Politics about nothing
I think Andrew Coyne is right.
Politics in Ottawa has stopped being about anything important, any serious issues, and is now just sound bites and empty arguments. It’s flat out disturbing.
I vote for politicians because I believe in their vision for the country (or city, or riding). I expect those in government to … you know … govern. Make decisions. Spend money wisely. We can’t all know about foreign policy or health care, so we elect others to learn about those issues. To discuss them. To make choices accordingly.
Coyne is harsh, but I tend to agree with his diagnosis of the current political climate:
Compare the debate going on in the U.S. about health care reform. Sure, it’s messy, even crazy at times. But it’s a debate. Somebody is proposing to do something about an important national issue, based on his deepest philosophical beliefs. And somebody else is arguing against it, based on theirs. And while the leadership of the two parties butt heads over the President’s plan, individual congressmen and senators are drafting their own counter-proposals—actual legislation, on which they will vote; their many votes on various bills compiled into a record; on which they will be held to account at election time.
Nothing like that applies to Canadian politics. It doesn’t matter what ordinary MPs stand for, because all policy is set by the parties. And it doesn’t matter what the parties stand for, because at any given time they generally stand for the same thing, and because whatever they stand for today they will stand for its opposite tomorrow.
It is tempting to describe Canadian politics as a fantasyland. But “fantasy” implies something wondrous and magical, or at least interesting. In that sense, Canadian politics is the opposite of fantasy. It’s like a dream where nothing happens. You’re hazily aware that if something happened, it would violate all rules of logic or common sense. But nothing ever does.
The most positive definition I can offer of politics is that it is people behaving badly for good reasons. But our politics involves people behaving appallingly for no reason at all: there are no stakes, no important values are in dispute, nor is there even much power to be pursued for its own sake, all power (or such little as the federal government has) being located in the Prime Minister’s Office.
It would be a compliment to say our politics was corrupt. At least corruption is a purpose. Whereas to call our politics vacuous is an insult to wastes of space.
It’s very true that not all MPs are power-hungry and without integrity, but there’s enough of them that it has become a stereotype. It’s frustrating that members are pressured to vote the party line rather than stand firmly on their own perspective. I want politicians that I can believe in – because they believe in something and are willing to fight for it. I want leaders who will lead, based on conviction and experience. Though it’s true many Canadians need to engage in the political process, it’s possible that part of the reason they aren’t involved is because of that lack of grounded and responsible candidates.
My generation isn’t very encouraging either. A large portion of people my age seem to feel they are entitled to greatness without working for it. They want the cushy jobs and fat pay cheque, and they want health care and pensions delivered to their doorstep without participating in the process to obtain or improve their benefits. We take so much for granted yet somehow find plenty to complain about.
Again, not all are like this, but enough to be a frustrating trend. I’d like to see young people take more responsibility for not only their own accomplishments and progress, but also for the improvement of their community, city and country. I want us to wake up to the world we live in and, to put it frankly, stop being so darn selfish. I want us to have deeply rooted beliefs, opinions about the world, ideas for change and the guts to do something about all of it.
This isn’t to say I have it all together or know all the answers, but I have absolutely no doubt that my life is more fulfilling and satisfying, not to mention seriously exciting, when I live it for something bigger than myself.
News flashes
I have been severely lacking in the newsy blog posts lately, and I am way overdue for a rant, but time has been in short supply lately … as well as internet I can depend on. The latter problem seems to have been resolved; as for the former … not so much. But for now, here are a couple news bites that caught my attention this week.
- Another foot has washed ashore in British Colombia. This is the seventh in two years to show up on a random beach in a sneaker. Police are still puzzled as to where they are coming from and what caused the death of the people the feet used to be attached to. I blogged about this last spring when a few feet washed up within a couple weeks of each other. It’s a disturbing trend and quite the mystery.
- An Ekos poll was released yesterday, showing the Conservatives are still on the upswing while the Liberals are doing worse than the NDP in a couple provinces. Here’s Kady O’Malley’s analysis of the new numbers.
- There’s a pretty good chance the National Post is going to fold due to its massive losses over the last few years, unless CanWest can shift it to another part of the company that can support it financial. Apparently the newspaper with 277 employees has never made a profit since it began printing 11 years ago.
And that’s all for now, folks. What news have you been reading lately?
News flashes
Here’s some recent headlines that caught my interest:
- We all knew it, but this week Canada was once again recognized as one of the best places in the world to live. My home and native land turned up forth on the UN human development index. Norway topped the list, the US of A came in 13th, and Afghanistan was second last with only Nigeria behind it.
Former British president Tony Blair might be the new EU leader.
- Last week, Ireland ratified the Lisbon Treaty, bringing the agreement much closer to reality in the European Union. Among other things, the treaty will create the position of EU president and make the group more like a federal nation. There’s a pretty good chance former United Kingdom president Tony Blair will be given the first term as leader.
- Brazil was awarded the 2016 Olympics on Friday, with Rio de Janeiro beating out Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid. It was a big moment for the nation and especially its president, the much-loved Lula da Silva. I, for one, am thrilled to see the Summer Games coming to South America for the first time. I’ve heard the argument that the millions of dollars to be spent on building projects and other preparation for the international event could be spent on poverty and crime initiatives for the country, I think the construction and other jobs this opportunity will create will be a huge plus. The Olympics will put the spotlight on Brazil and South America as a whole, both highlighting its positives and hopefully offering new solutions to its problems.
- Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is in trouble. Today, a judge overturned a law granting the leader immunity from prosecution, a law that got him out of a corruption trial in 2008. The court decided the legislation was unconstitutional, as it gave special privileges to specific politicians – an opinion I heartily agree with. Just because someone is a head of state does not mean they should not have to face consequences of their actions, or even alleged actions. In fact, being in that position should mean they provide additional transparency; after all, they make decisions for the entire country and must possess a measure of integrity. There is a lot of pressure on Berlusconi to resign because of the charges against him, but so far he’s said he plans to stick around.
Let me know what you think and leave your opinions and/or other interesting news bites in the comments section.
No confidence
Members of Parliament are voting on a Liberal no-confidence motion today. It won’t pass, since the NDP has already promised to support the Conservatives until the EI bill is through.
Michael Ignatieff says he believes Canadians deserve a better government, which is why he is trying to bring down Stephen Harper. It may be true we deserve better, but I also think we deserve a year without an election.
What do you think?
The carnival of city hall
It has been weeks since I was in Ottawa city council chambers, but I am hearing about the chaos and dysfunction all the way in Colombia.
Mayor Larry O’Brien is back in his chair around the table, but it sounds like not much is being accomplished. Flooding in the west end isn’t being addressed properly, taxpayers will be hit with the bill for councillors’ decision to cancel the previous light rail transit plan, and everyone is talking about the mayor’s choice of Jasmine MacDonnell for his new communications director.
Columnist Randall Denley is calling for a completely new slate of councillors to be elected next November. Here’s a little of what he had to say:
Not all councillors are immature and irrational, of course, but even the better councillors are disappointing. The few capable of leadership too seldom offer it and far too many sit on their hands contributing nothing, as if staying out of the worst nonsense constitutes a job well done.
The rot starts at the top, unfortunately. O’Brien’s return was a reminder of just how bad he is at managing a council meeting. This was a session with only two items and no major decisions to make, and yet it ran for more than 12 hours. That can’t possibly make sense. Typically, O’Brien failed to outline how council should proceed at the beginning of the session, didn’t keep control and wasn’t even in the chair for much of the meeting. The fact that he clearly does not respect some councillors and they don’t respect him just adds to the difficulty. During a break in the meeting, O’Brien came up to where the reporters sit and suggested some of his colleagues would benefit from an enema. Sound medical advice, but probably not the kind of gravitas one would expect from a mayor.
What do you think about the happenings in Andrew Haydon hall lately, and what do you hope the next municipal election will accomplish?
Voting from abroad
A fall election, eh? What else is new.
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has said he can no longer support the current government and is planning to remove his party’s support to force a vote.
I think it’s a mistake, all around. Check out newfcollins‘ argument against it, which I heartily agree with. I don’t understand how Ignatieff thinks he is going to win, even if history has shown that Canadians rarely re-elect the government after a recession.
I’d really prefer there wasn’t an election while I’m not in the country; it’s quite the process to participate from abroad. But I will, I can assure you. As long as mail is on time, my vote will be counted – as all Canadian’s should be. I’d rather not have to deal with requesting the package and sending my response back, but Ignatieff can’t turn back now. He’s back-peddled too many times already.
Four elections in five years is simply ludicrous. And I don’t think this one will accomplish anything, other than costing taxpayers millions, providing airtime for politicians to throw mud at each other, and generally wasting all of our time. If the vote were tomorrow, I’d predict another Conservative minority.
What do you think?
News from Colombia
The Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe Velez, has H1N1. He was coughing throughout a meeting of South American leaders and was diagnosed soon after. Sure, it’s just the (swine) flu.
But it’s kind of a bad time for him to be sick, with Hugo Chavaz spitting out threats and other neighbouring countries freaking out over this government’s decision to rent out army bases to U.S. troops.
While it’s true relations between the former cocaine capital of the world and Venezuela haven’t been very peachy for a long time, Chavaz is going a little overboard. He says the invitation to American soldiers is basically asking for war on the continent.
U.S. troops have been in South America for years, however. They’re only changing addresses after Brazil decided not to renew leases. Chavaz, who is extremely anti-American and doesn’t try to hide it, is obviously not pleased with Uribe’s decision to get cozier with the U.S.
I know next to nothing about politics on this side of the world, but I’ve heard only glowing reports about Uribe’s progress since his election seven years ago. His popularity rating has hovered around 70 per cent. He has apparently done more than any former leader to clean up the drug trade, though there is still plenty of progress to be made.
Colombia will have presidential elections in May next year, and though Uribe already successfully amended the constitution to allow for two consecutive terms, he’s pushing for a referendum to allow a third one. With his accomplishments and popularity, I wouldn’t be surprised if he won – both the chance and the mandate to return to office.
Next year, the country will also be celebrating its 200th anniversary of independence.
O’Brien acquitted
Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien was found not guilty of both influence peddling charges this morning. Here’s the story in the Kourier-Standard.
I was dying to be in Courtroom 37 this morning (they moved it from 36 because there was so many people – they had to turn some away at the door), but instead I listened to the verdict from Charleston Lake Provincial Park on our van’s radio.
The journalist in me seriously wanted to steal my dad’s car for the day and drive up to Ottawa and cram into the media section of the room, but alas, I stayed with the family and was glued to the news radio stations that reached our vacation spot.
While my impression of Justice Douglas Cunningham was that he would lean towards a guilty verdict, his decision was clear, precise and solid. The clarity and strength of the acquittal is necessary to ensure the mayor can return to his office across the street smoothly. The next few weeks at City Hall are going to be very interesting – I’ll be watching closely to see how councillors work together in the future.
Here’s a column by the Citizen’s Ken Gray on O’Brien’s legacy. I agree with his ideas that while the mayor can keep his job, it still doesn’t mean he’s good at it.
What are your thoughts?
Cheryl