Tag: politics

Bush accepts responsibility for Iraq

Post ImageOn the eve of historic parliamentary elections in Iraq, US President George W. Bush has finally accepted responsibility for the debacle otherwise known as the war in Iraq. More specifically, he acknowledged that intelligence failed, but remained confident in his decision to go to war in Iraq.

“It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong,” Bush said. “As president, I’m responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.”

The president’s mea culpa was accompanied by a robust defense of the divisive war.

“Saddam was a threat — and the American people and the world is better off because he is no longer in power,” Bush declared, as he has before.

Too little, too late? The speech was no doubt designed to try and improve Bush’s approval rating, nothing more. As a purely political play, I’d guess it will probably go over quite well with the American public.

As far as I am concerned, Bush getting rid of Saddam was a good thing. At least we know that Bush himself will be out of power in a few years. Who knows when the tragedies Saddam carried out would have ended?

Read: Yahoo News

The Economist on Canada

Post ImageOne of the most interesting effects of a Canadian election is that in the weeks leading up to the big vote, there is an abundance of American commentary on our country. Most of the time it feels like we’re ignored by the American media, at least as far as politics are concerned, and The Economist admits as much in it’s latest print issue cover story (reg req’d):

Enormous though it is, Canada is all too easily overlooked. It may be the world’s second-biggest country by area, one of its dozen largest economies and a founding member of the G7 club of rich countries. But much of its vast land is frozen waste. Nearly all of its 32.2m people cling to a narrow belt along its border with the United States. Since it is a peaceful, prosperous-dare one say provincial?-sort of place, it rarely makes much of a splash in the world.

Doesn’t that sound like a place you’d want to live? I suppose it’s true however, much of our land really is frozen – not so sure about it being a waste though. The article goes on to outline two reasons that the United States and the rest of the world should pay more attention to Canada:

  1. “Canada, and especially its west, is one of the great storehouses of the commodities that the world needs in ever greater quantities-something China has recently noticed. New techniques mean that the tar sands of Alberta can be turned into oil at an ever-falling cost. That in turn means that Canada now claims the world’s second-largest oil reserves (behind only Saudi Arabia), in addition to a cornucopia of minerals and ten times more fresh water per head than the United States.”
  2. “The second reason to watch Canada, as The Economist has argued before, is that it is a healthy rival to the American way. To the “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” of the American Declaration of Independence, Canada replied with “peace, order and good government” in its founding charter.”

I don’t think I could have come up with a reason any more American than those. The threat of oil, and another country with something comparable to “the American dream.” Sounds like something straight out of the Whitehouse. The article then spends a few paragraphs discussing adscam and our political parties, before concluding:

For all of Canada’s abiding strengths, more of the same politics may not be good enough. The booming west—Alberta especially—feels ignored in Ottawa. Another independence vote in Quebec may be no more than a couple of years away. Keeping Canada cool, calm and collected is starting to look a lot harder than it did only a couple of years ago.

I can’t really argue with that, things are indeed starting to get interesting. The latest issue of the Economist, entitled “Canada’s wintry election,” includes at least five other articles on Canada and our upcoming election, so if you’re into reading all of the analysis (I’m starting to…) you might want to pick it up. You can also buy a PDF of the Survey of Canada.

Read: The Economist

Reducing GST?

Post ImageOne of the big stories in Canada today was Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s pledge to reduce our GST from 7% to 5% if his party wins the election. The reduction would be 1% immediately, and another percent sometime within five years. Apparently, savings would be fairly good:

Canadians would have $4.5 billion put back in their pockets with the first reduction, said Harper. An average family of four earning $60,000 a year would pay about $400 less in taxes. The GST reduction would be a “tax cut you see every time you shop. No politician will be able to take it away without you noticing.”

Sounds good, but think about it for a second. Who does GST really affect? People who buy a lot of stuff beyond the basics (GST is not charged on basic groceries, most medical services, etc). Those are typically people who are already rich. So essentially, GST reduction helps those with lots of money. Personal income tax cuts in the lower income brackets, as the Liberals have suggested, help those with less money.

That being said, I agree with NDP Leader Jack Layton:

“Deep tax cuts right now are not what Canadians are looking for.”

Do I really care if GST is around after the election? I have lived most of my life with GST, and I have come to accept that it’s going to be there. Instead of giving that 7% back to me (or even part of it) I’d rather see the government do something meaningful with it. Of course that’s where it gets tricky, because what I think is useful may not be what someone else thinks is useful. For example, I wish we’d stop spending so much money on Africa, though there are lots of Canadian who would disagree with me.

