair, that doesn’t make anything about this easy, and I could almost give our government the benefit of the doubt if it weren’t for reports today that “Sandra Buckler, Director of Communications in the Prime Minister’s Office, is said to have issued an edict ordering that the Lebanon crisis be kept under wraps.”

Maybe these guys should have looked up transparency and accountability in a dictionary before building a whole campaign around those words.

Even more objectionable, for me, is Harper’s departure from traditional Canadian neutrality, towards something that resembles the American position. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time to take sides. During elections, for example. But let’s keep our eyes on the prize; the objective here is peace. And the best way for Canada to help advance that goal is to act as a voice of mediation. Taking sides is a bad strategy because it removes that possibility, hurting our ability to reach the objective.

Unfortunately, the editorial in today’s Globe And Mail supported Harper, mostly because they were bored and wanted to hear something different (“Mr. Harper did something unusual and refreshing”) , and because Hezbollah started it (“Hezbollah was primarily responsible for starting the fighting and must be primarily responsible for ending it”). This amounts to schoolyard “he hit me first” politics. If only it were that simple. And if only anyone could decisively say who “started it.”

If only we knew where the violence began. If only we knew where peace will begin.

Where the editorial went next really surprised me. “There is a world of difference,” the Globe And Mail continued, “between those who deliberately kill to make mischief and those who kill in response.”

Really? Last I checked, you’re dead either way. And I don’t know of any Canadian law that makes a distinction between “mischief killing” and “response killing.” I wonder if the Globe would apply the same logic to the streets of Toronto. I wonder if they teach their children that “two wrongs make a right.”

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Canada Changing

climate crisis, conservative party, democracy and good government, polls

If you haven’t heard of WorldChanging, you should check it out. It’s a positive, solutions-based blog, primarily about environmental and other issues regarding our collective survival.

I mention it today because they’ve just started a short series called CanadaChanging, where they’ll be looking at the progress our country is making. Or, as they put it, “Canada, while by no means a global leader in sustainability overall, does have enough candles burning to be worth a look.”

Oh stop, you’re making us blush.

It’s interesting to note that a recent poll “identified global warming, the environment, pollution and the need for new energy technologies as leading concerns for Canadians.” In contrast, only 10% of respondents ranked health care as the number one challenge for Canada in the near future.

Now here’s the million dollar question: If most Canadians believe that the climate crisis is our greatest challenge, how come we elected a government that didn’t even use the word “climate” or the phrase “global warming” in their entire election platform?

To be honest, I’m a little baffled (though I do have one or two theories that likely have something to do with it).