Thank you CSIS for saying what many of us have long suspected. And my kids laugh at me and think I’m paranoid when I talk about this.

No surprise that China would be one of the main culprits, as well as Middle East countries. I would also look to India. Of those Middle East countries, the natural inclination is to look at Muslim countries, but no doubt Israel is involved too.

They say at least five countries are engaging in recruiting traitors in Canada, so which ones are they? China, India and Israel for sure. I would suggest Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would round out the five. Who else? Follow the money is always good advice.

I think Canadians need to take this type of activity far more seriously than we do. Canadians don’t seem to want to believe that it is a serious problem or wonder why anyone would want to do that.

Ask yourself that question the next time a government minister loosens the rules to allow more foreign investment in a particular sector or another state-owned Chinese company buys a big stake in a Canadian oilsands or other company.

It doesn’t mean everything should be suspect, but we should pull our heads out of our asses. Canada has a lot of very valuable companies, resources, technology and wealth, so foreign governments are going to be interested. If they can tip the scales in their favour, they’re going to do it.

I think CSIS ought to take a close look at the federal Conservative party, as I’m sure they have, because many of the decisions they make certainly aren’t good for Canadians, but could be seen as beneficial to foreign governments and companies.

Think about that next time you’re at the ballot box.

A wave full of oil - from http://ecoterrorist.tumblr.com/post/692615341/waves-crashing-on-alabamas-beaches-thanks-bp

British Petroleum has rightfully taken a lot of heat over their inaction on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. It’s hard to believe that we’re nearly two months in and there’s been virtually no progress in cleaning up the spill or stopping the oil from gushing into the Gulf.

BP has promised to put $20 billion into escrow to settle claims related to the oil disaster. One has to wonder if that’s even going to be enough to compensate for the damage done to the Gulf, the wildlife and the lives of those who rely on the Gulf for their living.

The U.S. government has been pretty well impotent in being able to deal with the crisis, aside from a great deal of posturing.

I’d like to share with you a couple of videos related to the oil spill in the Gulf, one a brilliant satirical piece and the other a surprisingly good (but serious) piece from Al Jazeera English – Fault Lines on the impact of oil exploration on the Gulf coast of Louisiana.

I have to give Al Jazeera English some credit for doing a nice in depth piece on this issue. This is the kind of investigative journalism the world really needs a heck of a lot more of. It might be 23 minutes long, but it’s worth every minute.

“Why do we make such shit here?”

He defends his comments as trying to help Canadians be the best they can be.

Seems like he’s off to a great start. That’s certainly an excellent way to attract quality productions to Alberta and the rest of Canada.

Perhaps he should be handling tourism too? I’m sure he could come up with some great lines like: “Come and see our shit!”

So what would Lindsay Blackett say if he were in charge of other Alberta government ministries? Check this shit out:

• Aboriginal Relations – “Powwows? That’s some cool shit!”
• Advanced education & Technology – “Hopefully kids won’t say ‘shit’ after they get a degree.”
• Agriculture – “Alberta grows shit. Did you know that?”
• Children & Youth Services – “My kids are going to give me shit.”
• Culture – “Been there, done that shit.”
• Education – “What’s with all the shit about Bill 44?”
• Employment & Immigration – “I don’t give a shit if you don’t want foreign workers here.”
• Energy – “Drill baby drill!” (Nobody said this shit had to be original.)
• Environment – “I don’t mind if we dump shit in the water.”
• Executive Council – “Shit, I have no idea what to do here.”
• Finance & Enterprise – “Don’t worry, I’m handling shit.”
• Health & Wellness – “Shitting regularly is good for you.”
• Housing & Urban Affairs – “Let’s fix all the shitty houses.”
• Infrastructure – “This is some dull shit.”
• International & Intergovernmental Relations – “I get to travel and shit!”
• Justice & Attorney General – “We need to put more shitheads in prison.”
• Municipal Affairs – “Don’t come to me asking for more shit.”
• Seniors & Community Supports – “Drop that shit & call your grandma.”
• Service Alberta – “Give me more exciting shit to do.”
• Solicitor General & Public Security – “Protecting you from terrorists & shit.”
• Sustainable Resource Development – “We’ll keep this shit rolling.”
• Tourism, Parks & Recreation – “Come and see our shit!”
• Transportation – “Why do we have so many shitty cars on the road?”
• Treasury Board – “Shit, isn’t this the same as Finance?”

