Topic
Why are we scared to say it? Are we afraid of a truly democratic government?
Cartoon by Ingrid Rice.
Under a premier's iron fist, our representatives quiver. Here's the fix.
The way back is for a Liberal and New Dem coalition to promise proportional representation.
Harper's agenda has a simple goal: destroy the Canadian social safety net.
This is directed at all teachers and all politicians. Our kids are not being told the truth when you teach about our system of government.
This is directed to all students and to all citizens. You, I'm afraid, have been, to put it charitably, taught a lot of horse buns about how we govern ourselves.
I once asked a teacher why the truth about our system is not taught and she replied, "We don't want to make them cynical." Just a tad ironic considering that what is not taught them is why they become cynical when they get old enough to vote.
Now what I'm going to say is not about technicalities or shades of meaning. I'm not going to nit-pick, but will show you that the very way Canadians govern themselves is a fraudulent charade and I challenge any educator or politician to debate with me.
What are we taught, and are we still teaching?
We operate under a system known as "responsible government," where the word "responsible" is not meant to describe the behaviour of politicians but has a very technical meaning, namely, that the government, which is to say the prime minister and his cabinet, are responsible to Parliament and can be removed by a majority of the House of Commons any time it wishes to vote no confidence in it, whereupon the government must resign and either a new government is formed which can win a vote of confidence, or an election is held.
(Throughout I will refer to the federal system, but what I say is equally applicable to provincial and territorial governments).
This is a marvelous system -- on paper -- and at the outset in practice as well, developed over many centuries in Britain. Indeed, until around the middle of the 19th century it was not uncommon for a government to lose confidence and to resign, whereupon the sovereign would call on the Leader of the Opposition to form a new government and see if he would have the House's confidence.
This was, as we will see, before party discipline took hold of the system and strangled it.
Hamstrung since 1867
The system I've described didn't mean that governments were chucked out every other week -- but losses of confidence were not only possible but from time to time happened, followed usually by a new government formed by other MPs who could and often did win a vote of confidence.
We have had this system throughout Canada since 1867 and looking at all the governments since then, federal, provincial and territorial, there has only been one example of a government with a majority losing confidence and forced to resign. That happened in 1873 arising out of the "Pacific Scandal" when Sir John A. Macdonald with a very slim majority was forced out over charges of bribery involving the Canadian Pacific Railway. Moreover, this was at a time when party discipline was much looser than today.
To give you an example of that, during the Charlottetown Debates of 1864, premiers took their opposition leaders along as delegates not because they were good sports but they knew that even with a majority they couldn't be sure of winning a vote.
You would think, wouldn't you, that with the hundreds of legislatures and many federal parliaments since 1873, given all the highly emotional issues they have faced, that one other prime minister or premier with a majority would have been tossed out. Not one! Zilch!
The reason is that because a prime minister needs to maintain a majority, strict party discipline has been enforced.
How does the prime minister enforce this discipline?
If an MP votes against his government, he is chucked out of caucus, expelled by the party and denied the right to run under the party banner in the next election. This means that he must run as an independent, and while independents have occasionally held their seat -- we'll meet John Nunziata in a moment -- that is very rare.
The prime minister doesn't have to tell his MPs of this power.
On a day to day basis, the prime minister uses a judicious blend of the stick and the carrot. The carrots include appointment to cabinet, as parliamentary secretaries, as whip or deputy whip, as committee chairs and so on. The stick here, of course, is that the PM can unmake these jobs too.
The lure of promotion amongst backbenchers is very strong, for as Napoleon said, every foot soldier carries a marshal's baton in his knapsack. The backbencher sees himself constantly doing what he is told and will do anything to go into cabinet and join the big kids.
The most effective stick is the statutory right of the PM to withhold the right to run under the party banner.
The Nunziata effect
This is, perhaps, the moment to meet John Nunziata, a Liberal from Toronto. During the Mulroney governments he was part of a Liberal "rat pack" which made the government most uncomfortable, especially when they sustained attacks of the issue of the hated Goods and Services Tax (GST).
In the 1993 election, Nunziata, following the official Liberal platform, promised his constituents that he and the Liberals would abolish the GST. So did their leader, Jean Chretien. He and the Liberals were elected, in part on this pledge.
When the Liberals won and the minister of finance, Paul Martin, brought in their first budget, there, sticking out like a sore thumb, was the GST alive and well.
Nunziata warned the PM that they had both promised to tube the GST and that he, in all conscience, would have to vote against the budget, which he proceeded to do.
All hell broke loose. Nunziata was immediately turfed out of caucus and the Liberal party and was thus unable to run again as a Liberal. This last penalty is a very serious one indeed. In Nunziata's case, astonishingly, he actually won the next election as an independent -- a very rare case indeed. The Liberals weren't through with him, however.
In order to stop the monster Clifford Robert Olson from having a chance to taunt his victims with the hearing he would have under the "faint hope" clause in the Criminal Code, Nunziata tabled a private member's bill to prevent this. It actually won the ballot it takes for a private member's bill to be heard and it was passed by the House of Commons. It then went to the Justice Committee whose job is to look at clause by clause meaning. Because it only had one actual clause, it should have been a slam dunk. Justice minister Allan Rock ordered the committee not to pass it and it wasn't.
Olson got his chance to taunt his victims and Rock then brought in virtually the same bill that Nunziata did and, of course, it passed.
Why didn't the Liberal government just let Nunziata's bill pass?
Because it wasn't going to let Nunziata look good; thus Olson had his day taunting the families of his victims thanks to the need of the paramount dictate: Government must remind all MPs who's boss.
(It should be noted that the PM has the same sword of Damocles hanging over the head of cabinet ministers, who he can fire at will.)
PM's absolute power
It's important to know what all this means -- absolute mastery of Parliament by the prime minister with only a theoretical power left in the Commons to restrain him.
In fact, the Government of Canada is run by the prime minister's office on the advice of unelected advisers at his side.
The MP's only "power" is the right to speak up behind closed doors in caucus, and I leave it to you to guess how many backbenchers will make serious noises in opposition to the prime minister given the likely consequences.
Here is the biggest political crime of all.
