EDWARD SNOWDEN …

 

Hero or Traitor ?

You either fit into one of two camps – there is no middle ground and very little ‘I don’t know’.

As for me, he is very much a Hero; and this from a law and order guy.

But what is surprising is that this issue crosses liberal and conservative lines.  Many of Obama’s biggest cheerleaders on the Left feel totally betrayed by Snowden’s revelation that Big Brother America is spying on their tweets, emails and phone calls while a good number on the Right are equally turned offed.

The question that remains outstanding though is when do security measures go too far in their encroachment of our freedoms?

When do we tell the airport security folks to stop checking the elderly’s pacemakers and the infants’ diapers all the while electronically strip searching the rest of us … all in a bid to uncover radical Muslims?

Why do we paralyze our border crossings with useless delays?

And why does the US believe it is necessary to spy on all of our electronic communications with the same objective in mind?

Their supporters parrot back “if you have nothing to hide, then you should have no objection to being monitored”.

It has a certain logic but it misses the point entirely.

In a free and open society citizens have the right to carry on their day to day activities without having to worry about someone looking over their shoulders.

If someone is…we no longer have a free and open society.  Full stop.

And until Snowden enlightened us with his recent disclosures we thought such espionage was restricted to police states such a China and Russia.

Yes dear reader – we owe him a great debt of thanks.

My question in all of this is what has gotten into the once great United States of America?

They are engaging in activities they once railed against.

A parallel example can be seen in the case of waterboarding.  To his credit Obama has discontinued this method of torture but it was prevalent during the time of George W Bush’s Presidency and many look back in fondness of its effectiveness. 

Again the Walter Mittys’ of this world seem to favour this type of torture and even torture in general because it “saves lives”.

Again a true statement but do we lower ourselves to the level of evil regardless of how noble the objective?

Either we in the West stand for Freedom and Liberty and Humaneness or we do not.  There is no middle ground. And as for those who say we need to jettison our freedoms for safety – let me assure them – once we jettison the former, we will never enjoy the latter, despite their best wishes.

But of even greater importance, we will no longer be Free and it appears to me that that is exactly where we are all headed and it is scary.

As I see it..

‘K.D. Galagher’

It Defies Belief…

 

As in Stephen Harper’s continued assertion that he knew nothing of his Chief of Staff’s gift of $90k to Senator Mike Duffy.

In my Blogs of May 21 and 22 of this year, I recap why I thought it highly unlikely that Stephen Harper was telling the truth about not knowing of Nigel Wright’s gift to Mike Duffy.

I ended though by saying that he should be given the benefit of the doubt unless new facts came out that would prove otherwise and in such a case, dear Mr. Harper would be “toast”.

Sadly, this is exactly what has transpired as recent reports seem to suggest that virtually everyone in Harper’s own office – including his lawyer – knew of the gift in advance.  It defies credibility now to suggest that Harper did not know.

In short, it is obvious to me now that he lied to the Canadian people and as such the only honourable thing for him to do is to resign.

Will he?

Not likely, but that does not mean he should not. The main thing leaders have is their credibility and when that is discarded, all respect for the office goes with it.

I hope both McGuinty & Wynne are listening.

And it is all so sad since it did not need to happen over a petty falsifying of the books by one little thief.

If you will recall, poor old tricky Dick Nixon fell on his sword in similar circumstances.  History tells us that he did not know of the bungled Watergate burglary but he too got caught in the cover-up. 

All tricky Dick needed to do was to report those at fault and he would have been in the clear.  His failure to do so made him the first President in US history to resign.  

In Harper’s case, he obviously should have told the Duffster to get lost and told Wright to keep his cheque book closed. 

Failing to do that, he should have come clean and said he knew what was transpiring and quickly apologize for his stupidity.

At the very least, he should have kept his mouth shut and let the cops do their investigation.

His failure to do any of the above and then do the worst thing possible – claim he was always in the dark with respect to the Wright – Duffy loan meant that he lied and for that he must too fall on his sword and make way for someone else to take over the reigns of power.

It was all so needless but regardless of how one loses his or her credibility - once lost, it is almost impossible to reclaim especially in cases of leadership.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

And Speaking of Oxymorons…

 

Here is another one for you -

Democrat Kathleen Wynne

She just called 5 by-elections on less than a month’s notice – in the summer – at the beginning of the busiest holiday weekend of the year.

Do you suppose she did this because:

a) they are all Grit Ridings and as such a quick election call would hinder the other parties from organizing?  or,

b) a summer election – especially one tied to a busy holiday weekend would encourage a smaller turnout in the knowledge that bigger turnouts often signal a protest vote?  or,

c)  the teachers are off for the summer and thus available to work on the Grit Campaigns?  or,

d) all of the above.

