Burn The Scientists At The Stake

I haven’t posted to this little corner of the Internet for quite some time now, and I can’t give you an honest answer as to why not. 

There has been a lot of discussion lately about science and medicine versus the mountains of misinformation and disinformation circulating on the internet.  And much to my surprise (and amusement at times) I have a considerable number of friends (both real and virtual) who I believe have fallen down the rabbit hole of believing most, if not all, of what they read on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and yes, Rebel News; or from what they hear and see on that bastion of truth and democratic freedom – FOX News.

Maybe, just maybe, I’ve stopped posting because I was more than a little afraid that I would really offend someone.  I mean, I post material mostly expressing political & religious opinions, or I comment on different medical/scientific issues.  Well, no matter the topic, my musings always lead to a personal opinion that most of my readers take with a grain of salt.  But I admit that to not publish because I was concerned about losing or offending friends was perhaps, just maybe, a little cowardly. 

So, I’ve decided, like the Lion from the Wizard of Oz, that I want to act in the face of fear, put it all out there, and once again face the consequences of my written work. 

I consider that my blog is filled with mostly “good natured stuff”.  I strive to be non-offensive, but honest too. Strike a balance, so to speak. After all, I’m not the boss of anyone anymore, if I ever was, and each and every one of us is entitled to free expression and an opinion.  Having said that, I try to put an opinion out there, stir up a little bit of bullshit, and see where things land. 

I know that, given my topic material, it’s not hard to offend.  I’ve tried to keep blatant attacks on all you non-believers out there to a minimum, but during these times of Covid 19, its hard to cut through the bullshit.  It’s doubly hard to not call someone out when they promote conspiracy theories and spread other disinformation that is so harmful to family and friends. 

The other thing that I’ve been considering is…. I share this abode where I type my little missives with a Public Health Nurse who is submerged in ways untold with this virus that some of you insist is no more dangerous than a common flu.  Well folks, I’m here to tell you that Covid 19 is not the common flu.  And believe me, my very own Public Health Nurse has been submerged in this cesspool of a virus way up past her hips. And, a deadly pandemic it has been, and still remains. 

I haven’t wanted to put her in an awkward position where I inadvertently say or write something glib and contrite that shouldn’t be said.  If any of you readers out there know me at all, you know that I take the matter of confidentiality very seriously.  Not an excuse for staying away but, on a personal level, a valid concern that I’ve had to consider. 

Yesterday I posted an illustration to Facebook showing a scientist being burned at the stake because he dared to suggest that the stars we see in the sky are just distant suns surrounded by their own planetary bodies like Earth.  I mean, how dare he? That’s not what the church taught their sheep. And if you disagreed with the church, the equivalent of FOX News in 1600, then you were literally burned like toast – Ahhh, golden brown, as an old friend of mine used to say..

And I was not at all surprised by the response I got.  Most people who commented were supportive of my post, but a predictable few immediately questioned my premise that we are, as a society, regressing in our support of scientific research and medical advancements. 

In other words, if you don’t like the facts, make up your own facts, or run to Facebook or some other social media outlet and “research” your heart out until you find SOMETHING that supports your point of view.  Then you, too, can take to Facebook, reposting and further spreading the disinformation that’s so harmful to family, friends, and communities all across the country. 

I won’t get explicit in describing the responses that I received.  My purpose here is not to call attention to those people who I consider to be misguided in their views.  After all, as I have repeatedly said, I do respect a person’s right to refuse the vaccine.  Having said that, however, I also support the many government rules and regulations that take mild punitive action against the unvaccinated.  And we need more, not less, punitive action. 

No shirt – no service.  No seatbelt – you don’t get to ride in a car.  Nowadays you smoke anything inside, out you go!  I could go on, but then I would digress, which is my bad habit.  So…… 

Same with the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.  I’m fully vaccinated and anxiously awaiting any booster that’s going to be made available to me.  My own personal health history has dictated my behaviour, and vaccination history, and other scientific and medical measures tells me that I’ve done my part.  I continue to wear a mask in public when required to do so; by social distancing; and by washing my hands twenty times a day, and using hand sanitizer at every opportunity, my behaviour allows that I and others like me should be rewarded for our behaviour. 

First and foremost, science & medicine, and personal experience, clearly illustrates that vaccination programs over the last century have saved tens of millions of lives, if not hundreds of millions of lives, and have protected me and my children and grandchildren against any number of viruses. In some cases, vaccines have helped to eliminate or almost eradicate diseases like smallpox, polio, mumps and rubella, measles, and on and on. 

So, for me, simple logic dictates that vaccination, first and foremost, is a very good thing.  The logical inverse of that, of course, is….  not being vaccinated is a very bad thing. 

Logic and common sense also dictate that scientists and doctors who are educated up the Wazoo, professions that we’ve trusted and counted on for centuries now, would not lead us to death and destruction.  I truly believe that, and that’s what even the deepest part of my little reptilian brain is telling me to be true. 

The chances that I will infect someone and make that someone else who is fully vaccinated ill, are slim.  If governments simply allow the unvaccinated untethered access to restaurants, bars and theatres, and other places that have been designated as being off limits to the unvaccinated, infections will continue to spread and Covid 19 will never be placed under control.    

That is simple science.  Facts are facts.  If you don’t like the facts, you don’t get to make up your own facts, because now matter how you rationalize it, facts are facts, and truth is truth.    

Sorry folks, that’s how this works. The beauty about science is, whether you believe it or not, the facts, and things that are true, remain facts and continue to be true, and they do not change because some of us believe, while others do not believe.  

It’s a fact (and I believe this strongly) that this pandemic is being prolonged because a significant percentage of our Canadian population refuses to get vaccinated.  I could rant on about how selfish that is, or how uncaring, but that would not be fair to anyone on either side of this debate.  The unvaccinated remain unvaccinated because they are allowed to remain unvaccinated. Because of this, the greatest fault does not lie with the unvaccinated alone. 

If you believe, as I do, that government’s role in free and democratic societies is to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people, then you must conclude that it is also government’s responsibility to get a firm grip on this pandemic.

But, in this instance, I believe that governments, all governments, have been remiss in their responsibilities with respect to Covid 19 vaccinations.  I believe it is government’s responsibility to mandate vaccines, and the only reason they have not done so is they fear the political consequences of requiring and instituting a mandate.    

Now, what I’m about to say will undoubtedly upset those of you who swear tribal allegiance to various political parties on either the left of the right, but let’s start by taking a look at the political map in Canada. 

The Federal Liberals are operating on their second consecutive minority government, and clearly don’t have the political or moral authority to order any mandate, let alone a Covid 19 vaccine mandate, without the cooperation of one or more of our many federal political parties.

No political party in its right mind would give a minority government unchecked authority to impose a vaccination mandate.  To do so would be political suicide, simply because you would be giving away all authority to administer a mandate that you have no control over, but that you would also bear responsibility for.  And you would be forever tied to the consequences and outcomes. 

Political parties supporting minority governments almost always insist on knowing the outcomes on any given issue before they give their blind support.  Now, they would never say so publicly, but believe me, politics is all about power and control, and hardly ever playing the good Samaritan while always appearing to be the good Samaritan. 

And before you go off the deep end letting our Federal Liberals off the hook and say the provinces, not the Federal Government, are solely responsible for the delivery of Health Care in Canada, there are constitutional provisions that allow the Government of Canada to intervene in matters of national emergency.  So, yes, the Feds can do this. My point is – it’s not that they can’t; they simply do not want to.

And yes,, we have our crazies. It takes a special kind of crazy to protest in front of a hospital, preventing Covid 19 patients and others people suffering medical emergencies from entering that hospital and receiving medical treatment simply because you object to having to wear a mask. Good grief!

But let’s put the Federal Government’s reluctance aside for a minute.

Provincial governments are even more obvious in their affiliations and their intentions.  Except for Newfoundland and Labrador which is the only red blot on Canada’s provincial and territorial map, all other provinces and territories are colored blue or orange.  Like our conservative wingnut cousins south of our border, governments in places like Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, all blue conservative governments (even the government in Quebec is a small c conservative government), are deathly afraid that the “conservative base” in these provinces (the conservative base being made up of various groups of crazies) will turn on any government even thinking about a vaccine mandate.

So, instead of stepping up and showing leadership, governments everywhere are merely urging the unvaccinated to get vaccinated, with only mild punitive action if certain people refuse.  

And then governments spin communications plans designed to show Canadians that they are rough and tough, all developed to blame the unvaccinated for prolonging the mess, while, at the same time, trying not to piss off the very people who remain unvaccinated. 

Governments everywhere could end this pandemic at the flick of a finger. All they have to do is impose a mandate, with serious punitive action for those of us who do not comply, and this thing would be over in three months.   

This is madness!

So, what are the facts?  Please let me bore you for a couple of more minutes.

Canada has a population of approximately 33,000,000 people.

To date, Canada has experienced 1,695,914 cases of Covid 19. A much smaller number by any measure than if governments had not encouraged masks, hand washing and social distancing. Nowhere as many proportionately as our neighbour to the south, but a significant number none the less. Canada’s proportionate numbers are much smaller simply because Canadians were more willing to comply with Public Health measures.  Thank you, Canadians!

According to the latest data I could find, dated October 16, 2021, Canada has experienced 28,729 deaths.  Statistically, that translates to a death rate of somewhere around 1.7% for the infected. That 1.7% is easily ten times greater than death rates that result from a common flu.  Check it out yourself, folks. Facts are facts, and facts don’t lie.

So, assuming that the death rate is accurate, or somewhat accurate, and also assuming that some 60% of Canada’s population would have become infected with Covid 19 if the virus had remained unchecked, that would mean that just short of twenty million of us would have become infected.  An unchecked death rate of 1.7% would bring us north of 325,000 Canadians who would have passed away if Covid 19 had remained unchecked.

The good news here is that of the 1,695,914 cases of Covid 19 reported in Canada to date, a full 1,638,239 people have fully recovered from the virus. Thank you, science, and medicine! Without you this number would have been so much higher.

Let’s talk about adverse events, which is such a great topic of conversation on my Facebook feed.  The accusations, of course, are that so many people have suffered adverse events as a direct result of getting the Covid 19 vaccine.

As of October 16^th, 2021 (my sources are Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and all 13 of our provincial and territorial Health Authorities) 72.65% of Canada’s population is fully vaccinated.  That, naturally, dictates that 27.35% of our population is not fully vaccinated.  Almost three in ten Canadians are still not fully vaccinated. 