The principal reason for a Parliament in the first place was to manage the public purse. The budget is far and away the most important function of the political year, yet backbench MPs very much including government MPs have no say whatsoever in the process! Neither, for that matter, do cabinet members.
The budget is essentially the PM's demand for money and Parliament only gets to see it first when it's tabled in the House!
Some years ago, the B.C. Ex-MLA's Society asked me to assist them to bring to high schools the way Parliament was run. I asked what it was they were going say.
I was told that they would be taught how a bill was tabled in the House, the number of MLAs who could speak on it and for how long -- in other words the technical aspects of how the House runs.
I asked if they would tell the truth as I have above and I was advised that my assistance wouldn't be necessary after all.
I resigned after saying what a pity it is that they, having all that experience, would not tell youngsters the truth.
If young people aren't told the truth, who will ever fight to bring Parliament and its members back to the people?
My next column, two weeks from now, will propose solutions to the undemocratic power imbalance I've outlined here. And in so doing, offer a politics curriculum different from the educational fraud we are perpetrating upon our young. ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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davhar
29 weeks ago
'First Amongst Equals'
used to be what "Prime Minister' meant...not 'petty little dictator until we can fire the prick'!
As far as the backbenchers worried for their jobs and promotion and... who can't identify with that? That's the way most hierarchal structures work. My industry (film) is filled with that crap. Attitude being- right buttock or left cheek or you're gone.
There is always someone around who thrives on powering over others, on being the bully because they can. It happens in the schoolyard and work place everyday. To think it isn't part of the psychological make up of those with political ambitions is kind of ridiculous. Most have spent their life scrambling up that factitious ladder in their head- kissing the ass above them and crapping on those below. And if they do get into office, working for us, they'll probably just think we're sheep- "you hired me to lead- so follow"
The tone of your piece, Rafe, was somewhat condescending. May your solutions be more helpful to those who know the obvious already.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
Our governments are elected
Our governments are elected to become dictators for their term.
Now made worse with a certifiable psycho, mental case in ultimate power.
Yes, this is "representative democracy", the question is who is represented, who is pulling the strings behind the scenes, and for what reason and purpose?
The wonderful result of monetary neoclassical market economics taught in our universities as a "science", when it is nothing more than a pseudo religion, dealing with and enforcing the power of imaginary concepts and figures, enslaving humanity.
Ed Deak.
MEW
29 weeks ago
Canada is not
a real democracy. Our back backbenchers don't even have the power of British MP's. In the British system the MP's pick their "first among equals" and can have the PM removed by a vote of the MP's. In Canada we have taken the worst of the British and American systems and wielded together a gilded cage for the Canadian people.
If we want democracy in Canada we need to embrace the Bolivaran style of participatory governance. There is no system in place in Canada for the people to have significant input in governmental direction instead we get spoon fed spin and lies instead of having a democratic discourse among citizens. The first constitutional change should clearly tell the courts that corporations are not people and do not have protections under the Charter because those are human rights not investor rights and that they are not allowed into debates as corporations although all CEO's are welcome as to join with other citizens as equals in the debate over public policy.
RickW
29 weeks ago
Rick's Rant.........
http://www.rickmercer.com/Rick-s-Rant.aspx
hg
29 weeks ago
Democracy
The only way the death of democracy in Canada can be avoided, is by making it a subject from elementary school on. Although at the start the rose coloured version will be taught, but with time and the teachers conscience eventually the true version will be taught.
Van Isle
29 weeks ago
Rafe, I've been saying it for
Rafe, I've been saying it for years exactly what you just wrote. It's a myth about Canada, and for that matter BC too, is a democracy. This out and out bold-face lie is propagated by politicians and the mass-media. Rafe, if you want hear out and out BS on this matter just tune in your old employer CKNW sometime and if you listen long enough,to your replacement, and some of his drivel.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
"Handsome young man"
"Handsome young man" ????????????? Good God. That brutal face, without any sign of conscience, shown in his actions, frightens me every time I see it on TV.
Under the "free trade" rackets any company that comes to Canada immediately receives "national treatment" and can sue for the loss of imaginary profits on account of government actions or laws, domestic businesses are not permitted to do.
This is "democracy".
Ed Deak.
Van Isle
29 weeks ago
And the comment about a
And the comment about a teacher saying about kids becoming cynical if they were taught the truth about our Government. Well, kids by the time they finish High School do "get it" and are very cynical about our whole system period. What takes time is for kids to figure out where and how they're going to fit into the 'system'. I have no problem with the kids of today cuz "they know" and 'they'll grow up' just like we all did..
freebear
29 weeks ago
Guilty conscious Rafe?
Sad how the elderly only admit wrong when it is too late; leaving the next generation to solve the mess of the 'more of the same' (what vision!) generations that set the table before them!
Argulion
29 weeks ago
Nothing but a farce with minority rule.
I'd like to see a 'responsible government' too. I also want to see politicians that speak for constituents first and the party second. I want election campaigns based on what YOU, the candidate, intend to do and not your claims of what other candidates will do. I want the open and transparent government that all politicians seem to champion while continually failing to achieve.
But, IMO, many politicians no longer represent constituents. They represent political parties and the interests of their supporters. The 'elected representative' in the current trend of political party based politics is nothing more than a voice for the party executive who in turn are working for the party's funders.
And, since some MPs have yet to comment on THEIR constituent's concerns perhaps this may be a question to ask; Does a $4.5 million dollar promotion for a 200 year old war provide greater public worth than operating a Coast Guard base for over four years? I think, a responsible politician should have an answer and a party seat holder will remain deaf and/or mute until they are told what to say.
coop
29 weeks ago
Our democracy is going down the tube
Our democracy is going down the tube in Canada as best evidenced by the fact that the polls show two thirds of Canadians are progressive, yet we are now being ruled with an iron fist by the Conservatives who likely stole the election in part through the use of robo-calls. Our elected representatives do not represent their constituents, but rather vote along party lines, as do the non-elected senators. Power in Canada is now concentrated in the Prime Minister's office and most national policies and decisions benefit the corporations and the one percent, to the detriment of most Canadians. Whether it is more prisons, jet fighters, pipelines or omnibus bills, the undemocratic Conservative government is destroying the Canada we once cherished. And now they are giving away our sovereignty by signing a treasonous trade deal with China, that will allow this thoroughly undemocratic country to sue any level of government that blocks its ability to utilize our resources.