If you chose (d) you get full marks.

No one though can accuse Dear Ms. Wynne of being a slow learner.

She has watched her previous master shut down the Ontario Legislature to allow their Liberal Party time to elect a new leader …the one and only Kathleen Wynne.

Moreover, the same Dalton McGuinty just recently called a snap Nomination Meeting in his riding, with under a week’s notice, to ensure victory for his long time aide John Fraser.

No democracy for these folks …it is just too messy and of course dangerous.

What we need is a Tahrir style occupation by the beleaguered taxpayers / voters of Queen’s Park since I believe it will take such an event to shock some of these politicians back to reality.

We have the worst government in Canadian History – except possibly for the Duplessis years in Quebec - and Wynne and McGuinty continue to carry on business as if we are all just dummies there to do their bidding.

It’s pathetic and if the stakes were not so high, it would all be quite comical.

But the stakes are high as our once great province continues to sink lower into have-not status.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Today’s Example of an Oxymoron

 

Answer – The Democratic Military Coup in Egypt which knocked out democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi.

With thousands upon thousands in Cairo’s Tahrir Square protesting the Morsi Government, the military acted to take him out.

This is indeed good news.

How so?

When Morsi was elected, I along with many others predicted that he was merely a front for the Muslim Brotherhood and he would use his time as President to entrench Muslim Rule on all of Egypt.

As if to script – that is exactly what he did but this did not go down well with moderate Muslims and non-Muslims alike.  They were not going to let their hard fought efforts to secure democracy for Egypt die so easily.

And the military … to its credit, sided with the just and pure.

One could and quite rightly raise the concern that the military will just once again install one of its generals at the helm, as it did in the case of Morsi’s predecessor Hosni Mubarak.  But I don’t think this is in the cards.

There is a genuine well spring of support in Egypt and I believe the Arab Spring is truly coming to fruition.

As far as Arabia goes, Egypt is the linch pin.  It is by far the most populated and influential and if it can settle on the road to freedom, there is indeed hope for the rest.

We will keep our fingers crossed but this is the best news to come out of the Middle East in years.

As I see it…

‘K. D. Galagher’

Lack of Sunshine in Ottawa…

 

As in Sunshine List and not the absence of Sun …though that too is missing most days.

Former Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber, had his Bill to disclose the salaries of highly paid bureaucrats gutted recently by his then conservative colleagues on orders from on high (a.k.a the PMO).

His ‘Bill’ would have required the Fed’s to publish an Annual Sunshine List similar to the one in effect in the Province of Ontario.  All those earning $188,000 would be centred out but due to the intervention of the pantywaists from the PMO this already too high ceiling was upped even further to nearly $450k.

Let the light shine in…

Rathgeber did what I consider to be the honourable thing and that was to resign from the Tory Caucus.

In so doing he had this to say:

“I joined the Reform / conservative movements because I thought we were somehow different, a band of Ottawa outsiders riding into town to clean the place up, promoting open government and accountability. I barely recognize ourselves, and worse, I fear that we have morphed into what we once mocked”.

Strong words and yet, for me, so true.

Like Rathgaber, I too joined the Reform Party in the hope that it would return honour, integrity and civility to government.  That unlike the other parties, Reform would stand for the wishes of the grass roots.  In previous Blogs I have recounted how this Hope was soon dashed.  The top reformers came down with the Ottawa sickness quicker than one could say transparency and open government.

Rathgaber’s resignation was not a one event reaction though:  it came about after the disclosure of numerous petty scandals and a concerted effort to control the Tory Backbench.

Commentators speak of Harper using this summer to “reset the dial” and point to a likely cabinet shuffle to see that happen.

Although a shuffle is most likely to happen – it  will not reset any dials.

The only reset button that exists can be found in Stephen Harper’s mind. 

Unless he resets himself – nothing is going to change in the lead-up to the next election.

He and he alone needs to return to those heady days when the Reform Party was first formed – the excitement that existed that for once their supporters and via them, the voter himself would finally be listened to.

Will he do it Galagher?

Can a leopard change its spots?

I personally think he can indeed do it and for the sake of our country I am hoping and praying that he does.  I would not be prepared to bet the family farm on it though.

That is not to say that the Harper Government has been a total failure like the one in Ontario – it has accomplished a number of important things – especially in the area of foreign affairs – for the first time since the War our country stands for honour and integrity which is all the more noticeable when compared to the embarrassment of the little guy in the White House.

At home, for the first time in decades, we Canadians are taking pride in learning and hearing about our history – a history which pound for pound is as interesting and as dynamic as our neighbour’s to the south.

So let’s collectively hold our breath and hope when Parliament resumes in the Fall, it will be a renewed and committed Prime Minister at the helm.

