The Debates…Pt 2

 

So Galagher – what was missing from the Canadian Debate that was present in the American one?

In a word… ‘PASSION’

All 10 American Debaters conveyed it in spades  – their eyes flashed and their words pierced.

And that is why I am committed to watching more of them.

But when it comes to running a country, there is something needed even more than ‘Passion’ and that is ‘Vision’. It is too early to judge the Yankee contenders on this important aspect because their process is just beginning, but that does not apply here in Canada. Our three main leaders have been in place long enough to have established their credentials in that regard and sadly, from my perspective they have failed to do so.

The only Republican candidate that so far has shown any ‘vision’ is the indomitable ‘Donald’.  He wants to restore America to its past greatness and while in most cases this would be seen as toothless rhetoric – the fact remains that after 8 years of the little guy in the White House the US of A has sunk so far down in the world’s esteem that its enemies no longer fear it and its allies no longer trust it.

You will recall that Ronald Reagan made a similar promise in replacing the anaemic ‘Jimmy’ the peanut farmer Carter.

I still do not support the Trumper… unless it comes down to him and Hilary but he has fundamentally changed the dynamics of the US campaign.  Instead of platitudes – candidates are talking issues, instead of obfuscation candidates are speaking more plainly and more candidly.

Since the debate, Trump’s approval numbers have risen even more and while I do not foresee this continuing, I do appreciate the positive effect a – passionate / visionary can bring to invigorate the process.

Too bad we here in Canada do not have a Donald Trump to ignite the same sort of enthusiasm.

Rather, we have Young Trudeau speak about the need for inclusion while at the same time he closes the door on candidates who favour pro life.

And Mulcair, who in the debate talks about the Eastern Pipeline as a ‘win win’ and then a day later at his book signing says it will never happen under the NDP. Cynical or what?

While sour, dour Harper campaigns on the hustings but won’t let the great unwashed attend his events – they are open to card carrying Tories only.  Unbelievable.

And whatever they offer up is presented without the tiniest bit of passion.

I remember as a teenager attending an election ‘train stop’ of the late Rt. Hon John Diefenbaker in Campbellford Ontario in an election herre he promoted the vision about opening up the north – but his speech that day was about a prison escape in Quebec, by an underworld character named Rivard.  He escaped while allowed out of his cell to flood the prison rink in above freezing temperatures.  The passion with which olde Dief delivered his speech was spell-binding and one day I hope do a blog on that most memorable event.

But I digress.

So permit me to give you some possible scenarios for our three bland leaders to use to where they could show some vision.  (As for passion, that cannot be manufactured)

In the case of Young Trudeau, lets use his pledge to help the middle class:

‘If elected, my Party and I will focus our policies on helping the hardworking middle class.  We will do this since a strong, healthy, vibrant middle class is essential for society to properly function.

Once elected then, you can expect from our Government, provisions for ample and affordable day care; substantial income tax deductions for the middle wage earners, free university tuition to ensure that all their children who are academically able to do so, receive the education they and our society needs… etc.etc.’

You or I may agree /disagree with such an approach but at least it is visionary and you know going in where Trudeau and the Libs stand.  Many would I believe readily go for this.

And then Mulcair with his occupation with all things Green. Here is what he could say:

‘We at the New Democratic Party will invest in green energy and in so doing will eliminate all fossil fuels’.

Global warming is all around us and if we do not act quickly our planet will be destroyed… we cannot afford to be complacent’.

Again visional.  The voter knows exactly where the Dippers stand and why.

And now Harper:

‘We are at war with Islamic Terrorists and if elected, we Conservatives will greatly ramp up our efforts, on a War Footing, to defeat these Barbarians – at home and abroad.  

We will work with NATO to provide whatever and all assistance we can including bringing our Military Budget to 2% of GDP in line with NATO’s guidelines.

We will also make it a crime for residents of Canada to express, in any fashion, sympathy for Islamic Terrorists.  Call it a restriction of their freedoms if you will but Islamic animals are chopping of heads, burning and burying victims alive including young children and babies.

To assist our economy in winning this war on terror, oil and gas pipelines will be constructed on an urgent and priority basis with environmental requirements placed on hold, until the war is won”.

That dear reader is vision and is leadership from the front not from the rear as we have consistently experienced over the years.

It tells the voter exactly what the priority(s) of each of our main parties is and scraps the usual mishmash that tries to appeal to everyone and gains little or nothing.

Sadly, these visions cannot be said with passion – I fear the current lot is just not capable of that.

But that said, nor are they likely to all of a sudden be endued with vision.

But one can hope.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

AS IN THE DEBATES … OR TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, AS IN THE CANADIAN DEBATE.

