All posts by James W. Breckenridge

Federal, Municipal, Provincial

LEADERSHIP.

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I found myself mulling over leadership after listening to pundits holding forth on the issue of leadership during the current Federal election, reflecting on the scene in BC and with reference to Abbotsford’s municipal election in November.

The conclusion I reached was that it has been so long since Canadians and people around the world have had any real leadership in the public and political arenas that Canadians and others no longer know or understand what leadership is and so they accept the pale imitation passed off as leadership today.

In considering Mr. Harper’s “leadership advantage” it became clear that people have erroneously come to falsely mistake management for leadership.

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Peter Drucker

Calling this election as Mr. Harper did was a management decision based on perceived political opportunity and advantage. The right thing to have done, the right message to send and example to set was to not to give into temptation but to obey they law Mr. Harpers government had passed as necessary to prevent political opportunism by federal parties – the opportunism he gave into.

Mr. Harper made a strategic decision rather than a decision based on character ignoring the wisdom shared by General H. Norman Schwarzkopf that “Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.”

Mr. Harper may well run a tight ship, ruling with an iron fist but as Dwight D. Eisenhower noted “You do not lead by hitting people over the head-that’s assault, not leadership.”

Arnold Glasgow: “One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” One of the ways you do this is by facing the music, even if you don’t want to hear the tune.

Not only has Mr. Harper refused to acknowledge problems that interfere with his plans or that he doesn’t want to talk about – demonstrated by his recent behaviour of repeatedly stating the Canadian economy was fine in the face of evidence to the contrary; Mr. Harper fails to acknowledge or act on issues such as the major social problems facing Canadians and our cities (homelessness, poverty, affordable housing) that do not fit into his world view.

“A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn’t like the tune.” Anon

Of course with reference to major social problems such as homelessness, poverty and affordable housing Mr. Harper is not alone in his refusal to see or address a problem while it is more manageable in size rather than allowing it to grow into a large problem or a crisis. Provincial governments/politicians as well as municipal governments/politicians also chose to turn a blind eye to these issues, pointing their fingers at others as being responsible for addressing the issues and when they grew into an epidemic – they run around the proverbial “chickens without heads”.

They bury their heads in the sand to avoid seeing or hearing what they do not want to see or hear while Canadians long for the “good old days” as society becomes less civil and more dog-eat-dog.

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision.” Theodore Hesburgh.

Why is vision so important? Because if we want a civil, supportive and healthy society we all need to be better than we are.

We have to do the little things and the big things – the things we would rather not do or have to do. For example: Carry your litter until you find a garbage can to put it in; Saying please and thank you or being patient in line-ups; Donating to the food bank – even when worried for ourselves; Taking a deep breath and behaving in a rational manner – even when our emotions are running high; Remembering that children are the future, that we need to raise healthy children and that it takes a community to raise a child and that as a community we need to invest and provide the resources needed to raise healthy children; Look at the long term as well, instead of focusing on the short term – yes “going green” will cause some economic pain but not making those changes will, in the longer run, cause economic disaster;

It is this need bring out the best that led Blaine Lee to state “The great leaders are like the best conductors – they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.”

To do that you need vision not dogma as reaching for the magic in the players requires inspiring the player to want to strive for the vision. Reaching out to inspire also serves to remind a leader that decisions made have an effect on the players in the real world and you have to consider, to understand, that those decisions will have effects in the real world.

“Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.” – Marian Anderson

I do not know if it is ideology or that he just does not get it, but Mr. Harper’s actions and words show a total lack of understanding of the costs and challenges of issues such as child care for most Canadians. Mr. Harper stated that the other parties’ plans to replace the nominal $100 per month Conservative policy with a real investment in childcare were a bad idea because parents would lose the $100 a month. Ordinary Canadians struggling with child care need real help, not a token $100 a month. Of course for the wealthy the $100 was a nice bonus, a further transfer of wealth to the wealthy from the poor.

The flagrant lack of understanding demonstrated by Mr. Harper on this manner is the effect this $100 a month could have on those who were not wealthy or well off. i.e. those families where the extra $1200 put them over the income limit at the food bank and disqualified them from using the food bank. For these people the $100 a month was a devastating blow to their survival – forget about child care. Making up for not being able to access the food bank cost more out of pocket than they received, making the child care payment a cost not a gain.

