Thank the gods the maverick cabinet minister Ambrose has been moved out of the Environment portfolio before her plans had any effect. How she managed to institute her retrograde policies right under the nose of our PM without his knowledge will surely go down in history as one of the greater mysteries. But the important point is, Mr. Harper caught her aberrant behavior in time, and moved decisively to ward of any lasting damage.

looks like the weak spot in the wall has been shored up. bye-bye stephane the fart.

Surely you jest? Rona the Robot has never had an original thought, let alone the ability to institute any retrograde policy changes under the control freaks nose. Rona,"Policy, huh, let me get back to you after I've talked to my exalted leader and he tells me what to say. He says it's the fault of the Liberals. That's what he says, honest!" She does exactly what Harper tells her to do. The environment policy he wrote, and I'd bet on that. He then sends the 'charming' little Robot to deliver the message to the masses. But it blew up in his face. Here at home and on the international stage. Could she have been any more pathetic whining about Canada's previous government and blaming them for everything. The rest of the world was laughing at her, but mostly at us for sending such a dumb ass version of a politician. You have to use that word, politician, loosely when considering Rona.

Sadly, Harper continues to view "us" as dumb and inconsequential to his new vision for Canada. He considers his cabinet in the same way. Once we lazy slackers woke up and let him know that he, his policy and the stepford type woman he sent to the world stage were nothing more than a bad joke that was getting out of hand, he decided to shuffle the sorry sods he has to work with. What a motley crew. Monte Solberg and Diane Finlay. That woman takes nine months to answer a letter. She's going to be really effective in immingration!

It can only get worse looking at the big new saviours being sworn in today. Big blowhard, John Baird? Oh yeah, he's one who's going to inspire. His sreaming in your face and constant mantra of what the Liberals did or did not do was tired last January. The man can't move on so what hope does Canada have? Where is an election when you need one? Can't come fast enough for me.

Harper finally has a member from T.O. - just heard that Rajiv Khan has walked across the floor to the conservatives.
Demonstrating once again how similar the two parties actually are.

I hope Frank noticed

C'mon ...

Environment.... at the Federal level ?

WATER....Fisheries and Oceans Dept. is effectively "the environment" , etc. is it not...Gee they do such a great job...right?

LAND- based.....the Feds run some National parks...isn't the rest simply divided up within each Provincial jurisdiction with (i) a minority of Private Land and (ii) a majority Provincial Crown land...and often most of that is managed under the given Provinces Forestry and/or Parks ministries.

" AIR " ...in my cycncism, I would have to assume there are many laws on the books A-L-R-E-A-D-Y that can be applied to fix/prevent what current environmental concerns there are. "Air" knows no jurisdiction, air = quite transient,air= a global resource, and unless the E-N-T-I-R-E world/planet buys into it...its a waste of time...especially the "smoke and mirrors" Kyoto protocol.

Environmental issues at the Federal level is duplicating what already does exist or should exist at the Provincial and also Local Gov't level...and should be a more Local and de-centralized responsibility.

The legislative pattern has been that once the Feds touch it, it becomes political , draconian, and " off - target" , much like Bill C - 68.

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative minority government has received a boost thanks to the defection of Toronto-area Liberal MP Wajid Khan.

Harper, who repeated his willingness to "reach across party lines to achieve common objectives," said Khan first offered his services as adviser after 17 Muslim terror suspects were arrested in Toronto last June.

"He contacted me directly and offered to help in any way he could," said Harper. "As a Canadian Muslim, with a background in the Pakistani military and an abiding interest in terrorism and security, he brought a lot to the table, so I took him up on his offer.

"The more we worked together, the more both of us began to realize that politically we have an awful lot in common."

He also said the Liberal party is shifting away from the principles of free enterprise, family values and Canada's role in the world that are most important to him.

Asked his opinion of Dion's policy on Afghanistan, Khan replied: "Could you tell me a little bit more about Mr. Dion's foreign policy, because I haven't heard anything from him?"