There are solutions possible, but only if we have an electoral system that is fair and ensures that each MP is elected with more than 50 percent of the votes through a run-off election. In order to make sure that the majority of Canadians are represented by the next federal government, the two major progressive parties will have to cooperate so that either one of them or a coalition of the two form government in 2015. And to fix the problem of voter apathy we need to make voting mandatory as is done in Australia. More Canadians need to wake-up and stand strong to help bring democracy back by opposing the Harper government’s assault on the environment and our rights and freedoms.
Skywalker
29 weeks ago
Well the CBC finally got it.
Finally after months and less than a week before the deal is to be signed we had Rex Murphy talking about it and the CBC finally had Professor Gus Van Haarten on this morning. Of course they had to have some shill for FIPA on at the same time. I guess better late than never.
Sandy blows the East, earthquakes rock the West, while Ottawa burns. Harper must love all the distractions from his treason.
igbymac
29 weeks ago
I presume, Rafe
that you caught onto the ultimate scam against humanity after working in government?
There is no democracy in Canada, not a hair of it. We have no rights as citizens, just a few privileges and a lot of obligations. Anyone thinking they have rights should ask the Japanese-Canadians during WWII about rights.
As the author said, "The principal reason for a Parliament in the first place was to manage the public purse. The budget is far and away the most important function of the political year, yet backbench MPs very much including government MPs have no say whatsoever in the process! Neither, for that matter, do cabinet members."
Except the truth is that the budget, the money, is the ONLY important function of state, and the rest is whitewash used to keep people grossly ignorant.
The sad testimony to this all is the lemmings off voting for their continued enslavement and oppression by the state. The good Canadians don't ask questions, even the obvious ones like how can a creep like Stephen Harper excel in a world unless that world is completely fcuked up regarding what is important?
Next we see the poppies ... And our state sponsored campaign to all bow down to the hired mercenaries, to the sad souls who were never taught better, who marched on orders to kill strangers in another world to protect the war hawk-bankers' riches.
It is time for the truth. Unfortunately the vast majority of us can't handle the truth.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
The vast majority of humanity
The vast majority of humanity never could handle the truth, but preferred faith.
Makes no difference what faith, as long as they could "believe" in something. During my life under every known ideologies, religions and garbage faiths, in 4 countries I have seen and heard the most incredible assortment of ridiculous and destructive idiocies people believed in and followed, wrecking their own and the lives of others.
This is why we always had and have the tragic repetitions of history.
Here's a good example of why we have the East coast hurricanes, tsunamis,etc. disasters, just sent to me by a professor friend. "Give the Israeli government anything they demand and we'll never have any disasters again" God said so , it is "written" so, who can argue ?
Ed Deak.
----------------------------------------
We should have known.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/could-frankenstorm-be-a-sign-from-god/
igbymac
29 weeks ago
Ain't that the truth!
"...wrecking their own and the lives of others."
MacKenna
29 weeks ago
And our current Prime Minister is a...
monstrous DICK.
dunngy59
29 weeks ago
Teach Your Kids Critical Thinking Skills.
The likelihood that the education system will teach the truth about the dysfunctional state of our government,is very low.Teach your kids to pay attention to what is happening politically,and to question everything!
FatherTheo
29 weeks ago
Elected kings
I remember telling my friend in high school that under our system, we elected our kings for terms of office. He was so offended at being told the truth! I'm sure lots of people will be offended by the truth of this article, which, by the way, is irrefutable.
jmarian
29 weeks ago
Monsterous Power
My direct experience at the local level suggests that collegiality is core to the undermining of democratic process.It is promoted as an innate virtue and sold as such to voters.
What it does, in fact, is undermine the very necessary role of any representative to oppose if conscience or reason so dictates.
The party politics at provincial and federal levels entrenches it.
Beyond what is lost of democracy and the compromising effect on the personal integrity of electees,failure to subject decisions to rigorous debate can and does undermine the decision-making process, leading to less than optimal outcomes.
The undermining of input from individual representatives translates into the sheer waste of whatever skills and knowledge they might otherwise bring to the table.
kasi_visvanath
29 weeks ago
power corrupts
and absolute power.....but you know the rest.....and Harper is corrupted....a petty dictator who got to be Der Fuehrer of a large western (former) Democracy wannabe...
andsbc
29 weeks ago
we've never had a democracy
Apparently I had a good teacher, because I've always known that.
We're not even a republic.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy.
The senate is appointed because rich guys know better than the proles. Though whatever they're supposed to be doing, they don't actually do any of it anyway.
I wish there was more floor-crossing. Don't wait to get fired, quit!
freewilly
29 weeks ago
Whether.....
Whether it municipal government, provinicial, federal or electing a strata council the same people are always elected. Why is that?
Power turns ordinary people into creeps, not always but usually. Most countries and jurisdictions have what they beleive is democracy. Our system isn't perfect, but we have some safeguards against dangerous wannabes, most notably our charter of rights and freedoms. The court can trump certain government decisions.
Why we need 'elected' officials is a mystery to me. Id rather a lottery choose our leaders and MLAs, nothing would change, the wannabes would have to look for other postitions to rule or bully people. We would save a whole lot of money at election time and everyone would have a kick at the can.
I guess Im naive but I beleive in the inherant goodness and wisdom of 'most' canadians. Our elected officials beleive they make a difference to our lives. The machine we have created over hundreds of years powered by ordinary canadians runs the system, our so called elected leaders are just an impediment to moving forward.
andsbc
29 weeks ago
Ed Deak:
I just quoted you on facebook, hope you don't mind.
Skywalker
29 weeks ago
One observation.
The mistake politicians make is expressed in the first post. The notion they have that "you elected me to lead, so follow" is exactly what a democracy is not about. We elect politicians to represent us, we do not elect them to lead without consulting us on where we want to go. They are our representatives and in order to represent you have a duty to find out where your constituents are on issues. You can't do that once every four years where the election is based on issues that avoid those you would rather not raise because you think they are too complicated for the great unwashed masses.
