"Nobody’s paying attention so it doesn’t matter"

As Thomas Jefferson once said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance".

Unfortunately, as individuals in nations such as Libya, Egypt and elsewhere offer up their lives for the opportunity to cast a ballot, in Canada we’ve very cunningly been led to a place where voting is something we avoid like the plague and the term “election” has become a dirty word.

Has Stephen Harper tossed aside the Jefferson approach to democracy in favor the Nixon playbook?

There are those who might be tempted to accuse this writer of crossing the line with such a statement but who is it that's actually crossed the line?

When, for example, did such self serving statements as, “…nobody’s paying attention so it doesn’t matter…” become a valid reason for rampant political acts of fraud, forgery and deceit?

I’m not sure anyone can actually pinpoint a specific date on the calendar, yet here we are.

I’ve been around long enough to know that politicians and parties have participated in underhanded acts since the dawn of time, but anyone who’s been following the Canadian political debate of late has witnessed a monumental shift from the age old secretive acts of deception to outright pride in the ability to pull a fast one.

Today the attitude appears to be that it’s OK as long as nobody notices.

As citizens we can waste our time blaming the politicians themselves if we choose but the reality, regardless of the level moral bankruptcy on display in Ottawa, is that most Canadians truly aren’t paying attention and the Nation’s leaders are getting away with it. In the dog eat dog world of politics those running for public office would be laughed out of their respective caucus rooms if they failed to take advantage of this fact and to promote this public inattention. It's sad but true.

The current attitued among Conservative party members can only be described as one of taking pride in their utter disrespect, even disdain, for every man, woman and child from sea to sea to sea.

There’s no doubt that all sides of the political spectrum are fully capable of underhanded acts, but anyone who has sat through even one interview with a Conservative MP, Senator, spin doctor or pundit lately will have lost count of the number of times they’ve been boldly told that “…nobody cares about it…” or “…it doesn’t matter because nobody is paying attention…”.

How sad is the state of our political system when a sitting government is comfortable relying on such platitudes without making even a feeble attempt to explain their actions?

In the past few months alone a sitting government Minister altered a document after it was signed off on by officials, 4 high ranking Conservative party members are facing criminal charges, Elections Canada and the courts have found the Conservative party guilty of nothing less than election fraud for “laundering” hundreds of thousands of dollars during the last election and the Speaker of the House has ruled against the government for refusing to provide financial information required by the Commons and for misleading Parliament.

Through it all, the only explanation offered by anyone on the Harper government payroll is to repeat the mantra of, “…nobody cares…” or “...it doesn’t matter because nobody is paying attention…”.

The saddest part about this shift in political tactics is that it’s actually working.

Clearly those who brush aside concerns about such reprehensible acts show how little respect they have for Canada’s political system, not to mention the public, but they are not wrong, at least when they say nobody is paying attention. People aren’t and as a result they are indeed getting away with it.

The attitude of today’s political elite allow them to downplay their illegal and/or immoral acts and serves the agenda of increasing the level of voter apathy across Canada. A reality that few can argue when you realize that during the last federal election slightly more than 58% of eligible voters actually went to the polls. The result: the Conservative Party formed government with only 37% support. Thanks to their ability to encourage their core supporters while reinforcing the feelings of apathy among those who don’t lean to the Right.

With the state of our political situation one might well expect voter turnout in the upcoming election to drop even lower. Not because nobody wants an election (another tag line popular in Conservative circles) but because the very act of disrespect that comprises the thrust of this article has, quite intentionally, left so many people with a bad taste in their mouths.

In this light, it’s not a stretch to say that the Conservative Party of Canada isn’t actually running a campaign against the Liberals, the NDP or the Bloc, but against the citizens of Canada.

(As a side note for readers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Fabian Manning has apparently decided to run for the seat in Avalon. You remember Fabian right? He's the one who, when last sent to Ottawa, stood beside PM Harper in the House of Commons cheering, laughing and clapping as the PM ridiculed the Province Manning was elected to represent over its demands that he live by his promises on the Atlantic Accord. Welcome back Fabian.)