Critics of the Canadian healthcare system point to waiting lists as one of the big failures of our system. Of course this is a problem and it’s something that needs to be dealt with. The scale of the issue is another question.

While our system isn’t perfect, I certainly wouldn’t trade it for the US healthcare system where your coverage could be yanked if you’re just not profitable enough, if you even had health care coverage. The life expectancy of Canadians is higher than Americans too, so we can’t be doing too bad.

What I’ve wondered is how much would it cost to resolve the waiting lists in one year? If we were to spend the money necessary to take care of everyone on the waiting list who can reasonably be attended to, how much would that cost?

Of course that would not include people waiting for transplants. Obviously they can’t get real help until donors become available.

I know that urgent cases will always be moved to the front of the line, but when you’re in that line, your case is the number one priority, in your eyes! And who’s to doubt that? If you need knee or back surgery and can’t work because of it, it’s critical to get that treatment so you can be productive again.

My wife was seriously hurt at work and had an MRI very quickly. She’s been getting treatment and physiotherapy, so our system can work well for particular silos of patients, namely WCB claimants, although WCB claimants have many more issues when it comes to injuries that prevent them from working.

And what would the cost be compared to the costs of having these people languish on waiting lists? Would there be more tax revenue for government to offset that additional cost? If someone were to have to wait for two years on disability to get back surgery, if they were to get the back surgery sooner and get back to work quickly, surely that would be more beneficial to government coffers.

Also, by getting these surgeries done quickly, there would be less damage to undo. The longer someone has to wait, often more damage is done, making the problem worse and, in the end, more expensive.

So, has anyone in government has really looked at the opportunity cost of having all these people who can’t work languishing on waiting lists? When I look at how our governments operate today, I tend to doubt that it’s happened. Maybe someone needs to figure that out.

It would certainly be better in the long run if our healthcare system could keep up with current cases rather than having to deal with surgeries that should have been performed up to two years prior. Maybe that makes too much sense?

They were discussing Alberta’s budget issues and the possibility of a sales tax in Alberta. Evidently I’ve been out of the loop because the Alberta government is floating trial balloons about it. I guess MLA Doug Griffiths has been discussing it.

HST in B.C.

I grew up in B.C., where there is a vicious fight (led by former B.C. premier Bill Vander Zalm) regarding the widely-despised HST imposed on B.C. residents by Premier Gordon Campbell, who promised in the last election he wouldn’t replace the provincial sales tax with a combined GST/PST in the form of a federal HST.

B.C. residents have achieved their goal in a petition to reverse the HST legislation, but how it’s going to pan out, who knows? B.C. also has recall legislation for its MLAs and if Premier Gordon Campbell doesn’t obey the petition, B.C. Liberal MLAs face a distinct possibility they’re going to lose their jobs sooner than the next election.

La-la land in Alberta?

Yes, Albertans do live in la-la land, at least from the perspective of sales taxes. There aren’t many places out there that have no local sales tax. Can I name any others? No. I’m not sure I’d find many.

I would expect there’d be a huge fight if a sales tax were seriously discussed here and the Alberta Conservatives might just be signing their own death warrant if they do. Whether anyone really believes the Wildrose Party could win the next election wouldn’t be debated if a sales tax were imposed in Alberta.

It’s like an Alberta badge of honour to not have a provincial sales tax. Talk to residents from other provinces and they’re practically in awe.

So when I listened to the Edmonton A.M. business panel this morning, I had to laugh. I didn’t laugh at the idea that the province needed a stable source of revenue to ride out the highs and lows of resource revenues, which is a serious issue here.

I laughed at Deborah Yedlin and Paul Marck for their ridiculous suggestion that the Alberta government could sell residents on it by saying it would be revenue neutral. The natural question would be, so why bother? They suggested that personal and business taxes could be reduced.

Umm, did you guys not listen to your own conversation? You’re saying Alberta has a revenue problem and not a spending problem. So, why would you want a sales tax that would just be revenue neutral? It doesn’t seem to take care of the problem you’ve identified. You need to think before you talk. Seriously.

Diversifying Alberta’s economy

University of Alberta in Edmonton

I don’t want a sales tax, but I do agree Alberta needs to do something about the boom/bust cycles in its economy. If the government had a long-term vision, it would actually look at diversifying the economy.