Every one of those Tory MP's believe they are doing what their constituents want them to do. That is because they only talk to their cheerleaders. The rest of the population is ignored. They (Tory MP's) could not give a rats @$$ about most of their constituents. Unless we figure out a way to demand the MP's frequently and regularly come back to their constituents and ask them how they feel about major issues like the trade deals that undermine our democratic rights or hold them accountable for their screw ups, we are never going to be able to call ourselves a true democracy.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
and...You're welcome to quote
and...You're welcome to quote me anywhere, as long as it is within context.
Or as a very good late friend of mine, Gordie Davie, used to say: "You can call me anything just don't call me late for dinner!"
I sign my name for full responsibility for my writings.
Ed Deak.
Devon
29 weeks ago
One of the things that Gordon
One of the things that Gordon Campbell did that was amazing was to present two referendums for British Columbians to change our voting system.
It may not have been perfect, but it would have allowed us a shot at reclaiming some of that democracy.
Yet twice, the fear factor won out, led by many notables including the Tyee's own Tieleman, and we resumed the same old, same old.
The politicians may have become tyrants, but while most people in this province may say they are cynical, they were also too frightened, like small children, to even consider a change.
Some of the most disappointing times of my life.
ReeferMadness
29 weeks ago
Democracy
Rafe, you said that representative democracy was a marvelous system until the mid 19th century when parties started to impose discipline. I trust that you are not nostalgic for the days when only moneyed white men could vote.
aDriftwood
29 weeks ago
Déjà vu
How many times will we be bypassed as the power behind the government? Are they really smarter than us? Is it necessary to organize (mostly fruitlessly) against every bad idea governments ram down our throats in non election years?
This 'representative democracy' which is no democracy at all was foisted on us by the English kings of old, who were in debt up to their eyebrows. Their solution was to have controlled parliament, because if a people are governed by reps they vote for they are also liable for the debts of those reps. It was never about giving you a voice. It was about transferring as little power as possible to the common man in exchange for his being liable for all the debts incurred by his 'democratic' government.
Human nature, as someone remarked above, has never been altruistic in a general sense, so as Rafe points out the lure of a high paying job and a good pension within the party are ideal conditions for corruption. Exactly as it was designed.
Here is an quaint article which addresses a possible solution:
http://aardvark.co.nz/rproxy.shtml
It's not the only solution but any solution will necessitate our having a real voice in government - whether by easy referendums on unpopular government decisions or an easy way to dethrone reps who displease us by lying to get into office and then serving their real masters which are the party and the people, corporations, and media which get them elected. We have never had a voice in our own government, thus the cynicism and lack of voters in most elections.
ReeferMadness
29 weeks ago
Democracy does not start with MP's
It starts with citizens. The problem isn't that MP's won't (or can't) stand up to the PMO. It's that citizens don't have the time or interest to get involved in any meaningful way. 40% can't even be bothered to spend a half hour stopping by an election poll once every few years. Of the ones that do make the minimal effort, most are pathetically under-informed on the issues.
Harper is about to give the Chinese government (as the owner of some of its biggest companies) rights that aren't accorded to Canadian citizens. I'll bet less than half of the voting age citizens are even aware of this agreement, less than one in five could give a basically accurate description of it and less than one in ten are well informed about it.
Without informed citizens, real democracy is a pipe dream.
aDriftwood
29 weeks ago
one more point
The worse it gets for the common man, the more appeal there will be for honest men/women to lessen their ideals in favour of a comfortable life.
andsbc
29 weeks ago
Ed Deak:
Thanks!
If I do it again I'll be careful about context. I thought this one was pretty self explanatory.
Entirety of my facebook post:
"Under the "free trade" rackets any company that comes to Canada immediately receives "national treatment" and can sue for the loss of imaginary profits on account of government actions or laws, domestic businesses are not permitted to do (the same).
This is "democracy"."
Ed Deak.
aDriftwood
29 weeks ago
@Reefer Madness
It is not that people are disinterested in their government and future. It is that they recognize the absolute futility of voting.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
When will people, including
When will people, including on this list finally realize the obvious, as I have written many times before, that:
Wealth is a temporary control of energy.
Wealth can not be created only taken from others, the environment and future generations.
Just about every posting on this list is complaining about the loss of rights to kings, dictators and Harper, which is loss of "energy control" and then the legalized stealing by special interests through history, which is "wealth taking from others", then the climate change , loss of resources, etc. from "future generations".
Why is the reluctance to admit the obvious ?
I have a 1991 copyright on this, but anybody is welcome to use it. And knock it, of course, trying to keep the faith, based on the "science of monetary economics"
We can see the results, but there's no point in complaining without nailing the causes.
Ed Deak.
Wayne Smith
29 weeks ago
Proportional representation
The outrageous centralization of political power described so eloquently above arose with the evolution of the modern political party as a machine to elect people around the beginning of the 20th century. Since then it has been almost impossible to get elected without the support of a political party machine. Emerging democracies in Europe at that time realized that parties and party elites now held all the power. So they developed proportional voting systems to give voters the power to hold parties accountable. Find out more at http://FairVote.Ca.
aDriftwood
29 weeks ago
Wealth is a temporary control of energy
Well, it may be in your world Ed, but for the rest of us it is the current manifestation of the banks and governments which control us. And it is only temporary if you consider centuries of exploitation to be temporary. Private sociopaths who will do anything for an easy life of wealth rise to the top like turds in a barrel of wine. And stay there for centuries.
It all comes down to education, even a smart 12 year old can see that giving the power to issue government debt to private bankers is the root of most of our problems. Anyone can see that BC laws which give rapacious corporations, both foreign and domestic, the right to contribute as much as they like to the party which will benefit them the most is not democracy. Yet the Tyee never mentions it. It is the main problem in BC, in Canada, and in most of the countries of the world. It is also the main reason countries which do not adhere to private bank debt are invaded and destroyed. It was the main reason Libya was invaded - they had their own bank and wanted to give all Africa their own bank to get out from under the boot heels of privately owned Western banks. Never do of course, because once a non aligned country demonstrates that life can be so much better if it finances itself using its own resources for collateral the cat will be out of the bag and other countries will wish to emulate it.