Thanks to Alberta M.P. Brent Rathgeber it has a much better chance of happening.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

BIGGER IS BETTER !!

It is one of those sayings that does not invite challenge.

In that sense, it is similar to the sentence in Robert Frost’s Poem the Mending Wall: Good Fences Make Good Neighbours.

And yet, when we lived in Toronto in the late 1980s – everyone had a fence, but no one knew their neighbour.

Moving next to Prince Edward Island, we found no fences and yet everyone knew their neighbour.

So maybe … just maybe, ‘good fences do not make good neighbours’.

But of course we are not talking about fences – rather today’s topic is Bigger is Better.  As in the need for more immigration.

I just listened an Expert on a local talk show waxing on about Canada’s “desperate need for immigration” because our birth rate is below replacement value.  “We need immigration if we hope to continue to see our population grow” said he.

But Why, I ask myself, do we need to grow a bigger population?  Presumably the day will come when all of earth’s women will not have a sufficient number of babies to sustain population growth.

What then – do we just all shrivel up and die?

The Day’s Expert went on to say that with a growing population we would need more doctors, nurses, engineers and the like.  And he pointed out that this would lead to a need for even more immigration.  The guy was beside himself with delight at the sound of his words.

But for me the reverse of his statement would also be true - with less immigration – i.e. less growth, Canada’s need for more more professionals would lessen.

Would it not?

The Expert went on to state that Canada currently has a critical need for “skilled workers” and again pointed to increased immigration as the magic wand to rectify this deficiency.

But here too I got to thinking; what about our own workforce.  Currently only 60% of working age are employed. Unemployment is especially chronic amongst our young where nearly 15% unemployment is the norm – twice the national figure for all of working age.

So why not make a greater effort to train our own citizens and provide them with the skills our society so desperately needs? They would benefit along with our society.

Fences may indeed not result in better neighbours and Immigration may not result in a better society.

They may well do … but I would be much happier if these …what I term …Rhetorical Assertions … were at least challenged to endeavour to determine the real truth behind them.

As I see it …

“K.D. Galagher’

 

 

 

This Blog Is Not About …

 

The discrepancy between the average public servant’s salary / benefits and those in the private sector – is plus 42% as determined by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. 

Or to be more precise – some $114,100 compared to $47,200.

Nor is this Blog about their taking 18.2 sick days per year – some 2.5 times more than their private sector counterparts.

Rather this Blog is about firings an area where the private sector comes in first …for a change.

Each year, on average, 5 to 10 % of private sector employees are let go for ‘unsatisfactory’ work.  Whereas the rate pertaining to federal government employees is a miniscule .06 %.

This is a ratio of approximately 20:1 assuming the lesser value of 5%.

Wow.

Maybe the public sector just has much better employees?

Or maybe not.

Anyway, the President of Treasury Board recently announced that he was going to address this issue via performance appraisals.

Problem is, it won’t work and not just because performance appraisals have been a mandatory part of the functioning of the civil service for years now.

It won’t work simply because performance reviews do not work in the public sector.

And they do not work simply because there is no incentive for them to work – i.e. unlike the private sector there is no profit motivator.

In the private sector, for an organization to continue to exist, it must be profitable and any who get in the way of that, risk having their jobs terminated.

In the public sector – there is no such discipliner; in fact it takes much work for a manager to build a case against the work challenged. 

So why go to the bother of firing someone if there is no  bottom-line reason to do and much work in the doing.

Precisely and that is why Tony Clement’s initiative is headed to failure in this area.

The Tory Government can huff and puff all it wants but at the end of the day, their will be just as many deadbeats in place as there always were.

In fact the very real danger exists that good employees nearing retirement will volunteer for dismissal just to get a redundancy package.

So what would you do Galagher?

Good question.

Given that the rate in the private sector is between 5 and 10%, I would tell government departments that each year they would have to release 2 to 3 % of their non-performers.  Their decisions would have to be backed up by two to three years’ work of unsatisfactory appraisals (which in government means ‘satisfactory’ appraisals) in order to block good employees from trying to take advantage of the system.

This would represent at least a start to unload those employees who like to coast – they are not the majority by any means but there certainly are at least 2 to 3 % in any given year.

Not only would some deadwood finally get addressed but it would also help morale since it is not easy for those many who work hard in government having to watch - even a few - sit back at their desks and retire in place.

Going back to the rates of pay and benefits – an issue this Blog is not about – I would cut these by 20% across the board to avoid layoffs and to bring this important aspect back into a better balance.

Since Canada spent 43.8 Billion in 2011 on 375,000 employees – including the RCMP and the Military – a 20 % reduction would save the Government nearly $9 Billion per annum – a sum that would go along way in helping to eradicate the deficit while taking some of the pressure off ‘you know who’.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’