Let’s not go wild comparing ourselves to the Americans.  There is a natural tendency for us Canadians to “crow” about how much better we are than our American cousins, but we’re really not much better off than they are.  They’re just greater in number, and louder.  Plus, they have two or three TV networks and dozens of radio networks feeding them nothing buy propaganda/bullshit day and night. 

To date, 57,265,088 Covid 19 vaccinations have been given to Canadians.

To date, there have been a grand total of 19,984 adverse events reported and recorded in Canada’s thirteen provinces and territories.  That’s an adverse event rate of 0.035% folks. 

Of those 19,984 adverse events reported, 14,823 are of a “non-serious” nature.  Now, why would they call an adverse event “non-serious”?  Well, because “non-serious” adverse events are reported by folks who are just pissed off that they have had “some kind of reaction” to receiving the jab. And as is government’s habit if somebody reports it, it gets recorded.

Thus, things get classified as “serious” and/or “non-serious”

As a result, non-serious adverse events are those which comprise tingling & prickling in the injection area; there is some pain in the injection area; headaches; itching; laboured breathing; fatigue; hives; nausea; some redness around the vaccine site; dizziness; numbness; and mild fever. 

Well, that leaves 5,161 adverse events that have been classified as “serious”.  Out of 57,265,088 vaccinations for Covid 19, that produces an adverse event rate of a whopping 0.009%.  Wow!  How dare they?  Science and medicine have produced vaccines that have not resulted in serious adverse events in 99.991% of the people who have received them. 

Heartless bastards, I tell you. 

Not!

And now, if I’ve explained what “non-serious” events are, to be fair I must also explain the nature of serious events, right? 

Well, here goes!

Of the 5,161 “serious” events reported, 3,811 of those were reported as being chest pain (unspecified); pain generally; chest discomfort; vomiting; chills; and diarrhea. So, being fair, these events were not just a typical red spot on your arm.

And of a more serious nature, of the 57,000,000 plus Covid 19 vaccinations administered, there were 950 reports of myocarditis/pericarditis, a condition to which I’m quite sympathetic, given my own cardiac issues. This condition presents itself as rapid breathing, chest pain, and a racing heart.

And finally, there were some additional 400 reports of allergic dermatitis. 

I have never, nor will I ever, belittle these “serious” events, but for those of you who argue that a little over 5,000 “serious” everts is 5,000 too many, I say only that you are certainly entitled to your opinion. But you are wrong. Given these data and statistics, it’s clear that the benefits of Covid 19 vaccinations easily far and away outweigh the risks. 

The Public Health Agency of Canada has shared some other very interesting statistics based on age and gender.  I could bore you all day and night with this stuff (such being the nature of we poor slugs who studied Political Science and Economics, as opposed to studying History where we could have simply written whatever the winners and survivors of our many wars told us to write). But I’ll hit only the highlights for you with this writing.

19,984 adverse events translate to 35.2 reports per 100,000 vaccinations.

5,161 “serious” adverse events translate to 9.1 reports per 100,000 vaccinations.

The female/male ratio for all 19,984 adverse events was 74.8% female and 25.2% male.  I will not make further comment on this breakdown, for fear of reprisal from my female friends.  Over the years I’ve found that I have some really good friends, with approximately the same ratioed breakdown.  So here, I’ll keep my council here.  I’m not a stupid man. 

The largest number of adverse reports came from those who were between 40 and 60 years of age, although those 60 to 69 years of age were significant as well.

The point of all of this, my friends, is please do your research, but take your information from credible sources.   It took me all of half an hour to access the websites at Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the many provincial and territorial Health Authorities.  All this information is readily available, and easy to find. 

I would much prefer to get my information from people who have studied medicine and/or whatever scientific field they have chosen, and who have studied for ten or more years to reach their level of expertise, than I would from a now three times vaccinated charlatan who’s only success in life came about as the result of a reality TV show. Don’t get me going on the bankruptcies, the taxes avoided and unpaid, or the university scam, among other things, or I’ll be here forever…….

God help us.  If you can’t read this and accept the truth, there is only one direction you can go while trying to figure out what kind of world you want to live in.  And believe me, that’s not forward into a brave, new world. 

Give it time and we’ll all be back burning scientists at the stake. 

Oh joy!

Stopped Dead In My Tracks

The most disconcerting thing about retirement, folks, is that a retired person (as in retired person “me”) has entirely too much time on his hands to think and reflect on the things that I consider to be important. 

Now, I may be naive, but I am not generally considered to be stupid, at least that’s what I tell myself.  I do realize that my interests – my passions, so to speak – are not shared by the majority.  And I freely admit that my curiosities are many, and for the most part I have been blessed and/or cursed with an attention span that is sometimes at least “in the Goldie Locks zone”.    Not always ‘just right’ I admit, but within acceptable range.  (Try to imagine me laughing here, because there are many who would not agree with me on this.)

And that is about as personal as I can bring myself to be today.

But…as events have unfolded in recent months, a couple of what most people might consider to be small things brought me up short, and as we say back east, smacked me in the gob.  For the uneducated out there, that simply means something, or a series of somethings, caught my attention.  But these ‘things’ caught my attention in such a personal way that I really have had to re-evaluate some of my personal and political beliefs, activities, and positions, which during this time of Covid-19 practically (for all intents and purposes) resulted in a simple decline in blog postings and Facebook rants.   

So, “what happened?” you may ask. 

Well, first things first!  As the world knows, a Presidential election just took place in the United States.  Even the uninterested among us must admit that with Donald Trump sitting in the White House and running for re-election, it was (and still is) hard to ignore his antics and the daily dose of shock opera politics that he has practiced for the past four or five years.  And I admit, as a political junkie who is easily distracted by puppies, motorcycles, rum, wine, a good guitar, and once upon a time, a good cigar, watching Trump operate was strangely addictive.  Yes, as you can guess, my interests and habits are strangely eclectic. 

But believe me, being addicted does not always mean being supportive.

So, I freely admit that I am not at all a fan of The Donald.  Nor am I supportive of his musings, his political strategies, or his use of the “Bully Pulpit” freely granted by most, if not all, institutions and organizations within the United States.  However, I have been vocal regarding Trump’s right to election, and his supporters’ rights in electing him.  Democracy and all that nonsense. 

This “Bully Pulpit” that I refer to often extends well beyond US domestic borders.  The US most always takes a strategic lead in matters of defence with allied partners and trade, taking THE LEADING ROLE while promoting democratic governance and capitalist economics, from which all the western democracies benefit.  And like it or not my Canadian friends, we here in Canada are often the chief beneficiaries of this US leadership.

Anybody who has followed my musings here will no doubt agree that I am generally supportive of the United States and the leadership that country exercises.  However, nothing and nobody, and I mean nothing and nobody, repulses me from a political and personal perspective more than Trump – and, as a spin-off, what has become his Republican Party. 

In my time, I have observed and met some vile people who practice politics as a profession, both at the politician and staff levels, but I have never, ever before seen anything like Trump – an autocrat who runs the greatest democracy in the world but who has “no bottom” while daily proving how low he will and can go in his efforts to destroy anyone or anything standing in opposition to him.    

And I use the words “his Republican Party” with purpose, because Trump has taken a once viable and proud political organization and turned it into a racist, misogynist, extreme right-wing and white only Evangelical Christian, anti-immigrant, white supremist and armed militant movement that is motivated and driven by misinformation and conspiracy theory – all of which are supported by QANON Internet activities – and all developed, directed and disseminated by the great man himself.

Like many of my American friends out there, and certainly like many of my fellow Canadians, I kept asking myself how can we expect a governing political party in the United States (the Republican Party) to effectively govern when half its supporters (voters) refuse to consider anything other than that the earth, and everything on this earth, was created by our maker less than 5,000 ago? 

Or that science and medicine are indeed fiction and that a virus as lethal as Covid-19 is a hoax or a myth?  Or that the media, and anyone else who disagrees with you on any public policy or political matter, is an enemy of the people?  Or that, if you are not ‘white’, your presence in the country is somehow less legitimate than those who buy in to the notion that your suburbs will go to hell if a family of any colour other than white moves in?  Or that Native Americans should go back to where they came from?  Or that practicing Muslims should be ‘registered’, as in a Jewish registry in Germany in the 1930s?  Really?

Yes, I mean, really?  Surely, there simply cannot be that many truly uninformed people living, working and raising families in the greatest and most influential and dominant culture in the world; who enjoy all the benefits of the greatest economy on earth; with the most powerful military in history providing for their protection and promoting/ensuring that American foreign policy is successful; and with the highest standard of living ever achieved in human memory.  I mean, with all of this going for you, who among our American friends would support this kind of outrageous nonsense, right? 

As a political platform, or even as a matter of everyday conversation, this is simply utter madness!  Right?

Well, my friends, I just found out how politically stupid I really am.  Or maybe I should use the term politically naïve.  Or maybe I’m simply both. 

Because without doubt, I was wrong.  Apparently, seventy-five million people – yes folks, that’s 75,000,000 American adults – six big zeros need to follow the seventy-five to reach that many millions of Americans who worship at the Alter of the Donald. 

We can only assume that this Borg-like collective represents those who can read and/or write, or at least understands what is being said on television.  But God help us all, this is proof positive that there is a lot of crazy living just south of our border.  75,000,000 people voted for this Republican Party, and The Donald. 

That should be recorded in the Guinness World Book of Records as proof The Donald leads the largest Cult in world history.  He would celebrate being in 1^st Place.       

And we may indeed consistently need God’s help because, while promoting the most repulsive political agenda, all without the benefit of even a Republican Party Platform, (Trump said a Platform wasn’t necessary because he was going to give America four more years of the same old-same old) the Republicans gained eleven (11) seats in the House of Representatives; it looks like they maintained control of the Senate; they picked up wins in a couple of State legislatures; and they won another Governorship in Montana.  Except for Trump’s personal loss of the Presidency, this latest American election was a noticeably big Republican win.  By any reasonable and objective measure, a huge political win. 

 But again, you may be asking yourselves why I think this matters?  Well, for the politically active conservatives among us, and I recognize that we are becoming fewer and fewer in number, in some ways the Republican Party in the United States has come to occupy a leadership position among conservative political parties and movements throughout the western democratic world.  And please note that I am specifically talking about “conservative political parties and movements”. 

But because of its size and scope, and yes, its history as being a successful political movement, the Republican Party has set a leading example that worldwide conservative political movements have followed.  A First Among Equals, if you will.  And…… if the recent US election produced a significant win for the Republicans, surely conservative parties in other countries will follow the Republican play book in future elections.  There is nothing more motivating in politics than success, and it is standard practice to follow the lead of a successful campaign.  Even if the basis of that successful political campaign was racist in nature.