Did Canada have the right to rain Depleted Uranium bombs on people of another country who are very like us in their dreams and aspirations. No way.
aDriftwood
29 weeks ago
Wealth is a temporary control of energy
Well, it may be in your world Ed, but for the rest of us it is the current manifestation of the banks and governments which control us. And it is only temporary if you consider centuries of exploitation to be temporary. Private sociopaths who will do anything for an easy life of wealth rise to the top like turds in a barrel of wine. And stay there for centuries.
It all comes down to education, even a smart 12 year old can see that giving the power to issue government debt to private bankers is the root of most of our problems. Anyone can see that BC laws which give rapacious corporations, both foreign and domestic, the right to contribute as much as they like to the party which will benefit them the most is not democracy. Yet the Tyee never mentions it. It is the main problem in BC, in Canada, and in most of the countries of the world. It is also the main reason countries which do not adhere to private bank debt are invaded and destroyed. It was the main reason Libya was invaded - they had their own bank and wanted to give all Africa their own bank to get out from under the boot heels of privately owned Western banks. Never do of course, because once a non aligned country demonstrates that life can be so much better if it finances itself using its own resources for collateral the cat will be out of the bag and other countries will wish to emulate it.
Did Canada have the right to rain Depleted Uranium bombs on people of another country who are very like us in their dreams and aspirations. No way.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
Thanks Driftwood, you proved
Thanks Driftwood, you proved my point.
Imaginary money is used for the control of energy today, the same way as religions and arms have been used for colonizations, enslavements, wars etc. in history
Always representing control.
For all practical purposes all wars in history always had the purpose of certain forms of energy control.
Ed Deak.
Okanagan Orchardist
29 weeks ago
A couple of things
Many years ago, in a psychology course, I was told by a prof that a child's psyche was already formed by the time they were two years old. I don't know if that theory was ever proven wrong or not. It meant that if a child was later destined to be a psychopath, (for example there have been some suggestions that our PM is a good example) it would mean that they were genetically predisposed to follow a path of psychopathy which would become more obvious as they aged. As a youngster they might have thrown tantrums more often then kids their own age; eventually becoming bullies in school, etc. Wikipedia has an introduction to psychopathy that might be of interest. See if you recognize the symptoms in some well known politicians.
"Psychopathy is a personality disorder that has been variously described as characterized by shallow emotions (in particular reduced fear), stress tolerance, lacking empathy, coldheartedness, lacking guilt, egocentricity, superficial charm, manipulativeness, irresponsibility, impulsivity and antisocial behaviors such as parasitic lifestyle and criminality."
Somebody mentioned that we should make sure that we teach our students all about "responsible" government, about "democracy", etc. because they are now are so "disconnected."
A couple of things: if a kid's demeanor is already in place by the time they are young, you are not going to make much of a change in them with courses in government; recall your early childhood-- just how much interest did you display in politics when you were 18? Odds are, you didn't give a fig about it until you felt that you might be in a position to do something about it, a la Harper??
aDriftwood
29 weeks ago
Getting back to dogs
There is no dog alive in the world today who would vote for representative democracy. Because each and every dog knows that the dog who gets elected will steal the meat from every dog who is foolish enough to vote away his right to a fair share of the meal. It is not in dog nature to give away for stupid ideals what amounts to food on the table. It is not in the nature of any other mammal either. But mankind - that half formed nitwit of intellect so prone to belief in its own superiority, will give away half its life to false ideals for the comfort of not thinking for itself. Or is it that we have been deceived into believing in false ideals of nobility by con artists who are only really half a step ahead of us. It is fine to support noble ideals, but to invest them in inherently ignoble politicians does seem the height of folly. Recognizing that the gamut of idealism in humanity runs from noble to non-existent, and that non-existent more often than not rises to the top, it is inevitable conditions of altruism - meaning free health care and free education through university, shall be continuously diminished in this half shed world we call civilization. Therefore, to have any hope of a decent civilization and indeed the continuation of that quaint idea of 'ideals' insofar as it has not been foistered upon us by those completely lacking in the aforesaid, we (those who have read of or otherwise come in contact with idealism) must come up with controls on the egregious conduct of those who would exploit us for our belief in any ideal at all.
Which brings us nicely back to dogs - they are the government which would rob us for their benefit by exploiting our manufactured sense of idealism - it is indeed a trade just like plumbing or carpentry. Except we need plumbers and carpenters who often provide value for money - but do we need professional politicians who invariably rob us of our present and future. No. What we need is a vote on all the issues without having it presented to us through the lens of a 'middleman' politician who stands to benefit from the purse of a capitalist who we have no control over. The idea of capitalism was invented by bankers who wish to have us pay interest on government debt from maturity to death. I'm not talking about socialism here (except insofar as it relates to free health care and free education which should be everyone's right as long as they live) I'm talking about having a private country which benefits all the people who live here instead of having a country which only benefits those who have private capital from private banks to exploit everyone who lives here. I could go on but I'm probably running out the precious space which the tyee limits here to limit dissent. Just let me say that BC is for British Columbians. We don't need private banks or private foreign corporations to run us. In fact, we would be much better off without them.
Skywalker
29 weeks ago
@ Devon
Democracy can not end once a person has been selected/elected. It doesn't matter by what process they are elected if after that they spend the next four years doing exactly what they want. "Campbell's referendums" were not amazing. They were window dressing and as I remember one came from the Citizen's Assembly and the other was a campaign promise which really meant nothing. It just cattered to the rednecks.
Nothing would change unless you find a way to hold MLA's accountable while they are in office. If all they do is vote as their party leader directs, you ought to be able to change them. That being said, you also need to be able to find out which issues are going to be dealt with ahead of time to neutralize the pressure of the party leader.
I'm sure Rafe will have something to say on most issues involving votes and party discipline but I am not sure that whatever he proposes in two weeks won't simply be about the selection process and legislative procedure. We need to ensure that we can communicate regularly with the elected folks and send a clear message all the time they hold the seat.
Harper thinks he has a mandate to sell out Canada for another 2 years. How do you disabuse him of that arrogant notion?
shedding_light
29 weeks ago
seems to me we need a practical solution here...