Alberta currently relies on oil and gas far too heavily. Other major industries include forestry, tourism, agriculture and mining.

What about high tech? Since moving to Alberta I’ve been rather surprised at the tech industry in this province, especially in Edmonton. It’s a surprisingly large, growing and successful community, but it really flies under the radar.

What I do see is a way to balance out the Alberta economy by getting away from primary industry and moving towards a high tech economy in a big way. I wouldn’t include high tech companies that are reliant on the oil and gas sector.

Alberta could be an energy leader, not just an oil and gas leader. High tech companies researching and producing alternative energy products would make sense. The Alberta government doesn’t seem to get that Alberta’s expertise should be energy, not just oil and gas. It’s rebranding, but also rethinking. I don’t see much rethinking in our government though.

If the province is really going to move forward, that’s one step it needs to take. Are we just going to import solar panels, wind turbines, fuel cells and other alternative energy technology, or are we going to develop it here?

In addition, the Alberta government needs to support and encourage other high tech industries. There are many examples of successful Alberta software companies such as Bioware (video games), Yardstick Software (learning management system software) and many others.

Alberta has a successful nanotech industry. We have a lot of creative people that are working here now and we need to keep here

Economic diversification key: Education

What the Alberta government should do a much better job of is to support its education system from kindergarten through university. Instead it’s choked off funding, particularly at the university level, forcing students to take on more debt at the same time universities are scrambling for funding and laying off staff.

If anything, the Alberta government should recognize that education is an investment in the future of the province and not simply a line item in the budget. If we had leaders in our province with vision, they’d know this. Sadly, we do not.

We should be reducing the cost of education and encouraging as many Albertans as possible to get training in the high tech industries of the future. The province also should not be burdening students with massive piles of debt. This debt also acts as a disincentive for students to attend university here, or staying here once they’ve finished. With a massive debt load, students will run to locations with the highest wages and are less likely to stay here.

Back to sales taxes

If Albertans trusted the government to spend wisely, not blow tax dollars on various projects and not simply cut social services every time there’s a downturn in the economy, there might be more chance Albertans would accept a sales tax. Yeah right, who am I kidding?

I agree that the government should increase its revenue, but it should also spend responsibly. Instead of further subsidies to the oil and gas sector, it should be investing in the future of Alberta: education and high technology.

With the current crop of politicians, I just don’t see it happening. A sales tax may be the way to even things out, but it can’t be revenue neutral. It has to generate real income for the government, but is a sales tax the best way to do it? I’m not sure and I’m not sure anyone in the Alberta government now has the balls to do the right thing anyway. They’re just too worried about continuing their reign.

Apparently the World Health Organization changed their definition of a pandemic before H1N1. It seems that the rest of the world heard “pandemic” and thought of the old definition which is akin to “plague.”

No surprise that the questions now revolve around who was on the committee that made the decision to change the definition and declare H1N1 a pandemic. Were there financial reasons for that decision? I guess the WHO doesn’t want to say who was on the committee.

The WHO has certainly discredited itself by taking the actions it has. There may well be a true pandemic that really is broadly lethal, but will people listen next time?

It seems now that the declaration of a pandemic had more to do with lining the pockets of pharmaceutical companies eager to sell anti-viral drugs and a rushed-to-market vaccine.

Am I worried about the next pandemic? No, not really. I’m certainly going to be quite skeptical. In the future I plan to look for vaccines that are mercury-free at the very least. I’m more worried about poor quality and contaminated vaccines.

This is sort of ironic as I am partway through one of my favourite books: Stephen King’s The Stand. It’s about a flu-like virus that escapes a U.S. government virus research facility and wipes out about 99.5% of the human population.

I like it because it’s plausible. It’s much scarier than vampires and werewolves.

What I do think is plausible is that we’re going to hear more BS announcements from the chicken little WHO about how we should panic over the latest virus with the greatest potential for the big pharmaceutical companies to profit heavily.

Some things never change.

*cough cough*

No problem. I’ll continue the debate here. I don’t have the original comment about Canadian healthcare, which I don’t remember being particularly negative, or my comment, but I do have the comment I’ll be responding to. Thank you, Facebook, for emailing responses to me.