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Thursday he would not allow Khan, a former fighter pilot in the Pakistani military and Liberal MP for Mississauga-Streetsville since 2004, to continue working for the other side."

Shocking and wrong that Stephane Dion would not allow MPs with expert knowledge to work across party lines in times of war. When there exists a serious issue I would want my MPs to work together. If this is the way Dion works it's not good.

Yea, and Wahid Khan reporting back to Steve about what the Lib cabinet was up to was a good idea ?
He is just another loser immigrant who will be handily defeated in the next election .
His riding is a traditional Liberal one .
Comparing Khan to Stronach is ridiculous .
Another turn coat that doesn't deserve the time of day .
Buh Bye ,Khan .
Johnny blowhard is the last guy that should be an enviornment minister .

Surely you jest realisticman - this has been in the cards since Harper appointed Khan as a 'Special Advisor' on issues relating to the Middle East and South Asia. Stevo is one sleazy pol all right.

You can look it up. The only question is why the Liberals didn't boot him then. You can't expect a man who sits in one caucus to also be a member, in a way, of another.

Khan is not a supporter of same-sex marriage and he loves 'our' mission in Afghanistan. He'll be much happier with pee wee and now he can accompany the PM on his next trip to Kandahar.

It also makes Stephen's hold on the House of Commons just a little bit firmer and creates even more intractable problems for Jack Layton - my view.

That happened - the appointment of Khan as special advisor - on August the 8th of last year.

There has been rampant speculation that Khan would make the formal switch ever since then in conservative circles - it was just a question of picking the most opportune time.

No big mystery and no big deal for anyone - except those who believe Stephen Harper is good for this country. They'll be sucking up to each other like octopi.

G West:

C'mon man...

....the reason the Federal LIEberals didn't boot him (Khan)was most likely for usual patented LIEberal reasons...the usual optics and minorities' status. If it was a person of Caucasian origin...maybe...but the again... who was the last Federal LIEberal ever tossed ?

( If S. Hussein could carry a riding, the LIEberals would welcome him...and knowing the LIEberals maybe they will still consider it).

Possibility now arises of more fractures and more "exposed" fractures in the Federal LIEberal ranks...maybe once the finger is pulled out of the dyke more will follow...all it takes is one, and this is at least TWO after Emerson.

There are other "conservative" LIEberals who may easily bail as well.

Like I have mused before...the LIEberals are followng the same path as the NDP ... its catching up to them ,...and often they are the last ones to realize it.

The LIEberals have always insulted a "Normal" Canadian's intelligence...and now its more and more obvious.

Khans pay off for switching parties-two thirds of five eighths of phuque all which is what he means to either party .
He waited until the shuffle hoping to catch a new posting and it didn't happen .
Yup, the neo-Nazi brain trust just got a lot dumber .
Shuffling the chairs on the Titanic as it sinks to the bottom of the polls .

I see no problem with Khan jumping. I do see a problem with Dion and the fabulously nice Liberals not permitting the inclusion of learned members from their camp becoming involved with the decision makers simply because it's the other camp.

The inclusion of any expert in important discussions should be encouraged. If someone has valuable arcane knowledge that could improve the way the country is run then I don't care what their affiliation. This is, to a degree, an extension of the committee process that has members from all parties. In-party bickering is so tiresome and Dion shows that he wants it to continue!

Were there a serious hostage incident involving Canadians in, say, a foreign country and there happened to be a Bloc Québecois member from that country offering assistance to Foreign Affairs, would we not want that assistance?

i'd like to see you call them neo-nazis publicly hannibal. you'd immediately be exposed as the moronic fool that you must be.

What the phuque is this if it isn't a puiblic forum you fuckin' idiot .

nice to see your true colours hannibal. it may be a public forum if you use your real name. let's see it. first and last.

still waiting hannibal. guess i shouldn't hold my breath eh? easy to talk the talk.