Has Stephen Harper Outwitted Himself?

With an electoral axe about to fall in the Nation’s capital, or more accurately upon Stephen Harper’s political neck, Conservative strategists may have finally outwitted themselves in their hunger for national domination.

Faced with the prospect of a Liberal sponsored non-confidence vote the Conservatives are floating the idea of forcing Michael Ignatieff’s hand. They hope to do this by tabling a confidence bill of their own when the House resumes. The Conservatives believe this will allow them to set the agenda for the election and make it appear that Mr. Ignatieff, should he vote against the bill, is standing in the way of Canada's economic recovery.

Here’s how the diabolical plan is supposed to play out.

The Liberal party plans to table a non-confidence motion at their first opportunity – an opposition day in early October – the Conservatives on the other hand plan to table a ways and means bill on the first day the Commons reopens, September 15th. That bill would officially implement the hugely popular and much publicized “Home Renovation Tax Credit”, so many Canadians have already bought into spending countless millions in the process.

Conservative strategists believe that by forcing the Liberals to vote against that particular bill they can paint the opposition as killing the stimulus program, of damaging the economy and of costing individual taxpayers up to $1,300 in rebates many are counting on this spring.

As a purely political move it’s ingenious. The question is whether it will backfire.

Clearly Prime Minister Harper has no inhibitions when it comes to his political ambitions. This is nothing new. In previous years Mr. Harper has shown that he’s willing to ignore signed agreements by stripping money away from provincial coffers without so much as a second thought (consider the Atlantic Accord contract as an example).

Mr. Harper is now proving his willingness to not only pull a fast one when it comes to cryptic programs like equalization that are outside the understanding of the average voter but to reach directly into voter's pockets by gambling with tax refunds which many taxpayers have already spent thousands of dollars in the expectation of receiving.

I’m not so sure that’s a wise move on his part.

There’s an old saying that “all politics is local” and you can’t get much more local than a voter's back pocket.

The question for voters to ask themselves, should an election come to pass, is which political leader is truly the most harmful to the economy?

Think about it. If you’ve already spent thousands of dollars, believing that you would get a sizeable portion of that money back, are you more or less likely to curb your spending over the coming months now that you have been told you may never see a dime of what you were promised?

On the other hand, if you’ve yet to spend a penny on home renovations are you more or less likely to do so now that Mr. Harper has put the “Home Renovation Tax Credit” up for grabs in a self serving political game?

For most Canadians the answer to both of those questions is pretty clear.

So which leader is the most harmful to the economy?

Is it really, as Mr. Harper would have us to believe, Michael Ignatieff, a man most of us know very little about? Possibly.

Or is it the current Prime Minister, a man who, by using the “Home Renovation Tax Credit” as a self-serving political hammer may well have single handedly done more to stifle discretionary consumer spending than the economic downturn itself?

Remember, even if the opposition parties rise to the bait and kill the rebate bill, if even temporarily, it was Mr. Harper who self servingly put that program on the chopping block and raised the axe high into the air.

If You Don't Vote You Shouldn't Complain

“If you don’t vote then you shouldn’t complain about what government is doing.”

It’s an old saying that I’ve always seen for what it truly is, total B.S.

That sort of sentiment might serve the interests of politicians who want your vote or who would love nothing more than for the public to shut up and not complain when government runs amok, but to say somebody doesn’t have the right to complain because they didn’t vote is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.

If non voters don’t have the right to complain then who does?

From my perspective anyone who doesn’t vote has a much greater right to complain than those who visit the polls and mark an X for one of the mainstream parties.

Think about it. Voters elect government members to office and in doing so ultimately decide the form and shape a government takes on both sides of the House.

When government neglects the needs of the public, wastes tax dollars and makes decisions that cause great harm to the public good voters should share in some of the blame.

In fact it’s voters who have far less right to complain about the actions of elected officials than anyone else, after all it was voters who put them in office in the first place.

