Politics, usually Canadian.
I was browsing the web today and came across this article by Simon Johnson, the former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund. In the article he goes into the rise of the “Banking Oligarchy” in the United States how, in his opinion, it lead to the current economic crisis, and how the members of this Oligarchy are hampering the recovery process.
I’m not sure if I buy everything he says 100%, but it is definitely a good read from a unique point of view.
I saw this editorial the other day. I thought it was an interesting perspective and a very good summary of some of the lessons we need to learn given the current economic situation. Sadly, I don’t think the lessons will sink in for those who probably need them the most.
On October 28th, 2008, BCHockey, the provincial organization responsible for managing minor hockey in the province, instituted a new regulation requiring all coaches in any on-ice BCHockey sanctioned event (game/practice/camp) to wear helmets. Prior to the issuing of this new regulation wearing of helmets by coaches was recommended but not required.
Hockey Canada had been threatening to bring in a similar regulation for years but have failed to do so. BCHockey brought in the regulation after the death of a coach on-ice in Alberta. The main reason for having the regulation is not, as most people believe, to prevent injuries to coaches (although that is also great side-effect). The main reason is to deal with the insurance costs associated with on-ice personnel. If you can reduce the risks on the ice, you can reduce the cost of the insurance required.
Having run my own hockey camp this past summer, I can tell you that the major cost was not the ice time, but the insurance associated with the on-ice activities.
Despite the inherent logic of the regulation (no face-shield or other protective equipment required, just the helmet), there was the inevitable string of hollow arguments that “it should be up to the coach”, or “this will drive experienced coaches away”, blah, blah, blah.
There was one argument, however, that BCHockey didn’t expect. It came from a coach in the lower mainland who was Sikh. For religious purposes, he is unable to remove his turban and wear a helmet. In response to the challenge made by this coach, BCHockey has made a religious exemption available.
I am quite frankly shocked at the common sense shown here. It’s a smart, fair way to address the situation and it’s nice to see for a change.
You know, sometimes I really think Canadian politics suck.
We just wasted nearly 300 million dollars on a federal election that did nothing but put most of the same group of people into the same positions of power (i.e.: a minority government) they held before the election. Now said minority government is tabling something which is practically triple-dog-daring the remaining political parties to take a typically childish response that could ultimately end up in the government falling and put the country through another pointless election (which again would probably change nothing).
What is it that’s so terrible? Cutting subsidies to political parties. You see, in Canada, if a federal political party gets more than 2% of the popular vote (country-wide), they will automatically receive $1.95 of taxpayer money for each and every vote they get.
Personally, I am totally against giving any political party any taxpayer money for any reason. Beyond the fact that this severely penalizes independent candidates, why should these glorified clubs get any of my money if I don’t support them?
Well, the Conservative party only gets about one third of its funding from this subsidy while the Liberals get around two thirds of their funding from the subsidy. The other qualifying parties get between 50 and 60 percent of their funding from the subsidy. Obviously, the elimination of the subsidy hurts the current non-ruling parties more than the current ruling party, so the optics on this issue are a little poor.
The conspiracy theory going around says that the Conservatives are going to kill the subsidy, force the other parties into toppling the government, and then win a majority in the subsequent election because they can out-spend their opponents. While I wouldn’t put it past the Conservatives to come up with that plan, surely they can’t think the electorate is that stupid.
On the other side, we have the 3 opposition parties who, during a financial downturn, are ready to pull down the government over a matter of less than 30 million dollars (based on a turnout of 13.8 million voters in the previous election). This galls me especially given that there are roughly 23 million voters in this country who can donate up to $1100.00 to each political party. This makes for a total potential pool of over 25 billion dollars (assuming that people only donate to a single party). Per year! While I realize that most people can’t really afford to contribute $1100 per year, if we reduce that pool to 1 billion dollars (or roughly 5% of the eligible population at $1100 or $44 per eligible person per year), that is still a huge amount of money available. This doesn’t include a raft of exceptions that can be used to increase donations. Now, if we’re talking about the $30 million in subsidies, that is works out to less than $2 per eligible individual per year.
I’m sorry, if an average of $45 per year per donation doesn’t get you enough money to fund an effective campaign, then you are obviously proving you cannot do or say anything relevant enough to the average citizen to warrant that meager investment.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though. If the Conservatives are voted down, the Governor General can then approach the other parties to see if they are able to form a coalition government. The good news is that if a coalition can be formed, this will prevent us from having to go through another costly election that will likely not change the makeup of parliament in any meaningful way. The bad news is that the coalition will be between the Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP. I shudder to think about the kind of influence this will give the NDP or the Bloc. Unfortunately that light I spoke about, may be an oncoming freight train.
Update: 2008-11-28 (11:50) – CBC is reporting that the Conservatives are dropping the idea of cutting the subsidy.
Yet another federal election and nobody to realistically choose from.
This is one of the things I hate about democracy, specifically the ‘First Past The Post‘ system we use in Canada. Simply put, if you don’t vote for the winner, your vote doesn’t do you much good. At least that’s the way it feels.
It looks like the Conservatives got another minority government. Which means they’ll probably just act the same as they did before, call everything they can’t conveniently spin into negative press against the other parties a confidence motion. The Reform Part…. uh, sorry, Conservatives, seem to think that because they have around 37% of the popular vote, that they represent the views of all Canadians. They don’t. Minority governments do not mean you get to do what you want. It means you have to form a coalition and work with other parties to come to some kind of agreement. And if that means working with the Liberals or NDP, thus representing 50%+1 of the popular vote, then you do it. Until someone with enough clout and influence calls the Conservatives on their tactics, they’ll continue to do it.
Who is that someone? That someone is you and me. Even if you don’t have a Conservative MP in your riding, the Conservatives will form the government that will dictate (isn’t that an appropriate word) the direction this country will take on everything from the economy, to the arts, to Intellectual Property and Copyright laws. I suggest everyone write a few Conservative MP’s (it’s free to mail letters to any MP) and remind them of the following:
If your MP isn’t a Conservative, I’d write them to remind them that it is THEIR duty to work with the other parties to maintain a balanced, cooperative approach to government. Even if that means standing up to the Conservative minority and calling them on their confidence motions.
Personally, while I detest most of the Conservative platform, I think they have the stomach to make the hard financial decisions that will be required if/when the world current financial deepens. It us up to both the average citizen and the opposition MP’s to ensure that the approach and actions taken by this Conservative minority government are in the best interests of the country.
This ends my latest political rant, you may now resume your regular browsing.