Khan is but another demonstration of many, considered with all the NDPers who have walked over to the Libs, and the Greens until recently led by an old PC, that ALL the current parties to Canadian capitalism, and its ruling class controlled so-called democracy, are all part of a store front charade to hide the essential reality. All the parties of capitalism are more alike than dissimilar. They are all "capitalist parties" of one type or another.

It is the hidden secret of our so-called "democracy", to which ever wider sections of people are FINALLY beginning to twig on. There are no actual alternatives available to the status quo ruling class system, and the electoral process is but part of the fraud.

They are all peas of the same pod. The rest from Elliot, Maestro et al is all just so much yada, yada.

An independent people's power movement is the only real alternative that might hold out the possibility of creating a real democratic alternative to status quo capitalism and its charade democracy.

That's BS maestro. If you actually thought about it you'd realize Khan would have been gone in August if the Liberals had had a leader then.

If you follow any inside conservative commentary you know perfectly well Harpo has been playing this story for maximum impact ever since then. It's no surprise Dion pulled the plug and actually shows for the first time he's got some political smarts.

Personally, the more right wing anti-abortion anti same sez marriage neanderthals who leave a 'liberal' party for their real home on the right wing range the better. Maybe then all the confused Liberals who don't really know what they believe will decide that they've been trying to ride the fence far too long.

should be same 'sex' marriage above, obviously sorry.

I watched the news conference with Harper and Khan this am (just warming up my telly for the game)on Newsworld.

They said that this fellow Khan was a special advisor on the Middle East and South Asian affairs. He is from Pakistan. But when asked about Afghanistan Harper offered that Khan (military experience in Pakistan) had not been to that area, but only to the Middle East. So the reporter asked him about the Middle East. Khan offered that he had been there, and that it is very complicated.
And that was about it.

Boy oh boy,folks, with expertise like that advising our Prime minister I figure that there are quite a few of you who could get a good job down there in Ottawa as special advisors.

maestro said,

No logical thinking person can dispute this statement!

And now the neoConservatives are busy doing exactly the same thing woody.

Let me know when something really changes.

Interesting that both the neos and Libs say Khan hasn't a prayer at retaining the seat.
Probabley going to go to Kennedy,Rae or Findley .
Thanks for freeing up the seat for someone with a brain, Khan.

G West said

Not true, if that was the case, you would substantiate it, rather than simply mentioning it, you’re a very thorough person , you would bring things to the forefront if you could supply some facts.

woooooody
Don't you think the Conservative 'pretense' of a "clean air" act is an insult to your intelligence? I certainly think it is of mine. That's one of the reasons I was so impressed with you when I thought you were voting Green.

I've mentioned the $100/ month gimmee to stay home moms that masquerades as a childcare policy so often I had to write a script for in on my computer. Not too mention what I think is wrong with both parties tax policies and collections of panders to big business and the banks.

I've provided those facts so often I'm suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome woody and I haven't even got to their 'so-called' social justice policy or their failure to address first nations issues.

That enough facts for you my friend.

Did I wish you happy new jeer?

how about htat name now hannibal? talk's cheap chickenshit.

G West asked,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the air here in southern B.C. where I live, therefore for me
it’s a non issue

$100. per month is better than a kick in the ass with a frozen boot, My wife and I raised 3 kids we never got diddle squawk and for the most part we both worked, kids turned out fine.

Justice policy, the government can’t move fast enough for my liking on eliminating “the faint hope bull sh!t clause” implemented by the chicken sh!t criminal loving sympatric Liberals.

In regards to the first nations issue I can’t really comment on , other than the natives in my region are doing very well corporate wise, financially , their social structure is well in place, yes ,I would say the natives in my region are very successful and very nice people.
Now one question, is there a problem with the air in the area where you reside?

Woody, do you expect me to engage in a serious discussion with someone who's just posted a series of personal observations and idle meaningless anecdotes rather than a reasoned discussion of serious issues?

