Saturday, October 24, 2015

So the Liberals are back - Please keep us on track



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Liberal governments can be good, they can do something other than tax and spend – the thing that is scaring me a little right now, this one has promised to spend, so taxing is sure to follow. Mr. Martin, with the reform party as cheer leaders fixed the Canadian fiscal picture. Mr. Martin spoke to us “hicks” in the west and forged relations with us. Mr. Martin did the Kelowna accord. Mr. Martin debt financed Canadian Steamship Company to the tune of $30 million and built a company of renown. Justin is a different cut of cloth than Paul Martin, I wonder if he will have the courage to draw on Mr. Martin’s experience.

The other concern I have is whether or not we are going to be exposed to another round of the central Canadian academics, some true liberals and some silk stocking socialist, attempting to engineer Canadian Society again. The last time they had their way we got, MASSIVE DEBT, pork barrel and more pork barrel, frivolous grant programs – all adding up to a fiscal train wreck and the advancement of a wishy washy ill-defined cultural soup that generated a single worthwhile cultural artifact – canoeing is good.

Cultural Identity Series 

The last thing that Canada needs and most importantly, the last thing Canadian children need, is a National Institution that takes them from the care of their fathers and mothers – Factory Daycare scares me, the last bastion of cultural diversity, the family is under attack by this proposal. We want to encourage family, we want parents’ love to guide childrearing as opposed to the stark white interior of a government daycare – the latest vehicle for building national group think – “give me a child for four years and I’ll give you a Bolshevik forever” says Mr. Lennon. The last thing I want is 1970 style “central Canada cultural imperatives” lodged in the minds of my grandchildren. The family needs support; parents should be lobbying for support, for more time with children, as opposed to less. Quebec spends about $9000 / year on a daycare seat, give that to the family – two children, $18,000 / year will let a father that is marginally employed choose to stay home – or give an extended family member the ability to care for children or facilitate a group of parents to work together to do childcare in a way that is agreeable to them – give the money to parents, say no to Factory Daycare.
Childcare Series 

Will we see the end of the fear mongering that brought C 51 into being absent sufficient civilian oversight, I truly hope so. Mr. Trudeau promises to let facts talk, to be rational about risk and response – to let reason rule. I will support him eagerly in this endeavor, most eagerly if he reopens the gun registry debate again.

Let Reason Rule - Say NO to Fear Politics 

Perrier Trudeau, when faced with tyrants in the form of the FLQ jabbed at “weak kneed liberals” when they objected to the War Measures Act.. Mr. Trudeau Senior stood up to violence, he said NO, sent in the army and took control – that was leadership.  Already Justin is watering down our NATO commitments, failing to stay the course in Syria. Canada was a proud member of the United Nations and was instrumental in forwarding as an imperative the obligation to protect people subjected to oppressive government or circumstance – so now we’re going to leave children in harm’s way and direct resources toward housing the ones fortunate enough to get away – with many perishing in the attempt to escape – we must do better.
There is one entity ensuring world stability at the moment, NATO, absent NATO as a hegemon, the world is in a pre WW1 circumstance, unstable and volatile. To take actions that make NATO look like a paper tiger, only serves to embolden the likes of Isis. Discontinuing Canadian military participation in the action in Syria, is irresponsible in the extreme and should be reconsidered.

Weak Kneed Foreign Policy 

So we are going to run up some debt, for what is the question. Money is cheap right now, so investing in assets with long term value makes sense. We do need infrastructure, so investing in infrastructure that facilitates economy is good – no to frivolous cultural extravaganzas please – build transportation, build out fiber optic, restructure, fix Canada’s crumbling urban centers and build out education. For those of us that lived through the 1970s and saw people getting $25,000 grants for the word “shit” black on white, well we’re once stung, now we are twice shy – please god deliver us from a repeat of that CRAP.

Fiscal Policy 

Perrier Trudeau never bought a quart of milk in his life, he was detached from economic reality and Canada paid the price. It took that detachment however, to give us the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – a most worthy document, with some 300 years of blood spilled in the enlightenment as equity. Save the absence of property rights, it is pure poetry. I can take some more of that, a document that makes Liberalism equal Freedom, the challenge is that somehow, the 1970 “liberal” government forfeited “Freedom” for a nannystateism. The legacy of 1970 “liberal” government’s “culture” and policy are still at play, it resulted in a decrease in choice and a namby pambism that gags me. I wonder if political pragmatism will prevent this type of boldness from Mr. Trudeau Jr. and push him so far over to youthful enthusiasm that our economy ends up in a heap, with so many hopes and dreams with it.  
We need to access the full value of our resources, prudent use of the oilsands should be part and parcel of our way forward – we need pipelines to market. Will Mr. Trudeau have the fortitude to forge ahead or will our prosperity machine wither on the vine; the prosperity machine that will finance the transition to an eco-friendly economy. 

Oilsands & Pipe Lines

Granted, Mr. Harper managed to alienate the Maritime Provinces, this fact came through loud and clear this election. It rocked us all out west when Mr. Trudeau Jr. whispered National Energy Plan, the insensitivity Mr. Trudeau Sn. to the west and our way of living spurred the whole Western Concept movement, which morphed in to the Western Separatist movement. Then we’ve had Quebec threatening to go for decades now. The derision toward the west, exacerbated by pandering to Quebec and the rest of central Canada put our federation in peril – Mr. Martin built bridges as Prime Minister, so liberals can do it, the party has the bench strength for it, will this one put much effort into it. I’ve seen Mr. Trudeau Jr. cozy with “vote rich Ontario”, in spite of the fact Ms. Wynne has been running up debt funding operations, rather than investing – lets hope that Mr. Trudeau Jr. takes his fiscal lead from elsewhere. Mr. Trudeau’s recent invitation to the provinces for a powwow is encouraging; I hope he has the good sense to give Mr. Wall his ear.   

I think there is hope for Mr. Trudeau Jr.’s liberals; there are some good people there. Maybe I’m too much a westerner, but when I hear the echoes 1970s central Canada’s academia’s arrogance bouncing of the walls of the recently dusted off press gallery, I am screaming blue murder – they can store that in a dark and in accessible place from my perspective – let culture emerge from the strong Canadian people, from the land and the actions we take on it to live each day – leave the social engineers at home Mr. Trudeau, we’ve all seen their handy work before.   

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ON CANADA'S CULTURE

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