I agree with Ed's identification of the core problem. It seems to me this variation of humanity is on its way to extinction ~ the natural outcome of evolving short-term beneficial traits at the expense of long term survival. We wouldn't be the first! Not that a new branch couldn't arise and head away from self and wholesale destruction. I continue to see individuals who hardly resemble at all the Harpers and Romneys of this world. So perhaps a group will survive that relate to each other in healthier ways, with empathy and a preference for sharing, who feel good from giving and enriching the lives of others, rather than from competition, coercion, and the control of others. I know for myself that the latter are repulsive to me. I don't think I'm the only one.
Meanwhile, while we are differentiating into new possibilities of 'homo-something-or-other' we need a means of putting the brakes on the destruction of each other, as well as the whole global habitat and those we humans 'share' it with, if you can even call it that any more.
If there are potentially enough decent people, which I consider possible, I suggest we need the infrastructure for collective decision making, which is denied to us in the present system. We need local offices and community centres to gather in, whenever we wish, to discuss and come up with collaborative solutions to our mutual challenges. If we want to create 'representative' self-governance, we could each register to vote in these local offices and vote there both on any referendum we choose to express our collective decision on, and for elected reps who are totally responsible to all of their constituents (no more political parties) because everyone could place and change their votes whenever they choose, keeping track in each person's voter account. Reps would listen to us, and we would be able to hold them accountable at all times. It would be a job they do, not taking away our individual responsibility and 'power' as it is now.
This sort of arrangement would alleviate three of the worst things in the present system: political parties, misleading spin in mass media (because information could be shared directly from the source, which is each other), and manipulation by 'polls' done by private corporations. If we want to know what opinions and ideas the population, locally, provincially, or nationally, has on a given issue, we could each stop by our office and vote on it! It is so stupid to keep telling us that a group of 800 people polled responded this or that way to questions put to them by pollsters and others far from disinterested and that this somehow represents the common will. We can choose our own questions and answer them in a fair and equitable way if we have the infrastructure. I think this would at least be a beginning toward better social organization and making better decisions.
shedding_light
29 weeks ago
The first step to achieve the above suggestion...
The first step toward achieving the type of social/political organizational improvements I suggested above would be to simply refuse to vote for ANY candidate running with a political party. Simple, but not at all easy, of course, because it means we would have to organize ourselves in a non-partisan way to find an Independent candidate in each constituency. Someone who would support the type of system described above would be ideal. The few Independents I already know of give me confidence that there are probably enough people who would run on these terms because they sincerely want to serve and empower citizens, not rip them off for short-term personal gain.
It would also depend on a sort of 'AHA!' moment by enough of us to pull it off on a large scale, in enough constituencies so that belonging to a political party would cease to be any sort of over-bearing advantage. Practically speaking, I suppose we'd need to achieve a majority of Independents, either provincially or federally, to get this started. Those Independents could then elect a non-partisan Premier or Prime Minister. Ah, what a glorious thought, what an accomplishment that would be! Never mind overcoming racial or gender limits, what we need most is to overcome partisan limits! That person would be directly accountable to the entirety of the MLAs or MPs, who would each be directly accountable their own constituents.
Is this too much to hope for, too much to ask of my fellow citizens?
MkumbaJoe
29 weeks ago
Another example of Canadian denial
Piecemeal, Canadians are served up stories of how the East Indians were treated in the Komagata Maru Incident; then there's the matter of the Chinese Head Tax; then the internment and robbery of basic rights and property of Japanese Canadians, then the refusal to accept Jewish refugees during WWII (None is Too Many), then the Residential School tragedy, etc. etc. .
Why not just say once and for all that the world called The British Empire in which Canada was an ** enthusiastic** participant was a racist civilization.
Maybe it's done today but I highly doubt it. In my time, Canadian history was taught from the point of view of a colony belonging to the British Empire, struggling to become a sovereign nation.
Exactly like today, facts would pop up such as The Chinese Head Tax but no one at the School Board bothered or more probably wanted to connect the dots.
Just as in the case raised by Raf Mair, was it/is it not actually intentional?
In similar manner as our brother Nordics of the same ilk, better point fingers at situations and societies thousands of kilometers away while burying our heads in the sand to our own weaknesses and inadequacies.
It's denial but seen in a wider context it's what our cousins below the border often chastise us about: HYPOCRISY.
dabido
29 weeks ago
eager fascists
canadians are a people most eager to be fascists.
"peace order and "good" gov't" is a fascist ideal.
MEW
29 weeks ago
It is not Chinese corporations that are pushing these free trade
onto Canadian citizens. It is the Canadian corporations that want these deals so they can steal resources from around the world.
Our trade deals with Honduras and Columbia to name just two are allowing Canadian companies to strip the indigenous people of their birthright. But all we talk about is how some terrible Chinese state owned corporation is going to be bad for us.
Wake up it is not about the Chinese versus us it is about corporations versus citizens. I don't really care if it is a Howe Street corporation or a Chinese one neither has my interests at heart. Both will screw us, steal the land and resources and send our government the bill if given half a chance.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
MEW....Typical examples of
MEW....Typical examples of "wealth can not be created, only taken...."
What has been amusing me for the past years is how shocked even highly educated people are when I say this. The power and result of generations of brainwash.
This is not my idea, but a physical law : We can not create anything only convert resources into other forms.
The problems of humanity have always been that the artificial, imaginary values put on the converted resources have always been controlled by special interests and never more than now with the universal use of imaginary, fiat money.
The Latin word "fiat" means "let it be, or let there be".
And what the "be" means has always been special interest control.
The physical dimensions of resources and products are legally defined and same the world over, but they can be changed at will by changing the artificial values, therefore the sizes of the dimensions.
Good trick that has been used for thousands of years, enslaving the world by putting imaginary, perceived power into the hands of ruling classes, regardless what religious or ideological flags they're waving .
Typical example is the communist/capitalist brotherhood in China, planning to control the world.
Ed Deak.
Ed Seedhouse
29 weeks ago
Ed Deak: "Why is the
Ed Deak: "Why is the reluctance to admit the obvious ?"
Well, perhaps because in your particular case it isn't obvious at all. In fact I'd say it's obviously wrong, but I don't imagine you'd listen to my explanation of why that is so.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
I'm always ready to be proven
I'm always ready to be proven wrong. Not talked against, but proven.