It's not worth my time. You go ahead and vote conservative with the other idiots.

I gave you more credit. Sorry. Won't make the same mistake again - you're lowering yourself to Elliot territory.

I see you're still up to the same nonsense Elliot. Too bad.

I don't have to get personal with you, you show yourself off just fine all on your own.
Back to sports talk.
You've wandered into the deep end again and there's no guard on duty tonight.

g; you accuse everyone who disagrees with you of making 'idle meaningless anecdotes', but i suggest you look back and read your own sometime. you rarely discuss 'meaningful issues' with much clarity, and many of your posts simply are posted to dis me. are you obsessive compulsive?

Hmmm! You mean, Harper and the Cons set up those 17 suckers, just to make a move like this?! Now THAT beats anything Chretien and Martin ever did........!!!

gwest; i've also noticed that by far you spend more time here than anyone else. you may want to think about getting a life.

Nope- sorry El. Do I have to present a few of your choice contributions? Believe me, I can. You never do anything but insult people and try to stir up controversy. How do like it when someone hands it back without resorting to anything but your own pathological musings?

I don't have to do that and I only post your own stuff right back at you - the reason I do it is to point out how facile and pointless your ad hominem attacks on everything you don't happen to like actually are.

Back to sports talk - you're missing the Canucks game. Or don’t you have pay-per-view?

When you show me that you're capable of a serious discussion about anything except sports I'll engage with you.

Until then I'm doing nothing more than advertising your own shortcomings every time I see one of those stupid comments.

Time to grow up.

Not everyone Elliot. Just YOU.

sez El.

Just another one of those personal remarks I was talking about. You make my work very easy.

btw it's 2 - 1 for the Canucks now. Daniel just scored.

I guess you're not a multi-tasker.

West

You say that the Conservatives, "...their failure to address first nations issues."

Maybe they're reading this book written by an Indian who came from poverty and has has succeeded - and has some radical ideas for improving their lives that differs from past, failed, policies'

http://www.spiritorca.com/home.shtml

Be patient. It's only been one year.

P.S. and surely you, along with anyone that wants decent government, likes the Accountability Act? You told us you like the action on Income Trusts.

It's been a very long and disappointing year, realisticman. Harper is an ideologue and I distrust ideologues because they don't often make rational decisions - they make emotional ones and pretend they're doing something else.

Just look at his handling of the casualties coming home from Afghanistan for evidence of what I'm talking about.

I'd like a real Accountability Act. We haven't got one. Harper's recently-disclosed manipulation of the election Act is another example of the kind of thing this guy is up to. I'm not afraid to give Harper credit on Income Trusts and I did that, in spades - it wasn't much and it didn't go as far as it should have - but it was far better than the Liberal policy. But then I'm no Liberal.

I'm familiar with Calvin Helin. He's certainly an inspirational figure and First Nations people definitely need to find solutions to many of their own problems.

I'm more than willing to replace the dependency of the Indian Act with solutions of a more comprehensive nature. But any government that threw out the collaborative efforts of elected native representatives, the provinces and the federal Government in the Kelowna agreement wasn't doing much to 'reach out' to First Nations either.

I think Harper's ideas come from a certain former American academic called Tom Flanagan and not from Calvin Helin. And I've read him quite comprehensively - especially his manipulation of forensic archeology for political purposes. Certainly not the way you gain the trust of the People we stole this land from.

I heard Calvin on the radio the other day and he came across as someone who was just about as dismissive of other peoples' ideas as Stephen Harper is. And I haven’t noticed Harper pushing what this country really needs, in my opinion, which is electoral reform so that we end the winner takes all criminality of First Past the Post elections.

Alas.

And I certainly don't expect anything on the environment from a government that pushes the idea that it's all about balance - It's way too late for that.

Well, I hate to take the usual Tyee posture and shout but Calvin Helin did say that he didn't think Kelowna was any good.

