Category: Federal Politics

A Politicized Pandemic?

by Peter Lowry

Joël Lightbound, MP for the Quebec City riding of Louis-Hëbert did something rare for a liberal MP the other day. He spoke openly to the Ottawa news media. He was unhappy with what he calls his government’s politicized approach to the pandemic. He says his government’s approach is both politicized and divisive. While I will cheerfully defend his right to say it, I do not think that I agree with him.

Many Canadians seem to be confused by who is doing what to whom in making rules for this pandemic. Blame the Canadian constitution if you must but we have had lots of problems over pandemic jurisdiction during the past two years. You would expect a Toronto-born, Quebec MP to be more familiar with the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments.

There is no question that mistakes have been made at both levels of government but I would suggest to Lightbound that Trudeau has not done too bad a job in trying to stay off the provincial toes. He took a lot of crap from the inexperienced premier in Ontario and the usual shots from the Tories in Alberta and Saskatchewan but he handled most of it with good humour.

But trucks crossing international borders coming into Canada have to deal with federal jurisdiction. Passengers flying into Canada have to follow federal rules. The provinces those travellers entered where not all on the same pandemic page. We should not forget the federal government procures and distributes the vaccines Canada needs to stare down the pandemic. We are still working on more vaccines and medicines. The pandemic is not yet over.

I guess it would be fair to let Lightbound rant if he wishes. Trudeau is hardly perfect. And yes, I made fun of the prime minister popping in and out of Rideau Cottage like it was a cuckoo clock. Despite everyone tiring of his one-man stand-up show there, it was quite helpful in getting us through the earlier stages of the pandemic.

What Mr. Lightbound needs to understand is that Justin Trudeau is basically an actor who has stepped into the role of prime minister. His only role model was his father. Regrettably, the son lacks his father’s intellectual acuity.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Fomenting Fascism.

by Peter Lowry

The Toronto Star editors have lost control of the family newspaper. Starting with an albeit confusing mix of sections, writing 2000 or more words per news item, where 500 would have done the job, the Toronto Star has gone off the deep end. It might just be the lack of newspaper training for the new owners. There is no excuse for the Star to allow Frank Stronach, creator of Magna International, to promote fascism in the Star’s business pages.

You would think the Star’s lawyer David Peterson would recognize fascism. He had a rocky career in Ontario politics but he was premier at a time when business was trying to exert more influence in Canadian politics through groups such as Tom D’Aquino’s business council on national issues. Even Peterson’s nemesis Bob Rae and the new democrats, eventually bought into the D’Aquino’s demand for government restraint and the ensuing ‘Rae Days’ led to the bleak years of the Mike Harris conservatives in Ontario.

You would also think that Frank Stronach’s youth, in an Austria ruled by the Nazis, would have turned him away from the extremes of right-wing fascism. Yet, here he is complaining about what he calls “the Achilles heel of democracy. He wants more business control in governing our country.

While many Canadians would agree that our passenger trains should run on time, it is not the role of government to set the timetable. In Canada, we expect government to make the rules and business to follow them.

Government is not a business. While business can often assist government in achieving societal goals, it is government that establishes objectives and rules.  Government has to set health and safety standards and assure the public that it is overseeing adherence by the private sector.

Stronach thinks that more business involvement in government would be beneficial. He wants business to scrutinize our governments. Stronach does not seem to realize that the right to vote is all that any Canadian gets.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Creating Chaos.

by Peter Lowry

Who gains? What can possibly emerge from the deliberate chaos created across our Canada? Our police appear weak and ineffective. Our leaders are missing in action. Our healthcare workers are crushed under the weight of the seemingly never-ending pandemic. The supply chains of commerce and food supply are broken. It makes you wonder if we are worthy of occupying this bounteous land?

Who caused all of this? If there was a God, we would, at least, have someone to blame. We are living in times beyond our human experience. We are feeling our way. We have lost confidence in our leaders, our preachers, our politicians, our scientists, our teachers and our industrialists.

Do we now listen to the bogus preachers of hate? Do we have to read their vacuous blather in blogs, Facebook, You Tube, TikTok and the National Post? Are they even coherent? Do you read all the endless discourses by reporters, as confused as you, in the daily papers? Does any television network news help?

Have 33 million Canadians picked their path into anarchy? Or do we take a stand for order and good government? And what is that? To what order do we submit? What is the level of our submissiveness?