Here’s the comment (verbatim):

And i’m sorry Alain….you have absolutely no idea what your talking about. Those so called greedy corporations that your mocking…just so happen to be the reason that the U.S. has become the super power that it is. It’s called “free market”. And no thanks to these liberal jack offs in our govt they are ruining what we have spent 200+ years building and defending.

You really wanna get in a debate with me over socialized heath care? Let me tell you a little something about your perfect system.

Do you have any idea how many other countries come to the united states for health care??? You don’t see Americans flocking to Europe or Mexico for heath care do you? Hmmmm i wonder why. Also…do you have any idea where most of the drugs and health treatments come from in the world??? They sure as hell don’t come from Japan. Germany. France. etc. They come from HERE. So educate yourself before you mock my country sir. Here’s just a tidbit on how messed up socialized health care is.

1.In socialized medical systems, the doctors work directly for the state. In Canada (and many other countries with universal care), doctors can run their own private practices, just like they do in the US. The only difference is that every doctor deals with one insurer, instead of 150. And that insurer is the provincial government, which is accountable to the legislature and the voters if the quality of coverage is allowed to slide. which means they control every aspect of your health because your on a federal file….

2.Doctors are hurt financially by single-payer health care. Because they don’t make crap compared to those “evil” american greedy doctors who’s only goal is to take your money. Funny thing is… unlike your “lotto” system when your govt runs outta money to fund your health care. They take whoever no matter who is sicker or not. Ours have the best interest in keeping you alive because if your dead….they don’t get paid!!!

3.You have to wait forever to get a family doctor. where i can choose from any list of private health care providers.

4.Wait times in Canada are horrendous… and on…and on…and on…and on….

So, Trevor, while I don’t have my original comment to refer to, what I do know is that I never claimed the healthcare system in Canada is perfect, but I prefer it to the US system. I readily admit that it’s not perfect.

I also was not mocking the US system, but criticizing it. The US healthcare system is definitely worthy of criticism. How is it that what is arguably the wealthiest country on earth cannot have healthcare for all of its citizens? How many are left out? 10 million? 30 million? Estimates vary, and I’m talking about US citizens, not illegal immigrants.

Even for those who do have healthcare, if you’ve got a health condition under one insurer, you may not have that condition covered if you were to move jobs or try to get a different healthcare provider because it’s a “pre-existing condition” with the new insurer. It effectively turns patients into slaves of those healthcare providers and potentially your employer.

If your health condition was sufficiently serious, you’d be crazy to change jobs, at the risk of your health care coverage ceasing in relation to that condition. How is this considered ethical or just? Is this the kind of society we want? I don’t.

From an economic perspective, it certainly limits labour mobility. That’s not a bad thing from a company perspective, I guess, but not an employee perspective. I can’t imagine an unhealthy employee is going to be particularly productive either.

Also, health care coverage in the US, from what I understand, can also be limited, as you’re saying apparently happens in Canada. I understand that in the US, health care companies routinely decide which procedures will be covered and which won’t. If there’s not a likely positive outcome or it’s not included in your policy, etc, it’s not covered. I’ve also heard of many cases where people had their coverage dropped completely.

That’s a superior system alright. Your coverage gets dropped when you actually need it most.

People say that in Canada bureaucrats decide on treatment, which actually isn’t true. Your doctor decides on the appropriate treatment, and yes, you may need to wait in line. Waiting lists in Canada are a problem that our governments are working on. How successful are they? Jury’s out on that right now. If cases are serious enough, they can be moved up quickly though.

Contrast this with the US where, in my opinion, it’s actually worse. Your case may not be decided by a government bureaucrat, but a corporate one! Brain tumours can’t be a profitable thing, so I can see why companies would routinely deny people coverage for serious medical procedures. After all, if you deny many of the most serious procedures, the shareholders will be happier. Sorry, but I don’t want my case decided on when there’s a profit motive involved. If insurance companies could get away with it, they’d be happy to collect your premiums and never pay anything out

I’m not aware of any countries seeking care in the US, but I know some citizens of other countries do seek care in the US. The US is blessed to have a large number of skilled, experienced and well-trained physicians. There’s no doubt about that. Treatment can happen quickly, provided you have the money. Sometimes governments or private insurers will help to pay the cost.

Sorry Trevor, but Americans are also seeking treatment abroad. It’s called medical tourism. And what is the most common reason for this? Price. Many Americans can’t afford the treatment at home, so they get it elsewhere. That’s a superior system at work. Many Americans also like to buy prescription drugs in Canada. Why? It’s cheaper.