Plus, if you follow world events at all, you will know that populism is, or has been, on the rise – yet again – for the past twenty years of so.  What has been going on in the United States is really a continuation of what has been happening politically in Europe and elsewhere, with populist and anti-democratic movements gaining power in Poland, Hungary, Belarus, Russia, Turkey, India, the Philippines and to a lesser but still dangerous extent, the United Kingdom with that country’s withdrawal from the European Union. 

Yes, all of this matters. to me, and I think it should matter to you.  And it matters more so if you believe that no person, no town, no city, no province or state, and no country is an island.  If a butterfly flaps its wings in Japan, and all that.  Like it or not, we live in an internet world, where information and technology are shared in seconds.  Globalism is the new reality.  The practice of Isolationism is a recipe for decline.  

So, the first thing……

While I was just humming along, completely submerged in all this political drama that was unfolding on the tiny screen via CNN and MSNBC, with me cheering unashamedly for Joe Biden and the Democrats, and pontificating from my righteous and very safe Canadian perch, all while trying to deal with Covid-19 isolation, two members of my family communicated to me in extraordinarily strong terms that they were pretty fed up with my rantings against the tyrant Trump and suggested that it would be more productive if I were to turn my attention towards the tyrant Trudeau.

OK, says I.  Fair enough.  If one is going to write a blog and be silly enough to rant unencumbered on Facebook – and further, be silly enough to put the written word out there, hoping for a little agreement now and then and possibly just a tiny and occasional pat on the back – one must be prepared to accept the musings and critics of his/her readers, even if they are family.  So, no offense taken, but I must admit the sting was more like that of a hornet than a wasp.  Wow! I didn’t see that coming. 

Nevertheless, says I to myself, I will carry on because…….  free speech and all that, and I am an older and experienced political hack, after all.  I can take a little punch to my now substantial gut, right? 

Anyone who has ever practiced politics (and sales for that matter) knows that three out of every ten people you encounter in life simply do not like you, or like what you say, or like what you write.  Whatever!  I can take it, and I will survive.  My two misguided and insular family members must not be globalists, I reason.  They obviously have not been following what has been happening in Poland, Hungary, Russia, Belarus, Turkey and/or the United Kingdom, and any other number of countries in the western democratic world.  But I will carry on, continue to believe if you will, and I will write what I want, how I want and when I want – and the world be damned. 

But then, the second thing happened…

Right out of the blue, but shortly after I had my “Come To The Lord” moment with my two family members, I received another but equally attention-grabbing message from a former Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) political colleague, asking me in extremely aggressive language exactly when, and at what point, I had abandoned my conservative political principles. 

Well, hello? Abandoned my conservative political principles? Really?

His accusation was that I consistently attack Trump and the Republicans, but never the Canadian Liberal Party and its leader, Trudeau.  Therefore, I must have abandoned my conservative beliefs, and certainly my conservative friends, because Donald Trump and other conservative leaders throughout the western world represented the totality of, and all that was good, with the new Conservative movement throughout the western hemisphere.  How could I be so blind and hostile?

Now, in my defense here, I would suggest that my family members and former CPC colleague had not read many of my previous blog entries.  This blogging is a wonderful thing, almost freeing in some respects, and great therapy always.  But since I started doing this, I have certainly upset many more of my Liberal friends than I have family and Conservatives. 

And yes, folks, I do have quite a few Liberal friends.  They are often amused when they grant me permission to join them, but it all makes for great St. Patrick’s Day parties, memorable fishing trips, and the odd backyard BBQ, not to mention marching unencumbered and without concern in a musical marching band comprised of well-lubricated seniors, such as myself .  Now, there’s a topic for a future blog.

But, I can tell you, being the lone Tory in my social circle provides for a sometimes lonely but often amusing existence.  Regardless, as a gesture of good will, I tolerate and love them all the same.  Upper Canadians are an odd lot, you know.  But I digress, yet again.

Now, back to the matter at hand.  My CPC friend was being a little extreme, I admit, but in politics you tend to meet a few people like this.  True believers!  Some people simply leave logic (and a good education) behind and just BELIEVE.  For some, but only some, who are politically active, it is easier to just believe – get that political religion, you know? – than it is to reason, but who am I to judge?  Much to my relief, I know that this behaviour is not unique to Conservatives.  Extreme political thought is found both on the right and the left.  Now, believe me in this!  It’s true. 

Well, now I’m really thinking.  This blogging thing is not for the faint of heart!  Not only family members upset at me now.  Now I have political friends, both Conservative and Liberal, coming at me, as well.   

Well now, I muse, have I indeed abandoned my conservative principles?  Are my political principles even really “conservative” anymore?  Or has modern day “accepted conservative political thought” really evolved into something other than what political scientists and other academics consider to be traditional conservative values and positions? 

Sorry folks, I know that’s a mouthful, but for someone like me, still operating within the “Goldie Lock’s Zone”, it’s a legitimate question.  I recently had a PoliSci professor ask me that very question in a graduate course, and I was again reminded that political thought, like religion and religious thought I suppose, is constantly evolving to meet the needs of those it serves.  Another topic for another time, but again, a legitimate question.   

While I was chewing on these life altering questions, I came across a third thing that much to my pleasant surprise was, well……. pleasantly surprising. 

And that was an incredibly positive message from another political friend, by and large agreeing with my musings, while expressing his own opinion that while generally supportive of the Conservatives, he was becoming more and more concerned, if not outright uncomfortable with the language being used by our current and former political colleagues here in Canada, and elsewhere.  Were we in Canada being “exposed and infected” by rhetoric being used elsewhere?

Well now, this blogging thing is starting to look up again, says I.  Can I take the emotional ups and downs that go along with all this public exposure?  I mean, my readership might soon reach one….. well, who knows how far it can go?  Of course, says I to me.  If people don’t like what I put out there, they can always ‘unfriend’ me.  We’ll soon find out how lonely it can get here in Cyberland, eh?

So, all of this to say…. today’s contribution to my portfolio raises many questions for me that I’ll try to answer in future blogs.  I am feeling good, I’m even feeling empowered.  I’m once again about to rant and roar like the true Newfoundlander I am, hahaha.

As conservatives, and as a conservative movement, how in the name of all that’s holy did we get here?  Are conservatives, and the conservative movement, really ‘off the rails?’  Like many of you out there, I fear I already know the answer to that question.

Is anti-democratic and autocratic populism really on the rise in the western democratic world, and why should we, all the way up here in the True North, be concerned? 

Can the United States, with Biden’s election as President, turn the political tide back towards institutionalist norms?  Has democracy been rescued by Trump’s defeat, and/or is it really possible that the United States can tumble down a rocky road towards autocracy? 

And most importantly, for me personally at least, and my two family members and my two political friends who successfully stopped me dead in my tracks for different reasons….  I must ask if populism is on the rise here in Canada as well.  Canada, and especially Western Canada, has a long and rich history of populism and populist thought, and Ontario and Quebec are no strangers to populist or quasi-populist movements.  Is the Conservative movement in Canada destined to follow what we see in the US?  Again, I suspect that we already have many of our answers to those questions as well.      

So, all in all, I’d say things are looking up, for sure.  But I may have to return to sneaking a puff every now and then, just to make my mind crystal clear if I want to undertake this majestic endeavour.  And no, silly, I don’t mean a return to puffing on the evil weed.  Cigarettes went away a long time ago, and cigars have not touched these lips for two years past. 

Now that my Liberal friends have come through for us and delivered on just about the only promise they made and kept from the 2015 Federal election campaign, letting us seniors relive our youth in technicolour, maybe I’ll make a trip to that little store down the street.  Yes, for sure!  The one with no windows.  And even in my old age, I’ll make sure that I don’t get mixed up with that Adult Only store next door, because that on has no windows either. 

And don’t ask me how I know that.  I was merely asking for a friend.

My Lord, what a wonderful country we live in.  Maybe being a Liberal would have been more fun after all. 

More to follow, as they say……………..

The Main Thing

Way back when…. All the way back to July 2020 as a matter of fact (my gosh, that seems like a lifetime ago) I was having a “Messenger” conversation with an old friend from bygone days who, after we lost touch, went on to live a fascinating and productive life in a much sunnier climate. 

Daniel and I had become close friends while working in a very demanding and stressful profession in northern Alberta.  As fortune would have it a series of transfers, and life in general, took us in different directions and we lost touch.  Daniel stayed in law enforcement, and after a distinguished career and retirement went on to a second productive and rewarding career as a health care professional.  An incredibly happy second professional life if you will. 

I was thrilled when we reconnected through Facebook, as I have been when reconnecting with so many other close friends from that period of my life.  But regarding Daniel, I was happy to hear that he had eventually relocated to Australia, which if I recall correctly was a long-term ambition of his that he made happen.  Good for you, Daniel.  Following one’s dreams and making them happen is a blessing.  You made it to Australia, and I got to play adult politics in Newfoundland, Ottawa, British Columbia and eventually, finishing up in Ontario.  We both made it with varying degrees of success I suppose depending on which political party you support (insert a little laughter folks, please, because some of you will no doubt believe that I went over to the dark side).  But, oh dear, as is my habit, I digress……  So, back to the point….. 

Daniel and I were, of course, exchanging mild opinions and good-natured insults about what was going on – or more to the point, who would win – the upcoming US Presidential election in November.  I offered that although I acknowledged Trump’s strengths as a political upstart and as what I consider him to be – a marketing genius, it was my opinion that Biden would win.  Daniel asked me why I thought Biden would win, and I had to dig deep and go all the way back to basic political campaign theory and practice to give him my answer.

Which is………  In any political campaign, the number one rule is IDENTIFY THE MAIN THING, AND MAKE SURE THE MAIN THING REMAINS THE MAIN THING.  If you can do that one simple thing, you more often than not will win a political campaign.  If you cannot do that one simple thing, or if you try to make things much more complicated that that, you more often than not will loose a political campaign.  It Is That Simple!

In July 2020, the one main thing going on in the US and throughout the world was Covid-19.  Hundreds of thousands and millions of people were becoming infected with the virus, and people were dying at a rate almost twenty times that caused by a flu.  Trump et al were trying to pretend at the time that Covid-19 was no biggie, that the US had “rounded the turn”, and that the economy was the main thing. 

Biden disagreed.