The announcement today by Harper has “dirty” written all over it as far as I am concerned. Recall in 1993 the Liberals promised to abolish the GST and that didn’t happen. I don’t feel the Conservative promise is any more solid. How about announcing something more meaningful? A promise to cut GST is something I’d expect the day before the election to try and win the swing voters, not something you propose right away.

Read: CBC News

The Liberals Are Gone

Post ImageI am listening to 630 CHED and just heard the vote reach 171 in favor of the motion, which means the Liberal government in Canada has fallen. Actually, I have been listening for a couple of hours now, and there seems to be a few common refrains:

  • The coming election will be the dirtiest ever.
  • Southern Ontario will be the main battleground.
  • Canadians have lost faith in the political process in general.
  • All parties were hurt by Adscam.

You might recall that I voted for the Liberals in the last election. It’s pretty safe to say that I won’t be voting for them again this time around. That being said however, I don’t know who I will vote for. I don’t feel as though there is a political party that really represents me. I don’t feel as though any of the party leaders are really intriguing.

And perhaps worst of all, I don’t feel as though the coming election campaigns will be able to change that.

China and the US

Post ImageMost of the articles I read about China (and to a lesser extent India) are pretty much the same thing. It’s almost as if there’s a cookie-cutter formula for these stories so that no one really has to write anything new. And the article I came across in the New York Times today was no different, except for one paragraph:

If finding a way out of Iraq is an immediate problem for Mr. Bush, then dealing with China’s increasingly assertive tone on economic and military issues, and with Mr. Hu’s quiet resistance to Washington’s calls for political liberalization, is a challenge that will last far beyond his presidency.

If you had to sum up relations between the United States and China in a single sentence, that would be it right now. The next president of the US will have to worry about Iraq no doubt, but I suspect China will be higher up on the list of priorities than it is now.

Read: New York Times

Gomery Report – what a joke!

Post ImageThe big news in Canada today was the release of the much anticipated Gomery report, which was supposed to finally explain the sponsorship scandal and lay blame against those responsible. Unfortunately, I fear that $32 million of taxpayers money (which is 1/8 of the total scandal amount) has been wasted as the Gomery report was revealed to be nothing but a joke.

How on earth could the Finance Minister have no idea what was going on? If it has to do with money, should he not be aware of it? I like Paul Martin (maybe more a year ago than I do now) but even I am not so daft as to think he had no idea. Not even an inkling, Mr. Gomery? I mean get real! Same goes for Mr. Chrétien, who I think was a great Prime Minister despite the scandal. No evidence to suggest that Chrétien knew what was going on? Again, get real!

“Since Mr. Chrétien chose to run the program from his own office, and to have his own exempt staff take charge of its direction, he is accountable for the defective manner in which the sponsorship program and initiatives were implemented,” Gomery said.

Chrétien said Gomery falsely determined that the office of the prime minister administered the sponsorship program.

“There is no evidence before him to support that allegation,” Chrétien said.

Perhaps the biggest joke of all? No one is going to read it, and most Canadians simply don’t care. I happened to watch Global National tonight, and despite the government charging $49 for a copy of the report, the TV show couldn’t give a copy away (some guy finally took it, no doubt to burn with glee). Canada’s free daily Dose even hired actors to read the report aloud, though passersby didn’t seem to notice.

Now we wait for a February/March election and the second report from Mr. Gomery, unless the NDP decide to join the other opposition parties and press for an election before Christmas. I think we should move to a US-style election. Under that system, the petty fighting between parties would be sidelined as one party is in charge for four years regardless. And when that term is up, you’ve got a real chance to keep them or dump them. The current “call an election when it best suits us” system is stupid.

Read: CBC News

Funny Alberta Cheques

Post ImageI came across this bit of satire today, entitled “Government of Canada to Issue ‘Screw You, Rest of Canada’ Cheques to Each Resident of the Province”. Needless to say, it made me laugh:

Totally out of character, the Alberta Premier became testy when an insolent reporter from Upper Canada had the temerity to question him about Alberta profiting from high energy prices while Canadians are about to face enormous increases in their heating bills this winter. “Look! It’s our money! Get your grubby Central Canadian hands off of it!” barked the Premier. “We’ll do what we want!”

“Bring on some more goddamned hurricanes!”

Each and every Albertan will receive one of six different special ‘Screw You, Rest of Canada’ commemorative cheques in the mail in the next six weeks.

You really have to read the entire article, it’s very funny! The cheques themselves are quite a riot too!

