Monthly Archives: January 2009

Federal

You call that consulting? I call it insulting.

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You’re the federal Finance Minister; the world economy is in meltdown mode; the Canadian economy is in reverse, showing no inclination to stop edging closer and closer to the precipice where recession plunges into depression; you have come to the west coast for consultation and input on the economy and you go to … West Vancouver?

The only way he could have held his consultation somewhere less in touch with the economic reality that 80 – 90% of Canadians face in their daily lives in the actual working world would have been to hold it on Jimmy Patterson’s yacht. However, that would have left no room for the press and thus press coverage.

Why is it that when politicians want to consult on or discuss the economy they never seek the advice or opinion of the people who are most affected by the economic policies of governments? Probably because they will be given advice and opinions they do not want to hear, much less have to act on it.

For instance Employment Insurance. You currently have to wait 45 days to start collecting EI. With so many working Canadians living pay cheque to pay cheque as a result of the government policies that continue to swell the ranks of the working poor how are you expected to survive 45 days?

With the economy in free fall and shedding jobs by the tens of thousands how are the unemployed to find employment before their EI benefits run out? Add in those trapped on Welfare because there are no jobs for them in this economy plus the fact that welfare payments are not sufficient to pay rent or live on and the country is facing the possibility of a tidal wave of homeless.

That is not what the government wants to hear or to have to act on. No our governments abhor having to spend money on the welfare of the poor, those who have or will lose their jobs and the working poor; preferring to spend nothing to insure the welfare of these citizens. No welfare spending should be reserved for corporations and the wealthy.

The federal government has for years been abandoning its duty of care to address the welfare of the ordinary citizen; but let big corporations like the automobile industry need welfare and the feds happily rush to hand over billions – on top of the billions of dollars of corporate welfare paid to the car companies over prior decades.

We have already started to hear the hue and cry for tax cuts to stimulate the economy, a course of action that has been a favourite of governments over the years. Yes we will cut taxes to make the rich richer; but put money into the hands of the poor or ordinary income earner – can’t do that – even if these are the groups that will spend the money and stimulate the economy.

Listening and watching Mr. Harper and his finance minister Mr. Flaherty it is looking more and more as though the fact Canadian voters denied the Conservatives a majority and Mr. Harper having been forced to prorogue parliament is a massive stroke of luck for ordinary Canadians.

Not only is Mr. Harper required to work with the other parties, but the events leading up to the Governor General proroguing parliament rudely and extremely effectively reminded Mr. Harper of the need to consult and work with the other parties in parliament.

One of the things that Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Harper don’t want to hear but need to actually pay attention to in deciding on policy is that the economic disaster we find ourselves teetering on is a result of the actions and policies of governments over past 2 – 3 decades.

Continuing to operate in the same way is only going to continue to give rise to more of the same economic problems; in other words if government keeps on doing what it has been doing we are going to continue to get what we have been getting.

Personally I have no desire to keep on getting the economic outcomes that we are facing currently, do you?

It is time to tell Mr. Harper we have had enough of the insanity of doing the same thing over and over, basing policy on the same operating philosophies, hoping that one of these times the outcome will be different.

No more corporate welfare; no more welfare for the rich; it is time that government paid attention to the welfare of ordinary Canadians.

Consider, Federal

MPs are missing in action

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Gord Kurenoff’s column about Tory MPs missing in action raised a few thoughts on the matter.

When did the Langley officials ask MP Mark Warawa to “show them the money”?

Was it before the project began or was it recently as he toured the nearly completed centre? The time to line up funding by senior levels of government is prior to starting the project when you have the maximum political and PR leverage.

While I am not happy that Ed Fast failed to get Abbotsford any federal funds I think that pointing fingers at his failure to be proactive in seeking funds distracts taxpayer attention from those who should face an inquisition over the fact that when it comes to protecting Abbotsford’s taxpayers pocketbook it was to much trouble for even one member of city council to pick up a phone and ask Ed Fast to earn his keep by securing federal funds.

Of course, if council was to engage in such proactive behaviours as asking the local MP to get federal funds it would create work for them. They would have to follow up, make more phone calls, letters to the prime minister … Be proactive, seek out opportunities that would be to the advantage of the citizens of Abbotsford? That kind of behaviour would get in the way of cutting council meetings back to twice a month.

If we are going to censure or impeach our local MPs let us do it for the major failings they have committed recently.

No Conservative MP should have been re-elected after permitting Stephen Harper to call the unwanted and unnecessary recent federal election.

Conservative MP’s turned around and added grievous damage and insult to the injury already done to Canadians when they permitted Stephen Harper’s megalomania to cause him to see himself not as leader of a minority government, but as ruler by divine right of Canada. Canadians are still waiting for the bill and fallout of that reckless cretinism.

Not a peep out of Conservative MPs about Mr. Harper’s recklessness and delusional fantasies of omnipotence. If, as suggested by Mr. Kurenoff, this behaviour of kowtowing to Mr. Harper’s every whim is as a result of Randy Whiteitis and their desperation for political power the fallacy and irony in this behaviour is dumbfounding.

Focusing on avoiding Randy Whiteitis the behaviour of the Conservative caucus and party has become so lemming-like they blindly follow Mr. Harper off the cliff of “how to blow a pending majority government” time and again.

Despite the millions of dollars of spin the Conservatives spent on Stephen Harper’s image, the Canadian people made clear that they did not trust Mr. Harper with a majority government; a judgment bourn out by his behaviour after the recent election.

In leaping from the frying pan of Randy Whiteitis the Conservatives have leapt into the fire of Stephen Harper’s being unacceptable to Canadians as the leader of a majority government and lacking the courage to leap out of the fire.

Municipal

Common Sense would be nice.

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Any regular patron or minimally observant staff member of ARC will tell you that January, with its large influx of New Year’s resolution exercisers, is the busiest of the winter months. They can also tell you that as January progresses the New Year’s resolution people fall away and the crowd thins back out.

So if you were scheduling maintenance that would close the men’s and women’s change rooms for three days each, forcing people to change in the family change rooms you would schedule this maintenance for … the first week of January if you are the City of Abbotsford.

In keeping with the effort to maximize inconvenience and hassle for patrons: rather than schedule the closure for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday one week and the same three days the next week you would of course schedule the maintenance for six days in a row.

That way rather than closing only on the quietest days of the week you include Thursday (cheap swim), Friday (longer public swim) and Saturday (public swims and a pool rental with 2 – 3 dozen people wanting to change at the same time) allowing the city to annoy and torment as many patrons as possible.

Mayor George Peary says he wants to bring change to City Hall. I would suggest he make his #1 priority introducing Common Sense into city behaviour and decisions.