Well, I’ve read through the Throne Speech which was delivered yesterday. I’ve read some of the commentary which has appeared this morning in reaction to it. For the most part, they are echoing my thoughts as I read through the speech, where exactly is the recalibration? There was very little real focus or meat.

I had the sense that the speech came about from a brainstorming session around the Cabinet table on how many buttons could they find to press in a bid to make Canadians believe this government has a real sense of need and direction. The point form results was then handed over to speech writers to form into what was delivered yesterday.

I know the devil is in the details and Throne Speeches are not where one would expect to see details. Some will emerge today as the Budget is delivered. For the most part, speech repeated previous announcements and claims from the government.

Public Wage Freezes

It does say there will be a freeze on not only public service budgets but the wages of the Cabinet, Senators and MPs. That is really sharing in the hardship that 1.5million Canadians are going through, not to mention the millions of Canadians who find themselves under-employed as the result of jobs lost through business failures and jobs moved offshore. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I was having lunch with a friend and briefly the subject of politics came up.  I expressed some of my views on Ignatieff to which she responded that I should write him a letter about my views. My response was, I would but it would not likely get anywhere near him. I thought about that and decided that be damn if it gets anywhere near him, I’ll write my letter here on my blog. So here goes:

I joined the Liberal Party of Canada in July of this year. While I’ve spent a lifetime reading and thinking about politics and how our leaders (or lack), shapes my country, I’ve never before made the decision to commit myself to a political party.

I’ve always leaned towards liberalism, largely because I have a deep-seated belief that one of the great strengths of this country is our social safety net which provides a level of support for those at the lower socioeconomic levels of our society. That sense of social responsiblity balanced with fiscal responsibility has always come from the Liberal Party of Canada.

So, why did I join in July? After a few years of what appeared to me as utter chaos within the party due to their infighting and weak leadership, there appeared to be a leader with some integrity and vision. I still think you have the integrity, but to be frank, I’m having a lot of trouble with discerning your vision.

Where’s the vision?

You seem to be spending a lot of energy and air time reacting to Harper. Canadians know what Harper is, the problem is they don’t yet see a viable alternative to him.  True there are aspects of Harper the Canadian people don’t fully realize or appreciate how wrong he is, but they still don’t see a viable alternative. Why do you think Canadians haven’t yet given him a majority government? Read the rest of this entry »

Less than a month after the signing of the regulation giving the Pakistan Taliban control over the Swat Valley and the ability to impose their form of Islam on the people, the deal has collapsed. What a non-surprise. Shortly after the Taliban moved their forces into Bruner and tried to take control there which would have placed their forces some scant 35km from the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

How many times are the Taliban, Pakistani or Afghani, going to have to demonstrate they can’t be trusted before the two governments are going to stand firm against them? It has taken 25 years for that conclusion to be reached in Sri Lanka in their fight against the Tamil Tigers. The Taliban, like the Tigers, will never be fully wiped out, that’s a given. With enough resolve and resources their ability to openly and freely regroup, train and finance their operations can be seriously restrained. That will not happen while the Pakistan government continues to waffle. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, parliament has reopened without a lot of pomp and circumstance. The lack of show was more due to the frigid cold than any austerity move. I’ve been in Ottawa and around the Hill this time of year, it is VERY cold there. The throne speech, written by the government and delivered by the Governor General, was relatively brief as throne speeches go.

The big news of the day wasn’t really the throne speech anyways. The bigger news is the budget that will be delivered tomorrow. Many of the details of the budget has been ‘leaked’, although when the leaking gets done by government officials and ministers, that is deliberate.

It appears there is going to be a $64billion deficit in the next two years. That is a complete 180 degree turn for the Conservatives from just two months ago when they claimed that we first of all were not going into a recession and secondly that we would not be incurring a deficit if a downturn should occur. Read the rest of this entry »