This past Thursday, saw the first two debates concerning this fall’s Canadian Election in October and the US Election in November.  In the case of the American Election I am speaking of course of their Presidential Election coming in November of 2016.

In our Debate – The Canadian one that is – it contained three serious candidates which, if polls are accurate, are each within reach of each other – that is to say they are all in the 30% range.

There is Young Trudeau of the Liberal Party who looked nervous (his hands were moving every which way but loose, then there was Tom Mulcair who held a frozen smile throughout which reminded viewers of the proverbial village idiot, and finally there was current Prime Minister Stephen Harper who appeared his usual dour self.

All and all it was one boring event.

The only person to spice things up – a bit, was the leader of the 4th Party – the Greens – Lizzie May who showed a bit of get up and go but has as much chance of scoring big in the coming election as does a snowball in you know where.

Now a few disclaimers. I only watched the first half of this debate since I wanted to watch the Republican Debate in its entirety which came on an hour into our own.

Second, I found the debate in large measure a bore – not just because the candidates were boring – which they were – but also because I live in Ottawa and follow politics here on a day to day basis – hence I know the issues and have more or less memorized the positions of the major candidates.

Given this, I have resolved not to watch anymore of our own debates – even partially.

The only thing which would cause me to reconsider is if something came out of left field that might adversely or positively affect a campaign.  Let me give you a possible example:

Say, for instance, that Tom Mulcair of the New Democratic Party was caught in a rub and tug massage parlour as was his predecessor Jack Layton.  Then I would want to see in the next debate how he squirmed out of that one.

That said, I do believe debates are useful for the majority of Canadians since they do not have the time nor the inkling to follow things as closely as I do.

But I feel for them, especially after watching the Republican contenders in action.

They were head and shoulders above our own and they had something that was entirely lacking from the Canadian scene.

More on that in my next Blog.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

WHAT THE HELL IS …

 

GOING ON?

I start my day by reading two or three newspapers and am always shocked by some of the things I read.

This morning was no different – indeed, if anything, it was even more bizarre.

For instance, the once solid conservative paper – the Sun – contains in its lead editorial a demand that Green Party Leader – Elizabeth May should be allowed to appear in future Leaders’ Debates in regard to Canada’s upcoming Election this October.

The woman’s party has but 2 members and is far from the legal party status number of 12.

That said, from my perspective, she out performed the other 3 leaders in Thursday debate so good on her – but it does not mean she has any given right to attendance – win 10 more seats and get a spot in future elections fairly.

And the Right Reverend Gretta Vosper – United Church Minister in Scarborough Ontario who believes neither in God nor the Bible.  Quite the career choice taken by this dear woman.

Then there is the chap who tried to sell a sack of dirty socks to a couple claiming it to be marijuana.  The couple complained to police and the sock pedlar now faces up to 7.5 years in the slammer.

Had the deal gone through – the young couple would have been the beneficiaries since a bag of dirty socks would not harm their health…unless they breathed in too much.

And then you have NDP leader Mulcair – not widely known outside of Quebec pledging to avoid future English debates unless Stephen Harper is present.

Is the guy nuts?  Such debates would give him the needed exposure and he would be assured of Harper not upstaging him.

It makes me question whether he is ready for prime time.

And now back to the Sun.

Candace Malcolm, in her column on Conservatives and new Canadians makes the following assertion:

“All over the world, conservative parties are pitting native citizens against immigrants..”

No they are not – their concern is against the flood of illegal immigrants coming into the countries – what the left in America neutrally call ‘the undocumented’.

Countries need to be able to control their borders.

And now a few from the National Post:

Duceppe is quoted as saying that he is ‘irked that Quebec Sovereignty was raised in this week’s debate without him’.

First you have to wonder why separation is even being discussed in these election debates since the issue is about a flat as you know what on a tin plate.

But the real howler is the fact that a guy whose stated intention is to breakup Canada is allowed to even join the upcoming French debate.

And then there is Robyn Urback’s column which leads with a picture of Young Trudeau standing in front of a nearly bare breasted woman (she is wearing pasties) and the Young lad seems to be having the time of his life.

Permit me to quote Ms. Urback this is “nothing but good news for the Liberals: they come off as progressive and egalitarian, while their critics appear out of touch and curmudgeonly spooked by a couple of nipples”.

Interestingly enough the columnist did not say she herself would soon be dancing around sans top since it seems to me that she would think that the ‘progressive and egalitarian’ thing to do.

I know that this may not distress some or even many – so call me ‘out of touch’ since I see no Pride in all of this nor do I see any pride in this for  politicians who aspire to the top post of our land.