Now, boys and girls, this is where it most likely gets boring, because no doubt for most of you politics is all about great ideas and bold new policy initiatives – especially ideas and policies that encourage a great deal of emotion.  I mean, who doesn’t like to argue politics?  There are particularly good reasons why one of the most popular sayings in history is “The two things you never discuss at the dinner table are politics and religion”.  Both politics and religion evoke a great deal of emotion, mainly because they are a window (if not THE window) into our individual and collective fundamental belief systems.  Nothing, and I mean nothing, exposes us emotionally as much as discussing – or telling other people – publicly, what we believe and what it is we stand for. 

But……..  emotional ideas and policy positions based on individual beliefs do not a successful political campaign make.  Indeed, successful political campaigns are won and lost based on good or bad data.  Yes, data helps a campaign identify the Main Thing, and data is what keeps you on track (or as we say during a political campaign, on message) throughout the campaign.  If you have crappy data, you have a crappy campaign.  Simple!

Early this year, when Covid-19 caught us unawares, Trump and the Republicans correctly identified the coming pandemic as a major threat to the United States specifically, and to the world in general.  The administration, however, soon realized that shutting down the world’s greatest economy, in an effort to control the virus, would put the US at an economic disadvantage vis a vis their economic and trade competitors, and a fundamental choice was made by Trump and the Republicans in favour of the economy. 

The Republicans without doubt had a ton of data that supported their abrupt change in direction when they moved to “re-open” the economy in April and May 2020.  Or, at the very least, they had data that suggested they could convince voters of the merit of favouring the economy over the virus.  In the absence of such data, especially in an election year, they would never have changed course. 

Nevertheless, the Republicans, knowing that Covid-19 was the main thing, set out a campaign designed to convince voters that Covid-19 was not the main thing, and they tried to change what was, in fact, the main thing.  Republicans talked about the economy; they talked about law and order; they talked about immigration; they talked about trade deals with China; they talked about taxes; they talked about Supreme Court appointments; the dangers of socialism; and they talked in such a way as to demonize Joe Biden as a corrupt politician who was somehow mentally deficient.  Trump kept dropping these “shining objects” throughout the campaign in an effort to get people/voters to believe that Covid-19 wasn’t “the main thing”.  In the end, obviously, some of that worked to varying degrees in different areas of the US, but not sufficiently well enough to win the overall campaign.

Biden and the Democrats made a different choice; but again, a choice based on data.  The Democrat’s campaign coalesced around Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, making a strong case to use government resources to fight the virus while not completely shutting down the economy.  This simple strategy allowed the Democrats to suggest tactics involving increased production of personal protective equipment, the use of arguments based on medical and scientific information, a coordinated effort encouraging a “safe and effective” return to schools, universities and the work place without completely shutting down the economy, and a focus on health care that would prevent the loss of health insurance for approximately 20 million Americans. 

In short, a majority of people measured by about 4 million people felt the main thing was Covid-19 and the pandemic, while a minority of people measured by about 4 million people felt the main thing was the economy. 

Because of good data, Biden recognized that the main thing was Covid-19, and through the execution of a disciplined campaign he was able to make sure the main thing remained the main thing.  As a result, Biden and the Democrats were able to turn the campaign into a referendum on Donald Trump and his handling of the pandemic, and the Republicans.   

Now, many of you will argue that this is just too simple, and that I’m approaching this simplistically.  You can argue that the Democrats did a masterful job in keeping a very diverse coalition together; a coalition made up of African Americans; the Latino communities; the Native American communities; the LGBTQ community; suburban women; plus 40% of all white voters, and so on.  You can argue that Trump is just a despicable human being and not fit for office, and here I agree totally.  After all is said and done, you may be right, and I may be wrong in my fundamental argument.  After all, this is a political discussion, hahaha.  But then again, this is my Blog, so I get to write this end of it, and you, on the other hand, can reply, agreeing or disagreeing. 

I will concede that there were a host of other issues and factors that entered into and influenced the final results.  But at the end of the campaign, it was Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis that did him in. 

But back to my friend Daniel, and our July discussion.  In our exchange, I also made the observation that history reveals all (honourable mention here to friends Keith, Sadie and Linda); that a number of identified interest groups have had a great influence in determining winners and losers of modern-day Presidential elections in the US.  But, none of the many groups discussed here have had a greater influence in modern day elections than suburban women aged 30-60.  And it appears that this group has again outperformed all other groups in this election cycle.

I was reading an article this morning by Nick Bryant, who is a BBC correspondent headquartered in New York.  His article this morning was titled US Election 2020 – Why Donald Trump lost.  I won’t go into too much detail regarding this article – if you want, it’s not hard to find.  But the premise of the article is clear.

Trump lost this election; more so than Biden won it.  Why?

The simple answer is suburban America, and suburban women.

Trump lost the support of suburban women because of his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.  As Bryant said this morning, “those who supported Trump four years ago were put off by his aggressive behaviour.  This was especially true in the suburbs.  Joe Biden improved on Hillary Clinton’s performance in 373 suburban counties, helping him claw back the Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, and enabling him to gain Georgia and Arizona.  Donald Trump has a particular problem with suburban women”.

Wow!  I can’t wait to dig into that data.  More to come………..

Science is Magic

I am yet again blown away by the amount of pure hogwash (better known as disinformation) that daily shows up on my Facebook feed.

Today is exactly like yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and the day before that.  This morning’s edition of my Facebook feed reminded me that all of the scientific information and medical advice with respect to Covid-19 that’s provided to us by medical professionals, Public Health providers and the scientific community – information that’s being given to us not only for our information but for our protection – is wrong.  And not only is it wrong, but we are living in a political, social, and economic conspiracy meant to control us; forcing us to do everything that goes against our very nature.

And who is trying to control us, you ask?  Well, don’t be stupid Ron Bowers!  Science is controlling us, you fool (the fool being me, Ron Bowers).  You (meaning me) worked in government most of your adult life.  You (meaning me) should know this already. 

This morning’s edition of my daily dose of disinformation came in the form of a cartoon.  Stay with me, folks.  I must set the stage……  Two people standing at a chain link fence.  The person outside the fence is wearing a mask, and that person’s dialogue bubble says something to the effect that “I’m wearing this mask to protect you from me possibly giving you Covid-19”.  The person inside the chain link fence responds, “And I’m building this fence to protect myself against mosquitoes”. 

The obvious inference here is that masks do not protect us against the spread of Covid-19.  In spite of all the Public Service announcements; in spite of all the media attention given to this issue on the effectiveness of masks in preventing the spread of Covid-19; in spite of, and in the face of all scientific and medical logic…….  Need I go on? 

We live in a very strange world, my friends, where millions of people BELIEVE that a higher power, in one form or another, and for one reason or another, is better able to protect us against a novel coronavirus – meaning it’s brand new and we’re learning as we go – that we know very little about; and about which we are learning as we go. 

Guess what?  Who knew?  Science is magic!

Yes, folks, science is magic.  If you want something to be true, all you have to do is “wish it so” and magically, your wish will come true.  Doctors, scientists, and vaccine providers are idiots, and what they say is useless. 

To get to the truth, we must listen to the taxi drivers, or the corner store business folks whose businesses are being affected by this pandemic.  We must listen to the bar owners and the restaurant owners whose revenues are down.  And we must listen to those of us who are having trouble getting day care for our kids, or those of us who miss our parents and grandparents.  Forget medicine and science.  We must alter our daily life schedules, and this damn pandemic has us all shagged up.  We must bend the science to make it fit into our daily lives. 

The solution is easy.  Let us all believe in magic.  That science and medicine stuff has us all off kilter. 

Magically, if we spin enough bs and tell ourselves enough lies, we can convince ourselves that masks do not prevent the spread of Covid-19.  I almost fell off my chair this morning reading the comments about masks being unhealthy because of the amount of carbon dioxide that a mask will force you to breath in.  Good to know!  I will remember that the next time I have open heart surgery where the guy with the knife stands over me for eight or twelve hours with a mask on his face. 

Magically, if we spin enough bs and tell ourselves enough lies, we can convince ourselves that social distancing does not prevent the spread of Covid-19.  After all, we apparently miss being jammed into a bar where we can breathe all that fresh, Covid-19 air.  I mean, who doesn’t like going to a “super-spreader” event?  You haven’t lived until………….

And while we’re at it, let’s all rely on magic when we fail to wash our hands, or practice other basic hygiene. 

My friends, science is not magic, and we all know it. 

Magic did not get us this far with medical advancements where life expectancy has increased by more than ten years since 1950. 

Magic did not provide us with the amazing developments in treating cancer, heart disease, stroke, and a host of other ailments.  Not yet perfect because we still lose way too many loved ones, but certainly much, much better than it has been.

And magic did not provide us with many, many more advanced years where even twenty years ago elderly people died if they had just one chronic condition.  Pharmaceutical research and the development of new therapeutics and medicines allows us to live very productive lives, even if we suffer multiple chronic conditions and diseases. 

This is called science and medical advancement.  Not magic, for crying out loud! 

And ever the political hack, I can’t resist. 

Not only can science not be found in a small room hidden under a staircase, as in a Harry Potter book.  Science cannot be found on the tip of a speech writer’s pen. 

It doesn’t matter if the bs is coming from the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Canada, or the Premiers of Ontario, Newfoundland and/or Alberta.  Politicians are following their own agendas and make policy announcements that suit their own purposes.  Use your heads and think logically here. 

Politicians have political and economic agendas that don’t always fall in line with science, medicine or Public Health agendas.  Just because a politician says it, that does not mean it is gospel. 

As of yesterday (September 16^th) 9,195 souls have died from Covid-19 here in Canada.  The number of deaths in the United States is quickly approaching 200,000. 

Those numbers are out of whack!  Why?

Canada has, for the most part, been following a Public Health agenda in dealing with Covid-19.  Meaning, some shutdown (certainly) with the wearing of masks, social distancing and personal hygiene measures being encouraged, and within reason, being followed by a willing Canadian population.

Need I say a lot about what’s going on in the US?  Some shutdown (certainly) but the wearing of masks became a political, partisan issue.  Some states have followed Public Health guidelines, while other states rushed to reopen quickly, favouring economic recovery that resulted in an increase in the number of Covid-19 deaths.  More than half of the people in the US are following Public Health guidelines, but a solid 43% of the population are whackjobs who follow an orange pumpkin who daily tells his devoted followers that all of this Covid-19 stuff is going to “magically disappear”.  And the greatest sin being committed in the United States is, yes indeed, 43% of the population believe him and are going to vote for him…….. AGAIN!

