Monday, September 17, 2012

Ontario New Democrats popular because of the party next door

While in Toronto getting my passport and social insurance security card renewed at the consulate, used the afternoon to walk up north on University Avenue to get some time at Queen's Park to snoop around the Pink Palace to do some investigating at the Ontario Legislature grounds post byelection and pre legsession, from what I have seen and heard I believe the Ontario New Democrats will be hard to beat when the Mcguinty Liberal minority government falls after this year. Times are touch, economically people are looking to insulate themselves, the Ontario New Democrats make lots of good fiscal promise to put some cash in the working man's pocket, somewhere the Ontario Tories are least thought of in that regard. However things may quickly change federally, if Justin Trudeau becomes the new leader of the Grits in Ottawa, then watch the néo démocrates start losing Québec to him and that will automatically bring Ontario back to the Progressive Conservative brand, just as the nation moves towards the Liberals.

But for today, the reason the New Democrats are so popular in Ontario is solely because of Québec, who always have been huge for social justice and democracy.

I believe with the addition of Trudeau, his spectre changes the whole game for the New Democrats here and the néo démocrates there, as Thomas Mulcair likely already knows, as likely does Andrea Horwath. Add to these Premier ministre du Québec Pauline Marois, her péquistes and the bloquistes, all of whom recognize that though they are in a very fixed position, politically could get back into the game if their main competition for social justice and democratic votes simply vanished in the middle of the night, this especially the case for the Bloc, who can use the separation, language and heritage question to win back its Québécois votes. So it maybe that with Trudeau running the Liberals federally, a Tim Hudak Tory government is now a possibility with an upcoming snap election after the current prorogued session of their unstable minority situation, rather than a New Democrat one under Horwath, what is a likely probability is that we have seen the last of a Liberal government in Ontario for a long while, if these are the cases.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Asymmetrical system of education leads to imbalanced way of life

Recently a Hamilton area father, dentist and follower of the Greek Orthodox Church filed an application with the Ontario Superior Court seeking a court order to gain religious accommodation from the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board which is guarantee via policy, this after politely asking the same board to accommodate his family's way of life by allowing for their public school aged son and daughter to in the area of moral and spiritual education, an exclusive area for direction with inherent rights and responsibilities of the parents. Asking for advanced notice to avoid or withdraw from lessons, activities or materials in areas where subjects touch on sensitive areas is basic diplomatic protocol, when the given instruction from government run education violates the values, ideals and beliefs of the family, it becomes paramount for the state to look after the autonomous hereditical authority of the family or else it loses the confidence of its members, erodes and eventually fails.

That single failure of that specific family unit leads to a slow decay and eventual destruction of society in general, as that bond now broken connects with other broken ones to realize that family of today is not what it used to be, which begats a modern society that behaves differently and more deficiently than any before us.

We must realize the limits of the state, just as we recognize the infinite possibilities and opportunities it has to make our lives better, creating the starting foundation for familial values, ideals and beliefs through moral and spiritual education taught by the state and its curriculum that favours humanism, secularism and relativism is where the line must be drawn. Also, traditionally any well thought out state run curriculum has recognized that both the science of fact and the religion of faith has always been, until only the last century, the best of friends and should once again be allowed to begin again together coexisting in a sign of love, peace and toleration. Life is too fast and too short to ignore the best of education in all of these foreign lands where the sum takeaway is effort is time, time is money and money is power, for those who do not believe in an education system that allows less exclusion by opening up and becoming more inclusive to others not in step with the modern mainstream majority, then humbly may I suggest they join the same minority they have supposedly left and subjected to the dark world of intolerance.

Sunday, September 09, 2012

Justin times another Trudeaumania for the Liberals this spring

Just before Woodstock and just after Confederation, each and every Canadian felt the Baby Boom good vibrations of Trudeaumania, a time of peace, love and misunderstanding. The reason misunderstanding was felt alround, despite those in the Dominion who just held their Centennial happily which celebrated one hundred years together and yet another more in Ottawa abroad, is because just across the Ottawa River, just beyond Hull, Gatineau and the Outaouais or National Capital Region buffer, was a very unhappy Québec. La belle province started getting prepartum depression, which then was furthered by René Lévesque and later the Parti Québécois, something newly minted Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau prescribed the 1982 Canadian Charter Constitution, for what ailed them in response to the 1980 Québec référendum sur la souveraineté association.

Now the good Member of Parliament for Papineau and model critic for amateur sport, post secondary education, and youth, Pierre's son Justin, fresh off a second round technical knock out boxing match victory over Conservative Senator Algonquin Patrick Brazeau late March, this other Trudeau also has that iron taste of fight in his mouth. In the party of giants past, Justin fits in just right, using his savvy teaching style and social media skills to bring the party forward into the early decades of this our twentieth first century. Look for a return of the Liberals, replacing the weaker New Democrats on the constitutional reform file, with a return to between 55% at 60 seats to around 70% at 75 seats of 78 as Trudeau stands up for Canada.

Promising to gain more provincial decentralization, jurisdiction and powers from the powers that be in Ottawa, as one thing New Democrat Bob Rae, Tory Mike Harris and Liberal Dalton Mcguinty with his "Fairness for Ontario" all have in common, is one thing premier elect designate Pauline Marois and her Parti Québécois are free to fight with Ottawa over. But once again their promise to wait for winning condition to exist, in order to hold another round of referenda, is the equivalent of political terrorism, if not economic, constititionally, and especially for those to the East, territorially. If Pauline, in the spirit of René, is looking across the canvas at Justine, in the guise of Pierre, for one more round pour le Québec, then expect our 1982 Canadian Charter Constitution and the British North America Constitution Act 1867 to be defended and a more citizen initiated and better democratic reformed constitutional document by 2020, unlike 1987 Meech Lake or 1992 Charlottetown Accords, all for Canada.