I acknowledge that many leading edge treatments and drugs are developed in the US, but the US is hardly the only place where health treatments and drugs come from. This typifies the ‘ugly American’ attitude that the US is the centre of the universe and ‘how come they don’t do it like we do in the good old U S of A?’ kind of thinking.

I don’t really see the need to start listing off medical discoveries and drugs discovered outside the U S of A. I don’t need to mock the US, but I will criticize it. Don’t take it personally. I criticize the Canadian government too.

Socialism – so what?

The US is 31st at 78.1 years. Even Bosnia is higher.

The funniest thing about the whole healthcare debate in the US is the hysteria over socialism. If our socialized healthcare in Canada is so bad, how is it that Canada is fourth in the world in terms of life expectancy? The US is 31st. Not too hot for what’s supposed to be the best medical system in the world. Looking over the top 10 countries for life expectancy, how many have a socialized healthcare system? Those citizens don’t seem to mind.

I don’t understand the fixation so many Americans have with anything resembling socialism. I guess they look past the socialism at work in their own communities like firehalls, police stations, roads, libraries and other evil, socialist institutions.

How’d you like the firehall to come to your house when it’s burning and leave when they notice you’re not covered by their firehall? Not that it ever happened in America. Or a cop that doesn’t investigate your car being stolen because you don’t pay into their police fund? How about a toll on every single road you travel?

Another way to look at socialism is that it’s a pooling of resources for the common good of a group of people. Countries are kind of like that. It’s community. People unite around a common belief. Nothing wrong with that.

So, who cares if some doctors in socialized medical systems work for the state? Really, who does, other than some Americans? In Canada, our doctors run their own practices and they don’t seem to mind it. We do have some private clinics here and there is some debate about how much private care to allow and how that might work.

In fact, on a per capita basis, Canada spends just over half what the US does on healthcare. Another source of information on per capita spending on healthcare (PDF).

That’s some system in the US that doesn’t cover everyone. Where does all that money go? Seems rather inefficient to have 150 health care insurers with all the overhead to administer each company. It certainly simplifies things from the doctor’s perspective too.

For the record, I don’t believe US doctors are greedy, nor do I believe Canadian doctors are. In fact, I’m sure there are many US doctors pissed off at the whole system there because the decisions on treatment are often decided by the insurers and not them. Your health records are available to private corporations and mine are held by my doctor. The billing information and some treatment info is held by government. So what?

Government accountability, especially on an issue so important to everyone, is a good thing. I’m glad my governments are accountable in that way. Accountability in the US system is elusive at best and non-existent at worst. Health care companies, from what I’ve heard, are the biggest lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

Oh, look at that. Health is in second, just edged out by real estate, finance and insurance. $3.8 billion for lobbying? I think lobbying is synonymous with bribery.

If Canadian doctors have a problem with how much they’re paid here, and they’re paid well, I guess they could go to the US. We still have doctors here. I guess they don’t mind. Physicians and health workers in Canada, as in the US, are consistently among the top earners.

And Trevor, I’m not sure where you get the idea that somehow US physicians have a higher purpose and dedication to keeping you alive because they want to get paid. So Canadian doctors don’t care whether their patients live or die? What an asinine statement. I think that’s also an insult to professional physicians in the US who are doing the best they can for their patients, no matter what.

I think you illustrated the key difference between the US healthcare system and the “evil” socialized healthcare systems around the world: “They take whoever no matter who is sicker or not.” You’re right. Insurers in the US have no interest in you if you’re sick. It’s double jeopardy if you’re sick and don’t have the money to pay. You’re as good as dead in the US then.

At least in socialized healthcare systems you have the opportunity for coverage and treatment. I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is why if you ask most Canadians or citizens of countries with a socialized medical system, they’d never want the US system in their country.

As for getting a family doctor, I’ve never had an issue in finding a family physician here in Canada. I know it’s been tough for some. The same baby boom bubble there is happening here and many doctors are retiring. Our governments in Canada have also made mistakes in the past by restricting the numbers of physicians and nurses being educated. I guess they forgot about statistics.

Free market?

Tell us how you really feel.

Perhaps you haven’t been to Canada. You should come and visit some time. You might find that we also have a free market economy, and a still healthy one at that. How’s that free market working for you lately? Nothing like a little deregulation of the financial, real estate and insurance markets, combined with those “greedy corporations” to unravel your entire economy .