Logic – and science – tells us simply that our Canadian population is indeed one tenth that of the United States.  If both countries had followed the same scientific, medical and Public Health guidelines and practices, the number of Covid-19 related deaths in the United States would be proportionately ten times greater than that of Canada.  Sadly, that is not the case.  Instead of being ten times greater than those found in Canada, the numbers in the US are twenty times plus greater – more than twice what they should be. 

Different political and economic Canadian and USA agendas have produced different results.  And its not because of the amount of carbon dioxide that Americans are being forced to breathe in, folks.

Use the brains that your God gave you, for the love of all that’s holy.  Wear a mask and help to save lives. 

And stop posting stupid crap on Facebook. 

The Psychology of Political Accommodation

Well, my friends, I have discovered that there are challenges when writing a blog that is very much focused on current political behaviour.
First and foremost, one must practice the art of writing, and one must write with intelligence and clarity, while at the same time using creditable and factual information that is supportive of the argument being made. Anything less and readers won’t take you seriously.
Does that even make sense? Well, not to worry, it makes sense to me, so I’m on the right track.
But that’s not all folks. The trick, I’m finding, is to say enough – with respect – that your readers will think you know what you’re doing and believe what you’re saying, without coming across as a snob who thinks he knows more about every issue than the average Joe.
And that is hard, hard, hard to do my friends. But as usual, I’m digressing into mediocrity, so I’ll attempt to get back on track.
I’m trying to explain to you that, by the very nature of my subject matter today, we have to take a small detour into that mysterious realm known as academia. And with that, I have a couple of small stories to tell – to set the stage, so to speak.
We all know that Facebook, the internet platform that is both a blessing and a curse for all who use it, is an inexplicable and puzzling place. A couple of days ago I re-posted to Facebook something that struck me as being profound, and it went like this:

Who would mock a teenager with Asperger’s?
The same man who mocked a reporter with a disability.
The same man who cheers that children are being housed in cages.
The same man who is fine with mass shootings.
The same man who hates anyone with darker skin.
The same man………

And we’re talking about Donald J. Trump, of course.

Now, I re-posted that because I really feel that Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States, that shining example of humility and humanity – and the recognized leader of the free world of which Canada is a part is, in my opinion, a despicable human being.
Donald J. Trump is a fraudster. Donald J. Trump is a failed businessman, as evidenced by his many bankrupt businesses. He is a known and proven liar.
He is someone who has been named as Co-conspirator # 2 in an indictment by the Southern District of New York for a crime that Michael Cohen (Trump’s long-serving personal attorney and co-conspirator) is presently serving three years in a Federal Penitentiary. If, but for the fact that Trump is the sitting President of the United States, he too would have been indicted for election campaign finance violations (when making hush money payments to two women with whom Trump had had sexual affairs) along with Cohen.
Donald J. Trump has surrounded himself with a criminal element for most of his adult life; most specifically while running for President of the United States in 2016. Trump hired Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Paul Stone and other political operatives – seven of his top campaign workers have been charged criminally and are either in jail, or heading for jail, for election campaign violations.
Donald J. Trump, if you can believe any of the twenty plus women who have publicly claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Trump, is a serial sexual predator.
Donald J. Trump is a classic example of someone who practices nepotism and other unethical business and/or political practices. His daughter and son-in-law both work in Trump’s White House, and his daughter had and continues to gain patents, and owns and operates clothing and textile factories in China while her father and his administration carries out a trade negotiation with that country.
I could go on, but perhaps you get my point. Donald J. Trump is, in the vernacular, an ass who is unfit for public office, let alone the highest office in the land.  But he has somehow stumbled into the Presidency, and he is being protected daily by a once proud Republican Party.
So, when I re-posted the little gem above, I was expressing an opinion that I feel strongly about. And without naming names, I soon got a reaction from my “friends” on Facebook.
The strongest reaction was a positive comment that I received from a “real life” old friend that I really haven’t seen since we were teenagers, but she is someone that I’m happy to have reconnected with. It was encouraging to see, and of course I already knew, that I’m not alone in my poor opinion of Trump.
The other reactions, I’m sad to say, were not as favourable, and I have since removed those comments from my Facebook feed. But it got me to thinking, for the one thousandth time, that we have entered into the land of the bazaar. Trump certainly has his supporters, even here in Canada. Methinks we are witnessing (if we have not already realized) the development of a political cult the likes of which we have not seen in the Western world since the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in the 1920s and 1930s.
How can this be, you ask? At the risk of offending friends far and near, I have to ask “how can anybody who has an IQ two point higher than a toothpick, support someone like Trump?” Well, this is where I ask for your indulgence because there are millions of very intelligent people who support this man.  And here’s why I think they maintain that support.
As many of you know, when I was a much younger man, I studied Political Science; perhaps the most useless Social Science known to man when preparing our youth for the rigors of the real-life work force.  But, much to my amazement, Political Science is a discipline that has somehow served me well because I have discovered that my capacity for BS is boundless. But again, I digress.
During my studies I had the good fortune to have Professor Hugh Whalen as my mentor, and he had a profound effect on my education, and on my understanding of how the political world really worked. The most important lesson learned from Professor Whalen was this – we have always lived, and we continue to live, in a world where the Phycology of Political Accommodation applies. And now, I hope you are asking “what the blazes is that?”
Well, the Psychology of Political Accommodation, in plain English, goes something like this……
When taking political positions in life, people decide early on, for whatever or a variety of reasons, to accommodate themselves to a position, even if that position is questionable. For example, this could be something as simple as “my father was a Liberal/Tory so I’m a Liberal/Tory”. It doesn’t have to make sense, and it certainly requires no intellectual or independent thought, but with this example you should certainly get my point.
So, to continue on… People will hold to this (a) position no matter what, even if things or positions get worse, always thinking that things will get better if only this…… or that… will happen. But as we all know, in politics, things always get worse and that, my friends, is simply the way it is in the world in politics. If things didn’t get worse, in enough peoples’ minds, we would never see a change in government, and democracy as we know it would die. Never the less, the diehards will hold to a position, even past the end.
But having made the accommodation early on, and having supported a political position even when it appears the “wheels are falling off the wagon”, some people feel that its impossible to change positions. So now, a person’s support of a politician or a political position, even when it becomes ridiculous, is not only a defense of that position, but it becomes a defense of their defense of that person or that position.
To condemn what has become an un-defendable political position is to condemn themselves, and to condemn their own judgement, and that’s very hard for any human being to do. When things reach this point, a person will defend a political position come hell or high water.
Of course, this Psychology of Accommodation isn’t restricted to politics. We see the same psychology played out in the workplace, within religious circles, within families, and in every aspect of our daily lives.
And back to Trump. I’ve asked myself how Trump ever got elected in the first place, and that’s the subject for a hundred blogs in and of itself. But for me, the legitimate question now is how in the name of all that’s holy can this man keep the loyalty and support of 43% of the people in the greatest nation on earth? And all while telling an educated and intelligent population that what you see and hear isn’t really what’s happening – and people believe him.
We are witnessing the development of a real, live political cult just south of us my friends. And although this may bore many of you, and you are no doubt saying to yourselves that RJB has lost his mind, I fear that we are already experiencing the spill over effect here in Canada. Given that all things American arrive in Canada eventually, I have to ask – are we next? Will we see something like Trump rise up here?

Winners & Losers

As many of you may have noticed, I’m an avid reader of the National Post. But many of you may not believe that I have three daily newspapers delivered to my house each and every morning. In short, I read the National Post, the Toronto Star and the Hamilton Spectator.

Living in Burlington, Ontario, I’m a stone’s throw away from Hamilton, so the Spectator gives me the best perspective on local news.

Reading the Toronto Star is, at times, like trying to endure a throbbing toothache, because it is so obviously partisan in support of any political party with a “Liberal” tag its (for me) actually painful to read. You never have to worry about objectivity if you are reading the Star though, because there is no objectivity found within its pages.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. The Toronto Star never pretends to be anything other than what it is – and that is a very large cheering section for the Liberal Party of Canada and/or the Liberal Party of Ontario. During the 14 years of Liberal Government here in Ontario from 2004-2018, the Toronto Star cheered and unapologetically supported ever increasing yearly budget deficits, a ballooning Ontario provincial debt, any and all social, financial and political positions put forth by the Ontario Liberals, and scandal after scandal committed by elected and appointed Liberal officials alike.

This all works for the Toronto Star, because without question it has achieved more than a modest measure of success. The Star is Canada’s “largest circulation” newspaper, and people don’t buy it because of the advertising. If the Star didn’t print, and say, what people wanted to hear, people wouldn’t buy it. So, I give the Star credit where credit is due.

But (for me) reading the Star did become a habit while I was in the political mix. It is a habit that’s hard to kick though, because I always find it helpful to know what “the other guy” is thinking and saying.

Now, I understand that many in my small social circle consider the National Post to be Canada’s “Conservative” newspaper, and that I’m an idiot for subscribing. To an extent I agree, but never the less feel compelled to at least offer up a small defense of the Post as being a newspaper of some substance.

For those of you who take the time to read the Post, you will discover that this publication offers up a visceral critique of all political parties, including the Conservative Party of Canada, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, the United Conservative Party of Alberta, and any other so-called Conservative party in Canada, while certainly offering up no apologies for being a smaller ‘c” conservative-leaning publication.

In very few words, I find that I get the closest thing one can get to an honest assessment of what’s really going on when I read the Post. Plus, it has the added advantage of being a national newspaper. Not perfect by any means, but like all things in life, what’s perfect? Well, I suppose if you believe Donald Trump, his conversation with the President of Ukraine was perfect, but again I digress………

Now, all of the above is an awkward way of saying that I had a very bad cold this week, and with little else to do besides read my newspapers, watch CNN, MSNBC and our very own poor Canadian excuses for cable news channels, I kept going back to the Post to read the post mortem on our Federal Election (no pun intended).

Like the National Post, I have concluded that there were very few winners as a result of our election. In fact, we came very close to finding ourselves in a situation where just about everybody and every political entity lost. And here’s the logic – if I can call it that!

Technically, we all know that the Liberals won a minority victory, while receiving some 240,000 fewer votes than did the Conservatives, who will again for the Official Opposition in Parliament.

But we Canadians, and especially Ontario Canadians, are a hardy lot. Most of us, with me included, have spent the past three years hating and critiquing Donald Trump (and all things Republican south of our border) while we questioned the legitimacy of the 2016 US Election.