Far too often political spin doctors and the mainstream media talk about the growing problem of low voter turnout at elections and claim it’s the result of disinterest or apathy rather than identifying it for what it is. Either they blindly choose to believe this falsehood or they simply don’t understand what’s happening around them which is entirely possible from what I've seen. Either way they’re dead wrong.

Sure, some citizens have absolutely no interest in politics or elections, those people have always existed, but there are growing numbers of people who have come to the realization that no matter which party or individual is elected the end result will be the same and it won’t likely be good.

Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It’s the non-voters, not the voters, who have adopted those words of wisdom and who have given up on Canada’s elitist and centric political system. Good on them.

Until the system can be changed to better ensure that the public interest is being served, not the parties or the politicians, the act of voting is nothing more than the act of abetting corruption, lies, deceit and fraud.

I’d rather stab myself in the eye with a rusty nail than support any of today's federal mainstream parties so don’t expect to see me at the polls any time soon. Rest assured however that the complaining will continue as it always does. I have every right to complain and plan to use that right as much as possible.

The next time someone says to you, “if you don’t vote you shouldn’t complain” tell them the same thing I will. Here’s a hint, its two words, starting with F and ending with OFF.

Newfoundland & Labrador First Party Selects New Leader

The Newfoundland and Labrador First Party(NL-First) recently announced the selection of a new party leader following a respectable federal election debut that saw the upstart party capture 1.7% of the popular vote.

The new party leader, Wayne Bennett, who ran as a candidate for Humber-St. Barbe Baie-Verte replaces outgoing leader, Tom Hickey, who led the party since its inception in 2005 and is stepping down due to health concerns.

During the federal campaign Bennett garnered 3.7% voter support in the Liberal stronghold held by incumbent Gerry Byrne, who captured nearly 68% of the vote. Bennett's showing was considered a respectable debut in a riding where even the more widely recognized Conservative and NDP brands were limited to minimal support.

Mr. Bennett, who retired from the Canadian Forces after 32 years is currently 51 and is seen by party insiders as a leader who brings with him a lot of fresh new ideas and who can help the party move forward by building on the momentum of their most recent efforts.

Former leader, Tom Hickey, who was a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly for 30 years and is recognized as the last surviving member of the “Three Wisemen”, the only three MHAs sitting in opposition to Premier Joey Smallwood during one of his more popular terms as Premier, has said he will continue to work with the party going forward and sees a bright future for the NL-First team.

Mr. Hickey hopes to take on an active role in developing the party’s riding associations and in growing the party’s financial and volunteer machinery in preparation for the next federal campaign.

Federal Election Counter Spin - ABC easy as 123

On Wednesday Canada woke up to the equivalent of the “Ground Hog Day” movie. A situation where, like in the movie, the same circumstances are repeated ad-nauseam.

After the taxpayers funded a $300 million dollar election campaign, called for no reason and in spite of legislation intended to prevent it, the Harper Conservatives are still leading a minority government, Stephane Dion is still under attack for his leadership ability and other than shuffling of a few deck chairs around it’s almost as if the federal election never really happened.

Almost…

One thing has changed as a result of this process and that's the provincial / federal dynamic, especially in Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador. Two jurisdictions that have soundly rejected the current federal government.

After weeks of party slogans, attack ads, cross Country tours, millions in marketing and tons of jet fuel carbon emissions, in the end the final outcome (minority vs. majority) came about, in spite of all the spin, because of the actions of people in those two provinces and two of their political leaders.

Going into this election Stephen Harper, no matter how much he denies it, was confident of winning a majority mandate. This and his desire to side step an economic situation that was beginning to sputter are the only reasons the election even happened in the first place.

This election wasn’t about some burning National issue. It was about the Conservatives wanting to gain a stranglehold on power.

At the end of the day however Mr. Harper was denied his much sought after majority and no doubt he is now laboring under the misguided belief that he has Newfoundland & Labrador and Quebec, along with Gilles Duceppe and Danny Williams, to blame for that.

Mr. Harper’s perspective on this, like the ideology he is foisting on Canada, is wrong.