And yet, what are we seeing? If the pseudo truckers in Ottawa were not predominantly white, would they still be getting the key to the city? Where is that cabinet minister Bill Blair? He could tell the Ottawa police how to kettle those troublemakers. He could explain how to build makeshift concentration camps for them. Oh, he is expert at that.

Blair knows how to protect foreign visitors to our cities. Why doesn’t he know how to protect our cities from a bunch of loudmouth anarchists who mislabel themselves ‘Truckers”?

And what is going on in Alberta? Is premier Jason Kenney getting his just deserts for helping foment this ridiculous idea that you can just park your truck, pickup or tractor anywhere you damn well please?

Oh well, luckily the liquor stores in Ontario still have some booze left. Cheers everybody!

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Boy Blue Blows his Bugle.

by Peter Lowry

Pierre Poilievre is in. To the surprise of few, the conservative politician wants the leadership of his conservative party. And they will hardly need a vote as long as Poilievre’s friends are camped on Wellington Street in Ottawa.

The end result of this for the conservative party should be embarrassment. Poilievre is the worst possible choice for leader of a Canadian political party.

Poilievre is what is described as a career politician. His political future was probably being planned when still a student at the University of Calgary. He has little understanding of average Canadians, their interests, employment opportunities and their entertainments. Nor does he seem particularly concerned about their needs, wants or ambitions.

While not trained in economics, Poilievre has made right wing economics his cause. He appears to draw on the Milton Freidman economics of the Chicago School. He centres on social conservative issues and holds extreme views on small government and minimal taxation.

His extremist views on taxation make him appear mean. His exchanges in the House of Commons come across as cruel, carping, and lacking in substantiation. He unrealistically accuses the prime minister of causing inflation in Canada by trying to keep Canada’s economy stable through the pandemic of Covid-19. He refuses to recognize the economic imbalance caused by the pandemic and the need for the federal government to provide additional healthcare support, stability for business and financial support for wage earners at times of extreme stress caused by intermittent lock-downs.

Neither he nor many of the politicians in his party have realized that their constant demonizing of other parties and their leaders has led to an increasing atmosphere of political dissension in Canada. The general distrust of government, political leaders and government officials is spreading into distrust of the news media, scientists, teachers, healthcare workers and industry leaders. Respect starts at the top. If our leaders cannot be civil and understanding and truthful in their performance in government, how do you expect our citizens to behave as respectful of our society?

Mr. Poilievre is the wrong kind of leader at this time and hopefully always.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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It Must Be Ottawa Humour.

by Peter Lowry

There is something of a personal relationship that develops with organizations you have had a share in creating. I have always had that kind of a relationship with the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). It showed me what could be achieved by activism in politics. I was there at its birth. I do not want to see it lose all credibility.  

What concerns me very much is that CRTC chair Ian Scott is being criticized for a meeting with Mirko Bibic, CEO of Bell Canada. Scott claimed the meeting was simply having a beer with an old friend. After the fact, Bibic reported the meeting as lobbying, as a matter was discussed about something current in CRTC filings. The very fact that Scott and Bibic are old friends should be grounds for disqualifying Scott for the job of CRTC chair.

But lately nobody in Ottawa seems to take the CRTC’s position seriously. I don’t know which minister of Canadian heritage made the appointments but the fact that the two vice-chairs and six commissioners of the CRTC currently are all women must be someone’s idea of a bad joke. That could not happen by accident. Maybe they are referred to as CEO Ian Scott’s harem.

But if you are looking for proper regulation of radio and television broadcasting, telecommunications and Internet services in Canada, you are hardly going to get much satisfaction from a commission run by the industry’s friend Ian Scott. And Canadians will likely never get a break on the high prices they continue to pay for television, telephone, and Internet services.

When we were pushing for an end to the old Board of Broadcast Governors (who also ran the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Canada), we wanted a regulator that would represent Canadians in the increasingly complex realm of broadcasting and telecommunications. We never imagined that our politicians would come to rely on the industry itself to provide the management of the regulator. With Mr. Scott running the CRTC, we have let the fox into the hen house—in more ways than one.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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‘Leave ‘Em Laughing.’

by Peter Lowry

To borrow the title of an old Laurel and Hardy short film, you have to admit that reporter Tonda MacCharles of the Toronto Star’s Ottawa Bureau has a sense of humour. She was told to do a quick capsule comment on each of the top ten contenders for the leadership of the conservative party.