Trump, as you no doubt recall, received some three (3) million fewer votes than did his opponent, Hillary Clinton. How could this be, we asked? How could any fair-minded person, living in a democracy, accept such an outcome? Well, we now know the answer to that question. Such an outcome is fair if you live in Ontario or Atlantic Canada, but still unfair if you live in the USA, or, God forbid, in Western Canada or Quebec.

Here are the numbers, and we all know numbers don’t lie.

In 2015, the Liberals received 39.47% of the popular vote, and they won 184 seats. Preliminary results for 2019 show that the Liberals received 33.1% of the vote and 157 seats. While technically a win, and a minority victory, 33.1% of the vote (where only one out of every three people who bothered to vote actually voted for the winning party) cannot be considered a political victory in any sense of the term. And in terms of promoting the national interests, the Liberals failed to win even a single seat anywhere between Winnipeg and Vancouver. And even the most hardened among us will concede that Western Canada still holds the keys to our economic success as a country.

Well now, how about the Conservatives you will no doubt ask? Yep, they are a bunch of losers too. While getting 34.4% of the popular vote, they managed to win only 121 seats. They made no progress or inroads into Southern Ontario (Toronto and or the Greater Toronto Area, or as we political nerds like to call it, the 416 and the 905) where elections in Canada are won and lost. And its mostly because they fought an election campaign that gave progressive voters in this key area of the country little comfort that progressive values (which have importantly and increasingly become Canadian values) would be honoured and protected. Andrew Scheer simply screwed the pooch on this one folks.

Unless and until the Conservative Party of Canada joins the rest of us and recognizes that Ontario voters consider themselves to be “Progressive”, in that they overwhelmingly support progressive social policy positions such as a woman’s right to choose, LGBTQ rights and other social policy positions, the CPC will continue to poll in the mid-30% range. And you can’t form a government if you can’t poll above that level of support. So, the Conservatives, in spite of showing some political gains, simply lost an election that they should have won.

And how about the NDP? Jagmett Singh was dancing around his election headquarters on election night as if he had won the lottery. But take a look at the numbers. Again…… in 2011, Jack Layton’s NDP got 30.6% of the popular vote, and won 103 seats. But in 2015, Tom Mulcair’s NDP won just 19.7% of the popular vote and only 44 seats, which under normal circumstances in Canadian politics is a bonanza for the NDP. But our friend Jagmett in 2019? 15.9% of the vote, and down to 24 seats. Need I draw you a graph?

And the poor Greens? How did they fare? Well, they did manage to get 6.5% of the popular vote, but they managed to win only 3 seats. This is a dismal political outcome for a political party that was running (or at least we thought) neck and neck with the NDP throughout the campaign, and this will surely once again call into question Elizabeth May’s leadership.

And if I say the Greens are poor, we can only describe the Bloc Quebecois as being vote poor, but seat rich. The BQ won just 7.5% of the “national popular” vote, but 32 seats. They showed, yet again, that if you promote a political party in the best interests of a particular province, you can produce amazing results.

So, why not do the same (yet again) in Western Canada. We’ve been down that road a couple of times already, with the whole Reform experiment, which morphed into the Canadian Alliance experiment, which further morphed into the Conservative Party of Canada experiment, which as we now know can only muster up less than 35% of the national popular vote, and no chance what so ever of forming a National Government.

Yes, my friends, we’ve all lost.

We have returned a minority government that ignored ethics guidelines and violated the rule of law in its first term. But the Liberals are now isolated to vote/seat rich Ontario and Atlantic Canada. Not a win by any stretch of the imagination.

We gave a very luke warm reward to a Conservative Party that refuses to embrace 21st Century Canadian values, but will convince itself that because they made (what they will argue) substantial gains, Canadians are about to embrace “conservative” values in the next election. I’m of the opinion that if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll always end up with what you have. 35% of the popular vote is what the CPC has, and it will never get them there! Sooner or later the Conservatives will have to accept that 65% of the country describes itself as being “Progressive”. Do the math! And develop the policy positions necessary to become something more than the Official Opposition.

Look at the NDP math, and if things keep going the way they have gone in the past 8 years, the NDP will be in Green territory very soon.

Perhaps the only real winner in this election is Jody Wilson Raybould, who proved that you can stand on principal and win, even if it is a lonely road to travel. I was hoping that Jody would be joined by Jane Philpott, but that was not to be. More to come, however, on Jody and Jane. A topic for another day.

WHAT WAS THAT?

I admit that I’ve been sitting on the proverbial fence for some time now with respect to this blog thingy that I’ve been experimenting with.

On one side of the fence I’ve been thinking that, like most people, I feel I’ve got a lot to say and my opinions matter. Social media platforms are sitting right there for the world to use, for better or worse, and it’s a legitimate exercise in a democratic country that protects and defends free speech to make use of those platforms, as long as we do so in a respectful way.

On the other side of the fence is my partisan work history as a (mostly) Progressive Conservative organizer, a Conservative Party of Canada organizer (and believe me, there was and is a world of difference) and as a political staffer for both those parties over the years. How would anybody ever take me seriously, in spite of my expressed mostly-progressive values and positions, while carrying around such a “conservative” resume?

So, for the past several months I’ve been sitting on a fence trying to decide if I would or should keep this blog going. After my initial flurry of “blog activity” this past spring, I decided to “give it a break”.

Why, you might ask? And even if you didn’t ask why, I’m going to tell you anyways.

After the initial publication of about a dozen blog posts, reactions and results were mixed. My readership numbers were decent, and the reactions I received were about 50/50 pro and/or con.

Some readers liked my positions and opinions, while others condemned and attacked on a partisan basis, claiming my partisan conservative history made it impossible for me to critique a federal Liberal government on a non-partisan basis. But most stinging of all perhaps, were comments from former colleagues with whom I had worked over the years, attacking me on a personal and professional level.  Let me tell you, my friends, putting yourself out there with a blog is not an easy exercise. In fact, it was more than a little humbling.  But I would encourage each and every one of you to do the same.  It may be a little humbling, but I’ve decided it’s liberating as well.

So…. as usual I digress, and as you all know, brevity has never been my strong suit.  But as I was saying, I thought it best to reassess, take a look at what I was doing, and try to figure out if there was a better way to move forward.

So, you may again ask, what happened to make me once again be tempted to put fingers to keyboard? And yep, you’re right. Even if you didn’t ask, I’m going to tell you anyways.

And the answer is……. Monday’s Federal Election, of course.

I woke up yesterday morning and asked myself (like most Canadians who have an IQ two points higher than a toothpick) WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? Well, whatever “that” was, it was and is worthy of thought, comment, praise and ridicule. I mean, after results like that, who among us can say, with a straight face, that our country is strong and headed in the right direction?

How in the name of all that’s holy did Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada manage to pull that one of and get themselves re-elected with a very strong minority (if there is such a thing) where only one in five Canadians who were eligible to vote actually voted Liberal? And please, don’t argue stats with me. Early estimates are that we had about a 60% voter turnout all across the country. Of that voter turnout, the Liberals managed 33% of the popular vote. Do the math, please!

Well folks, I’ve been around federal, provincial and municipal politics and elections in a serious way since 1979, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like this.

So, I’ve concluded that the political state of our country is something worth writing about, and I leave it up to you, the reader, if you want to hear (read) my take on this mess we find ourselves in.

During and immediately before Monday’s vote, I was thinking, and very much of the opinion, that the Liberals would most likely pull of a minority victory. As you may already know, historically in Canada is it extremely unlikely that a majority government is defeated after its first term.

Did the Liberals get it all right? No, of course they didn’t. In fact, if you take an honest look at the Liberal record since they were elected four years ago, you have to admit that, as a whole, they didn’t do a bad job.  But…….

Justin Trudeau stumbled his way through two ethics violations – his now infamous Christmas vacation on the Agi Khan’s private island, and his handling of the whole SNC Lavalin saga

He claimed to be a feminist, but the minute two strong women challenged what they considered to be unethical and illegal behaviour he tufted both out of the Liberal Party

He proved to be a bit of a fake environmentalist, using two airplanes during the election campaign. On top of that, his government banned west coast tanker traffic while purchasing a pipeline, while at the same time importing Saudi oil on tankers for our east coast refineries.  Why no east coast ban?  Votes, of course.

In 2015 he promised balanced budgets within his first term, and all we’ve seen so far are ballooning deficits. He promised cooperation with the provinces, and then unilaterally imposed a carbon tax. He promised electoral reform, and actually took a look at that issue before abandoning the whole project, leaving us with this mess. And need I remind you of his Indian photo shoot?

And then there was the revelation during the election that there were at least three instances where our Prime Minister was photographed with “brown face” or “black face”; the latest when he was a very adolescent 29 years of age? Funny how most rational people would consider a 29 year old teacher to be “an adult”, but there you have it.  We Canadians are a forgiving lot.

Those of you who did read my blogs this past spring will know that I’m no Justin Trudeau fan. But I have to tell you that I’m honestly not an Andrew Scheer fan, nor am I a Jagmett Singh fan, or an Elizabeth May fan. And I’m certainly no fan of the Bloc Quebecois. I’ve concluded that all deserve our collective wrath, and whatever follows from this keyboard will reflect that sentiment.  So, let’s get at it.  I’m feeling generous, and I promise to treat them all with the scorn they deserve.

Please bear with me as I stumble forward. More to come, for sure.

Seeking New Identities Online

I would love to rage today. I would love to claim victory on behalf of Jody Wilson-Raybould, our former Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and the woman I have come to admire greatly. I am very much tempted to wax poetic on her behalf, and heap praise on the content of her submission to the House of Commons Committee on Justice and Ethics, but I am going to save all that for another day…… or two.

As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold……

Although I have nothing in the way of revenge to deliver here, Jody Wilson-Raybould does. The release of Wilson-Raybould’s recording of her 17-minute chat with Michael Wernick (our outgoing Clerk of the Privy Council and Justin Trudeau’s de facto Deputy Minister) late yesterday (Friday) has shocked our National Capital to the point where politicians and public servants alike are numb, and mostly dumb.

Its going to take a couple of days for our Prime Minister to get his jaw muscles working again to the point where he can come up with a totally different dialogue about why he had to move Jody Wilson-Raybould out of the Justice/Attorney General portfolio. I can’t wait to hear the new Liberal spin. Whatever comes tumbling out of Trudeau’s mouth, I’m sure it will be Trump-like in its attempt to humiliate and de-humanize Wilson-Raybould, for that’s all the PM has left here. Either go full-out attack and remove her from the Liberal caucus or admit complete fault in the handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair.

