Maxime Bernier
The ever brilliant Chantal Hébert has reminded us all that the most popular Quebec Conservative remains Maxime Bernier.
So the guy made a bad relationship decision (OK, really bad). I’m over it, hopefully the RCMP will be over it soon, too. Sigh.
But here are the facts – as Quebec Conservative Minister’s go, he was the biggest star to date – not just in terms of good looks and celebrity, but in terms of hard work and competency.
(Oh, and there’s a nasty rumour that he’s actually a “conservative” Conservative.)
Now he has his own blog – so what, who doesn’t? Well, most Members of Parliament don’t. Too risky.
As soon as this RCMP business is over, Maxime Bernier needs to be restored to Cabinet, and restored as Quebec Lieutenant for the party.
Here’s a fun sidebar – I just discovered a Twitter account attempting to recruit Maxime to lead the ADQ. This would be a terrible loss for the Conservative Party of Canada. Would they rename the ADQ to Action démocratique du Québec-Équipe Maxime Bernier instead of Équipe Mario Dumont?
The most boring election in history!
Politicians always tell you that this is “the most important election”, then follow it up with something serious sounding like “in a generation” or “since the cold war” or “since James Polk declared 54’40 or fight!”
Please.
I’d like to declare this election in British Columbia “the most boring”, and follow it up with “in the history of the universe”.
This is unfortunate, and it didn’t have to be this way.
There are issues, like, oh, say, the economy. But nobody is proposing anything interesting or colourful enough to care about. The big issues are turning out to be BC Hydro and BC Rail. Wow, dams and railroads – this is cutting edge 19th century stuff people!
If the total lack of inspiration results in low voter turnout, then I hope the BC Liberals and the rest of us enjoy the next 4 years under Premier Carole James.
Because, as any politico will tell you, the NDP is very good at getting out their vote – even when things are exceedingly dull.
I suspect things won’t be that dull once Carole James and her union buddies start running things.
Maybe I’ll have to move to somewhere a little more business-friendly – I hear Venezuela is nice.
The REAL problem with BC elections
The REAL problem with BC elections is the sorry state of the NDP.
The NDP is a party stuck in 1963. They are an unreformed socialist party. As a result, they scare the hell out of anyone who isn’t a radical socialist.
If they were a fringe party, this wouldn’t be an issue at all. The problem is that they are the only potential alternative for those who are fed up with Gordon Campbell and the Liberals. One has to presume that they will eventually win again.
If they were more like the Saskatchewan NDP, or European Social Democrats, we could grumble about an NDP victory, but at least not wake up with cold sweats, wondering whether their next move is nationalizing McDonald’s through the Ministry of Fast Food (OK, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad).
The same disease afflicts the federal wing of the NDP, but they don’t have a hope of ever winning, so their presence isn’t nearly as frightening.
So, how do we fix the problem?
The truth is, we don’t. I’m a libertarian-Conservative, I can’t help matters at all. They must fix it.
Patient, Heal Thyself.
There has been the odd movement here and there toward modernizing the party, but it’s always been quashed before it got too far. Part of the problem is the voting structure of the party itself, heavily weighted to automatic voting for unions and their proxies. But the other part is a simple lack of will on the part of moderate social democrats to take on the task.
Here is my hope for the upcoming election:
First of all, heaven help us, the NDP must lose. Carole James must move on.
What else must happen is that moderate social democrats with leadership potential must win – candidates such as John Horgan. These leaders must then have balls enough to take on the union establishment. It won’t be easy, but it will certainly make the NDP a less scary proposition for the province.
It will also be good for democracy. Instead of being herded into voting for Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals, people will be free to consider an alternative. (Of course, STV will go miles toward accomplishing this as well.)
Shouldn’t we just allow them to fester and die in their backwardness?
If STV passes, then maybe. But I don’t think it will pass. So, we’re right back where we started.
And since the NDP will eventually win again, the question isn’t do you want the NDP to form government, but what kind of NDP government do you want when they do win?
This is a double-edged sword.
If they do modernize, they would instantly become a more viable competitor, and would be far more likely to win. But the far scarier prospect is if they continue down the current path and we have a re-run of the last time they were in power.
If that happens, everyone* loses.
* Note: excluding union bosses and radical left-wing hippy protester-types.
Vote for Jane Sterk
Although I am a fan of the BC Green Party policy on independent power producers, I am not a “Green”, nor will I be endorsing “The Green Party” this election.
In fact, after a great deal of consideration, I have decided not to endorse any party. Instead, I will be endorsing individual candidates from different parties.
My first endorsement: Although I have never met her, I feel very strongly that the good people of Esquimalt-Royal Roads should vote for Jane Sterk.
