Category Archives: Federal

Consider, Federal

MPs are missing in action

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Gord Kurenoff’s column about Tory MPs missing in action raised a few thoughts on the matter.

When did the Langley officials ask MP Mark Warawa to “show them the money”?

Was it before the project began or was it recently as he toured the nearly completed centre? The time to line up funding by senior levels of government is prior to starting the project when you have the maximum political and PR leverage.

While I am not happy that Ed Fast failed to get Abbotsford any federal funds I think that pointing fingers at his failure to be proactive in seeking funds distracts taxpayer attention from those who should face an inquisition over the fact that when it comes to protecting Abbotsford’s taxpayers pocketbook it was to much trouble for even one member of city council to pick up a phone and ask Ed Fast to earn his keep by securing federal funds.

Of course, if council was to engage in such proactive behaviours as asking the local MP to get federal funds it would create work for them. They would have to follow up, make more phone calls, letters to the prime minister … Be proactive, seek out opportunities that would be to the advantage of the citizens of Abbotsford? That kind of behaviour would get in the way of cutting council meetings back to twice a month.

If we are going to censure or impeach our local MPs let us do it for the major failings they have committed recently.

No Conservative MP should have been re-elected after permitting Stephen Harper to call the unwanted and unnecessary recent federal election.

Conservative MP’s turned around and added grievous damage and insult to the injury already done to Canadians when they permitted Stephen Harper’s megalomania to cause him to see himself not as leader of a minority government, but as ruler by divine right of Canada. Canadians are still waiting for the bill and fallout of that reckless cretinism.

Not a peep out of Conservative MPs about Mr. Harper’s recklessness and delusional fantasies of omnipotence. If, as suggested by Mr. Kurenoff, this behaviour of kowtowing to Mr. Harper’s every whim is as a result of Randy Whiteitis and their desperation for political power the fallacy and irony in this behaviour is dumbfounding.

Focusing on avoiding Randy Whiteitis the behaviour of the Conservative caucus and party has become so lemming-like they blindly follow Mr. Harper off the cliff of “how to blow a pending majority government” time and again.

Despite the millions of dollars of spin the Conservatives spent on Stephen Harper’s image, the Canadian people made clear that they did not trust Mr. Harper with a majority government; a judgment bourn out by his behaviour after the recent election.

In leaping from the frying pan of Randy Whiteitis the Conservatives have leapt into the fire of Stephen Harper’s being unacceptable to Canadians as the leader of a majority government and lacking the courage to leap out of the fire.

Caveat emptor, Federal

Never … until politically convenient.

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Once again Stephen Harper and his Conservatives have demonstrated that their espoused principles are subject to change when ever the principles become inconvenient to adhere to; that promises made by Harper and the Conservatives are worthless in the face of political expediency or advantage.

$2,347.200.00 per year is the minimum cost of Mr. Harper’s patronage senate appointments to party faithful. $2,347.200.00 is merely the direct salary costs and does not reflect any of additional costs or the cost of perks for the 18 new senators.

Watching Mr. Harper and the Conservatives tap dance and try to spin this policy reversal of convenience serves to make it ever clearer that Mr. Harper and the Conservatives are business-as-usual politicians worried only about their own power and re-election.

Watching the bizarrely grotesque behaviours of all the politicians sent to Ottawa in the recent election makes one thing obvious.

That if we want real change in the way parliament behaves it is up to Canadian citizens to find and elect MPs who are not representatives of any political party; MPs who answer to the people they represent and not to an autocrat or political party; MPs who will have to answer or explain their decisions directly to the people they represent.

This may well make for “messier” governance in parliament and take more effort on the part of voters, but our current politicians have made it clear that this is the only way we will get rid of business-as-usual politics and get MPs focused on doing a good job and addressing the real issues facing Canada instead of worrying about their personal ideological agendas, power and re-election.

Federal, Provincial

Bailout the Auto Industry? Bad Idea.

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Let’s get real here.

To listen to the proponents of a bailout you would think that if a bailout is not forthcoming the North American headquartered auto industry with all its assets and jobs will, *poof*, disappear. Trust me, it won’t.

What will happen is that the North American headquartered auto industry will file for court protection via bankruptcy. The North American headquartered auto industry will then have to come up with a viable reorganization plan and get the plan approved by the court. This course of action would result in a reasonable chance that the North American headquartered auto industry would come out of the process in a viable state.

The first point that seems to be getting lost here is the fact that as it is now constituted the North American headquartered auto industry is not viable and is burning through $billions$ of dollars as it haemorrhages loses. A bailout will only allow the North American headquartered auto industry to continue to waste money, this time at taxpayer’s expense.

The North American headquartered auto industry needs to undergo a massive makeover in order to be a viable industry and bankruptcy is the best process to ensure this occurs. Remember that bankruptcy protection of business was designed to facilitate this reorganization, re-emergence process.

The second point to remember is that we are speaking only of the North American headquartered auto industry, the so-called big-three, here. There is an entire North American auto industry that is not headquartered in North America and while it is suffering from the economic downturn it is healthy and will grow, creating jobs, to cover and satisfy any market demand left unmet by the loss of a North American headquartered auto company.

The third point I would make is that the situation the North American headquartered auto industry finds itself in is the direct result of management, shareholder and employee decisions made over the past decades.
These decisions focused not on neither the long-term health and viability of the companies, or even the short-term health and viability of the companies, but entirely upon the greed based decision framework of maximizing the money made by management, workers and shareholders.

