George Jonas and I probably disagree on a lot. But here, he makes several points that strike me as very true, and yet will strike others as rather inflammatory: read on.
Sex-selection abortion calls indiscriminate abortion into question
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How to Overhaul Canadian Democracy
Several powerful, even revolutionary, improvements are recommended in this post from The Tyee online.
First is a three-step recipe to weaken the power of party leaders, so that MPs can freely represent your wishes, rather than the leader’s wishes. After all,
If a Parliament must be bound to its leader, why bother with a Parliament at all? Why not just elect a “glorious leader” every four years and save the money we pay for MPs?
Second is this: proportional representation, which I believe would dramatically change the seat breakdown in the House of Commons and the popular vote. If voters know that every vote truly counts (so long as their party reaches a certain small threshold), they will be far more likely to vote their true preference. Green voters in a Tory riding will start voting Green; Tory voters in an NDP riding won’t hold their nose and compromise on Liberal–”Strategic voting” will no longer hold such appeal. The result will be a Commons much more closely reflects the wishes of Canada.
Read it for yourself, then have some fun and pay Fair Vote Canada a visit.
All-neutral equals all-Liberal?
I tried it out myself, and Ezra Levant has a very good point. If you use the CBC Vote Compass and answer each question with “neither agree nor disagree” where applicable, and “I don’t know” on all the others, you are said to be a Liberal. Although they likely have my vote this time around, this is a very disturbing story.
In fact, one commenter says s/he did a similar thing, but also gave Jack Layton at “10″ rating and all other parties zero. The result, they say, was still Liberal.
Whether the Ceeb intended this result or not, it needs to change. What a horribly flawed application.
Wouldn’t it be nice
I WOULD LOVE to see Michael Ignatieff debate Stephen Harper with Rick Mercer moderating! Can you imagine? It simply would not compete with anything on Canadian television in the past… oh, how many years.
Here’s Mercer’s tweet from yesterday: Ok hell i will rent massey put the camera’s in place and moderate the Harper Iggy smackdown. #elxn41 #cdnpoli
What a beautiful thing it would be, making for an amazing marriage of wit, humour, and genuine politics. It would cut through the BS – be sharper than most things we read or see every day, with far more clarity and higher stakes for both leaders. And it would absolutely spark interest in the election.
Sometimes comedy just does the news better.
Let Lizzie Join!
Click on the link. Look at the graph. Pretend you don’t know who each line represents. See those two lines crisscrossing each other near the bottom? You would think that if one of them is included in the leaders’ debate, the other should be too.
But thanks to Canada’s undemocratic voting system, one has 48 seats, the other has zero. There is simply no argument for excluding Lizzie May. Let her in. She represents plenty of Canadians, and unlike the BQ, the Green Party has coast-to-coast appeal.
Freedom of speech in trouble
It has to be said: for a student society to say they are “your official representation in the university community and work hard to make sure your interests and rights are being upheld,” and then to revoke the status of an anti-abortion club is almost Orwellian. I am appalled at the flimsy arguments being used by these activist student governments to have their way in the public sphere. Student clubs should be permitted to promote views on these things; student governments should facilitate the public forum in a balanced fashion, and then keep out of it. Of course, the individuals who comprise the government should continue to participate in the discussion as individuals–but at least in a case this mild, they absolutely should not wield their governmental power to prop up or shut down the club in question.
From the article:
“[The Canadian Civil Liberties Association] believes very strongly that women should have the right to choose what happens to their bodies,” said Ms. Aviv. “But it’s very hard for me to understand how anybody, including the strongest of pro-choice activists, has difficulty with a group whose sole purpose is to educate and persuade women not to have abortions. How that is not an exercise of choice is rather beyond me. I also see this as an exercise of discrimination on the basis of political ideology.”
Now that our economy is tanking, we should think about smarter ways to rebuild it
Found somewhere on facebook, in response to the critics of Buy Nothing Day:
buying crap made in China doesn’t help our economy. buying things on credit doesn’t help the economy. but then again, is an economy based on obsessive consumption of unsustainable, toxic, and frivolous junk really worth saving? Let’s start over and build up our economy from the local level. If you turn off your TV you won’t be advertised to. If you look outside, you’ll see a community that needs you to get involved. Our world is shaped by the actions of individuals; your part may be small, but it’s important that you do it.
3 down, 1 to go!
Wow. I’ve never put so much into a Civic election. That’s not saying much. But seriously–how exciting is it to make not one, not two, but 26 pronouncements on who you think should run the city? It’s quite a process to go into the booth and spend a bit of time ensuring that you’ve picked 10 Councilors, 7 for Parks Board, and 9 for School Board–but of course it’s awfully empowering. I’m pretty hopeful to see Gregor get in and take our city back to a more proactive stance on homelessness.
Other highlights, in my half-informed opinion:
Kerry Jang for Council–a shrink with experience in the law and initiative on homelessness. Fantastic. Mental health is a hugely overlooked issue for us, so having a fella like him on board would be a great start.
Andrea Reimer–great enviro cred, despite some rumour of opportunism in slating with Vision rather than sticking with her Greens. Also glad that she pushed for junkfood reduction in schools. And hey, that spunky smile of hers is rather cute.
Chris Shaw–like Reimer, he had the foresight to see that the Olympic bid would present problems for us. And this at the time of the ubiquitous “I’m Backing the Bid” bumper stickers. He’s also part of the Work Less Party, whose manifesto (of sorts) is just what our society’s doctor ordered.
Ken Clement (school)–a First Nations social worker with a long list of health/aboriginal/HIV/AIDS involvements to his name. I don’t recall any aboriginals in Vancity politics, actually. Would he be the first ever? How unfortunate for us not to have more representation from those who were here first.
Eileen Le Gallais (school)–I’m mainly impressed by the range of involvements listed in her bio. An ESL pre-employment program, the Red Cross, the John Howard Society, restorative justice, Family Court Youth Justice, etc. Sounds like her heart’s in the right place.
Rememberance Day
I am not, with all due respect of course, particularly eager to post something about Rememberance Day. It is a difficult topic, for good reason.
I am glad that the 20th century has finally “gone to sleep”, in the words of REM, but the first 9 years of our new century have been awfully bloody as well. I continue to stand in awe and admiration for those who have faced death for the sake of others. Even if I am unsure of the justness or the focus of a particular mission, I am amazed at the sacrifice of those men and women who discern that the cause is just, and then willingly go out into battle for it. It is a costly undertaking, to say the least.
There are still armed forces around the world, in the “forgotten corners of the world,” working everyday in unglamourous conditions, away from loved ones and the comforts of home, at great personal cost, with courage in the face of fear. I take my hat off to them, and hope for peace and healing to somehow inhabit our world again.
Has Obama suddenly stopped wearing make-up or something?
He seemed very tired at today’s press conference. Maybe he’s just finally sleeping for the first time in months. Either way, he still looks awfully presidential!