Don’t they ever think? What world are they living in? Hey – pay attention to the effect of your actions in the real world. You’re supposed to represent all Canadians not just the wealthy and corporations.

Federal, provincial, municipal politicians – I can not count the times I have made those statements or heard them from others.

“Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.” – Warren Bennis

I end with this quote because life has, over the past few years, taught me just how important it is to grow and to continue to grow as a person; just how difficult and uncomfortable that can be; how rewarding making the effort and working through the discomfort is.

I am comfortable in my own skin now and like the person I have become and am becoming. I will not be having spin doctors dressing me up in warm fuzzy sweaters or staging “meetings” with families, not simply because becoming who I am has granted me empathy and understanding, but because such falsehoods would not be being true to ME.

In becoming yourself you learn the importance of not taking yourself to seriously, of being able to laugh at yourself; that life is something to be lived and enjoyed and far to important to be taken only seriously.

Provincial

Tax cuts? What tax cuts?

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Tax cuts? What tax cuts?

Listening to the “we’re asking for your input” advertisements from Gordon Campbell and his BC Liberals two points struck me.

The first point was that the ads were formatted to appear to be requests for input from citizens, rather than the rah-rah, self-promotional sales ads for Campbell and his BC Liberals they are. Formatting the ads in this manner means citizens get to pay for being inundated with self-congratulatory, we’re (Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals) wonderful ads. Apparently Campbell and the BC Liberals felt there was no ethical reason they should pay for self-promotional ads when a little formatting can stick BC citizens with the bill.

The second point is that these ads clearly attempt to convey the false impression that Gordon Campbell and his BC Liberals have given tax cuts to all BC citizens.

The true reality is that only wealthy citizens have enjoyed a tax cut and are now paying less money to the government, while the majority of BC citizens are in fact paying higher taxes under Gordon Campbell.

Remember a tax is any sum of money demanded by a government for its support or for specific facilities or services. Thus the $75 fee for renewing your drivers licence is a tax by another name.

What Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals have done is to replace progressive taxes – where those who can afford to pay more taxes (the wealthy) do so and those who cannot afford high levels of taxation (the working poor, those living in poverty etc) pay less tax – with regressive taxes where the poor pay the same tax as the rich.

To the working poor earning the minimum wage that $75 licence fee represents more than a day’s wages (9 hours) while to a highly paid bureaucrat it is less than an hours wage (approx. 40 minutes). Clearly the $75 licence fee (tax) is a much more onerous tax to the low paid worker than it is to the well-paid bureaucrat or MLA.

Across the board and year after year Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals have shifted the tax burden in BC from those most able to pay to those least able to pay. This transfer of wealth was not only from the poorest to the wealthiest; it enriched the wealthy at the expense of the majority of British Columbians.

Any taxpayer can calculate for themselves whether they are now paying more taxes to the government or if they are among the minority of British Columbians who have benefited from Gordon Campbell’s great (for the wealthy) tax shift:

Income taxes plus all fees paid to the government (licences, medical, user fees etc – any fee paid to the government) at the point Gordon Campbell was elected.

MINUS

Income taxes plus all fees paid to the government (licences, medical, user fees etc – any fee paid to the government) at this current point in time.

A positive number represents your savings, a negative number means you are paying more taxes now than when Campbell and the BC Liberals became the government.

Perform this calculation and find out whether you are wealthy enough to be paying less to the government under Gordon Campbell’s great tax shift.

Despite Premier Campbell’s attempt to convey the false impression that BC citizens are paying less to the government, most British Columbians are going to find they are not wealthy enough to have benefited to the extent of paying less and find they are now paying (taxes + taxes by any other name – fees etc) more to the BC government.

Still, they are undoubtedly far better off that the poor who have been devastated by this onerous tax shift. When you are poor you gain no benefit from income tax cuts (when your income is sufficiently low you pay no tax, a cut leaves you still paying zero taxes) but are stuck paying the new fees and fee increases.

Campbell has pillaged the poorest and those least able to afford increased payments to government, robbing from the poor to give to the rich.

Finally, remember that cuts to services represent a cost and are a price citizens pay for the touted tax “savings”. Individual citizens must decide for themselves whether these costs are worth the “savings”.