But the article that really set me off and that led to this morning’s blog was the one about Corrections Canada’s ban on inmates watching porn.

You heard it right – inmates were watching at the Archambault Federal Penitentiary just north of Montreal.

The hard done cons appealed to Federal Court Justice Jocelyn Gagne and the ban was over-turned.

Pass the popcorn…..Unbelievable !!!

It is enough to make me give up reading.

Anyway I will keep blogging and my next one(s) will deal with Thursday’s past Canadian and American Debates.

Sadly, as I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

Where Have All The Flowers Gone …

 

Long Time Passing.

My apologies to Peter, Paul and Mary.

And, anyway, there are still lots of flowers.

But not so with gas stations… especially in the near north Ontario !

This past weekend we stayed at my brother’s cottage in the Haliburtons and I first realized the crisis when we drove to Coboconk, the closest village to his property.

No gas station – this despite the fact that this area – at this time of the year – is teeming with cottagers and tourists.  Indeed the local Independent is open 24 hours a day – 7 days a week.

But of course it does not sell gas … maybe it should.  You will also find there a large Home Hardware and a Rona.

But not one gas station.

According to my brother, not that many years back there were 6 stations in total – all apparently doing okay.

But their tanks got old and to replace them, they had to adhere to new Environmental Regs of the Province, that were, and are, prohibitive for small dealers.

To compound the problem – there are numerous such villages surrounding Coboconk and they too are all sans stations.

When we left my brother’s place we travelled cross country through Bancroft - one of the few cities in the region-  and when we started out had a little over a quarter of a tank of gas.  Bancroft is some 60 miles from Coboconk !

By luck, on route to Bancroft, we came upon a gas station that had recently opened.  It was owned by a husband and wife team and the wife told me that they were barely scraping by and feared that they would be forced to abandon their new venture.

He husband had been forced to take outside work since there was not enough business to support them both at the station.

They had really old pumps and old storage tanks and she said they needed to upgrade but the Environmental Regs made that financially impossible.  (she also mentioned that their hydro costs were out of sight)

I told her about our experience in Coboconk and she nodded understandingly.

And one must keep in mind that the gas station owners get but pennies per gallon whereas the Oil Companies and Government reap in $ billions.

No wonder they cannot compete.

But we are talking about the lunacy of Ontario’s Environmental Demands but those demands do not stop with small town gas stations they also pertain to the following:

• saw mills closed for creating pollution …that is to say ‘sawdust’;
• cheese factories closed for creating pollution …that is to say ‘whey’;
• farmers not allowed to butcher their own animals and provide it to free to family;
• property owners having their lands deemed to be environmental protection (aka confiscation) without compensation. 

As Paul Newman famously said in Cool Hand Luke … “what we have here is a failure to communicate” just as he was about to be killed.

To me, our failure in communication stems from the fact that Queens Park runs the Province of Ontario as if we all live in the City of Toronto.

Maybe we should consider separating..

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

GASEX…

 

We Canadians suffer collectively from the irregularities associated with Gas … More to the point – its unaccountable high cost.

And as with the over priced cost of Hydro in Ontario – we consumers roll over and ask those who are sticking it to us to rub our collective bellies.

The price of Gas has halved in price from a year ago and yet the price we are paying at the pump is down a mere fraction.

And for those of you who believe that you may be escaping the effect of this because you do not drive …think again.

Everything you consume is brought to you by trucks and they use gas and that cost is passed along to you the consumer whether or not you own a car. Indeed statistics show that the average Transport Truck gets barely 6 miles to the gallon.

To rub salt into the wound is the fact that Canada is an Oil and Gas producing nation and as such we should be realizing a dividend in the form of cheaper gas.

In Saudi Arabia, for instance, another oil producing country, gas costs but 13 cents a litre while we pay over a dollar per litre more here in Canada.

And not only that – of the cost per litre, 40% is consumed by Federal and Provincial taxes – and part of those taxes include taxes on taxes.  Would it not be timely for those 2 levels of government to reduce their take?

And, what is so frightening in all of this is the fact that the cost of Gas for Canadians is only going to go up especially if either the Liberals or the New Democratic Party wins the October 19th Federal Election.

First of all, both Parties are opposed to pipelines and both Parties are in favour of hair-brained cap and trade type schemes. And up goes the price.

The hoped for Eastern Pipeline would spare central and eastern Canada from having to import expensive oil from OPEC Nations, many of which use our own money to fund international terrorism.

So thank you Messrs. Mulcair and Trudeau.

And for those of you who do not like Harper for the cut of his suit or part of his hair I would be interested in knowing how you could possible defend voting for either the NDP or for the Liberals when they both support such destructive policies.