It will only take to prove the laws of thermodynamics, reaction and speed wrong.
Good luck !
Ed Deak.
shedding_light
29 weeks ago
Yes, MEW and Ed
Yes, and both the communists & capitalists, both religions & ideologies, are Corporations in the nastiest sense of the word, as was the British Empire, the Roman Empire, the Soviet Empire and as is the emerging Chinese Empire. They're all just parts of the Corporate impulse that concentrates power, wealth, and control in the hands of a few while it impoverishes everyone who is not part of the corporate impulse, including every ecosystem it touches.
Which is why I think we need to evolve away from the taking and accumulation of resources and power into the hands of corporations. We need to evolve toward a sharing/conserving mind-set in which we choose not to consume more than is truly needed because we perceive and deeply understand that this creates imbalance and harm to everyone and is ultimately self-destructive. We can keep resources, ecosystems, and well-being distributed in a healthy way, it seems to me, only if we keep responsibility, participation, and access distributed in a healthy way.
It seems to me that this transition could be helped to develop by shifting citizens' focus toward each embracing their personal responsibility for self governance. Both individually and collectively, we need to organize ourselves in a way that supports active participation in cooperative problem solving, beginning with and anchored firmly in local, face-to-face relationships.
The comments I posted above outline a possible practical way to do this. For me it is important that our self-governance does not depend ultimately on computers or internet technologies, which have specific limitations and vulnerabilities. I think we need to avoid becoming dependent on them, so that when they let us down we can continue to function effectively. I think it's a serious error to abandon better quality and more dependable 'technologies' and skills every time a shiny new gadget is dangled in front of our faces to distract us from our real needs and responsibilities. The outcome, inevitably, is to sacrifice the qualities and competencies that make being human potentially a decent creature to be and worth keeping on the planet.
shedding_light
29 weeks ago
And as to the Harpers of the world...
I think it's precisely the corporate impulse and the machinery it creates that puts the Harpers of the world into positions of power where they are useful to the corporate agenda.
Experience and observation convinces me that this will continue to happen, as it apparently has done for thousands of years in one place or another, until our consciousness prompts us to take responsibility to create communities that just don't hand over power and resource control to the corporate impulse, whatever form or name it takes on. I believe it is possible for us to do this. It will take a lot of courage and work, but the alternative is so awful that I can't see how anyone would consciously choose it.
freewilly
29 weeks ago
Ita sit
It was a dark and stormy night and all the cnn reporters were knee deep in water. All in a tizzy about the stock exchange and the presidential election.....
Some will say that this was a one-off event, and others will attribute it to climate change. With over 7 million people without electricity, I hope its a wakeup call for change, a big 'manhatten project' kind of change in energy creation.
With damage to homes and infrasctructure in the billions of dollars, a portion of the US will have to rebuilt and reimagined. The silver lining is that there will be jobs and possibly a new economy.
The under employed and over educated may find meaningful and life-saving work.
If weather events like Sandy become more frequent, the capitalist system we have now will not be able to handle the aftermath.
It always takes a war or tragedy to bring out the best in people. 'Ita sit'
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
The survival of all life
The survival of all life forms depend on certain forms of energy control for every second of their existence.
The main purpose of religions, ideologies, economic theories, aristocracies, empires etc. has always been the concentration and control of energy with faith based theories.
All economic systems are based on unbreakable physical laws and measurements, but faith based values have always been used to distort these physical facts and measurements to gain control over humanity.
E.g. 1 m. or 1 kg of some trade good is fixed and the same all over the world. But when the monetary figures are changed, it changes the dimensions and when the monetary figures totally imaginary, as our system is today, and under the control of a special interest sector, distortion, destruction and enslavement become inevitable, as it happened in every age of history.
Makes no difference whether those changes are forced on people as the Will of God, or the Will of Marx, or "globalization, or "free trade", or now the so called "marketplace", they all mean the same enslavement and "wealth taking" by history's 1%.
And this is not a theory, but an easily proven physical/historical fact I have personally experienced, on my own skin, under fascist, nazi, communist and capitalist governments and rulers.
Ed Deak.
Allen Snowdon
29 weeks ago
Something missing in this cartoon...
...those jack o'lanterns should be stuffed with cash.
Taxpayer's subsidy cash, that is.
shedding_light
29 weeks ago
Thank you Ed, and may I ask...?
Your comment about the survival of all life depending on energy control and the distortion of that process by the "1%"s of history through faith in lies-based systems and writing rules that vastly exaggerate their control and accumulation, taking from and enslaving others, is very well expressed. You've cut to the heart of this discussion. In years of your insightful comments, this one especially pulls all my thoughts together better than I could have expressed it. Thank you.
My earnest question to you, if you're willing, is: can you indicate a practical first step toward changing this overall pattern of misuse of human capabilities and abuse of each other and our planet (no other creature does this, as far as I know), or are those who understand, and want something different, doomed to continue with no alternatives except impotent and frustrated resistance or abject submission? Isn't there some response possible by those who understand what is happening and want to be neither abusers nor abused? You've shown how various systems of control have been used to ill-effect for thousands of years, all variations on the same theme, ultimately, but with all of our potential for consciousness and problem solving, surely there must be some way out of this destructive cycle?
If you've read my repeated calls for trying to use electoral reform, personal responsibility, and participation in self-governance to keep power and resource stewardship firmly in the hands of the many rather than the few, do you see any value in such efforts? Can't we (those who don't want to be abusers or abused) work together and agree to organize ourselves in a way that doesn't reward and encourage those who, for whatever reason, gravitate toward domination and exploitation of others?
Do you have any suggestions for a better approach? It is horrid to understand these relationships and watch as the process seems to push inevitably toward self-perpetuating ugliness and near obliteration of everything healthy and beautiful in this planet's potential and human potential as well. It's impossible NOT to struggle against these conditions, but what form of struggle, what action, can we take? You have the experience, you know what you are talking about ~ do you see a path ahead to a better outcome?
aDriftwood
29 weeks ago
People use handles
Or what some might call fake names, in their posts on most political or otherwise socially sensitive sites because they realize full well that many companies who might otherwise hire them or subcontract with them will first check them out on sites like Google, Facebook and perhaps even Disqus or other companies which provide so-called free discussion software, but which actually collect ALL the comments on their own sites. No memory leaks there.