Fortunately, Canada’s economy has remained relatively healthy, all things considered, through the near collapse of the world’s economy. See, a little banking regulation is necessary, despite the attempts by Canadian banks and some Canadian politicians to go the virtually complete deregulation route in the US. Had we done that, we’d be as screwed as the US. I’m not particularly fond of the big banks here, but they’re among the strongest in the world now

I believe in a balanced approach when it comes to regulating business. Regulation and enforcement is needed to protect citizens, employees and consumers, but also to allow business to operate. It’s a sensible, Canadian approach and it’s generally worked pretty well for us here.

What’s happening in the US right now is sad. So many US citizens are still caught up in the “us versus them” style of politics between Democrats and Republicans, but they fail to see that both parties are the same. They’re beholden to special interests and lobbyists and are consistently screwing American citizens.

We can blame much of what is happening right now on the Republicans though. It was under George W. Bush’s reign that the US went from a $250 billion annual surplus from Bill Clinton in 2000 to $1 trillion deficit in 2008. US debt in that time went from about $5 trillion to $10 trillion. So much for the idea that Republicans are brilliant money managers.

I am certainly sympathetic to the plight Obama found himself in: an almost ruined economy and two unfinished wars, one of which was completely unjustified (Iraq – there were no weapons of mass destruction).

Americans have every right to be angry right now, but that anger should mostly be directed at the Republicans for what they did (or didn’t do) during their 8 years in power. That doesn’t absolve the Democrats of their duplicity either.

The problem in the US is far from being the “liberal jack offs” as you say. Your country is being ruined by rampant greed and outright theft of public money. Bush started the ball rolling on paying out companies like Goldman Sachs, Citibank and others with public money. Now the US taxpayer is on the hook for their criminal behaviour. You can’t blame it all on Obama.

If Americans are going to pull out of this nosedive successfully, it relies on Americans seeing their current politicians for who they really are. America used to command a lot of respect around the world, but that is not the case these days. So many Americans still hold outdated views about how the world sees them. Things will only change there when Americans open their eyes to what is really happening and how they’re being screwed by their own government, financially and in many of its corrupt actions around the world. Good luck.

Ann Coulter is in Canada to eat your babies. No, seriously.

Canadians are now able to bear witness to the typical political spectacle normally reserved for our American friends.

If you haven’t heard by now, American conservative ‘pundit’ Ann Coulter has been on a speaking tour in Canada and she ran into some opposition at the University of Ottawa.

Coulter is known for pushing the limits of free speech and, ironically, is claiming she may file a human rights complaint after a letter from a University of Ottawa provost Francis Houle reminding Coulter about Canada’s laws on hate speech.

This came after her speech at the University of Ontario where Coulter told one Muslim student who questioned her about past remarks about Muslims that if they didn’t like being denied a flight they could “ride a camel” or a magic carpet.

The whole thing feels like it’s been scripted. Coincidentally, Ezra Lavant, not one to shy away from confrontation or attacking human rights commissions, was present for the festivities as master of ceremonies. How apropos. (I read this after I wrote this blog post. I think Neil MacDonald did a great job and it really reinforces the thought I had that this whole thing seems scripted. It’s not the first time Ezra ‘Chicken Little’ Lavant’s been up to this.)

I’m all for free speech, and think that people should be able to push things a little further than maybe our human rights commissions may be comfortable with. Coulter is well aware of the reactions to the kinds of things she says. She’s trying to evoke that reaction in audiences.

Ann Coulter has a truckload of t-shirts to sell. Get'em before they're gone!

Of course Coulter’s friends and fans are trying to frame the issue as a violent riot and that Coulter was scared (kind of like Democrats have been threatened in the US). One random, unverified comment on the Small Dead Animals blog apparently about huge Egyptian student union/club member overturning a table gets turned into ‘they were throwing tables.’

Somehow the pulling of a fire alarm is equated to yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre. Well, it’s a theatre alright; the theatre of the absurd

Coulter’s fans are also trying to frame her opponents as being opposed to free speech, ironically while exercising their own right to free speech.

The absurd theatre will continue at the University of Calgary but, now that she’s really whipped everyone into a frenzy about the apparent lack of free speech in Canada and crazed left-wing mobs, comes the real reason for her visit. I heard it from one source that she has a semi-trailer full of Obama Joker t-shirts and she’ll be selling them at her speech in Calgary.