I've always thought that Harper is smart and that was required to gain power but I happen to think that he's somewhat selfless and I'm not scared of him. Election reform is a tough nut to crack and I wouldn't be surprised to see him take a shot at it. Flanagan was listened to but he's (Harper) his own man.

Afghanistan is a very difficult file. We'd have some answering to do were we to just pull out and some say that much good has been done. I will concede that history shows that this is a futile venture.

I don't think that it has been such a bad year. To me the cup is half full, not the opposite.

By the way, Barry's house is at 6275 and I hope to drive by next week when the weather improves. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks for that. I suppose I'll eventually find my old address book. Did you find it written up somewhere? I was thinking the other day - after we had that conversation - that I wondered if somebody had published some of Barry's designs. I'm glad it hasn't been bulldozed. Let me know what you think…it’s been so long since I lived in Vancouver but I’m pleased it’s still there. Most things I loved aren’t any more. Sadly.

I know Helin doesn't like Kelowna. He also thinks that there's nothing democratic about the way decisions are made in many First Nations communities. I grant him the right, as a member of the 'Nation', to hold those opinions. I’m sure Kelowna was far from perfect and I’m absolutely certain that Harper has bought Flanagan’s ideology about Native culture.

I'll only say that given our democratic benchmarks I think it's awfully hard to criticize.

Harper is an ideologue - as I said, such people are often seen as selfless - that certainly doesn't stop him from being rude, disrespectful and dismissive of ideas and lifestyles he thinks are 'wrong' - furthermore, I think he 'is' dangerous if he ever gets a majority because he's convinced his ideas somehow subsume Canada. I've lived and travelled far more in this country than he has and his dismissiveness of people he makes no effort to understand is very frightening.

I think he'll win the election - as I've been saying all year because most Canadians don't understand what he's all about and think he's just another politician. He's not. And we're all going to learn that to our cost.

Stephen Harper is not the only man who loves this country and until he recognizes that he will be a danger to the rest of us who love it in a different way than he does.

He is a 19th century man and he's completely out of place in the 21st century.

It's in Harold Kalman's book Exploring Vancouver, UBC Press 1974/1978.

Ah! Harold Kalman, I took one of his courses at UBC when he taught there. I remember having had quite an argument with him about the Frederick Lasserre Building. He thought it was great and I thought it stank.
I still think I was right.
Thompson, Berwick and Pratt I think.

I'll see if I can find it at the library.

Thanks again.

Do you remember the Tilden 'Drive Yourself Office' on Burrard? That was a great building - a tiny modernist jewel - also by Thompson Berwick and Pratt - didn't last long in that location though. Hard to find even a picture of it anymore.

And of course Semmens & Simpson's Vancouver Public Libarary - both much better examples of international style functionalism than the Lasserre building, in my view.

Time for bed, obviously - 'library' it should be above.

can't afford pay-per-view g. not a wealthy man like you seem to think b/c i'm on the right side of the political spectrum. you should have seen me on the ice tonight though. i was spectacular.

I don't have it either Elliot. I thought it sounded like a good game though - the fact the Canucks even have pay-per-view actually rots my socks anyway. Wish Naslund could get his groove back though.

G West:

Khan bio on one link shows he was a car salesman and an ex Pakistani fighter pilot. Great...

Who cares what has been going on since August, ie the special advisory capacity...it proves my point even MORE. This is old news, no secret and the LIEberals were deer in headlights. Why invert the discussion to cover up their internal flaws and weakness ?

The LIEberals were somewhere between navel gazing and their head up the ying yang. One of our town's LIEberal bootlicker toadies M.P.(redundant) is amusing us in press releases etc. with what he supposedly did in his latest M.P. report. Like a Hollywood producer..."I touched this and I touched that" and take credit .... Baaarrfff!

I may agree that if Dion tries to make it black and white it would show leadership....but maybe he himself should cross the floor and borrow some cajones first. Or ask Hedy Fry for some after she "eunuched" the KKK members in Prince George.