If the list she prepared was the top ten, the conservatives are in far more trouble than we realized.

She started with the weasel, Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre. She also remarked on his compliments for the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. He thinks the Ottawa visitors are “bright, cheerful and peaceful.” MacCharles seems to think that makes the party leadership Poilievre’s job for the asking.

Perennial conservative leadership candidate Peter MacKay was second, again. It is reported that he still owes money from his last leadership foray.

Former interim leader Rona Ambrose MP might have the pole position on the distaff side but it is unlikely that she would be in for a long race.

Leslyn Lewis MP is a loser before the race starts. She would probably be more comfortable in the People’s Party.

Michelle Rempel Garner MP is your classic middle of the road conservative and fifth in MacCharles’ list. In a field of ten, she would be lucky to come twelfth.

Where MacCharles got the idea that former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall was even interested in the federal field is a good question. As Wall does not speak French, that idea seems to be off the wall.

What broke me up was the suggestion that Brampton’s Brown, the mayor with the least appeal, was assessing the possibilities. I am just wondering where he might find a sitting MP in the conservative caucus who would vote for him.

Number eight was Brian Mulroney’s kid Caroline, currently warming up to try to hold her Ontario provincial seat. While Doug Ford might be eager to be rid of her, he would be loath to lose daddy’s fund-raising skills.

Number nine was premier Doug himself. As Ford is likely to be turfed in Ontario, he might be available in time. Maybe he is quickly learning French.

Last, but not least, and what has everybody laughing in the aisles is the suggestion Andrew Scheer is ready for his comeback. When a reporter asked ‘Chuckles’ Scheer if he was going to run, the reporter got a very emphatic ‘No.’ He added, that if a second opinion was needed, just ask his wife.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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The Problem is the Party.

by Peter Lowry

Canada’s conservative and liberal parties are what is often described as “Big Tent” political parties. It means the parties try to include a wide range of political views for their members and supporters. The more inclusive the party, the broader its appeal can be during elections. The only problem is that these big tent parties are very difficult to lead.

As former conservative leader Erin O’Toole can attest, the leader who promises nothing and does nothing has a better chance of surviving longer. It is almost an axiom in Canadian politics that whatever you do, you will likely annoy some supporters and please others. And, as O’Toole also found out, you cannot keep changing your mind

When Stephen Harper maneuvered the Reform/Alliance party and federal conservative party into the new big tent of the Canadian Conservative Party, he used promises, instead of action, as well as a heavy hand with his MPs. His two minority governments became a majority in 2011 and he set about dismantling Canada as a caring and open, representative democracy.   

The only way to change the situation with the big tent parties would be to move to proportional voting. This would mean that the large parties such as the conservatives and liberals would eventually split into at least two, if not three, parties. It would see a growth in Bernier’s People’s Party on the extreme (libertarian) right wing and a likely splinter party serving the religious, anti-abortion, anti-gay rights conservatives.

With the growth of splinter parties, regional parties and even religious parties, under proportional representation, it would be quite unlikely that Canada would ever see any majority governments. The big tent would be the government that could be cobbled together from the special interest and regional parties. As in Europe, it could be months after a general election before a coalition government emerges from negotiations.

Just remember that if you opt for proportional representation, you are giving up the right to elect your member of parliament. Instead of candidates in your area, you would be faced with party lists. I think Canadians want to stick with the system we have. What we need is better leaders for the parties we have.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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A last word on trucks.

by Peter Lowry

It was a long time ago when my son was learning to talk. He talked earlier than many little boys. He talked loudly. Yet he did not start with Momma or Dadda. He started with “truck.” He was fascinated with toy trucks and real trucks. The only problem was that he made the “TR” at the start of the word sound more like an “F.”

Of course, it was daddy who got blamed. It seems you are not allowed to comment about a stubbed toe when going into his room to quiet the little urchin in the middle of the night. The wife was convinced that I taught him how to mispronounce “truck.” I got some very dark looks from her when we had the car windows open, were stuck in traffic and he was safely belted into his toddler seat, loudly proclaiming about just seeing his version of truck.

Luckily, it was just a phase he went through and his pronunciation improved as he grew older. It also helped when we got our daughter, she liked dolls.

