Head Tale

T-13: A Way To Guarantee Stephen Harper Loses #elxn42 #canpoli

Best buds?

A couple years ago in April 2013, soon after the NDP and Liberals had their respective conventions, I blogged about how each party had a strong “cooperation” element within their party – represented in the NDP by Nathan Cullen who took third place in that party’s leadership race and ended up with 25% of the vote. For the Liberals, it was Joyce Murray who took second place in their leadership race with 10% of the vote in what was otherwise a blowout for Justin Trudeau.

Here’s what I wrote at the time…

Since 1993, Canada has been led by parties who benefited, at least in part, from splits among parties on the opposite end of the political spectrum – the Reform/Conservative split divided resources and focus on the right for three elections (four if you count 2004 when they finally merged) that they may have otherwise been able to win. Then the split flipped to the “left” (I know the Liberals are more centrist and also, more culturally distinct from the NDP than the Conservatives/Reform were but work with me here) and now the Conservatives have won three elections in a row.

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Canadians now have TWENTY years of evidence that splits on one side of the political spectrum ensure that the other side will enjoy long runs in government.

The desire for cooperation between the Liberals & NDP is still popular with over half of Canadian voters.

On that note, I recently came across an article which proposes a limited form of cooperation – if the Liberals pull out of eight ridings where the NDP is the main challenge to the Conservatives and the NDP do the same in eight ridings where the Liberals are the main challenger – that would greatly increase the odds of the Conservatives losing up to 16 more seats while the Liberals and NDP would each stand to win an equal number and the popular vote would (roughly) balance out.

Of course, anything can happen and this wouldn’t be guaranteed to work exactly as outlined. But if each party’s true goal is to get Stephen Harper out of power and if the projections look like the NDP and Liberals are going to end up working together anyhow if we end up with a minority Conservative government, why not take the opportunity to make sure the Conservatives finish third instead of (barely) first?

Again, this is probably something that would have worked better if it was arranged before the candidates were picked in these ridings and invested this much in the campaign (like back in April 2013 or so?)

Beyond that, I think both parties still see too much light between themselves and the other party to work together in such a concerted fashion. Plus, even if they did, there’s a chance it could backfire if Canadians saw this as too much “tilting the table” even if it would be perfectly legal (I got enough pushback on Facebook when I talked about vote swapping – which is also completely legal.)

Anyhow, as strong of an NDP supporter as I am, I would be very happy to see some type of arrangement as early as possible because I think the country is too important to risk even the slim chance of Harper getting another majority (with two weeks left, who knows what tricks he has up his sleeve?)

¶ Posted 07 October 2015 § Canada § News § Politics ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: history, t19

T-14: Red Door, Blue Door. Time To Open the Orange Window! #elxn42 #canpoli

I saw the above graphic on Reddit and it struck home.

The short term memory of Canadian voters always astounds me – many ridings across Canada will elect Liberals to defeat Conservatives, having apparently forgotten that only a short decade ago, the Liberals were the party that was seen as tired, out-dated and corrupt, much like the Conservatives are seen today.

The NDP has never had a chance to govern at the federal level and that’s one of their greatest appeals to me. I’m very interested to see what they could do if given the opportunity to break the revolving “red door/blue door” cycle of the last 100+ years of Canadian politics.

Thomas Mulcair makes the point very well in his autobiography, “Strength of Conviction” when he talks about one example – how both parties have failed, repeatedly for over thirty years, to implement a national childcare strategy…

Red door? Blue door? On October 19, let’s hope voters open a new orange window!

¶ Posted 06 October 2015 § News § Politics ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: economics, history, t19

T-15: Music Monday – “Your pipeline will spill its disease/You shut down all the research libraries” #elxn42 #canpoli

You know it’s bad for Stephen Harper when even one of Canada’s most popular bands releases a song slamming your government’s record. (and includes citations for all the facts in the video on their web site to head off criticism)…

“I recently visited Montreal and I was just awash in nostalgia at what Canada was like then, how we were coming into our own, with Expo,” Cuddy said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “And I realized so many of the values I had always admired about Canada, where I lived, were being eroded. And that’s why we felt we wanted to join the conversation — not lead it, just join it.”

“Stealing All My Dreams” – Blue Rodeo

(Er, and I’ll add two minor criticisms – they should’ve called the song “Stealing All *Our* Dreams” to make it more effective. And the words on the video go by way too fast to read in parts!)

¶ Posted 05 October 2015 § Canada § MusicMonday § News § Politics § PopCulture § Video ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: economics, history, music, t19

T-16: Which Party Should You Vote For? (It Might Not Be The One You Think) #elxn42 #canpoli

For anyone who doesn’t know, that’s journalist Paul Wells in the middle, not the Leader of the Rhino party. 😉

All of us have reasons why we vote for the parties that we do – some people are “born wearing orange diapers” and will vote NDP as if the party were a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation (and I’m sure many people have the same experience with red, blue or increasingly, green diapers – which would be cloth of course!)