Playing these types of paper financial games will always result in, at some point, either the death of the entity or entities playing such games or in the need to reorganize in accordance with the real economic and business position of the company or companies.

The fourth point I want to make, or perhaps share, is that I have no sympathy for shareholders who have not only permitted management to mismanage the companies but actively encouraged them through executive reward and remuneration systems based on meeting quarterly (extremely short term) targets and goals as opposed to remuneration tied to the long term success, viability and health of the corporation. When all decisions are made on short term artificial targets and goals, these decisions are made at the expense of the long-term viability and survival of the corporation and nobody should be surprised that at some point this results in a non-viable corporation.

Points three and four reflect and underscore the reality that unless corporations, in this case the North American headquartered auto industry, refocus or are forced to refocus to consider the long-term effects of the decisions being made they will simply cycle through short-term paper success, financial trouble/disaster, bankruptcy and emergence from bankruptcy. There were sound reasons that the management and financial courses at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Commerce stressed the need for basing decisions not just on the short term but on the long term effects on the survival and prospering of the company.

Which brings me to the final and perhaps most important point I want to make – the situation where greed results in decisions that provide (excessive) rewards for what prove in the longer run to be self-destructive decisions with costly consequences to all is not confined or unique to the North American headquartered auto industry.

The meltdown of the banking system in the US is/was clearly a result of greed running rampant. The only thing that saved Canadian banks from a similar fate was far tighter banking regulations and the luck that without a majority government Stephen Harper was not able to follow the US deregulation craze into disaster.

We either need to stop basing decisions on Greed or (more likely) provide regulation and remuneration systems that prevent short term abuse in pursuit of greed and reward/mandate long-term decisions based on survival, viability and health.

Federal

Only in Ottawa!

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Start with the incredible level of hypocrisy in Stephen Harper and his Conservatives criticizing the Liberals for using the Bloc Quebecois to bring down the Conservative’s minority government when Harper used the Bloc to bring down Paul Martin’s minority government.

Then there is the karma/wheel of fate/justice aspects involved with the Liberals bringing down the Conservatives in the same manner as Harper and his Conservatives brought down the Liberals only a few years ago.

Not to mention the delicious irony of Harper and his Conservatives being done to as they did to the Liberals, being done to as they did unto others.

Listening to the government bleat about mandate leaves one pondering if this is “smoking gun” proof that Harper and his Conservatives just do not get what Canadians want or were saying to them in the last election or if this is just massive cynicism/hypocrisy as they desperately try to cling to power.

The main messages that Canadians sent to Mr. Harper and his Conservatives in the last election, that Canadians did not feel Mr. Harper was too be trusted with a majority and that they were happy with or even preferred a Conservative minority government that needed to collaborate with the other political parties, seems to have been entirely lost on Harper and his Conservatives.

Let us remember that the current chaotic disarray in Ottawa is the direct result of Stephen Harper’s school yard bully behaviour and tactics in parliament in the weeks prior to this discombobulation; that Mr. Harper and his Conservatives are reaping as they sowed.

Clearly Canadian voters were correct in their judgment that Mr. Harper was not to be trusted with a majority government. It is apparent Mr. Harper is so blinded by his ideology and world view that he just does not “get Canadians” or the messages Canadians were sending in the election results.

Given that 62.4% of Canadians voted for someone other than the Conservatives I do not think one can deny that a coalition of the other parties has a legitimate right to have an opportunity to form a cooperative minority government, since Canadians voted for a cooperative minority government, albeit with the Conservatives as part of the government.

In choosing to ignore Canadians expressed wishes for a cooperative minority government, the Conservative party as currently constituted forfeited their right to take the lead in forming this minority government.

To be perfectly honest, given the current Conservative governments demonstrated lack of understanding of the social issues and depth of poverty and economic need in Canada it most likely that the most vulnerable people and families in Canada would fare much better in these tough economic times with a minority government Liberal/NDP alliance.

Given the economic downturn and the disproportionate effects our economic woes will have in the real world on the poorest and most vulnerable Canadians it is just as important that a Conservative leader have clearly demonstrated that they understand this reality and are not blinded by ideology.

The reality of the current situation in Canada is that we need flexibility not ideology, open not closed or made up minds, good ideas based on understanding reality not upon “this is what I believe the situation is and that is what I will decide based upon – not reality”. At the same time we need to behave in a fiscally responsible manner.

Any alternative solution that would (as it should) include the Conservative party must result in enough confidence about the future behaviour of the Conservative party in forming or participating in the cooperative minority government mandated by Canadians in the last federal election will require the exit of Mr. Harper and the choice of a Conservative leader who Canadians and the other parties in parliament can trust to actually form a cooperative minority government.

Given Mr. Harper’s behaviour in hoarding power in his own hands together with his dictatorial and school yard bully ways I doubt Mr. Harper or his Conservatives have either the personal integrity or statesmanship to put the best interests of Canada ahead of their own personal interests despite their rhetoric about Canadians wants or best interests.

Should I be proven wrong and a new Conservative leader comes to the table to put Canadian’s and Canada’s interests first, the same applies to the Liberal and NDP leaders – put Canadian and Canada’s best interest first or get out of the way for someone who will.

What Canada needs right now is Leadership, not politics and politicians.

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.