But alas, its Saturday and therefore the weekend. And as is becoming my custom, I like to use my weekend space for reflection on whatever political, social and/or economic tidbit that hits my fancy.

I will put aside my need to rage at the injustice suffered by our former Minister of Justice, and console myself, for the next couple of days at least, in the knowledge that even little boy Prime Ministers can suffer through and experience righteous justice when he is caught spewing outright lies about our former Minister of Justice to the people (you and me) he is sworn to serve and protect. Too much? Oh well……..

So, taking a breath here. Took my meds a couple of hours ago, and the coffee (Nespresso, by the way, and OMG>>>>>>) tastes fine.

I almost burnt my hands trying to pick up a copy of today’s Toronto Star, because well, you guessed it, I mostly support “the other guys” and the Star is not happy that their hero Trudeau got caught in the ultimate lie. So, today I couldn’t stomach the Liberal spin that the Toronto Star was providing the Liberal Party of Canada free of charge. Instead, I had to be content with reading my copy of the more often safe National Post.

In today’s edition of the National Post, and again you probably guessed correctly, I started at the Issues and Ideas section. There, in bold print, I found a full page spread titled “This May Be How the West Might Be Lost”. Ummmm. Interesting stuff, maybe? Could they be talking about Trump?

Alrighty then.

Matt Gurney, a columnist for the National Post, happened to be in Calgary earlier this week, where he attended a lecture given by Anne Applebaum. Applebaum is a writer of numerous history books which focus heavily on Eastern and Central Europe. In addition to being a writer of some note, she is also an American journalist who holds duel American/Polish citizenship. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, she has written extensively about Marxism-Leninism and the development of civil “western democratic societies” in Central and Eastern Europe.

Applebaum is also a visiting Professor of Practice at the London School of Economics, where she runs a think tank called Arena, a project that focuses on the study of propaganda and disinformation. She has also been an editor at The Economist and the Spectator, and a member of the editorial board of the Washington Post from 2002-2006.

I will allow that some of you may take exception to and with Applebaum’s politics, because she is decidedly a supporter of moderate conservative political movements – in political parlance, a supporter of the middle-right. But Ann Coulter (that right-wing lunatic Trump supporter who appears on Fox News regularly) she is not. And say what you want, this lady Anne Applebaum is no dummy. I am happy to say that, in my view, she is a writer of some importance who “calls it like it is”. I have followed Applebaum’s career and came to admire her accomplishments, as well as her observations, over the years.

During her lecture at the University of Calgary this week, Applebaum expressed her concern that the Western World is losing its sense of unity, “of shared task and purpose among the many nations that make up the Western bloc, but also (losing) a belief in the very things that defined the West – democracy, the rule of law, and pluralism”. And not to go all academic outlaw on you here, but pluralism in this context is defined as a system of government with traditional political parties.

This sense of lose – and the lack of respect for democratic institutions – is playing itself out in the United States right now, goes the argument. And because we Canadians are really 80% American in our thinking, this lack of respect for our Canadian democratic institutions is evident in Canada as well. Public opinion surveys in the US, Canada and Western Europe – all champions of liberal multi-party democracy – have shown that younger generations who define themselves as millennials are much less likely than their parents are to say that living in a democracy is essential. Applebaum concludes that “this is the decline in support for, and belief in and admiration for, democracy”.

How did we get here, meaning to the point where our children and our children’s children no longer share our faith in the rule of law and our political democratic institutions? Obviously, I’m speaking for “we older folks” here, but never the less, this is a legitimate question. And, of course, I’m inclined to give you Applebaum’s opinion, which I just happen to agree with.

There are many, many global happenings that Applebaum cites that shows and supports our collective faith in Western democratic systems – a prime example is the fall of that evil empire, the Soviet Union.

So, in regards to the collapse of the Soviet Union, we have a score of Western democracy 1 – Soviet Communism 0. We win!

But she also shows prime examples that have encouraged a collective lack of faith in the system. For example, we have the disastrous results of the Iraq War and the 2008 Financial Crisis, both periods of real alarm that certainly weakened our faith in Western institutions.

In this case, we have International events controlling our lives 2 – Western institutions 0. We loose!

There is an unspoken collective agreement in Western societies that the world has become too global, too quickly. And that scares people.  We have world events, international economics, free trade agreements among allies and traditional foes alike, and mass immigration into Western democracies (really meaning ‘coloured’ immigration) and because all of this is happening much too fast, and information flow is instant, like “right now”, democratic institutions are no longer in control.

But more and more, because of advances in technology, and our use of social media, more and more people are shaping their own views of what’s happening in our cities and towns, in our countries of birth, and around the world. Technology and social media provide an astonishing amount of information delivered at lightspeed “over the now utterly ubiquitous smartphone”.

It has become outright impossible to bluff your way through any argument now a days, because the minute a person starts to bluff – or BS – their way through an argument, all one must do is pull out the cell phone and hit Google. Well, my friends, there is your answer, right on the internet. And, of course, if its on the internet, it must be true. It really doesn’t matter what the government of your country is saying, or what traditional media outlets are saying, because here it is, right on the internet.

Now, dear readers, to go what is a full circle, at least in my head, please understand that Donald Trump has 60 million followers on Twitter. Trump does not use Facebook or Instagram, because he doesn’t have to. Trump has the means to deliver an unlimited number of messages to 60 million people a day, and none of it is filtered through what most of us would be considered traditional democratic institutions, which would include the media.

Traditional government and private sector institutions, and the media, are now simply bypassed at best, or ignored at worst. The result is the same though. At the end of the day, traditional democratic institutions and traditional media are overwhelmed by technology and by the sheer “amount” of information coming at an individual, or groups of individuals, on a regular basis.

Applebaum contends that western democracies are going to have to start thinking about how to regulate the internet. “How do we make the internet conducive to liberal democracy,” she asks. “The Chinese have made their internet conducive to authoritarianism. What’s our answer to that? And are we going to leave it to Mark Zuckerberg to decide everything, to figure out what gets censored and what those rules should be?”

But in the end, Applebaum is worried that what we are really fighting here is the passage of time. We are all getting older, and as Matt Gurney describes Applebaum’s thoughts, “as time passes, we are increasingly removed from the victories and shared needs that once united the Western democracies. Our recent track record is littered with costly failures. Even in Eastern Europe, we now have a full generation of adults who have no living memories of the horrors and failures of communism”.

In the American context, these are the people Trump is speaking to in the United States, my friends. His messages are mixed, but direct.

NATO? Who needs it. None of our allies are paying their fair share of NATO costs, and the US wins all the wars anyway. Let’s kill NATO. We don’t need it.

Immigration? The United States may be a country of immigrants, but that was then, and this is now. We don’t need to fix immigration, we need to stop it. If things keep going the way they are going now, in 20 years our white population will be in the minority, and that we cannot allow to happen.  We don’t have to fix immigration; we need to stop it.  Now.  And to stop it, we need to build a wall.

ObamaCare? We have to kill it, because we cannot allow ourselves to become a Socialist country. We’ll figure out health care, in due time, sometime before the next election in 2020.  But health care isn’t the important issue here.  The important issue is stopping the spread of socialism.

See what I mean? If we were living in a place where traditional democratic institutions were working, this crap wouldn’t be possible.

Applebaum is sounding the alarm. But are we listening?

Today, I Hang My Head in Shame

Today, I hang my head in complete and utter shame.

My Prime Minister, who in 2015 promised Canadians that indigenous reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations people would be moved to the top of this country’s and the new government’s agenda, has shamed me in every possible way.

On Wednesday of this week, while attending a $1,500 a plate Liberal fundraiser at the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto, a female member of the Grassy Narrows First Nation, which just happens to be a well-known norther Ontario community suffering the long-term impacts of mercury poisoning, was forcibly removed from the room after unfurling a protest banner.

While being escorted from the room by a number of security personnel, but holding tight to her banner, the lady in question began to shout about Grassy Narrows, the mercury poisoning that has been an ongoing health hazard in her community since the 1960s (yes, folks, since the 1960s) all the time asking why the Federal Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario were dragging their collective feet while people were still being poisoned.

So, you must be asking, why should anybody, including myself, be shamed by this simple act of defiance?

Well, first and foremost, this little act of protest and our Prime Minister’s disproportionate response has clearly revealed where Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party of Canada and the Government of Canada have collectively placed the whole issue of indigenous reconciliation. It is now clear, even to the most cynical of political observers, that reconciliation is no longer a top priority of the Trudeau government.

And further, we now have a clear understanding of where the Federal Government has placed the issue of clean and healthy drinking water for Grassy Narrows in particular, and safe drinking water on First Nations Reserves in general. Just a guess here folks, but I’m thinking this issue is no longer at the top of the agenda.

The bare details are necessary here if we are to understand the depth of this problem/issue.

As with most First Nations issues in Ontario, things are complicated, as they say in government while trying to pass the buck from one jurisdiction to the other.

There is little doubt the Federal Government bears a direct responsibility to our First Nations, primarily due to Canada’s treaty obligations with the different indigenous communities. But as with most things in Canada, provincial jurisdiction does play a significant role as well. In this case, as with all cases where safe and healthy drinking water become the issue, the Province of Ontario is responsible for natural resources; meaning a direct responsibility for the water in Grassy Narrows and other First Nations communities throughout the Province.

Grassy Narrows has been suffering from mercury poisoning in the community water supply for almost 60 years now. Sometime during the 1960s, a pulp and paper mill was built upstream of the community. Since the construction of that mill, thousands of pounds of effluent have been dumped into the English-Wabigoon river system.

Somehow, someway, the company owning the pulp and paper mills managed to clean up its systems (for the most part) by the 1980s, but as is the case with so many environmental happenings, the damage was already done.

So, here we are, in 2019, and we are at a Liberal Fundraiser at the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto. And a lone, female and indigenous protester is being escorted from the house. But why was she there in the first place?

Well, she was there because Ottawa has been promising the construction of a medical facility for years now, but not just any old medical facility. Ottawa has been promising a facility specifically meant to address mercury poisoning. But, again, you guessed it. The whole project is behind schedule.

In November of 2018, then Minister of Indigenous Services Jane Philpott announced that Ottawa would provide $170,000 to fund a feasibility study for a long-term treatment centre in Grassy Narrows. Philpott also promised a treatment centre in the Wabaseemoong, or Whitedog, First Nation that has had similar mercury poisonings.

These treatment centres were meant to begin construction last year, but to date, nothing has happened.

