Category Archives: Politics

Philosophy, Politics

Consequence of Distractions In Government (Afghanistan)

I need not tell you of the major international news today. Let me say this. Lives and enormous treasure were committed to overthrowing Afghanistan in 2001 via the ill conceived policy of George W. Bush following September 11th. Now the Taliban has it back and international security along with the liberty of Afghan citizens has been weakened. Strict Sharia Law will be re-imposed. The resolve of the G7 and the Afghan government with its militia was insufficiently strong and it should be considered a failure that the Taliban has regained control given the history.

What is the backdrop in which all this has taken place?

  1. Increased government debt
  2. An American populous justifiably concerned about funding the defence of a nation other than their own
  3. A Donald Trump presidency plagued by scandal, deceit, incompetence, and self interest over public interest along with mistrust by allies
  4.  A pandemic along with associated political haggling and resource uptake
  5. The weakening of NATO and the United Nations under the Trump administration
  6. An Afhani army equipped with 300,000 troops (trained and funded by G7 nations),an air force, special forces, and heavy equipment compared all compared to 175,000 Taliban fighters armed by means not fully verifiable
Politics

Canada’s Conservative Movement Lost Forever?

The Conservative Party of Canada is in disarray facing a snap election. Could the movement be lost forever? I’ve seen one federal politician in Canada wearing the blue stripe whom has looked effective, namely Pierre Poilievre but I can’t say much for anyone else. It was Poilievre who showed up to work when while others stayed home in COVID fear.

Word is that the Conservatives are going to further engage in self sabotage by resisting the COVID travel passport concept. It’s shear idiocy with the vast majority of Canadians looking to get their life back on a normal path with some reward from their government having performed their duty to protect themselves and those around them.  If conservative politicians walk an idealistic line as opposed to a pragmatic one – this one issue could very well be central to the upcoming abbreviated election campaign thereby relegating critical issues to the backstage. 

Critical issues such as unsustainable government debt, the prospect of tax increases,, egregious pensions for public servants, the expanding welfare state, a declining quality of education, pathetic enforcement of the law, monopolistic incursion on consumer rights, poor and complex administration of the tax system, an inefficient and exorbitant legal system, an overregulated bureaucracy of the professions preventing immigrants from participating fully, and suspect foreign policy all exemplify topics inevitably gone amiss with a dialogue preoccupied with ideology around COVID.

This country right now is not being led. It is being drawn into and ideology of socialism and appeasement toward anyone or anyone’s ancestors who have encountered perceived “unfairness”. As of today jobs go unfilled because going to work has less realizable benefit than staying home while receiving a government cheque. Right now in Canada your government pays you to have children unless your family income is above the top 20 percentile. As of March 2020 just at the outset of the pandemic, government debt stood at $2.434 trillion which amounts to $64,087 per every individual in Canada. Imagine what’s happened to the debt given the COVID and wildfire spending! Are there consequences to carrying too much debt? Most definitely if debt servicing becomes a problem. Foreign creditors can become hostile toward Canada. Canada has had the luxury of low interest rates but is lacking industrial development amidst a highly burdensome regulatory regime in order to produce continued GDP to optimally support the debt. In other words, we are back tracking and this rudderless nation via ineffectual leadership is not what Canada needs at this critical juncture. If Canada fails to right the ship…tax increases are inevitable along with the ramifications of such.     

Philosophy, Politics

Catholics, Residential Schools, Continued Indifference

Although I ‘m not a fan of Justin Trudeau,  I absolutely endorse his request that the Catholic Church step right to the plate and acknowledge the Residential School  horror in Kamloops, B.C. There should be full disclosure, humility, accountability and explicit detailing of records. This should happen now.

If we are absolute in ensuring that this never happens again – then controls need to be put in place along with mechanism(s) of accountability and whistleblower protection. 

As I craft my blog posts along with correspondence to political figures and the Canada Revenue Agency, I often think that I’m a rare breed as someone who actually lifts a finger when things are awry. In fact, of my 105 facebook friends, I’ll be surprised to see more than five who shout out in the comments in profound approval of this message.    

Within the past week we’ve seen all this reaction to the horror. Facebook profiles get symbols of victim family support but that which we need more is letters and petitions and personal outrage directed directly at political figures. We need you to be operative with injustices today speaking with power and conviction instead of deferring because you may sense that your voice is too small in and of itself.  We need you to do more than tweet about it or comment in an editorial. You need to draft arguments and deploy official means to forward feedback ensuring that you follow up and follow through.