Fiat lux
29 weeks ago
shedding...I haven't looked
shedding...I haven't looked at this line for some time. Thanks for your interest.
I can only speak for myself and have no interest either to take or give orders.
History's tragedies have always been caused by the special interest control of humanity, through the use of faith based theories and never worse than now.
Theories and words have always been used to mentally enslave people and force them to follow destructive policies, usually called "freedom", "the Will of God". No word in any language has ever been more misused than "free". Or as our "conservatives" now misuse the word "individualism" to licence theft and enslavement under the guise of "competitiveness".
Our presently governing neoclassical monetary economic theory is the best example of enslavement with imaginary figures, similar to the mentality of the suicide bombers in the Middle East.
Just look at the words of John Manley on this front page. He was the promoter of the secret MAI racket at the time, now a big fan of Harper and so he demands the sale of the whole of Canada, under the racket of "foreign investments" when Canada never needed any. Where are the "economists" and politicans to point out this simple fact ?
If you want to change a system in a so called "democratic" society, it has to be done by the public, not by force. Having grown up in the depression and war years, we realized, as teens, that the best method for survival is individual self determination, on a piece of land surrounded by equipment for the highest degree of self sufficiency, instead of totally relying on the system.
Humanity needs the system, the money, alcohol and drugs, when necessary but not as enslaving chains, as we have it now.
The mass closing of schools and the jamming of people into cities is the best example of the destruction of individualism and enslavement.
People must realize the system's fraud and intentions, the misuse of words and concepts to free themselves and not to wait for another system to do it for them. It has to be done from the ground up.
E.g. We now have two contradictory definitions of "efficiency" the physical and the monetary, with the imaginary, enslaving monetary overruling the unbreakable physical, with the inevitable tragic results.
If humanity wants to survive, it must stop the present crime wave forced on them by fraudulent words and faiths and that can only be done with the understanding of the realities and the real meaning of words and figures and an economic system that records the liabilities, instead of calling them "growth".
I'm working with the PhD class of a science professor friend on this and there are now many people waking up to the fraud, including on new, realistic monetary systems, all over the world.
Ed Deak.
andsbc
29 weeks ago
Consumerism
Our willingness to accept the concept of continuous growth hinges on our willingness to accept the marketing industry's ever-expanding notions of need and the concept that each of us is able to continuously improve our lot over the course of our lives.
Consumerism is the soap with which they wash our brains.
Ed, shedding:
there is an applied anthropology text by Richard H Robbins called "Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism" that I think you would be interested in. The title's pretty dry but the book is actually a really good read.
Robbins suggests that people treat the stock market like a 'black box' on an engineering diagram: there is an input (money) and an output (more money) but we don't concern ourselves with what actually happens inside the box (the economy).
He compares this to a practice from somewhere in Latin America called "blessing the money" where a parent secretly holds a dollar/bank note during their child's baptism and the dollar receives the blessing instead of the child.
The "blessed money" is then spent and is said to quite literally gather up all of the other dollar bills around it and take them back to its owner.
Sound silly? No sillier than believing wealth can be manufactured in the electronic bowels of the stock market.
But at least in this idea the sacrifice is obvious: it costs the soul of the child.
Hakuin
29 weeks ago
A-ha!
THERE'S the reason for Dear Leader 's coming visit to India; he's collecting more ideas:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/iac-volunteer-tweets-himself-into-trouble-faces-three-years-in-jail/article4051769.ece
Hakuin
29 weeks ago
der Harpenfuhrer is looking at Tsar Dobby now
http://www.npr.org/2012/11/01/164033094/russia-set-to-redefine-treason-sparking-fears
Hakuin
29 weeks ago
Harper's Canada:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP-k47rIIyA
strat83
29 weeks ago
Iceland's solution
I would like to recommend this article from
http://404systemerror.com/lessons-from-iceland/
It outlines how Iceland's citizens and new government solved their collapse and took back their country.
I wish we could do that here. Don't be concerned about the site's name.
max von smartt
29 weeks ago
new world order imminent
of course harper is a crass tinpot dictator and just the lapdog for washington; no need for regime change. kanada will help out under amerika/nato to kontrol more middle east energy assets and sell out whatever we have for a price. our southern neighbor may see yet another electoral steal thanx to rigged electronic ballot boxes with a rabid vapid far right president installed at the helm to shake up energy rich iran who couldn't care less that china and russia will be drawn in....
Hakuin
29 weeks ago
Chairman Harpy's wet dream:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20172104
RockyRacoon
29 weeks ago
If you don't like capitaist rule you should get rid of
the CAPITALIST ECONOMY...stupid!
RockyRacoon
28 weeks ago
It's those social services that are killing us!!!!!
A [...] recent Tax Justice Network (TJN) USA report [...] estimates up to $32 trillion of hidden and stolen wealth stashed largely tax-free secretly.
“The Price of Offshore Revisited” reveals what super-rich elites want concealed. Governments let them avoid taxes. Societal costs are huge. Ill-gotten gains are free to make more of them. Only ordinary people pay what they owe. Many pay too much [...]
Hot Doc magazine editor Vaxevanis was arrested for publishing the “Lagarde List.” In 2010, French authorities gave it to Athens. At issue is investigating 2,059 wealthy Greeks with secret HSBC Swiss accounts. (Stephen Lendman, Greek Whistleblower: Billions in Secret Offshore Bank Accounts, October 31, 2012.)
igbymac
28 weeks ago
RockyRacoon
I guess we pay at least 80% of our wages toward tax, layer upon layer. And I laugh every time I hear the do-good citizen tell me how he or she is supporting the deadbeats among us. Simple maths like how many systemically oppressed $800 welfare check recipients does it take to make up for one of the fat cats don't even register.
Let's face it. Most Canadians are too disinterested in truly appreciating the way the world runs. They sense something is wrong with, say, our banking system but that is as far as it goes. They then proceed to run off to the polls and claim they are doing their part. Wouldn't it be a little clearer if only 1% of the population showed up to vote? Do you think the majority might get the picture then that the game is fcuking rigged?!