Provincial Politics – Babel-on-the-Bay

‘Show and Tell’ for Political Promises.

June 21, 2021June 21, 2021 by Peter Lowry

Politicians in power tend to deal with problems by telling us they will throw our money at the problem. They have some confused idea that we will all feel good because the problem is being looked after.

That is not necessarily the case.

Sometimes, we look at the amount of money and we recognize that the amount is only a token and it cannot solve the problem. There are other times when we are annoyed because we recognize that it is costing far too much money to fix the problem. The politicians look stupid either way.

And speaking of stupid, there is a third problem with conservative governments. This is the problem created by the Harper conservatives when they were in power with a majority government from 2011 to 2015. This government was very good at guessing the amount of money needed to fix a problem. They would have elaborate news conferences and posts in social media about the amount of money they were going to use to fix this or that problem that had been brought to their attention.

What the Tories discovered was that even if you guessed the right amount of money to solve the problem, you did not have to actually spend the money. It was the MP for Parry Sound—Muskoka, Ontario, Tony Clement, who was president of the treasury board during the four years of the Harper conservative majority government. Most Canadians have no idea what the role of president of the treasury board might entail.

It is the treasury board that ensures that cabinet departments have the staff and funding necessary to implement government programs. As president of the treasury board, Clement could turn the funding taps on or off. Instead of running the board to implement programs, he used the treasury board to implement conservative ideology. He would pick and choose which programs got the money and which might be told to wait. It meant that the finance minister or the prime minister could make grandiose promises but nothing necessarily happened.

Listening to premier Ford of Ontario and some of his minions, it seems they have discovered the same solution. We should ask them at these promise sessions to show us the money.

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Mr. Ford’s “Good Ship Lollypop.”

June 20, 2021June 19, 2021 by Peter Lowry

Get it while you can. Like the career of Hollywood child star Shirley Temple that peaked from the time she was 3 to 13-years-old, the Ford government in Ontario is already on its downward slide. The conservative’s rearranging their cabinet crew is time wasted. Their Good Ship Lollypop is sinking.

While it might be foolish for Doug Ford to do anything stupid in the time he has left in office, we are sure to find more reasons to turf the Tories next June. You can re-arrange the deck chairs, offer more candy to the voters but the captain of this ship is going down.

And putting the pandemic behind us, is hardly going to save the premier from being roasted come election time. It was almost amusing seeing him repairing his tattered cabinet the other day. Sure, that pathetic Merrilee Fullerton had to get out of long-term care but to put her in the position of delivering her brand of incompetence to children, community and social services might embarrass the Ford brand even further.

And it was nice to be reminded why the overly-entitled Rod Phillips was needed back in the cabinet. He is the guy who follows the Ford ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ code to the letter. He showed off his communication skills while covering his tracks last Christmas while holidaying in St. Barts. We hear that you can get some quite decent accommodations on that Caribbean pleasure island for as little as a $1000 a day. Was he getting tips on how to improve long-term care facilities in Ontario?

It was no surprise that former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s kid was kept on in transport. Caroline Mulroney is in an ideal position to drive the new highway 413 through Ontario’s vanishing wetlands.

But the most egregious staying-in-place was keeping my parachuted MPP Doug Downey where he can do Ford’s bidding in the attorney general’s office. That was almost as bad as keeping that know-nothing Stephen Lecce in the education portfolio That guy is hated by teachers and parents of school-age children with equal enthusiasm.

But the truth is that the most serious need for change in Ford’s cabinet is Mr. Ford himself. He is 90 per cent of the problem.

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The Trump of the West.

June 13, 2021June 13, 2021 by Peter Lowry

It is a long way from Mar-a-Lago Resort in Palm Springs, Florida to roof-top dining in Calgary, Alberta. Nor is former president Donald Trump likely to be confused with Alberta premier Jason Kenney. They are just kindred spirits.

It might be that Jason Kenney enjoys being linked to the much more successful (and more vilified) Donald Trump. They both share a vision of conservative politics far to the right of anything practical. They both share the autocratic attitude that some might confuse with leadership.