Read: The Hammer

Why the USA needs to cede control of the Internet

Post ImageThere is a potentially major split brewing over control of the Internet, and it has been coming for quite some time. Declan McCullagh has written a great article explaining the problem and what it could mean, so I suggest reading that for some background before you continue with this post. In a nutshell though, the US currently has complete control over the Internet’s root servers and a growing number of countries don’t like it – they think control should be given to an international body like the United Nations. I agree.

Whatever role the United States played in the creation of the Internet doesn’t really matter anymore. The fact that the US Department of Defense created ARPANET which became the Internet we know and love today is irrelevant. What matters most of all is that the Internet has become a truly global network, and it needs to remain that way if we want to continue reaping its benefits.

All we need to do is think about all of the ways in which we use the Internet, and how they would be changed or affected if a split occurred. Things like sending email, or instant messages. Sharing pictures with friends and family around the world. Buying and selling things locally and abroad. Sharing information with others and learning about far away places without the local spin. All of these things would be affected if a major split occurs. All of these things would be affected if the Bush government continues to express arrogance and jealously guard its control of the Internet’s root servers, and the countries that disagree and want more control decide to create their own, incompatible root servers. It could be disastrous.

Even though I support the UN taking over control, I know it isn’t perfect. Scandals like the oil for food program cast a dark light across the organization. At the same time though, I truly believe problems like the oil for food pogram in Iraq would have happened anyway, with or without the UN. And I would point to the many successes of the organization as proof that a UN-run Internet would be better in the long run than a US-run Internet. At they very least, there would be almost no chance of a split occurring.

Many people will be quick to point out that the US has done nothing wrong thus far, and has done a fairly good job of running the Internet – and that’s true. However, the US is very quickly becoming a smaller and smaller part of the Internet as countries around the world bring their vast populations online. They deserve a voice and a hand in how the Internet is governed.

We need to ensure that the Internet continues to function for all citizens of the world, and that is why the USA needs to cede control of the Internet to an international organization.

Economist.com Redesign

Post ImageNormally I wouldn’t post about a website getting a new look (unless it were one of my own or one that I manage) but I read the Economist all the time and I think it’s a great resource for information. And yes, they are sporting a new look:

For a start our homepage, article pages and Print Edition page have all been redesigned. You will see several other changes too:

  • We’ve enhanced the navigation – so it’s even easier to find what you want
  • The new pages are clearer – making them easier to read
  • Article titles are more consistent with the print edition – making cross-referencing straightforward

More improvements are due in the coming months. The aim is to make Economist.com sharper and fresher – a perfect complement to our incisive global analysis.

It looks really great! The Economist is a great resource for all you politics-economics-current affairs nuts out there, so check it out. And tell them I sent you!

Read: Economist.com Redesign

Belinda Stronach Roundup

If you’re a Canadian, and you don’t live under a rock, you’ve by now heard that Belinda Stronach crossed the floor today from the Conservatives to the Liberals (and the Canadian dollar rose as a result). If this is the first you’ve heard of the biggest political news of the current year, check out the 445 articles at Google News, then come back. Good. Now that you’re all caught up, let’s take a look at what the blogosphere is saying.

My good friend Brock says “Stronach, you’ve got no backbone.” He’s definitely not the only one with that opinion. Debris Trail goes even further:

Is this the Canada you want? Are we so apathetic and cynical and greedy that corrupt regimes can actually hope to hold onto power? Belinda Stronach is banking on exactly that.

Old Tomorrow says “I am finding it difficult to take Belinda Stronach seriously.” And Brian Walsh had this to say of Belinda’s future:

Only time will tell how this will affect you Beinda, I expect that your future in politics is to be short as you obviously have no patience and since you have a good job to go to at anytime, you will in fact leave the liberals in due course.

Blackhole has a pretty good analysis of Belinda’s move and what it might mean. Todd Warnell decided to use a little sarcasm to get his point across:

All in all, it is nice to see that the Liberal’s have already learned their lessons from the Gomery Inquiry and abandoned the practice of political bribery and kickbacks!

That’s just a taste of what’s out there. If you want to read more, the posts are coming fast and furious on Technorati, Feedster and BlogPulse. There’s a wealth of opinion and comment out there if you want to read it, and much of it is more representative of Canadians than what you’ll read in your local newspaper. Also be sure to watch this trend graph, which compares mentions of Belinda Stronach, Paul Martin, and Stephen Harper over the last month. I expect Belinda’s line will jump significantly tomorrow.

My opinion? I am just happy that Canadian politics are interesting again.

Read: Belinda Stronach