Yes, Gilles Duceppe fought hard to fend off any kind of growth for the Conservatives in Quebec.

Yes, Danny Williams’ ABC (Anyone But Conservative) campaign in Newfoundland and Labrador may have had some influence in ensuring that the Conservatives were completely shut out in the province.

Both of those facts are true but they don’t tell the entire story.

Saying Mr. Harper lost out on an opportunity for a majority government thanks to those two provinces is not the same thing as saying that any blame for that loss should rest with anyone there.

The reality is that both Mr. Duceppe and Premier Williams are merely conduits for the feelings of many people in their respective jurisdictions. It is Mr. Harper himself who was the chief architect of his undoing. He accomplished this by virtue of a litany of broken promises and his adherence to right wing ideologies.

It isn’t the electorate in these two jurisdictions or their political bent that is to blame for shattering Mr. Harper’s aspirations. It is the actions of the man himself. Of that there is no doubt.

The Harper slide in Quebec came in the middle of the campaign after the PM callously brushed aside concerns over cuts to arts programs and his push for adult style sentencing of young offenders, two positions that got under the skin of Quebec voters and produced an irritating itch that only Mr. Duceppe was able to scratch.

For the sake of a paltry $40 million dollars Mr. Harper's hopes in Quebec during this $300 million dollar campaign were dashed.

In Newfoundland and Labrador problems with the Harper campaign started long before the writ was dropped.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are a different people in many respects from most Canadians. Like the people of Quebec their culture is also unique within Canada.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have a very, very long memory.

While most Canadians went to the polls on Tuesday and marked their X based on the campaign itself most Newfoundlanders and Labradorians were not as highly impacted by the hype and spin produced in the past month or so. Instead they quietly considered the happenings of the past two and half years knowing full well that a government cannot be judged solely on what it does during an election but what it does while actually in office.

By calling on their cultural, or perhaps even genetic, predisposition for recalling the past and learning from it, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador found their decision to oust all Conservative representatives from the Province an easy one.

Ask anyone in the Province about past political events that directly affected them. Ask them about the Upper Churchill contract or Confederation with Canada in 1949 and they'll tell you all about it as it has been handed down from parent to child.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians simply don’t forget.

While many political analysts and pundits have tried to determine the full effect of the ABC campaign the fact that it even existed was far less important to the outcome of this election than the collective memory in the people.

Multiple broken promises and the underhanded breaking of the Atlantic Accord contract were at the root of the shutout in Newfoundland and Labrador and the people didn't need an ABC campaign to remind them of those trangressions.

The Atlantic Accord debacle was more than the side stepping of a contract, it was a slap in the face to everyone in the province. This was a contract that had been so hard fought for, not only by the provincial government, but by the people of Newfoundland and Labrador themselves and the promises broken were not small ones. They were promises that could have finally pulled the Province out of debt and put it on a solid foundation for generations. The cost of those events to the province is an estimated $11 billion dollars, a far greater injustice than the $40 million dollar debacle that limited Mr. Harper's hopes in Quebec.

When it comes to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, in addition to having a long memory, it's fair to say that it take a lot to make them angry, but when they are you better watch out.

Political junkies, pundits, strategists and students will no doubt study the outcome of this election for some time to come. There will be those who wonder what would have happened if...but at the end of the day Mr. Harper has nobody to blame for this rejection by two of Canada's Eatern Provinces but himself and when the rest of Canada wakes up to what kind of government they have put in power nobody, and I mean nobody, will be able to pin any of the blame on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

A Sad Commentary on Canadian Politics

By the end of the week federal election campaigns will be moving into high gear thanks to Stephen Harper's decision to go to the people in mid October. Never mind that the Conservative government has already been running American style attack ads for weeks. I guess that's just "reaching out to the electorate", isn't it?

In fact it's the sort of approach Newfoundland and Labrador Conservative MP, Fabian Manning, has taken to like a duck to water.