She’s got so much attention here now that everyone will want a memento from her speech. Well, it’s either that or she is trying to get some free healthcare while she’s here in Canada, sort of like Rush Limbaugh did when he was in Hawaii. Oh, wait, no. Apparently everyone can get healthcare in the U.S. now. Forget it.

What Ann Coulter has done with her bit of performance art is to remind us that Canada is not at all like the USA in its political discourse. Thank you Ann.

With the reigning Conservatives on the ropes in terms of their approval ratings, the Wildrose Alliance has seen support rise for its party. It seems like a natural thing, since they both occupy similar real estate in the political spectrum.

The Conservatives are especially defensive after the defection of two MLAs to the Wildrose Alliance. This defensiveness apparently has spread to the Wildrose Alliance now that the Alberta Party has merged with the Renew Alberta movement

The Wildrose Alliance has the attack dogs out on the Alberta Party questioning a number of things such as the party apparently suspending its constitution as a result of the merger, appointment of board members, etc.

I had to laugh at Jane Morgan’s claim:

“Sorry to disappoint the WAP detractors; but the WAP has absolutely ZERO to do with this. It’s just lil’ol me typing away on an otherwise boring weekend; trying to get to the bottom of some very bizarre switch-a-roos.”

Using someone else to do your political dirty work, paid or unpaid, is a political tactic as old as the hills and helps politicians maintain plausible deniability. I get the impression Ms. Morgan is now a former party official, though I do not know what role she played in the WAP.

I understand what they’re doing. They’re hoping to frame the debate about the Alberta Party as one that is acting illegitimately, in violation of its constitution and without the support of its members.

The Alberta Party could potentially siphon off support from every party as Alberta voters don’t seem to be satisfied with any party at this point. No surprise that the WAP sees the AP as a threat. WAP would like to be the protest party of choice for Albertans. Having two out there muddies the already very murky political waters.

My view of the Alberta Party

Anyone who knows me, knows I have some strong views on politics and I’m suspicious of political parties in general.

I am interested in what is happening with the Alberta Party and may yet participate in their “Big Listen.” Will I vote for them? I can’t say at this point. It really depends on a number of factors.

I think it’s fair to raise questions about the party’s constitution and how that was handled. Political parties do need to ensure they operate according to the rules they’ve laid out for themselves and to ensure they’re in compliance with any government legislation.

I would also like to see what policies develop out of the “Big Listen” process and subsequently at any policy convention. I’m not worried, as some anonymous poster is, that the “Big Listen” is similar language used by Hillary Clinton; oh, and also that poster was concerned about “starting conversations.”

So, Democratic party leadership candidates have a monopoly on listening and starting conversations? Does using similar language mean that you have the same policies? Please. Pull your head out of your ass and start listening. Hell, start a conversation while you’re at it.

A key issue for me is the autonomy of party MLAs and party discipline. I believe in free votes on everything.

Political parties should not impose their will on duly elected MLAs. An MLA should always be free to vote according to their conscience and the will of their local electorate. I don’t believe in small- or large-scale authoritarianism. This is one of my main problems with virtually every political party.

I don’t tend to be a labeler and bristle at attempts to label me. I like ideas from across the political spectrum and, really, I am a centrist if you’d like to use the term. Frankly labeling is an overused American political tactic to short-circuit critical thinking. Many Canadian political parties are importing this tactic. Why? I guess their critical thinking skills have been short-circuited. Judging by the political situation in the US and how well everything is going there, do we really need ANY political tactics or policies imported from there?

Open finances

Another concern of mine is that the Alberta Party’s finances be completely open and transparent. That goes for political campaigns as well as leadership campaigns. I have some serious concerns about WAP leader Danielle Smith hiding her leadership campaign supporters and donations from public scrutiny. What does she have to hide?

Furthermore, how can the WAP leader have a party policy of an “open and comprehensive Freedom of Information Act” as well as wanting to “institute strict conflict of interest guidelines facilitated through the Provincial Ethics Commissioner’s office” yet not have her leadership campaign fully open to public scrutiny?

It seems more politics as usual. Money talks and I wonder what money is talking to Danielle Smith? I can bet I know. It’s the same money that talks to everyone in politics in Alberta. That concerns me.