Friday, September 07, 2012

Byelections fall like fairs and leaves across the province

Former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister of Canada John George Diefenbaker might have be right when paraphrased about polls being for the dogs, as the last couple provincial elections in Alberta and Québec had pollsters thrown for a loop, the last one projected the Ontario Grits and Tories being virtually tied in popularity. Yet everyone that I speak with in the social media circles believe more in the Greens, New Democrats, Bloc Québécois, even the old Reform Conservative Alliance fringe say they would vote back in that past brand again if given the choice of a chance at change. For our sakes, talking about the provincial byelections yesterday in Kitchener—Waterloo and Vaughan, where the current Dalton Mcguinty Liberal government in Toronto has become a whole lot more stable overnight than its previous teetered position as a minority.

Premier Mcguinty was able to keep Vaughan the Liberal bastion that elected former finance minister and party president Greg Sorbara way back in 2001, by running and electing Steven Delduca in his place, giving the Grits another seat in the Legislature for 54. In Kitchener—Waterloo, the previous stronghold of the Progressive Conservatives and home to former Deputy Premier of Ontario and education, environment, health and long term care and labour minister Elizabeth Witmer since 1990 back when it was Waterloo North, was shocked to its core when Catherine Fife and the New Democrats took control to raise its caucus seat count to 18. Obviously, this made the Ontario Progressive Conservatives and their leader Tim Hudak electoral losers again, once more humbled, humiliated and hindered politically to the point they could not keep a seat it had for years with Witmer and another at one point and time it had back in the days of Al Palladini and his reign over York Centre just after defeating Sorbara in 1995.

Questions abound for the Ontario Tories, who despite seeing the last days of Mcguinty styled leadership, can not seem to regain the groove it had with Mike Harris and his Common Sense Revolution or Bill Davis and his Big Blue Red Tory Machine, refusing to obey the historical rules of the party being to both work hard and bland works. These simple rules to peaceful tranquilized yet dependable management, public service and civic duty seemed to have been copied by the Mcguinty Liberals, but have slowly been ignored, abused and no longer followed a governmental protocol at Queen's Park, which has lead to what kind of situation we have today. Being bloody boring was the only way Mcguinty could win the last provincial general election for the Grits, however now the negative factors of complexity, chaos and a lack of command and control has really ensued and taken on a life of its own since, this only happens when there is no real opposition to hold a government to account which is why the Orange and the Blue had better figure it out soon, quick and fast before the Red without reform starts to really bleed Ontario.

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Charest may live on his majorities while Marois must fight with her minority

Pauline Marois député of Charlevoix–Côte-de-Beaupré became the premier ministre designate of Québec, as the Parti Québécois took its best shot at and acquired itself a minority government by taking 31.94% of the vote and 54 seats yesterday, despite one of its worst showing in the party's history on the left. François Legault député of L'Assomption and his upstart Coalition Avenir Québec came in a close third, with 27.05% of the vote and 19 seats, giving it the momentum to move forward to the right. In the middle, at the centre ice, Jean Charest Member of the National Assembly of Sherbrooke was, along with a Parti Libéral du Québec he led as its opposition leader in 1998 and the premier since 2003, defeated though posting up even closer second place numbers, being 31.20% of the vote and 50 seats, while a 6.03% Québec Solidaire's and Françoise David député of Gouin and Amir Khadir député of Mercier were actually elected!

Separation is not quite on, but talk of a citizen initiated referendum to be electorate driven at 15% for the souveraineté sssociation option to start a Round 3 in constitutional affairs boxing sure is, as Marois talks of a special citizenship for nationals of la belle province. That kind of talk which invokes federal intergovernmental or constitutional affairs will just dredge up the thoughts and actions of early 1990s Canada, where Jean Chrétien, Lucien Bouchard, Stéphane Dion, Jacques Brassard, Gilles Duceppe, Daniel Turp, Stephen Harper and Bill C-20 or the Clarity Act of 2000, expect this next round to be more interesting than both 1980's 59.56% Non to 40.44% Oui and 1995's 50.58% Non to 49.42% Oui in terms of theatrics and rhetoric but not any factual evidence. Adding on top of this, new language requirements all new immigrants will have to meet to become full citizens of Québec, despite no such requirements needed to become a citizen of Canada. A nous de choisir has become a chance was yours, a business model could have been promoted from a Libéral minority propped up by the Coalisés that could have begun the long road home towards crunching the $122.4 billion net provincial debt and finally stimulating economic growth, something the entitlement spending friendly Parti Québécois, Québec Solidaire and Option Nationale have all said was unreasonable yet really is reasonable especially to all the other Canadians working hard and paying long into a $4.5 billion net equalization gain for la belle province.

Instead, the Péquistes now run the Assemblée Nationale du Québec with Marois out in front, while the Libérals sit down and take up their seats across the floor on the opposition side. Added into this hotly contested mixup, is the idea that maybe the flak Marois has already received precontest will add up with that from the election and now starting to build up postcontest, leading one to believe her minority just may not be worth the mettle, whereas Charest may have escaped with all majorities and minority intact as legacy work. As for the defeated Charest, he may now trade in his stick with the Castors in Sherbrooke, rise like a Phoenix from the ashes, get called up by General Manager Harper and traded over to Ottawa, to play a couple more games for the Senators in the old Upper Red Chamber arena before retiring, or perhaps as an Ambassador to France play some minor semi pro across the pond who really knows?