But they make fools of their followers. Their followers are but log jams on the rivers of life. They are there to be used by these losers. They march to the off-beat of their drums. Born again or biker, they are there to support the sacrilege of their leaders.

Kenney and Trump share visions of thrones that are there for them to seize. They believe we should all prostrate ourselves before them. And we should all tithe to them. For what is ours, they consider as theirs.

The difference between them is that Jason Kenney spent his formative years learning of politics. He learned how the politician can use the unwary. He was Stephen Harper’s go-to guy in using groups of ethnic Canadians.

And yet, the political nuance is of no interest to Donald Trump. He is a user. He is a gross communicator. He preens for his audiences. He uses women as disposable. He is only impressed by power and billions. He looks down on America’s allies and honors its enemies. He cares nothing for the environment, turning loose billionaire friends to plunder the land of its high-carbon contents of coal and oil. He let millions die in the pandemic because of his ignorance.

Kenney sees himself as an oil man. He puts on his ten-gallon hat and swaggers into the Petroleum Club. He wastes more than a billion of taxpayers’ money on a losing pipeline. He is also of little use during a pandemic.

Messieurs Kenney and Trump are both losers.

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Doug Dares Deny Us.

June 12, 2021June 12, 2021 by Peter Lowry

The Ontario legislature is in session this beautiful weekend. Doug Ford and his conservative henchmen are attacking our right to free speech. They want to use the ‘Notwithstanding Clause’ of our constitutional rights and freedoms to silence third-party advertising close to elections. They do not like to be made to look foolish.

But they look even more foolish today. The man who likes to think of himself as a populist premier does not like the truth flung at him through the media. It matters little to him that he can spend other people’s money to tell his version of the truth, he wants to deny others the right to respond—at least during the election campaign or too close to it.

The Tories can hardly attack the right of their opponent parties to argue with them during an election campaign. That right is protected in a democracy.

But not always. When teachers’ unions band together to make their case, they should not be allowed to say they are an anonymous gathering of ‘Working Families.’ If you have something to say to me buster, use your own name!

When a rich conservative defends the injustices of Doug Ford, he or she should sign his or her name to it. Let us know who you are and let us judge.

Elections are a time for truths. They are a time to review and grade the actions and aspirations of our politicians. They are a time for the voters to be honest with themselves. It is not a time to be selfish. It is a time to look ahead. We give politicians an enormous amount of power over us. We expect them to serve our common interests. The inconvenience of democracy is that it is not just your path that needs to be followed. It is the needs of all.

What is being debated this weekend at Queen’s Park is not the needs or wants of Ontario citizens. It is the needs and wants of the conservative party and its undemocratic leader. He and his party should be ashamed.

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And he’s Pierre’s son?

May 23, 2021May 26, 2021 by Peter Lowry

Screw you Justin, and the horse you rode in on. You have lost all rights to the name Trudeau. You have belittled and betrayed your father. You have denounced Pierre Trudeau’s legacy. You have pandered to those small-minded, bigoted politicians in Quebec who want to keep their people imprisoned on a French-speaking island.

Justin Trudeau, as prime minister, could have kept his mouth shut. Premier François Legault hardly needed Justin’s support in looking so small. Quebec’s latest demand to be recognized as some sort of nation is unCanadian, unnecessary and uncaring of the people those politicians are there to serve.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is there for all Canadians. They are not only rights and freedoms for just some Canadians. They are hardly just rights and freedoms for English-speaking Canadians.

Canada exists as a nation from Sea to Sea. Nobody gets a chunk of this nation to float out into the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. Separation is not an option. It all belongs to all of us. And we would be damn stupid not to fight for that.

We have tolerated this nation crap from these petty politicians in Quebec for too long. When they felt so brave as to show off their bigotry, many of us lost patience. When I drive across a bridge from Ottawa, Ontario into Gatineau, Quebec, I do not want to become any less of a citizen.

But I am according to those ignorant politicians in Quebec City. As Pierre Trudeau once put it: I have been called worse by better people.

Pierre Trudeau saw a nation that accepted its bilingualism and its tolerance from sea to sea. He thought it ridiculous for Quebec City to defy Canada’s history in preference for one language over the other. Manitoba was wrong a century ago when it tried to banish French and Quebec is wrong to constrain English. Our languages are part of our individual rights. Nobody takes them away from us.