Members of the Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations have shown that they have uncommonly high levels of mercury in their blood systems, mostly from eating fish coming from the above-mentioned river systems. Mercury is carried in fish, particularly in whitefish such as walleye, and it “bioaccumulates” – meaning it is passed from one generation to the next through childbirth. As a result, it is nearly impossible to get rid of the mercury from the body.

Sufferers of mercury poisoning have been known to have learning disabilities, blindness issues, difficulties with balance, and many other ailments. The estimated cost of the centre in question is $17 million, but due to the long-term effects of the mercury in the communities in question, residents are calling on Ottawa to provide long term funding over a 30 year period, to the tune of roughly $88 million. And the request is that the long-term funding be put in a trust, so that future governments wouldn’t be able to renege on funding commitments. Given the Federal Governments track record with respect to First Nations funding issues, this is surely a reasonable request.

So, here we are again….. at the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto, at a $1,500 per plate Liberal Fundraiser, where Toronto’s “Who’s Who” is assembled paying tribute to the Liberal Party Leader. Our heroine unfurls her banner and tries to say her piece. She is quickly man-handled and is being escorted out of the room.

The assembled Liberal donors – the elite of the Liberal Party of Canada by the way – are the richest of the rich Liberals. Those who donate $1,500 a year to the Party are granted a membership in the Laurier Club, and in Liberal circles that is considered “exalted” status.

So, as our heroine is being escorted from the room, our Prime Minister, in the most sarcastic voice manageable, says to the young lady “THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR DONATION TONIGHT. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT”. At Trudeau’s pronouncement, the assembled Liberal elite applaud and cheer, some even attempting to start a standing ovation.  Well, we now know what elite Liberals think of indigenous protest.

Enough said!

Now, some of you will no doubt argue that a Liberal fundraiser is not the proper venue to protest anything, much less a First Nation’s environmental drinking water issue. That is a legitimate position and it is certainly worthy as an opinion.

I, on the other hand, would argue that if you want, as a protester, to get someone’s attention, a political party fundraiser (no matter the political strip) is exactly the venue that you need for effective protest. In my many past political lives I have both orchestrated and been the victim of “the protest” at fundraisers and political conventions. In this setting, you are not only striking at the actors who are responsible in government, but you are getting the attention of those large donors and “movers and shakers” who make election campaigns possible. Politically speaking and thinking, there is no better venue if you are trying to garner attention.

This young lady paid her $1,500 to gain access to the event, and she had as much right to be there as did the Chair of one of the many Canadian banks who were in attendance. And we do live in a democracy. She has a right to her opinions, and she has a right to express herself in a peaceful way, which she was trying to do.

She deserves our respect and at least our qualified support.  It took a great deal of courage to do what she did.  And she was peaceful in her attempt to say what she came to say.

What she did not deserve was the sarcastic and very disrespectful comments from Justin Trudeau, nor did she deserve the misguided applause from the Liberal elite as she was being escorted from the room.

And she certainly does not deserve to live on a reserve in Northern Ontario that has been serving up poisoned water for almost 60 years now.

I am ashamed of my Prime Minister’s actions regarding this event. I am ashamed that those of you who are active in, and supportive of, the Liberal Party of Canada behaved in such a manner. I am ashamed that others who are involved in the political process in other political parties often behave in a similar fashion when confronted with protestors at political events. Politics is, after all, a safe forum for debate and the exchange of ideas, and last I heard even those who proudly carry First Nations status are allowed to participate in the political process in Canada.

Most of all, however, I am ashamed to say that I live in a country where the great majority of our First Nations citizens live without the benefit of safe drinking water. And we have two levels of government who obviously couldn’t, and don’t, give a hoot.

But…. Nobody Broke The Law

Today, my friends, I am in a foul mood.

I was flipping channels last night, as I often do these days while watching a hockey game, and I happened to land on CNN’s Chris Cuomo’s show. Cuomo is, of course, a member of that famous Democratic family from the State of New York, but he also happens to be a lawyer, a former prosecutor and a well-known media personality both on radio and television. And you may also know that he appears four nights a week in the 9pm timeslot on CNN, immediately following Anderson Cooper’s show.

During my ADHD inspired channel flipping last night, I just happened to “land” on Cuomo’s interview with one of Donald Trump’s many “personal attorneys”. This guy was saying, of course, that Trump broke no laws in his dealings with the Russians before, during or after the Presidential Election of 2016. And Cuomo was going nuts, as he often does, which provides for great political entertainment.

So, says the lawyer, Trump is completely vindicated and its now time for the country (meaning the United States) to move on. Mueller has reported to the Attorney General of the United States that he (Mueller) could not find enough evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Trump was guilty of collusion or cooperating with a foreign power during the election campaign. As a result, Trump could not be charged because there was no reasonable expectation of a conviction. However, Mueller did detail at least two ways in which Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election in Trump’s favour. So….. there was Russian interference on Trump’s behalf during the election – Mueller just couldn’t prove Russian/Trump cooperation, beyond a reasonable doubt.

On the question of whether Trump was guilty of obstruction of justice, the Attorney General William Barr said, “no conclusion was reached within the Special counsel, saying that while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him”. What must we confer from this?

Well, says Trump’s lawyer, none of this matters, because the President wasn’t charged with a crime, and without charges, no laws were broken, and if no laws were broken, we’re all good, right? Let’s move on folks. Nothing to see here.

Sound familiar?

Well, to me, it sounds all too familiar. It also makes me question what some people have come to embrace as acceptable and proper political behaviour both here at home in Canada and in the United States.

The Canadian question – Regarding the SNC-Lavalin scandal, are we to accept that because no laws were broken by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his senior staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, or senior officials in the Privy Council Office or the Department of Justice, that all of the political and business behaviour surrounding this saga was, and still is, acceptable?

The American question – Regarding Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s possible involvement with a foreign power to influence the 2016 Presidential election, are we to assume that because no laws were broken by Trump himself that all the political and business behaviour surrounding this saga was, and still is, acceptable? Never mind that seven of Trump’s senior campaign officials are either in jail or heading to jail because of their crimes which were clearly committed during, and because of their involvement in, the election in question.

The big question for me, with respect to both the questionable political and business activities in Canada and the United States is simply this – Is the new moral and ethical standard for political behaviour the same as it is for the legal standard? If you don’t get caught, and you are not charged with a crime, is it now OK to practice unethical and underhanded political behaviour?

According to Trump’s lawyer the answer is yes. We should now accept that if you are never charged and/or convicted of a felony offence in the United States, any and all political and business practices are golden, including Trump’s.

Using this logic, Trump’s lawyer would argue the same on Trudeau’s behalf. No laws were broken during the SNC saga; therefore, all behaviours are acceptable. Never mind that two senior Ministers have resigned in protest of the Government of Canada’s interference in the judicial system; never mind that Gerry Butts, the PMs best friend and Principal Secretary, resigned while swearing he did nothing wrong; never mind that Michael Wernick, the Clerk of the Privy Council and Canada’s most senior Civil Servant resigned while swearing he did nothing wrong either. Trudeau’s political practices, and his government’s acceptance of SNC’s business practices are golden, because no laws were broken. Or so would Trump’s lawyer argue on Trudeau’s behalf.

Has this become the new standard for acceptable political behaviour here in Canada and the United States?

Using this standard, it becomes acceptable political behaviour for every elected politician in both countries to lie to the electorate on every issue and policy put forward. If lying isn’t against the law, and a politician can’t be charged with breaking a law for lying, are we to accept that this is OK?

And oh, by the way, spending limits during election campaigns are now “out the window”, if we don’t get caught, of course. Because now, a candidate for office can overspend to his heart’s content, and if he doesn’t get caught no laws were broken, right? And if no laws were broken, it’s now time to just move on, because there’s nothing to see here, folks.

And how about on a personal level? Using this new political standard for everyday behaviour, would child abuse and/or spousal abuse become acceptable behaviour, because if we don’t get caught, no laws were broken? And if no laws were broken, we’re golden?

I know this is a completely ludicrous argument, and I could go on here, but I will refrain. However, I’m hoping you get my point, which is this……..

We have a criminal and civil justice system in the Western World, and we do assuredly live by a set of written rules. And the rules are simple. We are expected to live within the guidelines set out by those legal rules, and if we break the rules, we are punished. We have a system of Federal, Provincial, State and/or municipal police forces in place to ensure the peace, and we have a host of prosecutors ready, willing and able to bring each and every one of us to justice if we break the law.

But in Western democracies we also have elected politicians to whom we give our trust; and we have always held our politicians to a higher moral standard, and rightly so. We have an unwritten social contract with those politicians, and that contract goes something like this.

We, the electorate, pay our taxes, and in return you, the politicians who run the show, are given an enormous amount of power over the people you govern. And because we, the electorate, give you this power, you, the politician, will live your life by the same rules as the rest of us, but with a higher moral purpose than the average Joe. You, the politician, are not above the law, but to whom much is given, much is expected…………….. and so on.

You, the politician, will not lie to me, the voter. You will not steal from me, the voter. You will always protect my best interests. You will treat me fairly and with respect, no matter the place I live, the religion I practice, the colour of my skin, my income level, my sexual orientation, and so on. But above all else, you are an elected representative that I have elected to represent and protect my interests, and because of that, I expect bigger and better things from you.

I expect you, the politician, to tell me the full story. When you don’t tell me the full story, we have a free press/media in place, and the media also has an obligation to the people. If politicians won’t tell the full story, it’s the media’s job to tell that story. Very much like politicians, the media has a social contract with you and me.

Up until now, our crazy system has, for the most part, worked. Politicians, to whom we give our trust, make the rules, and we call those rules “the law”. Our judicial system which includes our police services and our Court systems, enforce those laws. The media has always played an important role by informing you and I of what’s going on within government and out. And you and I go about our business, felling secure in our lives and believing in the system as best we can. We live in a democracy, and in democracies governments inform the people.

But now, in Canada and the United States, we have two Government leaders who are telling us that the rules have changed. We are being told that we must accept the new political reality.

If no laws were broken, and nobody has been charged and/or convicted, it’s now acceptable to behave however you want. If you don’t like it, just suck it up.

Is this our new political standard of behaviour?

I don’t know about you folks, but I’m still in that foul mood. I don’t know this morning if I should be thankful to Chris Cuomo for planting this question in my head. But thankful or not, it has given me a lot to ponder.

But the power surrounding this issue/topic is not found in the question my friends. The real power will be found in the answers that you and I provide. Will we collectively say, “no way”, we will not accept this new reality? Or will this become just another “shoulder shrug”, meaning let’s move on. Nothing to see here folks………