In a semi-surprising move Britain voted to leave the European Union late last week.There has been endless discussion on how bad this might be for Britain, where thecampaign to remain in the EU went wrong, and what this means for the Union’sfuture (both of them actually). What has received less
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The Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: The Srsly Wrong Debate Club: Reflections
A self-deprecating take on the club’s purpose For a while now I’ve been a member of the Srsly WrongDebate Club on Facebook. It was Created by podcastersShawn Vuillez & Aaron Moritz as a place for fun, but also rational, debate. The debate page is an extension ofShawn and Aaron’s podcast which addresses a widerange
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: The Mutually Unintelligibility of Right & Left
Recently a friend of mine on Facebook was asking why conservatives seemed to misunderstand a key aspect ofliberalism. The question was, and is, an interesting one. And it led me back to a field of study I first encountered inuniversity and have run across from time to time since then. Specifically I am referring to the ideas of Jonathan Haidt.He proposed that a lot of the anger generated between liberals and conservatives is because both groups assume thatthere is only one scale for mo […]
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Progressivism & Monarchy
(Originally posted to The Maple Monarchists on November 28th) It is not a secret that, as a general rule, conservatives seem to support monarchy more thanprogressives. While it is true that conservative support for tradition and established authoritymake support for monarchy quite natural what aspect of monarchy makes it such anincomparable ideal for progressives?This question has played in the back of my mind for a while now. I ponder it a […]
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Anime Philosophy: Bakemonogatari (Part 1)
Anime (Japanese animation) is certainly one of my two top forms of entertainment. Partly this is because the animationis simply well done. Partly it is because I find the Japanese style of storytelling enjoyable. But it is also true that there area considerable number of anime that actually get me thinking about issues. American cartoons have rarely elicited thesame reaction. One second you may be enjoying a light-hearted tale about some art students visiting an antique shop &the next a […]
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Single Member-Proportional Vote (SM-PV) Feedback & Public Support
Back in May I came up with an idea for electoral reform. Since then I’ve been seeking input, looking for similarelectoral systems, and trying to judge what the public would think of SM-PV. In all three areas I have had a bit of success.For those who didn’t check out the link above my proposed system keeps most of the FPTP system intact with one keychange: every MP in the House of Commons would have a vote that is stronger or weaker based on their party’s share of the popular vote. The result bei […]
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Random Thoughts: Canadians Abhorring Climate Change Whilst Enjoying Its Benefits?
So it has been another few months of above average temperatures. Focus has been on COP21 and what politicians hopewill be the deal that saves the Earth. Now while a fair amount of ire has been directed at climate change deniers theymay not represent the greatest obstacle to fixing CO2 levels.Consider this scenario: Its December and the average should be 0 degrees Celsius. Now what if the temperature was anice 15 degrees all month. What would be the response from the average Canadian? My mon […]
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Conservatives Announce Their Shadow Cabinet & Critic Roles
The Conservative Party announced its Shadow Cabinet and Critic roles today. Of the various MPs holding Oppositionroles there are six I will be in contact with in the immediate future (by which I mean after Parliament’s website updatesits contact information). Here are the six I have my eye on, their portfolio, and the reason for my interest in them. Hon. Maxime BernierInnovation, Science and Economic Development As I have written about several times I am critical of Canada’s intell […]
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: I Have Joined the Conservative Party of Canada
There are likely to be two reactions to me joining the Conservative Party. For those who see the blog name the reaction islikely to me “Wait, you weren’t already a member of the Conservative Party“. Well, no. While I am a tory (in the ideologicalsense of the word) the Conservative
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Somewhat Late Musings On Election 2015
My internet picks the worst times to stop working. As a result I was without internet for the lead up and aftermath ofelection 2015. But I’m back online and ready to give my thoughts on Monday’s election results. Fundy Royal Goes Liberal I never imagined I’d see the day when the
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Random Thoughts: Directly-Elected Executives Vs. Legislatures?
The US Senate in all its impotent glory. While commenting on one of Warren Kinsella’s older articles(comment has not appeared as of this writing due either toconnection failure or queuing) I pointed out that when acountry has a directly-elected executive the executive tends towin in any disputes it has with the
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: The NDP "is not planning any changes to our current form of the parliamentary system"
It is not often I get to talk about issues related to the monarchy on this blog. I mostly keep that on the other blog I writefor. However the Monarchist League of Canada recently surveyed the main federal parties on their views towards theCanadian Monarchy. One of the answers was
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Random Thoughts: Oddities of the Political Spectrum
I have taken a large number of political quizzes over the years. Some, such as the Political Compass, I come back to fromtime-to-time. I have noticed something unusual: no matter the country political opinion seems to flow along a diagonalline from left-libertarian to right-authoritarian. No country seems to have a
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Pirate Party TV Spot
The Pirate Party recently released its campaign ad. In what is probably a unique strategy in this campaign it attacks noone, ignores superficial fluff, and goes in depth into an aspect of the party platform. In short its a model of what all theparties should have used their ads for
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: The Pirate Party’s Live Blog of the Debate
Not having received an invitation to participate in the Globe Economy Debate (assumably lost in the postal system) thePirate Party of Canada decided to live blog their own answers to the questions asked. The following is the transcripttaken from the party website. Question 1: JobsCanada is facing structural, rather than cyclical change. Do you
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: XKCD 1576: I Could Care Less
XKCD is one of the smartest comics online. Read it. Given how often I’ve been told I sound either condescending or pedantic when I write something I could just as easily beeither person in this comic.
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: People’s Alliance Announces Carleton By-election Candidate
A provincial by-election has been called for the riding of Carleton. The People’s Alliance of New Brunswick has justannounced their candidate. The following is a copy of the press release: The People’s Alliance of New Brunswick announces Deputy Leader RandallLeavitt as candidate for the upcoming Carleton By-election. Leavitt’s background is in
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: ‘GhostVolunteer’ and why its a Bad Idea
I happened upon a Facebook discussion that had ended up on my feed due to a friend commenting on it. The discussionwas on a script called ‘GhostVolunteer‘ that would automatically fill in the volunteer form on the Conservative Partywebsite with random data. The idea being to flood the site with legitimate-looking,
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Pirate Party Platform Spotlight (Part 4):Supporting Local Representation
A common complaint that the electorate has year-after-year is that MPs do not represent them. As party discipline hastightened into a stranglehold it has, in effect, made it impossible for MPs to represent their constituents’ views inParliament. The Pirate Party rejects this model of how a party should be run.
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Pirate Party Platform Spotlight (Part 3): Fairness For Independents
Every election people across Canada seek to be elected as independents. Independents face a number of hurdles notshared by their party-nominated cousins. Obviously, they do not benefit from party brand management and national advertising. Perhaps more unfair is the requirement that all money raised by independent candidates be forfeited toElections
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