Harper Inaction NOT Worthy of a Majority

I find all sorts of interesting stories in the old papers that I paw through while lighting the fire each morning. One this morning caught my attention. It came from early December 2010 called "Tories say they will change number of Parliament seats".

A quick Google search revealed that, yes indeed, the Harper CONservatives had introduced a bill with that very purpose way back on April 1st, 2010.

This would increase the number of ridings in Alberta, BC and Ontario, because, with their rapidly growing population, these provinces are disproportionately under-represented in the House of Commons. I was whining about this way back in 2008 after the results of the last election.

So why was this story interesting at this late date? Because the bill was never called for debate by the CONservatives and we go into Election 2011 with the same dis-proportional representation that we've had for years.

Oh, I get it. The bill was introduced on April 1st, 2010.

Subsidies for Home Heating Costs? A Bad Idea.

Oner item missing from the recent Federal budget, a budget that already didn't contain much to begin with, was any mention of subsidies for home heating costs. This was a demand from the NDP.

Subsidies distort the market. Real market prices are what people use to make decisions about how to allocate scarce resources (ie: their money). Every place in the world where subsidies have been used they have failed, whether it's reducing the price of bread or encouraging people to buy houses they can't afford. They are always bad. (And, while we're at it - let's cut subsidies to corporations).

If home heating costs are rising, people will make decisions like adding more insulation, installing a more efficient heating system, lowering the thermostat, and the like.

The NDP is advocating short-term political gain and turning a blind eye to the long-term economic consequences. It doesn't make any sense. Here in BC, the NDP criticized the carbon tax during the last election. They claimed that it was faulty, didn't tax the real polluters, etc, etc...blah, blah, blah. (The carbon tax was probably the best thing that the roundly hated BC "Liberals" did in the past few years). The tax raises the cost of fuel (although not nearly enough) and encourages people to make choices like driving less or buying a smaller car. Imagine what would happen if there was a subsidy on gasoline.

The question has to be: what are these people thinking? Sorry NDP, but you're losing your way on these issues.

Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right...

...Here I am, stuck in the middle.... " a tune that's been playing in my mind as more and more nonsense pops up, from sources all over.

Here at home, we have a BC provincial government that is starting an education campaign on the benefits of the HST. It's only about 2 years late, but better late than never, I say. The Federal government is caught committing campaign fraud but manages to call it a "discussion" between Elections Canada and the party about how to "interpret the rules". As another party leader pointed out, the government seems to think that "illegal" is a sick bird. Our Prime Minister on the issue? Oh well, "you win some, you lose some".

In Egypt, the (now ex-) President declared that he would not be stepping down. The very next day, he stepped down. Seems to be a disconnect with reality here. Is there something people like this don't understand about the concept "the jig is up"? Who will the next nut case be forced to step aside?

The military of an (un-named) invading world power is exposed gunning down unarmed and wounded civilians but has the temerity (and twisted morality) to be outraged when Wikileaks tells the world about it.

Big Oil has so subverted reason and democracy that governments can't/won't take action on climate change. So it looks like we really will get to see the results of this world-scale experiment.

Overall fuel efficiency of our North American vehicles is actually getting worse. Makes me kind of wish for $200 oil.

Although a few years out of date, an ex-Nixon aide was once quoted as saying: "What you have to understand is that conservation isn't a Republican ethic". ??? So waste and profligacy is the way to go, you're saying? Doesn't look like that "ethic" has changed much since the Nixon era.

Despite Canadians great lack of desire for an election, it seems like we will have one. Is this the 4th election in 7 years? Right, that was the effect of "fixed election date legislation", just one more useless bit of work by the Harper CONservatives.

Speaking of "CONs", we have the prospect of buying (and paying for) a bunch of fighter jets but we aren't being told (honestly) what the price will be and even why we really, really need them. Here's a story that us disgusted taxpayers need to read.

MP Jason Kenny accuses the CBC of "lying all the time". I'm not sure where some politicians find the nerve to accuse "anyone" of lying. I think his problem, and the problem of probably anyone in government, is that they can't stand voters or the media disagreeing with anything. What we don't need is the kind of polarized insanity endured by our neighbors to the south. And we certainly don't need a media outlet acting as the government mouthpiece the way FOX does down there.

We seem on the verge of a month of election campaign, where we certainly won't get any intelligent discussion of the real issues. The Conservatives desperately want a majority, but if Canadians don't trust them, I hope they won't vote for them. Personally I don't think they deserve our support. The NDP have the same old message. Sigh. And do the Liberals really think Iggy is electable? Not much to choose from here, and our system will make sure that the variety of opinions in this country won't be represented in Parliament once the dust settles. Prepare yourselves for a month of partisan spin, silly promises and vitriolic attack ads, and remember that if you want some real change, think about voting for something completely different. The "old" parties have had their chances and failed. Miserably.

Reflecting on UBB

Although the flutter has subsided in the past couple of weeks, you might remember the outrage when the CRTC ruled in favour of Usage Based Billing. Despite the fact that most Internet users don't even come close to using their "quota" each month, you'd have thought the sky was falling. While the advent of Internet TV, Netflix and other distractions might point out some shortcomings with Canada's current Internet system (ISPs, bandwidth, lack of competition, charges, etc), I have a different take.

Out here in rural BC, all these discussions and the outpouring of rage are of only academic interest. We get our Internet connection from Telus. You know, the phone company out here. It's almost the only option we have for an Internet supplier. Netflix? Ha! We can't even stream CBC Radio 2 reliably using the Internet and watching a 2-minute YouTube video is often nearly impossible. Sometimes when it rains, or when it's cold, or at irregular times or phases of the moon, the DSL signal just disappears. And let's not bother talking about download speeds. It's faster than a dial-up modem, but that's about all I'd say for it. Right now, I'd settle for something that was always on - reliably.

Life in the 'Slo Lane continues.