The next debacle of society is waiting to happen. I’ll give you a few clues of challenges you can address.

  1. Monopolistic tech companies not reciprocating fairly in their relationship with you.
  2. Unsatisfactory service levels and Service Canada and the CRA.
  3. Illegal money flow from foreign countries (money laundering).
  4. Indifferent police forces and poor enforcement
  5. Cyber Crime
  6. Cronyism in political circles
  7. The subsidization of the wealthy
  8. Complicity around homelessness
  9.  Exorbitant government debt and fragile monetary system
  10. Drug overdoses

There is a list of ten things off the top of my head….one of which you could put your attention on now. You cannot do it all yourself but you can be one voice on one topic so that in twenty years we’re all not scratching out head wondering how did this all come to pass like the Residential School Horror. 

Health, Lifes Lessons, Politics

Kenney on COVID

What is the Kenney position on COVID? I listen to him from time to time on the COVID updates. Most of the time I find him balanced, reasonable, and thoughtful. The one noticeable verbal slip was couple of weeks ago when he suggested that Alberta was going to have the best summer in its history. I just don’t have the problem with Kenney that  so many others do. He’s a good orator and his convictions are supported by his policy. He has not infused (yet anyway) any of his social policy biases into legislative proposals which was frankly my biggest concern when he became the Premier of Alberta. I ‘m insufficiently versed on alleged shenanigans during his rise to the leadership of the UCP.   

He handles media questions quite well in the context of COVID. Every province has been at the mercy of poor federal handling of COVID from the outset. It’s become apparent from his comments today that dozens of municipalities in Alberta have flagrantly disavowed restrictive measures and it is in this context that Alberta faces infractions by its citizenry. It’s become obvious that our legal system with all its intricacies and high power prosecutors have much to account for right now with the lack of enforcement and conviction around laws which have been ignored by hordes of people across the province. In lieu of the Bowden rodeo on the weekend, I had expected more on the topic of justice and COVID from the premier today. He has referenced another announcement upcoming tomorrow.    

I have witnessed indifference from law enforcement in Alberta pre-pandemic. I’m sensing that fellow Albertans are now also asking the question as to why people can flagrantly break the law with no consequences. I predict that there was no police officer nor Alberta Health Services marshal recording license plate numbers at the Bowden Rodeo over the weekend.  

Free Enterprise, Philosophy, Politics

Canada In trouble “UBI”

Is Canada in trouble with a proposed UBI (Universal Basic Income)? If you value work for pay instead of a government handout….you may now be a minority in Canada. This is how things seem today as federal liberals gather online to debate a “Universal Basic Income”.

When I left my home to go to work today, I took a look at the full parking lot at my residence and speculated what percentage of my complex is receiving some form of social assistance. Given the demographic of my neighbors –they are not the kind of folk to fire up computers and logon to Zoom. They are more of the marginalized class of Canadian. 

Why shouldn’t the marginalized want “Universal Basic Income” if they’ve failed to meet the test of capitalism? They’ve come to believe that they deserve a free lunch so of course they’ll be looking to you to keep them mummified in their thumb sucking ways.

Yes…that’s the term I’ll use – the “marginalized class” because it’s less likely to get me in trouble with the politically correct. You see in Canada….it’s become fashionable to get a government cheque because with a government job…governments still have this old “defined benefit pension plan”.  Parents in a practical sense may not fathom entrepreneurial pursuit given the risk reward profile matched against the comfort of government bureaucracy. 

Somehow within the equation of this “UBI” debate someone from the nosebleed section may just rise to the occasion and ask where governments think they are going to get the money. Someone may be astute enough to ponder whether those in business who can execute are going to be willing to continue to subsidize a lazy Canadian populous. Virtually every natural resource project in Canada is gobsmacked with regulatory hurdles in getting approved with debt financings contingent upon layers of red tape much of which is unreasonable. Factor in the mountains of government debt already needing servicing and we see a nation in trouble.        

Canada is already a country fully entrenched in socialism. My confident characterization of our culture took place during the first term of the Trudeau era when the federal government began fully subsidizing the rearing of children through the lucrative “Canada Child Benefit” program. This direct subsidization of parents has apparently become the envy of any special interest groups and such program has likely had much to do with the onset of a Universal Basic Income proposal.