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October 09 Elections!In Canada we have an election coming up real soon! Like Tuesday soon. Oh it is not as exciting as the US election. We don’t have a visible minority leading one of the parties, or a potential Playboy Bunny as a Vice President candidate.
No we are doing it in the normal boring Canadian way….we have a geek, with the emotional range of Mr. Spock; a dweeb who can really only speak one of our official languages and a bald headed middle aged guy who sees himself as a bit of a rebel without a clue.
WAIT! We do have a woman leading one of the parties, but they have no elected members, limited appeal with the populace and even more limited budget to run the election. OH AND I almost forgot. We have an aging separatist who is now torn between collecting his substantial pension from Ottawa and leading a potential be third world country.
I actually want to make up a political sign for my front lawn. It would have every party’s logo on it and big black letters across the placard it would read;
IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER!
Sad, but true. No matter who gets elected to lead this nation I don’t think the average person would see much change. The bureaucracy would stifle them. Those who really run the country would see to it that the status quo was not upset and the true power base not altered. The rich will get richer and the rest of us will pay their taxes and higher gas prices.
Come to think of it, we are not that much different from the US. Except they have more interesting candidates, who like to spread more mud and BS. And they have to be more worried about someone trying to blow their heads off. Yes it would be wonderful to live in a country where assault rifles are welcome and the whackos who own them seen as heroes of the country’s independence!
So everyone get out and vote on Tuesday. Your vote almost matters! October 03 I'm Going To Vote NDP!“What the…..?? Where did that come from?”
I’m working out on the cross trainer at the gym, my MP3 is shuffling through my favourite rock sounds and my thoughts are on the way my legs and lungs are feeling. Suddenly I’m struck with an epiphany “I’m going to vote NDP in the upcoming election”. “Now wait just a dog gone minute! You have never voted NDP!” In fact I’ve always seen myself as a centrist on social programs and more conservative on economics. AND I lived through the Dave Barrett NDP “experiment” in BC in the 70’s and that was a total disaster. Even the Bob Rae term in Ontario wasn’t that great from what I’ve heard. I have a business degree and have been in business all my career (oh wait, that is what has tainted some of my perspective of late) So where is this coming from? It is coming from the fact that I am so totally fed up with the Liberals and Conservatives that I had been telling myself I was not going to vote in this election. But my conscious kept repeating “If you don’t vote you don’t have a right to complain later” And I do so like to complain about politicians. Both the Liberals and Conservatives have proven that they don’t care about the average Canadian. The Liberal history is one of Political Cronyism (just look at the Senate) and arrogance (I point to both Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien), while the Conservative history is full of political patronage. AND both parties have had their share of corruption and scandal. What I find so humorous is that the party in power might change, but I don’t see a huge change in the lives of the average Canadian. The only thing that happens is that what the Liberals once supported, they now condemn and what the Conservatives once criticized they now implement (does anybody remember under which government our troops were committed into Afghanistan?) The Conservatives have proven to be sell outs to the corporate world and self serving. During the Mulroney years we saw more scandal and corruption than ever and I just don’t trust Harper at all. He appears to be the type who would sell us down the river for the sake of his Bay Street or Calgary Banker and Lawyer friends. I am also finding the older I get the more social conscience I’ve become. I do not trust corporations, who are raping and pillaging the economy, while padding the pockets of executives and board of directors. We are seeing an ever increasing gap between the rich and poor in Canada and more and more the middle class is being pushed to the poor end of the scale. Corporations will do anything to separate you from your money, even if that means making you feel inferior if you don’t have something, or providing easy credit when it is obvious there is not enough cash flow or discipline to pay it back. I find it so hard to believe that Mr. Harper would call himself a Christian, when it appears he has so little compassion for the working poor. A Christian is always taught to reach down and help those less fortunate. But Mr. Harper’s policies continue to support corporations who are creating an entirely new class of working poor. We are seeing more and more part-time jobs, without benefits. People need to work two or three jobs just to stay above the poverty line. Here is one of my dilemmas. I do not support an open ended welfare system. I believe there are too many lazy people who will abuse it. But we need to do something that will create jobs that offer the opportunity for people to make a decent living. Not just exist while the CEO’s of these organization take home multi-million dollar bonuses. I hope Bank Execs are listing. Another challenge I have is that I don’t know enough about the Green Party to vote for them. So I am left with Jack Layton and the NDP. What I heard about the NDP platform sounds good. Use gas tax revenue to invest public transit. Great idea! Those rich jerks who insist on driving gas guzzling SUVs should help create a system where the single mom who can’t afford a car can get to and from her minimum wage job. I need to look at the entire NDP platform in more detail. I’m not a “soft on crime” guy, but would like more effort put into the root social causes for the problems of gang violence, rather than just open up more jails. The youth justice system needs to be over hauled and the youth needs to be accountable for their actions. I would like to see the Senate abolished or at the very least made accountable to the people of Canada. Too bad for the liberal and conservative cronies who will loose their retirement home. Judges need to be held accountable if they screw-up. And let’s get rid of the Monarchy. What value does all of the pomp, circumstances and trappings of that bring to us?. Tradition be damned! If it doesn’t make economic sense then there is not sense having it. I’m going to vote NDP. I NEVER thought I would hear myself saying that. But given the alternatives and since they are not likely to form the government at least I’ll have the right to complain against the next lying self-serving Prime Minister who is elected. Finally I leave with Greg's two truths about every politician:
June 17 When speaker and message are powerful!This is totally freaking amazing! The video below was forwarded to me by a friend and as I watched it I was totally blown away. Not only is the young lady an articulate, poignant and powerful speaker, but her message has to resonate with all who listen to her.
Then you realize the speech was delivered 15 years ago, and precious little has changed. I am as guilty as the next person for letting the message die as sound travelling into an empty forest.
The speaker is then 12 year old Severn Suzuki speaking at UN Earth Summit 1992. She is the daughter of former Harvard University instructor Dr. Tara Elizabeth Cullis and famed Canadian geneticist and environmental activist Dr. David Suzuki.
Now she may have had some help in writing the key points and arguments in the speech, but the delivery is hers and it is power.
I darn you to listen to the entire thing and then not be moved.
My only question becomes - what can I do today in 2007 to make sure the message does not fall like some unheard tree!
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