So even if the price of oil per barrel does not increase in the near term – the cost at the pumps here in Canada will continue to climb.

And the day will come when Oil and Gas does increase world wide and our prices at the pump will then sky rocket.

And please remember, the rise in gas prices also translates in higher cost for your fruits and vegetables.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Political Attack Ads…

 

Whether or not they work, I do not like them and believe that only parties that are bankrupt of ideas, stoop to us them.

Yes, I am speaking of the Conservative Party of Canada under the leadership of Stephen Harper.

The trouble I have is that this same team is the best of the lot – despite their use of negativity.

Tom Mulcair and the Dippers want to return door to door mail-delivery when then is very little mail to deliver in the age of electronic communications.

He is opposed to Free Trade Deals despite the fact that it lifts the economies of all parties who sign such agreements.

He is opposed to using our military oversees to fight such bad guys as ISIS – you know, the ones that cut people’s heads off and bury little children.  Imagine how the military will fair with Commander Mulcair at the head.

He is opposed to Pipelines despite the fact that much of our economy is based on our oil and gas industry and despite the fact that Provinces, like his own home province of Quebec, depend to a great extent on transfer payments which originate from oil and gas sales.

As much as Harper’s child care funding has been criticized it is interesting to note both the Dippers and the Liberals will keep it in place place.  Indeed the Liberals will double it and the NDP will add to it $15 dollar per day day care using the Quebec model which been a financial nightmare for them as well as an abject failure.

As for Trudeau of the Grits, lets just say he puts his foot in his mouth nearly every time he speaks off the cuff.

On the cusp of an Election Call expected this weekend – we find Canada nominated by the international Reputation Institute as the most envied country in the world.

And for most of Harper’s tenure, Canada led the G-7 in economic performance.

Our debt to GDP is at its lowest level in years and credit agencies are unanimous in stating that we are in a very favoured position compared to most other nations.

This year has also seen the Federal Budget balanced in more than 10 years.  Which too is a great accomplishment despite Young Trudeau’s declaration that ‘budgets balance themselves’.

There are things I do not like about Harper’s approach - over and above his reliance on mean-spirited ads.  In fact, I did a Blog not too long ago which highlighted a number of things that I would do if I were in his place.

But for me, it comes down to supporting the best of the bunch even if it means holding one’s nose to do it. 

I do not know which party will win come October 19th, nor do I know whether it will be a majority.  or a minority victory. Anyone predicting this early in the piece one way or the other is simply fooling themselves.

I do know, if Harper is unsuccessful, Canada will pay a dear price for his failure.

Whether you like the guy or not, he is far and away the best of the lot.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

IT’s Right Down The Centre …

 

The Umpire Calls Strike Three and,

Patrick Brown, recently elected Leader of the Progressive Party of Ontario, meekly walks back to the Tory Dugout.

What did Patty do now?

He was quoted over the weekend saying that during his leadership he would not open either the issue of abortion or gay marriage.

This from the guy who promised once and for all to do politics differently.

And this from the guy who attended the recent Gay non-Pride Parade.

So much for doing politics differently.

Lets take a look at the issue of abortion first:

The left will tell you that this matter has been decided by the Supreme Court of Canada.

It has not.

The Court, in 1988, kicked the olde law back to Parliament with instructions that it be clarified. (Even this left wing establishment recognized the need for legislation in this important humanitarian area).

Parliament though refused to act and continues to do so and thus Canada, along with such notables as China and North Korea, have open season on the unborn right up and including the time of birth.

Talk about inhumane.

Now in regard to same sex marriage, once again the Supremes worked their will and decided that same sex marriage was a right protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  To hell with history dating back hundreds and hundreds of years.

Decisions such as this, should be a societal decision either by way of referendum or via their elected representatives.

With a minority government – Harper and company made a half hearted attempt at legislation to make it clear that Marriage was a union between a man and a woman.  They naturally lost the vote and … quickly moved on and did not raise the issue again despite the fact that for the last 4 years they have enjoyed majority status.

So today we find ourselves with two very important issues dramatically affecting society that neither it nor its representatives have had any say in.

Pathetic.

And along comes Paddy who promises to deal differently with politics.

And how does he begin  - he attends the Toronto Gay Pride Parade where a bunch of show boats prance around half naked … in their underwear.

And then he turns his back on two of the most important issues facing society which society has had no say in.

He would rather dedicate his time to more important issues such as imposing stiff restrictions on harmless e-cigarettes.

What a guy.

What is most sad in all of this is that Brown may very well prove to be an successful politician but he will never be able to say his success came from doing politics differently.

He is just like all the rest.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’