Other than that, the LIEberals have gotten so used to be the natural governing party, they don't know which way is up. "F" em . The rest of us should sit back with a wry grin and enjoy it. Hasta La Vista LIEberals...

Elliot:

Warning !

"He" ie Mr. "I put the G in TYEE " is trying to convert you to the TYEE "Kool Aid" faction...talking sports is their "moonie" way of brainwashing. He has a corporate box (in line with the center -ice area) at GM place where the final ceremony takes place. (That's why they don't have pay -per-view, it's too proletariat).

NDP( Provincial and Federal) and the Federal LIEberals have adjacent suites ...

Scoop:
The tear in the roof at BC Place will be blamed on Global Warming and a Cabbage Patch doll will be sacrificed...but neo-cons, as usual will come to the rescue.

Naslund is acting like a Federal LIEberal, ie suck it up man or quit/resign.

Just so you know...

G West replies to woody in a fit of rage, face contorted, dribbling on his key board, unable to civilly reply, Garf retorts!
Woody, do you expect me to engage in a serious discussion

It's not worth my time.

You go ahead and vote conservative with the other idiots.

Not at all woody...I never get angry - It's bad for the digestion.

And you need to learn to use the HTML tags. There's definitely something wrong with the software. You have to type them in and you can't just select and click anymore. For example, If I wan't to make your name appear bold, I have to type the following:
[ B ] woody [/B ] and then hit post.
If you just select - woody and click on the symbol you'll get this:

View blog reactions

which is utterly useless.

The woody didn't appear bold because I left spaces in the square brackets - for demonstration purposes. Now I'll do it again, properly:

woody

See what I mean. each of the other tags works the same way, with the necessary changes as follows:
Bold
Italic [I]
underlind [U]
quote

The contents of the second bracket - after the emphasized text is in this format[/?] with the ? standing for whatever action is desired and, of course, matching the initial format at the start of the selection.

[B]You're welcome.

I do sometimes make spelling mistakes. underlind, above, should be 'underline'

G West:

Suggestion:

FIRE THAT DAM MONKEY before the Spelling and Grammar Police find out !!!

Otherwise, it may end up at Body Worlds 3 and Bridgit Bardot will be on your case.

G West, you ask, "Do you remember the Tilden 'Drive Yourself Office' on Burrard?". by Sharp & Thompson, Berwick, Pratt. No, demolished in 1972. Before my time here. With all that glass, best as a night shot. Ted Tilden was a good guy.

They bulldozed it before I saw it too. There's a picture (night coincidentally) in Alan Cowans, Building Canada: An Architectural History of Canadian Life. Very low angle shot with what appears to be an Austin A40 in the drive way. Shows nicely the Miesian plain steel channel vertical members - must have been interesting working behind that counter as the street life on Burrard just flowed back and forth in front of you.

I was reading Alex Waterhouse-Taylor’s blog some time ago and he mentioned he’d worked for Tilden when he first came to Vancouver – I thought maybe he’d been stationed in the little office we’ve been talking about – but alas not. Tilden set up across from the Ritz Hotel around the corner after 1972 and that’s where he’d worked.

That's Allan Gowans, sorry. Maybe I should be wearing my glasses eh!

..and Alex Waterhouse-Hayward, perhaps the glasses are a good idea.

Yeah, and zip up your fly also Garf.

Thanks realisticman, much appreciated. That was memory, not vision, that failed me in that case though.

In my humble opinion, methinks Mr. Harper and Co. are planning an end run around the REAL problems facing Canadians by waving the Environment card in our faces, while stealthily undermining the issues of Afghanistan and Medicare, softwood jobs lost, to mention a few. And their tweedle-dum cohorts, along with the likes of Ms. May (a former Tory? who worked with Brian) are willing to assist in the smoke and mirrors game they excel so well at. The line in the sand between Liberal and Conservative (and now Green)seems to have become obliterated. I only hope that the NDP and the Bloc will pull their heads out of that sand and start screaming bloody murder!