Just because Justin Trudeau has an election coming where he wants Quebec support is no reason to betray English-speaking Canadians.

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More on language laws.

May 21, 2021May 26, 2021 by Peter Lowry

You never know where interesting comments will come from. A reader in British Columbia agreed with my comments recently on how to protect the French language. As a he is originally from Quebec, he felt that I left out a key reason. He felt I should have mentioned the Quebec culture.

That is deep water for me to get into. I remember many years ago when I went to a few French language films in Quebec only to find that they were American movies that had been dubbed in French. I felt that it would not help me with learning French. I now know of the excellent films made in Quebec that not only win awards for their actors, directors, writers and producers but win at the box office as well.

I have also always been impressed by the growing lists of French language novels and non-fiction books on the bookshelves in Quebec—and also outside of Quebec.

The Quebec music scene has been growing and expanding for many years now in both of Canada’s languages.

The point is that the Quebec politicians don’t have to worry so much about preserving the language. Canadian anglophones are more at risk from Americanisation of their English than Quebec is of losing its French.

I have always puzzled over the conflict in Quebec created by the need for bilingualism in the tourist industry. The province is rich in history, urban mystery, entertainments, winter and summer sports venues, Carnival in Quebec City and scenic vistas. There are more than 300 million potential tourists south of the border and west of the Ottawa River. That is a challenge to be undertaken, not to be rationed.

The Montreal Saint Jean Baptiste parade might lack some of the obvious inclusionary aspects of Toronto’s Caribbean festival and parade but it would be better if it sought tourists. It would go a long way to repair some of the politically motivated harm done to Quebec over the years.

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Locked Down, Locked In, Locked Out.

May 20, 2021May 26, 2021 by Peter Lowry

It was never said that being a prisoner in your home was so bad. It is not until you look across the breakfast table and realize that the person sitting over there, reading the newspaper, feels the same as you. Damn you Doug Ford. His shilly-shallying over what is a lock-down has led to this. After more than 50 years of marriage, you have never spent this much time together. It is like the reverse side of a honeymoon.

Honeymoons are remembered as an adventure. No matter how much time you had spent together previously, you bring a different attitude to a honeymoon. It is exploratory. It is learning. It is having fun while digging deeper into the psyche of your partner. Bedroom antics are often tempered, while mutual and deeper understanding become the lasting bond. And the honeymoon becomes a fond memory of another time.

Children are also a bond—us against them in some ways but the beaten norms of life influence the relationships. Grandchildren are a precious addition and can bring us even.

But who keeps score?

And today when the sun is shining, the leaves are green and the tulips losing their petals, you listen to the birds and yearn for freedom. You and your partner want to get into the car and drive until you fall off the edge of the world. You want adventures of new places, new foods, refreshing waters. You want dialogues with new people, new thoughts, mental challenges.

Hurry up, you in temporary power, give us our second shot of vaccine, let us challenge a casino, send us to a baseball game, take us to the theater, let us dine at McDonalds one day and on French cuisine the next.

These might be selfish thoughts but there is life to be lived outside of this lockdown. Let us all live it to the fullest.

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What if Ontario protected English?

May 17, 2021May 26, 2021 by Peter Lowry

Trying to make sense of Quebec’s new language act, Bill 96, the other day, it raised the question of what would happen if this type of bill was enacted in Ontario. It is a silly question. Ontario goes out of its way to encourage people speaking French to be able to receive provincial services in that language. It might not always be successful but the provincial people do try.

But we can hardly imagine the hue and cry if the same commercial sign laws were imposed in Ontario as in Quebec. Much of the character of Toronto would be lost without the proliferation of languages on commercial signs in areas of the city offering the diverse foods and products of the world.

I have always regretted the lack of attention I paid to French language classes in high school and despite concentrated tutoring in French as an adult, I remain a sesquilingual anglophone. Nobody seems impressed with my ability to read both sides of a cereal box. Mind you, I have always enjoyed talking with sesquilingual francophones. It can cause considerable hilarity.