Others will vote for some combination of the usual “big issues” in an election – the economy, the environment, foreign policy, etc.

Still others will vote for reasons that leave you shaking your head. (My most notorious example here is one woman who apparently said she was voting for Stephen Harper because “he likes cats”.)

There are all kinds of reasons people vote for the parties that they do. But if you want to check how your political beliefs might actually line up with party platforms, the CBC’s Canada Votes “Vote Compass” web site allows you to answer a series of questions then indicates which party you should vote for.

(The site isn’t perfect – I’ve taken the quiz three times and been given three different parties I should vote for in different percentages. I bet you can guess the only party I haven’t been told to vote for!)

¶ Posted 04 October 2015 § News § Politics ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: economics, history, t19

T-17: Stephen Harper Fails Democracy 101 #elxn42 #canpoli

via Montreal Gazette

In an effort to minimize the chance of a candidate saying something wrong or that could be taken out of context during the election, those running for the Harper Conservatives (including Stephen Harper himself) have followed an approach of minimizing contact with the media, their opponents, issues they’re uncomfortable with and even voters during what should be their *best* opportunity to be answerable to citizens.

Stephen Harper has even refused to participate in post-debate scrums with reporters (unlike the leaders of every other party this election and the leaders of every party – including the Conservatives – in past elections.)

One of the most basic things you learn in high school civics is that those we elect to government are answerable to us.

But given their approach, the Conservatives are showing that if you vote for them, you are saying that they aren’t answerable to you, they’re answerable to only themselves.

Shameful.

¶ Posted 03 October 2015 § News § Politics ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: economics, history, t19

T-18: Stephen Harper and His Abuse of Military Veterans #elxn42 #canpoli

One of the things that’s surprised me about the Harper government is how they seem happy to offend and mistreat even the people who make up their core constituents.

As a broad generalization, Conservatives tend to support the military and vice versa.

But what always amazes me is how the Conservatives stop respecting military personnel the moment they become veterans – whether it’s by closing veteran service centres…

“It makes no sense to take these services away from men and women who have sacrificed so much for this country,” said Roy Lamore, whose service dates back to the 1940s. “This isn’t just about old veterans,” he said during an emotional press conference. “This is about young guys too.”

…ignoring the epidemic of PTSD and suicides among military veterans

According to the latest Defence Department stats, 160 military personnel committed suicide between 2004 and March 31, 2014. That compares to the 138 Canadian soldiers killed in combat in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2014.

…or underfunding veteran services by over one *billion* dollars and returning that amount to the Treasury while veterans struggle to get even basic benefits.

Frank Valeriote, the Liberal veterans critic, said ex-soldiers who’ve been denied benefits will look at the unspent funds and feel “hoodwinked, completely abandoned” and wonder why they’ve made sacrifices for their country. “It is reprehensible and unconscionable what they’re doing so that the government can create an image of fiscal responsibility,” he said.

¶ Posted 02 October 2015 § News § Politics ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: economics, history, t19

T-19: How Long Do Canadian Governments Tend To Stay In Power? #elxn42

Photo via National Post

It’s hard to know where to begin with a series of posts about why the Conservatives deserve to be turfed from office after nine years in power. But perhaps my answer is right there in front of me.

Because the fact is that the trend since WWII has been that Canada’s longest lasting governments have all ended up having their mandates end right around the 10 year mark, give or take a year. For whatever reason at that point, many Canadians (even those who support the long-standing government, whether it’s Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives or Jean Chretien’s Liberals) start to feel like the government becomes tired, old and that it’s time for a change.

One Conservative voter I know who even has a yard sign for his local Conservative candidate still told me that it’s time for Harper to go so we can get some fresh blood in Ottawa. I’m not sure if voting for your local Conservative candidate is the best way to get rid of Stephen Harper but on the fact that’s time for Stephen Harper to go, we definitely agree! 😉

¶ Posted 01 October 2015 § News § Politics ‡ Comments (0) °

Introducing T-19: An Election Countdown #elxn42

So beginning tomorrow, I’m planning to have a 19 day series of posts with various thoughts and observations about the Canadian Federal Election.

My politics are no secret and much of the content will be focused on reasons why the Conservative Party of Canada led by Stephen Harper has to go but I’m hoping I can also find ways to inject some lightness and humour into some of the posts, even given the serious nature of the topic.

I’m only writing 19 posts but if you’d like to get a headstart, you can read The Tyee’s Compendium of Harper’s Abuses of Power as a free PDF which outlines 70 different major transgressions by the Harper government against Canadian democracy and values during their 10+ years in power.