Does Anyone Else Wonder?

Greetings to followers of Desperate Times. This week we feature a guest blogger who poses the question: "Does anyone else wonder?"

Thank you, Don. Following the convoluted trail of our federal government, what is the average citizen to think? Does anyone else wonder why Stephen Harper's minority government vowed recently to build more prisons? Although, according to Statistics Canada, the crime rate in our country is falling. One Conservative member mused thoughtfully on a recent CBC news show, "How can we measure crime?" Not through Statistics Canada it seems, as its statistics will no longer be credible in years to come, if Harper's government has its way. The mandate of Statistics Canada was threatened by the Conservative minority government in July 2010. Their premise was that the long census form constitutes an "invasion of privacy". Really? We all know that by commanding the resources of Revenue Canada, Amazon.ca and Facebook, the knowledge of our income, charitable donations, spending habits, and social networks will be manifest to all.

Speaking of spending - the federal government has started, rather than ended the year 2011 by acting as Scrooge, urging Canadians to reduce their consumer debt. Hmm...we have to wonder...who was using taxpayers' money last summer to build a lake in Toronto for journalists from around the world? The Conservative minority government claimed this was an opportunity to promote Canada for tourism purposes. Do you know how many lakes we have? Still, we had to build one for foreign journalists. How authentic.

Of course the Harper minority government supports women - in other countries - as long as they do not wish to engage in family planning. They have also brought shame to our once-proud nation by neglecting the environment. And there is so much more - but we are running out of paper - and time. Literally.

Happy Phew! Year

Well, may I first wish a Happy New Year to all three of our readers!

In Friday's Montreal Gazette column, Mark Abley printed a United States Parish Hall weekly programme : Monday: Alcoholics Anonymous; Tuesday: Abused Spouses; Wednesday: Eating disorders; Thursday: Say No to Drugs; Friday: Teen Suicide Watch; Saturday: Soup Kitchen; Sunday Sermon: America's Joyous Future. The future can't get much better than that!

To lower the bar a tad, have you noticed the people of Somalia described as "pirates"? For some time, boats from all over the globe have been robbing the seas around Somalia of their livelihood, i.e. fish. Secondly, those same countries have been disposing of nuclear, and other, wastes in the waters around the Somali beaches. When their fishermen got a little upset and finally started to grab anything, or anyone, they could and hold them to ransom as a last desperate attempt to halt this travesty, the United Nations, and many other nations, censured Somalia for this "crime" of piracy. How would you react if the USA started dumping their garbage into Canada? More than they already do, I mean. NIMB! (Not In My Backyard!)

Finally, our experts have looked into our trust of professionals. Most categories are in decline except for Canadian soldiers. They have improved in our trust level by 11%. Pharmacists are down 25%; airline pilots down 19%. Accountants, at 47%, are still more trusted than church leaders, and national politicians, at 25% trust, are only ahead of car salespeople by 5%. Accountants more reliable than politicians, you say? Perhaps if the conscientious Auditor-General Sheila Fraser became Prime Minister and Amazon.ca ran the civil service, maybe...just maybe...we could have a trustworthy and efficient democracy!

Who Needs Parliamentary Reform?

Maybe Canada does! In the 2008 election the Bloc Que. received 1.3 million votes and won 50 Parliamentary seats. The Green Party received close to 1 million votes and won...0 (zero!) seats.

To stress the point, the lists below compare seats received, according to the system of First Past The Post, i.e. "winner takes all fantasyland" with what would happen if "Rep by Pop" (remember that expression in Canadian history?) were used instead.
                             FPTP            Rep by Pop
Conservative          143                 117
Liberal                     76                   81
NDP                          37                  57
Bloc                          50                  28
Greens                       0                   23
Not hard to imagine why voters are hesitant to turn out on election days, is it? Their votes don't count. They are not represented. Why bother? This has to change!

Beer Bashing Canada!

Canada's standing in the world is rising! Not long ago Pat Buchanan, the U.S. presidential candidate who brought a new record to losing, called us "Soviet Canuckistan."

Now, the British journalists at the Olympics are berating us because we sell cold beer. Now, be fair, when I left the UK in 1956, my family did not have a fridge. We had a pantry and I can't remember where the beer was kept because my parents didn't drink and I wasn't old enough. But we must forgive them for finding warm beer drinkable. They came by it naturally!

When there was a British Empire, the Brits were seldom popular. Now it's the Americans' turn. As Canada receives more criticism, it is a good sign. Dislike often includes envy. We are a wonderful country - just listen to "Tom Brokaw Explains Canada to Americans". The whole world would love to live here. Until recently, we were democratic, in spite of Buchanan's implication that we are Communists.

Our present Prime Minister doesn't understand the rules of democracy but he will learn. So let's open up "a cold one", and here's to us, Canada!

Is Stephen Harper Desperate?

Recently he wanted to save the poor, the hungry and the devastated homeless of the world. Today he is a different saviour; he must get on that white horse and save us all from Iran.
The USA has thousands of nuclear warheads. Pakistan has fewer but they are, perhaps, less stable. Israel, China, India, the UK, France, et al, have more than enough. It is easy for the 'haves' to tell the 'have-nots': "Pull up the ladder, Jack, I'm on the wall!" That is perfectly normal in the right-wing world. It is hard, however, to justify preventing nations from developing atomic energy that provides services for their people.
Harper has now announced that an attack on Israel will be considered an attack on Canada...oh dear.
Surely he is not hoping to get our minds off him by developing our own nuclear weaponry?
What next can Mr. Harper think of to recover from proroguing Parliament? After all, "Canadians don't care," he said.
His time might be better spent doing the job we pay him for - running a Canadian parliamentary minority government.