Why?
Because she is competent, intelligent, and leader of a terribly under-represented, though incredibly serious (and increasingly reasonable, mainstream), provincial party.
Think about it.
In 2005, the Green Party received 9% of the vote – 9 out of every 100 voters voted this way. They voted this way despite the fact that they almost certainly knew that their chosen candidate would lose. In 2001, it was 12%.
Who knows how many votes the Green Party “would have” received if they had a chance of winning – I’m sure many people who wanted to vote Green voted BC Liberal or NDP because they didn’t want their votes to be “wasted”.
STV could certainly change the game in future elections, but that may or may not pass.
Chances are many people are voting like me this election – voting AGAINST somebody, not FOR anybody. If everyone in Esquimalt-Royal Roads took the initiative to vote “AGAINST” the other parties, and “FOR” a provincial party leader, the Green Party will win one seat, and will get their voice (whether you agree with them or not) to the table.
This is good for democracy, and good for the Province.
Legalize Marijuana?
The unknown origin of 4/20 aside, it has become a tradition for hippies across the planet to celebrate the smoking of this plant on April 20th. Since I hate the smell, I’ll try to stay in.
This said, I shake my head at our outdated prohibition laws on a plant that grows in the ground when there are so many more harmful drugs around that are killing our kids.
Lumping together marijuana and other drugs is a serious disservice to parents and children.
But wait, isn’t marijuana a gateway drug?
Sure it is.
Little Billy tried smoking marijuana and decides it’s not so bad. Since he has already broken the law, the law treats them as equally bad, and his dealer has access to a myriad of other drugs, why not go off and get hooked on crystal meth?
But is this the fault of the plant, or the fault of the law?
I would strongly argue the latter. It’s precisely because of the total lack of education, the misinformation, and the illegality of the plant. The plant itself is not nearly as harmful as other drugs, nor as harmful as the propaganda makes it out to be. Kids are smart; they know bullshit when they hear it. So they presume all the information about all the other drugs is also false. Unfortunately, much of the information about the other drugs is true, but it’s too late for little Billy.
Furthermore, the social consequences of marijuana tend to be far less than alcohol abuse, or that of most other drugs (for those who don’t pass through the gateway).
However, because it is illegal, marijuana is sold by criminals. And criminals trade in all sorts of illegal things – like guns, harder drugs, and prostitution – precisely the sorts of things we should be cracking down on.
The Liberal Party of Canada’s answer a few years back was decriminalization. This is the stupidest policy ever – telling children it’s OK to go and consort with criminals. Whoever thought that up certainly wasn’t a parent!
Full legalization is the only solution, and, frankly, the inevitable one. Anyone who thinks otherwise in 2009 has their head a mile deep in the sand.
I don’t smoke this plant, nor do intend to. But should anybody be thrown in jail for smoking it? Come on.
Unfortunately Canada cannot legalize marijuana. First, the United States must. We have too much at stake to do this unilaterally and not destroy our economy in the process. I wonder if it’ll take a serious incident along the Mexican border before America finally gets it?
In the meantime, we continue to spend billions in our fight against a plant that was around long before we were. This strikes me as incredibly stupid.
Support Competitive Electricity Market: Vote Green?!?
According to their large collection of YouTube videos, the BC NDP doesn’t have much to say about the economy.
Even the one called Carole James on the Economy says something vague about putting working people first. I don’t know what this means (I presume this is code for some socialist ideal, but I’m not sure). What I am sure about is that nothing in this video (or any of the others) have anything to do with the economy. I think Gary Mason says it best in the Globe and Mail. When it comes to the economy, James is simply out of her depth. Is she hoping that this election will end up being about something else?
The NDP is on about Gordon Campbell wanting to privatize everything and the kitchen sink (the NDP believes the kitchen sink is an important public asset). This NDP anti-privatization rant wants to ensure you that hospitals are not built by private companies, and making sure that BC Hydro doesn’t get privatized by those evil BC Liberals.
If only this last point was remotely true, man would that motivate me – I’d be far more excited about the BC Liberals!
- The latest example of BC Liberal support for the BC Hydro monopoly states that they will “[develop] the proposed Site C Hydroelectric dam in Northern B.C. as a public asset, owned by BC Hydro.”
- As mentioned, the NDP is pretty clear about their love for BC Hydro – the bigger and publicker BC Hydro, the better.
- Even the tiny BC Conservative Party has a policy that states “BC Hydro will not be disposed of without the permission of the voting public via referendum.” (PDF)
- Want free market economics? Look to the long-haired hippies in the Green Party:
BC Greens will foster the building of green and clean, renewable energy facilities with an emphasis on co-operative and municipally-owned utilities, while providing the opportunity for private producers and transmission operators to participate in a mixed public / private energy system.