The energy lobby in Alberta is obviously tremendously powerful. We need governments that are transparent, open and not unduly influenced by any lobby. We need a government that implements policies that are in the best interests of Albertans as a whole and do not cater to any lobby.

The citizens of Alberta elect governments, not businesses. That’s not to say that business is not important. It’s not a dichotomy. A balanced approach is appropriate. I’ve been a Chamber of Commerce director and I am fully aware of the needs of small business. I also know that governments tend to focus more on the needs of large business, typically at the expense of small business.

I also believe in a balanced regulatory approach between government and business. The economic meltdown we’re still in is proof that there has to be regulation of business. Business operating without regulation is, quite simply, stupid. Government’s role is to look out for the public interest. Laws and enforcement of those laws is how we keep things fair for everyone.

The supposed architect of the boom and bust, Alan Greenspan, a noted Ayn Rand sycophant, admitted he was wrong about essentially letting business regulate itself. How is it that some could claim one group, government, can’t sufficiently look after the public interest, yet put blind faith in business to do the same? It’s either stupidity, willful ignorance or outright duplicity.

Looking to Alberta’s future

Unfortunately, Alberta governments really haven’t looked that far into the future, looking more towards the next election and staying in power. We need governments that are looking generations ahead. We haven’t had it here. In fact, most governments operate much like large corporations, by the quarter, it seems. Maybe it would pay for Alberta governments to think of Alberta citizens as shareholders? We do have all the voting rights and should be the ones collecting the dividends.

This short-term thinking has to stop. We are facing serious issues on this planet, and while the Alberta government, whatever its political stripe, isn’t going to solve them, it can play a role in not making those problems worse and also look after the interests of Albertans.

These are just some of the things I will be looking at in the Alberta Party. I’ll give them a fair shot, like I have with every other political party. For now I am willing to engage in the listening and conversation, and so should every Albertan because the discussion transcends just one political party.

On Christmas Day we heard about the crotch bomber. Apparently the US was fully aware of him, but still allowed him to fly. Now there are questions about whether this was a “false flag” event, which the US is known for, to keep the terrorist fear ball rolling. (I guess Yemen has lots of oil and will be invaded soon.)

Don’t believe the US government lies to start wars or keep them going? (Not like they’re the only government that does either.)

• first Gulf War – manufactured story by Hill & Knowlton PR – Iraqi soldiers pulling Kuwaiti babies out of incubators
• second Gulf War – no evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction – the Bush Whitehouse was keen to eliminate Saddam Hussein, so it falsified “evidence” of WMDs
• Vietnam War – pretext for the Vietnam War – Gulf of Tonkin incident never happened.

Admit it America: the terrorists have won. They’ve succeeded in terrorizing your entire country to the point that you’ve begun dismantling the principles, laws and institutions that differentiate you from the nations and groups those actual and alleged terrorists come from.

Now there just needs to be a hint of terrorism, a vague mention or some unverified tape from a terrorist country and more legislation is trotted out to “protect” us. Who’s protecting us from our governments now?

“Terrorism” aftermath: more travel restrictions

I’ve always liked Rick Steves and his Europe Through the Back Door series of books and TV shows, so I was curious to know what his reaction to the latest “terror in the skies” might be.

I am not sure what his reaction will be to full body scans and no carry-on bags (carry on bags will now be checked luggage), but his reaction to the fear of flying was predictable. Rick is a huge advocate of travelling light and carry-on bags, so it should be interesting to know what his thoughts are going to be on no carry-on bag rules. I can predict what he’ll say.

So now your laptops, cameras and other valuables will be at the mercy of the airport baggage handlers. They’ll either be damaged or stolen because of this idiotic American panic. Valuables routinely go missing this way. I know people who’ve had this happen.

Travellers will increasingly be subjected to dangerous, invasive and civil rights violating full body x-ray scans. They claim it’s low dose, but it serves no purpose and full-body x-rays are dangerous. I had to laugh at one comment on a CBC story on this topic that the next attack will be an “anus bomber.”

Does it really make sense to be giving grandmothers full body x-rays? Six year old boys? Fourteen year old girls? We’ve reached a new height of paranoia and stupidity and it’s up to us to stop it.

How far are we going to let our governments go in violating our democratic and civil rights in allegedly protecting us?

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Benjamin Franklin
Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759