Tribute to Jack

Well, it was kind of a shock to have heard the news that Jack has passed away.  I am definitely not a NDP supporter, but I do recognize the contribution that Jack has put into Canadian politics over the years of his career.

My hat was off to him in the 2011 election as he played a clean race and upset in the Liberals as the official opposition.

It was known that he had struggled with his health recently, but it was a little shocking to hear that he stepped down from the leadership of the party so soon after the election and to now have passed away months after that.

Well I hope that the NDP party can carry the momentum that they started with Jack and further define themselves as what they are.

To his family my condolences.

Election Results a month after

Well, I am a little behind on commenting on the election results here in Canada.  We went to the polls on May 2, and as expected on the weeks leading up to the election the Conservatives got their majority, the NDP got an unprecedented number of seats and the Liberals and the Bloc got hammered. Both Ignatieuf and Duceppe lost their seats in the election, which to me was a shock, because typically the leader of the party always gets their seat.  Even May of the Green party got her seat, the only one that they got.

The day after the smear campaign with the liberal media started, by the pundits saying that the 60% of Canadians voted against them, and questioned how they would represent all Canadians.  Then they started in on Jack Layton and how was he going to be able to hold the governing party to account when they had a solid majority of seats.  Well, to this I say is that although the percentage of the popular vote was below 50% they had the largest percentage.  How do you expect to get greater than 50% in a multi-party system?  It is nearly impossible with so many regional differences to contend with.  The people that think that the majority of the work is held in the House of Commons doesn't know how the system works.  Jack will have his voice heard plenty as members of his party will be members of the committees that will help put together the legislation that is voted upon.  That is where most of the work occurs at.

What most surprised me as that my parents voted NDP, which they have typically voted Conservative during my life.  Well, my mother has been all over the spectrum and has abstained from voting a few times because she was mad at the goings on with the election.  But my father was the one that truly surprised me with his declaration.  I shouldn't be too surprised though as the last few years he has been making comments that would support a shift in ideology.  One of the major reasons is that he works for a provincial Crown corporation and will get his pension from that.  He has no other major retirement savings and he needs the Government to take care of him.  He has mentioned in recent years that he would support a provincial PST, which for most Albertans is heresy, and if possible would get him extradited from the province.  But the NDP do provide that social safety net for people that want to be nannied.

I was really impressed with their campaign.  They had a solid platform that was socialist in its ideals.  I don't agree with them, but I recognize them and congratulate the new leader of the opposition.  Now onto four to five years of stability in the federal political landscape here in Canada.

Disenfranchised with the middle?

The most interesting, unusual and unexpected with the upcoming federal election here in Canada is the rise in popularity of the NDP party.  Recent polls here have placed them at 30% of popularity, which is a close second to the Conservative Party, which has 35% popularity rating.  Polls also suggest that they could win around 100 seats, with most of these coming from the Bloc Quebecois, BC.

There are several reasons as to why this shift in politics is occuring.  One reason as to why the exchange of seats is ocuering is that the Quebecers are disenfranchised with the BC, and that they have not achieved anything and people are less concerned with separating from the nation. 

Another option is that when voters look at Ignatief and see that he is floundering and that has no clear direction.  He has ben caught by the different comments that both sides had slung at him with no good responses for them.

Frequently after tough times a nation will elect a socialist government.  This has can be seen after the first World War when the battered Germans elected their socialist party.  After the second World War the British and the Americans elected socialists with the Labour party in the UK and Truman as US President. In our current situation Obama took the leadership in the US and the Labour Party has come to power again in the UK.  There are a lot of people that want the government to take care of them and protect them from their own mistakes.  Some people may feel sorry for the people that are affected negatively by the economic events and want the safety net increased for them.  People seem to forget the masive tax increases and the negative impacts that these parties impose upon their natiion.  We are still paying for the reccession of the '70s.

Another option not discussed either is that Jack who is well spoken, and has a very thorough left of center political platform. The Conservatives are currently the only national right of center party.  The Liberal party is stuck in the middle and this time it is not going well for them.  People either want to be taken care of or they want the government to get out of the way and let the markets sort themselves out.  The liberals do not know how to deal with this as they keep flip flopping on their policies trying to play both sides of the spectrum, and are failing miserably and pleasing neither. 

All of this will make May 2, 2011 a very exciting day and nail biting evening.

Ministers of State

As I was determining what was the scope of the federal government, their constitutional mandate is shown on the federal tab, I came upon a number of ministers that were called Ministers of State.  I had never heard the term Minister of State used in Canada before, let alone there to be mulitiple ministers of state.  After a quick google search I came to find out that the more common term for ministers of state was junior ministers. 

So there you have it, a junior minister is really a minister of state with a specific portfolio.  Their job is to assist the actual minister over that portfolio.

Call to Arms

I have been thinking of starting this blog for some time.  There seems to be so much craziness in politics that I could not stand by any longer without adding my voice to the mix. 

The last straw was some comments by Jack Layton in his campaign trail launch for the 2011 federal election.

"You’re working harder than ever. Your household debt is at an all-time high. Your retirement is less secure. And nothing’s being done for you."

Now to some they have no problem with this, but I have a huge problem with the underlying theme of the comment.  The theme is that according to Jack and the NDP the government should take care of you forever and always and that there is no ownness upon the individual to look after themselves. 

Democracy is a government for the people and by the people, so if nothing is being done for us, then obviously we are not doing anything for ourselves. 

I am all for small government and allow the people to make choices for themselves.  Now there are some times that the government can come in and help and get people back on their feet in unexpected times, but I do not need an nanny state nor do I want one.

Through this blog I will endeavor to look at the three levels of government that affect us, the federal, provincial, and municipal.  Since I live in Calgary Alberta, these will be the specific ones that I will look at, but I will not be wholly limited by them as I write.