Cadman - to Respect of Deride?

While I am disappointed in Cadman's vote, I respect the process that he went through to reach the decision to vote the way he did. As a former Conservative who is sitting as an independent, having been elected as one, he did what he should: consult his constituents and vote for their consensus.

Liberals win Budget Votes

The votes are in and the independents swayed in favor of the Liberals. The only thing to force an election now is if the Speaker defeats the budget. Tied votes are broken in favor of the government by the speaker.

Taking Bets

Right now I think that the odds of having an election after Gomery is completed is about 1 in 5. Paul Martin promised us an election after Gomery's report, but I think that the extra life that Martin gained from Stronach is going to forestall this.

I can see it now ... Paul Martin Press Conference, September 23, 2005

Paul Martin: "With the success of the government to advance the needs of Canadians, I see no need to push forward an election at this time. Judge Gomery has not been able to assign guilt to any of the members of the government, clearing our names. It is not the will of Canadians to go into an election at the current time. We will continue to provide good responsible government to Canada."

Shakespearean aside to Belinda Stronach: "I never thought they'd buy it!"

Premier Calvert Culvert

The things that come out of our premier's mouth lead me to think that his name has generally been misspelled. I think it should be culvert (click for dictionary.com's definition). In this manner it would accurately describe the majority of things that he has to say.

His wading into the Stronach debate in regards to her actions go to show how far out of touch he is with the people of this province. We deserve better than a provincial leader who will go out in search of a deal with a government whose blatant corruption, only a shade of which has been exposed in Gomery and auditor Sheila Fraser's reports, makes them morally reprehensible. But then I guess he is an ordained minister who must be more willing to forgive than the rest of us.

Conservative Deflation

Just when the strength of the new Conservative Party of Canada was approaching necessary levels to win a national election, Belinda Stronach pulls the plug. The air rushes out of the balloon and the CPC falls back. Not only that, but the momentum from pulling the plug rushes her into a cabinet post with the Liberals.

What comes to mind are two things: 1. Is there some skeleton in her closet (or her father's) that ties the Stronach's to some Liberal corruption in Ontario? With her father's long standing Liberal contacts and having run as a Liberal in the past, it is not too hard to beleive that there are some questionable business dealings by Magna Corp and the Canadian government.

2. After her remarks about personal opportunism with regards to Stephen Harper, does she realize that her opportunism reaks of hypocrisy?

Government Childcare Rant

Something that came to mind over the childcare monies that are being promised by the Liberal Party of Canada. At what point do we just turn our kids over to the state for their development?

This is the direction that the childcare marketplace is going. It is nice to say that more daycare spaces and workers will result in lower rates for childcare. Supply and demand economics would indicate this.

What the government role in the childcare marketplace will do is put the independently operating daycares out of business. This will result in lower supply and more strain on the remaining facilities. Continual meddling will eventually push these independent operators completely out of the business or underground with lower standards. This serves no one. The only agency who will be able to compete and meet the government standards are the government sponsored facilities. I wonder what private daycare owners who operate with high ideals think of this.

From Canada.com the following:

Ontario's Children's Services Minister, Marie Bountrogianni, said the federal money would lead to a "massive expansion" of the province's existing 200,000 day-care spaces, and would help establish "one stop shopping" in schools where parents can take young children to be assessed for learning disabilities and vision or hearing problems.
"All of these services, including child care, will be available in community hubs, in schools, so it's easy for parents to take advantage of them," she said.

The link to the article is here.

Sounds like the government (at least in Ontario) intends to operate in competition with private childcare providers.

Commitment

I just heard a sound bite regarding Stephen Harper committing to honor the childcare component of the budget. The sound bite goes something like this: "A commitment to somebody's else's commitment is not a real commitment." This courtesy of long serving MP and Liberal minister, Ken Dryden.

This is a joke. I guess if the Liberals commit to cleaning up government, something that was pushed by the Conservatives, we shouldn't trust them to do that either.

How to Fix Government

Certainly there is no one above reproach. I mean anywhere in society. For people to think that there is someone within the political arena who has no skeleton in their closet somewhere (or at least something that with proper lighting and arrangement could look like a skeleton).

I personally believe that almost all people in politics enter as a means of serving the public. Their views of the public need may not correspond with mine (see NDP policy), but their intentions are good. What happens is that in the process of coming to positions of influence and power, they are corrupted by the political system.

Follow along. Jane Doe and Joe Smith enter the political arena with good ideas and a desire to help shape Canada in a positive manner. They do not immediately get a nomination, they must join the party first and build up support. They do this and build some relationships to help them along. The first tethers are placed. Finally gaining enough momentum, they run in an election and win. They are part of the goverment as a whole. A second tether. After making friends and influencing people, they decide to run for leader of their party. They need to raise funds to support this run. They win and become the leader of their party. A third tether is placed. Now the leader tries to get elected as PM or even premier. This takes more money so they enter the fund raising ring again. A fourth tether.

For evidence, look at the links between the union and the provincial NDP. The unions are running rougshod over the people in our province with government sanction.

In this process, the candidate has had to become proficient at the political game, but is now so pulled in varying directions that their ability to actually affect change is greatly compromised. I hope that both provincially and nationally we change the government, not just who is in power. To whoever is able to do this, I commend you.

Kinsella et al

I am weary. I have just been to Warren Kinsella's site as referred by another blogger (finding a blogger who doesn't point to Warren Kinsella at some time or another is like finding someone who has twelve fingers) and what I read there has made me ill. (or maybe the thought of a root canal has done that)

I think I know how Warren Kinsella thinks. I beleive that he thinks he is God. Every time that he says something it comes out, with the air of arrogance that exudes from all Liberals. When Carolyn Parrish was running off at the mouth, I was surprised that someone within the Liberal party did not stand up and cut her off. Now I know that it is because most Liberals think the same way she does and do not know how to tone down their rhetoric.

Stephen Harper (or his speech writers) should take a lesson here and learn that the tone and choice of words, suggests as much as the message that is being delivered. The force an election at the earliest time strategy, is not wrong in my opinion, but should be voiced with more conviction and less chest thumping. I personally would rather have had him come out and say that we as people of Canada deserve better government, that the moral authority that Paul Martin laid claim to was eroded to the extent that the government needs to be purged of the corruption and that the ties that Martin has to key figures in the scandal renders him unable if not unwilling to do it.

Wiggles

On Tuesday night we went to a concert. That is my wife, two kids and I. We went to see the highest grossing entertainers from Australia for last year, the Wiggles. My youngest son, Anthony, has loved their songs from the time he was born ... at least that is how it seems. My older son, enjoys them as well. My wife has listed this concert as the third best concert that she has been to. And as for me ... I sang along to the tunes and tried to get Anthony to do the actions and sing as well. He was a bit overwhelmed at it all, but one look at him when the different characters were on stage and you could tell that he was fascinated.

That look is something that a parent tries to catch in their children. When you do, it will mark you for the rest of your life.

If anyone has smaller kids, I highly recommend getting a tape or CD or two, as the music is catchy without being too childish.

Count me as a Wiggles fan.