Private transmission operators? What the hell is this, Europe!?
Independent power producers are nimble, innovative, and generally “greener”. BC Hydro and its powerful union has done everything possible to put the brakes on these energy alternatives and innovations at every turn. Gordon Campbell has taken some baby steps to reign in the 800-pound gorilla (or, in NDP-speak, MASSIVE PRIVATIZATION), by freeing up private energy producers to operate in BC, but to a very limited degree.
More should be done! Perhaps Gordon Campbell could take a page out of the Green Party’s radical free market approach.
Dear Auto Worker … Your Union is Screwing You
You people make $76 an hour! Holy crap, do you all eat caviar and smoke big fat cigars in top hats, too? I mean good for you for pulling this off for so long! Really, good job!
Clearly I’ve been an idiot for NOT moving to Ontario 15 years ago and milking this dying cow a little myself.
Unfortunately for you, the cow is now dead. Lucky for you the Industry Minister is willing to drag its sorry ass out to Stephen King’s Pet Semetary.
All this means you’re going to have to accept a lowly above average wage instead of the ludicrous wage you have grown used to. But hey, it’s been a good run! Applause all around!
But your stupid union refuses to accept that it’s no longer 1972. They think there are some cards in the deck they can still play. Nobody told them the poker game ended and everybody went home.
That the Government should bail out an industry as backwards as the auto industry AT ALL is beyond me – and I oppose it anyway.
But what about the average Canadian? Do you honestly think somebody who makes 1/3rd as much money as you is going to be sympathetic, and want to share your pain? How screwed up is it to take money from the working poor to pay for your hot tubs and country cottages?
Hey, Canadian Auto Workers Union – grow up, wake up and smarten up. I mean, that is, if you want an auto industry in Canada next year. If not, your workers are going to be eating a lot of discount caviar and smoking those 7-11 pom-pom cigars while looking for a job in a 21st century industry.
Hargrove vs. Layton – Round 3?
The Hill Times is reporting that all is not well with Canada’s New Democrats.
Hargrove says: “Jack as a leader has developed a hell of a profile for himself, but I don’t believe he’s developed a profile for the party on the issues that are critical to Canadian families.”
Now, I don’t always agree with Buzz. But this time, I have to agree (with the statement above). In fact, I more or less said the exact same thing 10 days ago.
Seriously. The NDP website is the best party website out there (and it pains me to say that). (I was just with a bunch of web designers yesterday who agreed that “orange” is the new “green”, and had to snicker a bit when I thought of the political implications.)
Unfortunately (or, fortunately for some), they really don’t have anything useful to say. It’s completely, 100% irrelevant. The kids like the website design, but the message sounds stupid.
Is this entirely Jack’s fault? Not so much. But the NDP could’ve turned a corner if they picked a leader who could reform the party and policy a bit (like Bill Blaikie or Lorne Nystrom), rather than trying so hard to reform the image of the old message to make it more hip for the kids.
As a libertarian Conservative, it doesn’t matter too much to me. But for democracy and the greater Canadian political debate, Jack Layton’s leadership has contributed very little.
CBC Cuts: A Good Start?
The CBC has cut 800 jobs. I know what it’s like to lose a job, and empathize with anyone who loses theirs.
This post is not to celebrate the job loss aspect of the news. But it does reflect the continued diminishment of the CBC. The reality is that the CBC has been diminishing for years.
While this stop-gap measure comes at an unfortunate time (job losses are rarely “welcome”, mind you), it is directly a result of inaction on the part of government in dealing with the CBC sooner.
Better late than never … now is prime time for the government to come up with an ACTUAL PLAN on what to do with the CBC.
There are lots of good ideas out there. Macleans.ca had some great ideas. You could split up the TV and Radio into a Canadian PBS and NPR, then lower public funding over the course of a decade. You could just shut down the unprofitable TV operations all together, and continue to fund radio only. I even had a few ideas submitted on my Privatize.ca site a few years back. In better times, you could’ve privatized parts of it (sadly, that option is off the table for now).
Fact is, there are dozens of possible solutions, but successive governments have chosen the lamest option of all: do nothing and hope for the best.
Shakedown: How Our Government is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights
Picking up my copy of Shakedown: How Our Government is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights by Ezra Levant tomorrow.
I suspect it will be a great read; I will post my thoughts once I have had a chance to read it.
I hope the Conservative Party follows through on the almost unanimous resolution to overhaul these horrible Human Rights Commissions, and their mockery of democracy!
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