It seems good old Fabian has been taking full advantage of taxpayer funded programs that allow him to send out regular mail updates to his constituents. The problem is that little Fabian hasn't been filling the pages of his newsletters by updating the public on all of his good work in Otawa, likely because he has nothing to talk about on that front. Instead he's been using the paper, ink and postage you and I pay for as a political tool to bash the other parties and promote big daddy Steve. Tsk, Tsk Fabian. That's not really nice is it?

When it comes to the Conservative party in general and Fabian in particular, it's just the sort of underhanded (even if technically legal) move that should come as no surprise to anyone. Fabian clearly sold out his principles a long time ago. As a matter of fact I believe I know exactly when it happened. It was in May of last year.

That was the day Fabian, who was sent to Ottawa to represent the people of Avalon and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, gave up his last shred of morality and human decency in order to curry favor with his Conservative boss by mocking his home province and his people on National television.

I wonder just how many of you out there remember the scene as Stephen Harper stood in the House of Commons to ridicule and mock Newfoundland and Labrador over the equalization debate. How many remember as well how Fabian, inexpicably sitting in Cabinet Minister Jim Flaherty's seat at the PM's right hand, smiled broadly, applauded on cue and cheered on his boss as the venom spewed from Harper's lips.

I remember.

Not to worry Fabian, more influential and well seasoned political figures than you have sold out in the past.

Let's take Loyola Hearn for example, now there's one who really knows how to spin a story while sticking the knife in and giving it a good twist.

When running in the last federal election in January of 2006, Hearn clearly stated, "Our party initiated the idea of custodial management. We had a resolution to that effect passed in Parliament. In our policy statements we commit to taking custodial management if we become government."

Fast forward a couple of years and it's a completely different story from Mr. Hearn.

These days custodial management is a dirty word in the Hearn vocabulary and one he avoids at all costs. Instead Mr. Hearn is telling everyone that his policy of having foreign patrol vessels off our shores keeping an eye out for their own countrymen is actually working so well we don't need to protect our own fish stocks. His reasoning is that arrests for infractions are way down so it must be working. Really Loyola?

It's a sad commentary on Canadian politics when a voter's main options include a party that has, and continues to, lie about issues of such importance to voters (Blue), another party that has done their own share of lying in the past and plans to introduce new taxes that will shift wealth into Ontario & Quebec from resource producing provinces (Red), a third that is a perennial afterthought (Orange) and one that has yet to prove itself anything more than a single issue party (Green).

It's also a sad commentary on the state of political activism in Newfoundland and Labrador that even when faced with such sad prospects we have yet to find it within ourselves to abandon the status quo of voting for a party with national interests (and control) and instead throw our support behind local candidates that are willing to place Newfoundland and Labrador's interests first.

For several years now the Newfoundland and Labrador First party has struggled to find the kind of support it needs to make inroads on the federal scene. This is a party that, working on a shoestring budget, is trying to make sure that Newfoundland and Labrador's concerns are not drowned out by the noise of a national party structure controlled by the large number of representatives from Ontario & Quebec.

Over the past few years the Newfoundland and Labrador First Party has grown far beyond its original platforms and is now poised to run candidates in the upcoming election. The belief is that while the province's 7 federal seats are of little value when occupied by members of a national party, if locally controlled they could be.

With so many minority governments expected in the coming years a locally managed party that can elect a handful of representatives to fill those seats could actually weild a lot of power and influence on Parliament Hill. The possiblity actually exists, especially in a close minority, that such a party could potentially hold the balance of power in Ottawa. Something Newfoundland and Labrador representatives could never hope to accomplish otherwise.

The question now is whether the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are about to prove the old adage that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result", or if they are willing to take the William's campaign of "Anyone But Conservative" a step further and throw their support behind local candidates that are answerable to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians only, not to a National party.

Fledgling Federal Party Steps Into Ottawa - NL Dispute

There has been a new turn of events in the ongoing dispute between Newfoundland and Labrador and Ottawa.

This week the leader of the fledgling Newfoundland and Labrador First Party, Tom Hickey, informed the media that his party intends to field a full slate of candidates in the province when the writ is dropped for the next federal election. Hickey also indicated that he is hoping Premier Danny Williams will throw his support behind those candidates if the Premier is serious about shutting out the federal Conservatives in the Province.