That Premier Campbell’s government is running these rah-rah, promotional/sales ads touting none existent “savings” suggests not only that they are ethically challenged, but that they are out of touch with the realities of life and finances of the average (non-wealthy) British Columbian.

Federal

Harper – it’s the Economy hebetudinous one

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I hear by the advertisements on radio and television that Stephen Harper has stopped rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with his “don’t worry, be happy, everything’s rosy economically in Canada” attitude and acknowledged that perhaps, with the rest of the world struggling with economic meltdown, Canadians should have some concerns about the economy.

How have Mr. Harper and his Conservatives addressed Canadian’s concerns about the economy and the future? Have Mr. Harper and his Conservative Party laid out their plans and policies for dealing with what is happening around the world economically? No.

Mr. Harper, rather than say what his plans (if any) are for guiding Canada through this period of economical turmoil are, has continued his practice of scare tactics about why Canadians should not vote for his opponents as opposed to telling Canadians why they should vote Conservative.

This approach leaves one to conclude that the economy is one more area that Mr. Harper and his Conservatives have no vision and thus no plans for dealing with economic challenges.

What did Mr. Harper and his Conservatives, beneficiaries of a booming economy, accomplish economically during their period in office?

They oversaw the increased transfer of wealth from most Canadians to the wealthiest 10% of Canadians, making the rich richer and increasing the economic unfairness or lack of balance in the economy.

Despite their claims to have run what Mr. Harper calls “surpluses”, when you factor in the cost of the war in Afghanistan those surpluses disappear. How can Mr. Harper claim to be fiscally responsible when he chose to ignore the billions of dollars spent on Afghanistan in reporting on the state of the Canadian economy? It was totally irresponsible to be cutting taxes and claiming surpluses without taking the billions being spent on Afghanistan into their calculations.

Mr. Harper and his Conservatives policies resulted in significant increases in homelessness, poverty and working poor; managing to bring about these increases during a time of economic boom. The mind boggles at the thought of how much more homelessness, poverty and working poor, how much more misery Mr. Harper and his Conservatives can cause in a faltering economy.

Sorry Mr. Harper, but considering your performance on the economy over your term in office and in light of the faltering Canadian and worldwide economy, there is no scarier economic prospect than you in charge of the economy and Canada’s economic future in this time of challenge.

Municipal

Give Thanks by sharing.

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Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favours.

Thanksgiving came to us from England where it was called the Harvest Festival.

Harvest is from the Anglo-Saxon word hærfest, “Autumn”. It then came to refer to the season for reaping and gathering grain and other grown products.

Harvest Festival used to be celebrated at the beginning of the Harvest season on 1 August although nowadays the festival is held at the end of harvest. Farmers celebrated the end of the harvest with a big meal called a harvest supper.

This is where our tradition of Thanksgiving Dinner comes from.

In Britain people bring in food and the food is often distributed among the poor and senior citizens of the local community.

What better act to give thanks for one’s good fortune, benefits and favours than to share food with those members of the community who are not so favoured or fortunate?

Please, as you gather the items and ingredients for your Harvest Supper, remember the Abbotsford Bank – gathering a few items to share with those in need in our community.

If you cannot publish this letter by me due to the election, please remind your readers in whatever manner you choose to remember those who have less or little to be thankful for.

Consider, Municipal

True generosity?

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True generosity?

“A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.” Jack London


Watching the news reports about the desperate state of need for donations at local food banks left me considering the true essence of generosity and charity.

There are studies that have shown that the people with little or nothing to spare can be the most generous. Not in the amount given, since obviously the $$$ are just not there, but in the relationship between what they keep for themselves and what they give. When things are tough and there is little to spare this group continues to give – often because they have worn the shoes of people who depend on places such as the food banks for enough to eat to live.

On $1 meal days I have watched those who did not have a dollar the meal day before and who may not have a dollar on the next meal day, but had a spare dollar this meal day, buy someone else a meal. I have had to ponder my own generosity after watching someone spend their $1 on someone they thought really needed the meal – even though it meant they had to eat a bowl of free soup.

Yes the future is uncertain, but rather than being less generous we need to be more generous to essential services such as the food bank – because the demand for help to put food in stomachs increases during economic down turns.

Jack London is right, true generosity is sharing even when times may be tight or tough for you.