But here it is almost 50 years later and we are watching those truckers in Ottawa. I was thinking maybe the boy was right.

Luckily none of the truckers I know would want to be seen anywhere near those blowhards in Ottawa.

It is quite difficult to estimate the numbers with a moving mass of people such as we saw on the streets in Ottawa on the weekend. I was guessing 10,000 and higher based on the arial shots down Wellington. And the Ottawa police were also using that estimate. That is a lot of cranky Canadians.

But bear in mind, while the conservatives were quietly working the crowd, the major presence was the Peoples’ Party of Canada. I think Maxime Bernier was there but I did not confirm the sighting. When you consider that Bernier’s party collected 830,000 votes in the 2019 election, that was not an overly impressive showing. And when you count the big rigs that came, it was less impressive. Most of those yahoos came by camper, pickup or family car.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Boy Blue in Waiting.

by Peter Lowry

It seems the news hounds and pundits have made up their minds: they expect Pierre Poilievre, MP from Carleton, to be ready to accept the conservative crown after Erin O’Toole is deposed. It is too bad. Conservatives really need someone that Canadians can respect in that position. They can hardly survive as a party if they keep selecting losers to be leaders.

The party should be embarrassed flitting from manipulative Stephen Harper to Andrew ‘Chuckles’ Scheer to flip-flopping Erin O’Toole. The ultimate destruction of the party would be if they then turn to a person such as Poilievre.

Poilievre combines the manipulative tendencies of Stephen Harper, the foolishness of Andrew Scheer and the flirting with the truth of Erin O’Toole. In fact, Mr. Poilievre’s version of the truth is whatever is convenient. It is trait we saw in American president Donald Trump. It is not an honourable trait.

Poilievre got his French name from his adoptive parents but he was born in Calgary and is well schooled in the Alberta attitude. He got his start in politics working for the then Alliance leader Stockwell Day. He is pro-pipelines and no environmentalist. He came to Carleton, in the Ottawa suburbs, where he could use his name to advantage. By pushing hard at being finance critic for his party, he has built a persona far beyond his basic strengths.

Watching him on Zoom during the pandemic, he has always had the most professional, properly lit setting for the camera, been meticulously dressed for the part and hogged the limelight.

Typical of most people who set their sights on a political career, Poilievre will tell you what he wants you to hear. He maintains a strong presence on social media such as Twitter and You Tube attempting to indoctrinate followers on his version of the Milton Friedman style of extreme right-wing economics.

Poilievre coined the Justin-flation line that many conservatives have picked up. He makes a habit of blaming the prime minister for any and all supposed causes of inflation—many of which the prime minister has no means of controlling.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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Pierre’s Peculiar Pedagogy.

by Peter Lowry

Watching the CBC’s Power and Politics recently, provided a good example of how Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre uses language to manipulate and convince the uninformed. It is not just his playing fast and loose with the truth, it is the use of inflammatory words, as well linking other parties to bad outcomes.

The specific dialogue was when Poilievre was speaking on a panel with Liberal MP Rachel Pendayen from Montreal and NDP MP Daniel Blaikie from Winnipeg. Each politician gave a good account of themselves for their political party but I would argue whether they gave a good account for Canadians. They were arguing about inflation in Canada.

Poilievre was still beating the drum that says prime minister Trudeau is responsible for inflation. He even went so far as to blame Trudeau and the liberals for the seriously inflated housing prices in urban Canada. This situation has been increasingly obvious because of the neglect of the problems by both conservative and liberal federal governments since the early 1990s.

The conservative countered the argument that inflation is an international problem by blatantly saying that land prices cannot be influenced internationally because land is stationery in the country where it is located. Obviously, Poilievre was well aware of the increasing pressure on home prices in Toronto and Vancouver because of outside buyers in places such as Hong Kong moving their investments and allegiances to the safe haven of Canada over the past 30 years.

And when you consider that Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou had a choice of three mansions she owned in Vancouver for her extended holiday (fighting extradition to the United States), it was not just Hong Kong buyers contributing to the problem.

The problem with this panel is that the other two politicians were out of their depth trying to deal with Poilievre’s weasel words. The CBC and other television networks like to use Poilievre because they use him to attract viewers. It is like using a poisonous snake to attract patrons to the local zoo.

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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry

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