It’s an interesting idea and clearly some pretty solid planning has gone into this move by the new party. If the Premier is serious about campaigning against the Harper government he might want to consider the offer extended to him by Mr. Hickey.

Ever since the Harper government backed out of its promise on non-renewable resources and unilaterally changed the Atlantic Accord contract, Williams has been telling everyone in the Province to vote ABC “Anybody but Conservative”. The slogan may be catchy but how valid is the ABC campaign? Where does it leave the voters?

The outcome of the recent provincial election proved beyond doubt that the majority of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are firmly behind the Premier in his battle with Ottawa and in the direction his government is taking locally. The overwhelming percentage of the popular vote Williams received speaks volumes about his ability to “encourage” the people to take a stand and to follow his lead. Now a Newfoundland and Labrador centric party is challenging the Premier to step up to the plate and use that popularity to help send 7 independent voices to Ottawa for the first time in the Province's history.

For Liberal, NDP or Green party supporters William's "ABC" campaign does’nt present much of a problem, they can simply continue to support the party of their choice in the next election, but what about anyone who would have traditionally voted Conservative? How many of them will feel comfortable casting a vote for one of the other parties? How many will be willing to do that and how many long time voters will be satisfied to simply stay at home?

What about the average person who is not a traditional conservative supporter but who feels, for whatever reason, that this time around neither of the other options available is a valid one for them? Where should they park their vote?

The NL First party is hoping to fill the void left in the wake of the Premier’s battle with the fed and are asking him to support their efforts.

The party is lead by a former, and well respected, provincial MHA and cabinet minister who represented the PC party for several years. The party itself espouses many of the same ideals and principles as the Williams government does and the party appears eager to take on the task of tackling a federal campaign.

For disenfranchised Conservative voters, or even the common Joe with no party affiliation, the NL First party might be the answer to their current dilemma, and to the Premier's. If Williams hopes to make his anti-Harper campaign a succesful one he may have found a way.

I’m not out to promote the NL First or any other party, but under the present circumstance NL First may indeed present an option in the next federal election if they do indeed field a slate of candidates answerable only to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and can gain the Premier's support.

NL First is saying, as many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians believe, that the seven federal MPs the province traditionally sends to Ottawa have never had a strong voice. This they say is because those MPs are part of a large national party answerable to the majority of voters in just about every other province except their own. In other words, national parties, no matter the stripe, will respond to the wishes of the majority in vote rich provinces like Ontario and Quebec, even if those wishes are in direct opposition to the needs of Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s hard to deny the truth in that.

The NL First party has positioned itself, not as a Bloc style separatist movement, but as an independent voice for their Province.

Mr. Hickey recently noted that his party has no intention of being obstructionist if elected. They intend to support or fight each piece of federal legislation on its own merits but always with an eye to how it might harm or benefit Newfoundland and Labrador.

Canada has reached a point in its history where minority governments are likely the norm rather than the exception. With the Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Bloc and Green parties all vying for voter support, and with the latter two parties becoming increasingly popular all the time, the odds of winning a majority government are not what they once were.

The thinking behind hte NL First party is that by electing candidates who are not answerable to anyone outside the province, especially at a time when minority governments are likely, Newfoundland and Labrador will have a better chance of getting its message out, its needs met and perhaps, in the case of a close minority, even holding the balance of power when it comes to voting on key pieces of legislation.

As far as Premier Williams is concerned, he might want to give the NL First a good long look. This new party could provide him with the solution he needs if he hopes to address the concerns of anyone looking for a place to park their vote.

It’s often difficult for voters to stand behind a negative election campaign. If Williams chooses to do so, supporting the NL First party would allow the him to seamlessly and easily move from a negative, “Anybody but…” campaign to a much more positive and constructive one that supports a locally focused party and candidates.

Will Williams get onboard? Only time will tell, but it’s definitely a new twist in the battle between Williams and Harper and one well worth keeping an eye on.