But to deny French-language services to a population in some areas that might be somewhat less than 50 per cent French-speaking would be considered to be unreasonable and waspish in Ontario. Many in the English-language community would support their Franco-Ontarian confreres.

It would be unlikely that much would change in Quebec if the province dropped some of its more draconian language and religious symbol laws. The provincial law makers need to understand the difference between a carrot and a stick. I think they would do far better encouraging French in the workplace than some of these laws that have to be exempted from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

But then, Canadian anglophones tend to be more impressed with our charter rights and freedoms than francophones. It seems that getting the courts involved is starting to get our politicians to write better laws. It is something that should catch on across the country.

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A leader with no teeth?

May 16, 2021May 26, 2021 by Peter Lowry

Watching a recording of an interview with Ontario liberal leader Steven Del Duca the other day, it seemed that he talks without showing any teeth. Never having read of any affliction or medical cause for this in humans, it seemed to be a metaphor for the man—or a turtle. In 14 months as leader, he has not seemed interested in being in the legislature. Nor does he seem eager to go mano a mano with our hapless conservative premier Doug Ford.

Since it is hardly likely that anyone on the conservative side of the legislature will call for the resignation of Ford, we might wonder why Del Duca is so reluctant. The corporal’s guard of liberals in the legislature is muted by procedures and Del Duca is in loose lock-down in the City of Vaughan.

He reminds me of the old chestnut former prime minister Stephen Harper used to use about his mother wanting him to be an accountant. The punch-line was that he felt he lacked the necessary charisma.

It all seems in defiance of the opinion polls showing the liberals hot on the heels of the provincial Tories. The provincial new democratic party hardly seems to be in the race.

But then, as it has been said before, the provincial conservatives have no concern for the struggles of the NDP.

And frankly, Ford is viewed by the public as incompetent and the pollsters are being fed the ‘anyone but Ford’ line.

But in the 13 months ahead, our turtle of a liberal leader has to shake off his shell and move more determinedly into the spotlight. Ontario citizens are looking forward to a new beginning in the aftermath of the pandemic and that requires new thinking, new ideas, new leadership and new dialogues.

It is sometimes surprising where leadership can come from. It might be a bad idea to write off Steven Del Duca too soon.

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Following the money.

May 12, 2021May 26, 2021 by Peter Lowry

You can’t track the money trail to Canadian politicians as easily as you can to American politicians. I finally have a theory on what is driving Jason Kenney in Alberta.

I have kept an eye on Kenney since he first appeared in Ottawa as a member of parliament for Calgary in 1997. He went through the iterations of reform, alliance and finally the conservative party of Canada. As a fat and forty, career politician, at the time, many thought he was gay but my opinion was that he was just dedicated to his profession. It seemed to be coincidental that he disliked women as a life-long misogynist.

When the conservative government was defeated in 2015, I was of the school that thought Kenney was assessing his chances in replacing Harper. When he set out to unite the right in Alberta, I was as surprised as anyone else. When I did not hear of him passing the hat in Calgary’s Petroleum Club. I got curious. I could not see where the money was coming from.

It was not until a few things came together, that I realized there was a logical source. Mr. Kenney was on course with the interests of Koch Industries in Canada. It started with a combination of factors. They try to be low key in Canada but there was the money Koch Industries invested in the Fraser Institute, their reputed million plus acres of Alberta’s oil sands as well pipelines.

Koch Industries are the second biggest oil company in the world. They are not just a New York-based family that pours hundreds of millions every year into extreme right-wing politicians, lobbyists and radical groups such as the Tea Party in the United States. They are also big men on campus in Alberta. They have tar sands to exploit, storage tanks to fill, pipelines and refineries such as the huge Pine Hills Minnesota refinery reachable by those pipelines. They were heavy investors in the Keystone XL pipeline.

It makes me curious when Jason Kenney also invested $1.5 billion of Alberta taxpayers’ money in Keystone XL in addition to guaranteed loans to the pipeline company for another $6 billion. He is obviously not as good at managing a pandemic for Alberta. That seems to be something outside his objectives.

But Koch Industries can buy what it wants. They invested heavily in Donald Trump in the United States, so they would hardly think small when they need political help in Canada. It makes you wonder what they might be promising someone?

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