Tag: Conservatives

Blunt Objects Blog: Erin O’Toole – the hint is in the name

What is the sound of one hand clapping, Mr. O’Toole?

 Former Veterans Affairs Minister and current Conservative Public Safety critic Erin O’Toole (Durham) wants you to know that Trudeau should respect Canada’s diverse economy, and not champion some sectors and ‘demoralize’ others.

Hey, that’s all well and fine, I just wish the Honourable Mr. O’Toole would relay such sage advice back to his leadership, colleagues, and base of support, who all seem intent on pushing the pipelines through the heads of every other interested party – kind of “championing” the issue, no?

Well, actually O’Toole does the same thing, but that’s only in the House, where no one will see him.

I mean honestly, the HuffPo article is not a bad one, and it is exactly the sort of thing that the Conservatives need to write to reach out to voters like me (well, not like me, because I can see through the bullshit, mostly) – I’m a pipeline guy, I like digging up resources and pumping them every which way, hooray!

However, Mr. O’Toole and the other tools in the Conservative caucus and beyond are hoping people forget their government’s own record, which did not respect the diversified economy and did not respect diverse opinions. They had to have their power threatened in order to pump any stimulus into the economy and save the manufacturing jobs threatened by the Great Recession, and the Harper government and previous provincial Alberta PC governments did not exactly give good examples of diversification, unless your definition of that word is ensuring the Ethical Oil™ goes to market no matter who we have to call terrorists to get it there.

Do not even get me started on this stupid Conservative obsession with Trudeau’s neat little quip about being “resourceful.” They act like the guy declared war on the oil sands, instead of, you know like Mr. O’Toole has said, promoting DIVERSITY in the economy, because diversity means more than just having pipelines up the wazoo.

The Conservatives have a long way to go to seem credible again, and honestly, they need better O’Tooles than this if they’re going to succeed.

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Politics and Entertainment: Is a Referendum the Best Way to Determine an Electoral System?

.Is a Referendum the Best Way to Determine an Electoral System?

Theoretically a referendum may seem like the most obvious and democratic way to determine whether electoral reform is desirable in Canada; but, as we have seen with referendums at the provincial level in BC, PEI, and Ontario, the results almost always render the status quo, not change, largely because of the nature of the choices: the known against the unknowns. That is, first-past-the-post, whether on the referendum ballot or not, is stacked in a binary structure almost always against both a ranked ballot system and proportional representation. There is of course a built in psychological bias for the known in such a situation, and inevitably the unknowns tend to split the alternative vote. Those who want a referendum and favour FPP would seem to be aware of this potential structural deficiency, recognizing that first-past-the-post would inevitably be triumphant either by choice or default.  In this context, then, a referendum is an illusion of democracy.
And so it’s clearly in the interests of those who enjoy a substantial degree of power through first-past-the post to maintain it. In this case, that would be the good old Conservative Party of Canada, who  – let’s be honest – don’t really want a referendum because in fact they really don’t want electoral reform.* Instead, they just don’t want Parliament to consider the issue,** for their real concern is maintaining the power they enjoy through the status quo. Their call for a referendum, in other words, is a mere political ploy, not a genuine gesture in the direction of real democracy; and, sad to say, they’ve sucked in quite a few on the left of the political spectrum.  THE CPC know that were proportional representation, for example, to be established, in many of the ridings where they have won by FPP  – particularly rural ridings – their power would be significantly eroded.***
A referendum offers a second advantage to those who don’t want electoral reform in that it provides a much more straightforward opportunity to lobby if not propagandize against whatever systems are presented as alternatives to FPP by way of various media, editorials,**** op eds, radio talk shows and advertising – a much more difficult task to execute if reform were to be considered through a consultative all-party parliamentary process that would have the sanctioned weight of the representatives Canadians have elected to govern them. It is certainly one of the reasons some want a referendum rather than parliamentary consideration: it allows for substantial direct  “partisanship” spin.
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*Cf. Robin Sears: “The Conservatives are already demanding a referendum on any change to the electoral system, secure in the knowledge that that would mean certain defeat for any reform. Some gullible journalists have defended a referendum as an essential democratic test. What that naively fails to recall, of course, is that there has never been a non-partisan “democratic” referendum. The final choice will inevitably be political and require partisan approval.” 
**Why would they? First-past-the-post is not on the agenda, as the Liberal election platform clearly says: “We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.We will convene an all-party Parliamentary committee to review a wide variety of reforms, such as ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting.This committee will deliver its recommendations to Parliament. Within 18 months of forming government, we will introduce legislation to enact electoral reform.”
***Under FPP, less populated rural ridings carry as much representational weight in parliament as do densely populated urban ridings. Because of that discrepancy, they are really less democratically representational. Both a ranking ballot system and PR in particular would in fact be more representational of all voters in a given riding and thus more democratic.
****This has already begun in rural newspapers and even The Globe and Mail.

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The 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 […]

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Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Former Journo and Former Minister, For Good Reasons

.@KentThornhillMP @PremierBradWall The media isn't quiet on @SaskPowerCCS. @mikemckinnon would you care to fill in the former Minister? — John Klein (@JohnKleinRegina) December 7, 2015 In the @SaskPowerCCS control room. Some stuff happening, presumably. pic.twitter.com/XKNaXbceN3 — Mike McKinnon (@mikemckinnon) December 7, 2015 One of my fondest memories in politics is when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau […]

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The 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 […]

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