Not really on point, but since Harper's just another neocon in camo gear - pushing a modified corporatist agenda - this, from the NYTimes is perfectly appropriate meditative material:

First half:

Working Harder for the Man
By BOB HERBERT

Robert L. Nardelli, the chairman and chief executive of Home Depot, began the new year with a pink slip and a golden parachute. The company handed him a breathtaking $210 million to take a hike. What would he have been worth if he’d done a good job?

Data recently compiled by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston offers a startling look at just how out of whack executive compensation has become. Some of the Wall Street Christmas bonuses last month were fabulous enough to resurrect an adult’s belief in Santa Claus. Morgan Stanley’s John Mack got stock and options worth in excess of $40 million. Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman Sachs did even better — $53.4 million.

According to the center’s director, Andrew Sum, the top five Wall Street firms (Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley) were expected to award an estimated $36 billion to $44 billion worth of bonuses to their 173,000 employees, an average of between $208,000 and $254,000, “with the bulk of the gains accruing to the top 1,000 or so highest-paid managers.”

Now consider what’s been happening to the bulk of the American population, the ordinary men and women who have to work for a living somewhere below the stratosphere of the top corporate executives. Between 2000 and 2006, labor productivity in the nonfarm sector of the economy rose by an impressive 18 percent. But workers were not paid for that impressive effort. During that period, according to Mr. Sum, the inflation-adjusted weekly wages of workers increased by just 1 percent.

That’s $3.20 a week. As Mr. Sum wryly observed, that won’t even buy you a six-pack of Bud Light. Joe Six-Pack has been downsized. Three bucks ain’t what it used to be.

There are 93 million production and nonsupervisory workers (exclusive of farmworkers) in the U.S. Their combined real annual earnings from 2000 to 2006 rose by $15.4 billion, which is less than half of the combined bonuses awarded by the five Wall Street firms for just one year.

“Just these bonuses — for one year — overwhelmingly exceed all the pay increases received by these workers over the entire six-year period,” said Mr. Sum.

In a development described by Mr. Sum as “quite stark and rather bleak for the economic well-being of the average worker,” the once strong link between productivity gains and real wage increases has been severed. The mystery to me is why workers aren’t more scandalized. If your productivity increases by 18 percent and your pay goes up by 1 percent, you’ve been dealt a hand full of jokers in a game in which jokers aren’t wild.

Workers have received some modest increases in benefits over the past six years, but most of the money from their productivity gains — by far, it’s not even a close call — has gone into profits and the salaries of top executives.

Fairness plays no role in this system. The corporate elite control it, and they have turned it to their ends.

Mr. Sum, a longtime expert on the economic life of the American worker, said he is astonished at the degree to which ordinary workers have been shortchanged over the past several years. “Productivity has been exceptional,” he said. “And for most of my life, the way to get wages up was to be more productive. That’s how our economy was supposed to work.”

The productivity gains in the go-go decades that followed World War II were broadly shared, and the result was a dramatic, sustained increase in the quality of life for most Americans. Nowadays workers have to be more productive just to maintain their economic status quo. Productivity gains are no longer broadly shared. They’re barely shared at all.

The pervasive unfairness in the way the great wealth of the United States is distributed should be seen for what it is, an insidious disease eating away at the structure of the society and undermining its future. The middle class is hurting, propped up by the wobbly crutches of personal debt. The safety net, not just for the poor, but for the middle class as well, is disappearing. The savings rate has dropped to below zero, and more Americans are filing for bankruptcy than for divorce.

Your pension? Don’t ask.

There’s a reason why the power elite get bent out of shape at the merest mention of a class conflict in the U.S. The fear is that the cringing majority that has taken it on the chin for so long will wise up and begin to fight back.

This is the kind of world Stephen Harper wants for Canada and Canadian workers and their families.

ho . . .hum . . .zzzzzzzzz.