It isn’t often I have much positive to say about Harper and his gang of thugs behaviour in Ottawa. I’ve now found a second positive thing to talk about from this government, not bad in four years. The first, for anyone who thinks I have never liked anything about them is his apparent commitment to renew and rebuild our Canadian Armed Forces. I always hated the constant cuts previous governments had engaged in.

This second item has just been released, the updated study guide for new immigrants. I’ve looked through the guide and am pleased to see it, to me, provides a broader view of Canada, its past, values, and society in general. It talks about some of the more painful aspects of our past, explains our structure of government, our attachment to the Monarchy as part of that government, the military etc.

There have been criticisms that the guide doesn’t mention the environment nor does it depict women as being a presence in the country. Both of the criticisms are legitimate, neither of them surprise me. This government would like to ignore the existence of both the environment and the need to protect it and the equality of women. Harper has shown repeatedly that if not for political pressure to have women involved, he’d like a boys club around him and for the most part there is. Read the rest of this entry »

So, despite widespread fraud, Karzai has won as the President of Afghanistan. I realize this is a country for which democracy is barely starting to take root, clearly those roots are extremely fragile. Old ways are hard to break from but they can be broken from. Just seems to be me, his declarations to the contrary notwithstanding, Karzai has neither the will nor the fortitude to actually start dismantling the culture of corruption which permeates his governance.

He’s not alone on the world stage for leading a country rife with corruption. What draws my attention to his behaviour is that Canadians are fighting and dying in that country in an effort meant to stabilize the country and bring peace to its people.

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I not only support our troops, I support their mission. That being said, I have to admit to some doubts about the effectiveness of Canadian troops continuing to die at a rate higher than most other forces when the man who should be most inclined towards doing everything in his power to make sure it succeeds gives tacit if not direct support to the corruption which impedes the effective governance needed to attain and maintain peace. Read the rest of this entry »