Stephen Harper just might be the best thing to happen to Canadian politics. Now hold on, just give me a ch...no...no....calm down, just let me explain. Let me start at the beginning.
I will be the first to admit, I am not one for following Canadian politics. I am by all means a patriot, but I have become so disenfranchised and disappointed by our political environment that I can't bring myself to vote for either the Liberals or Conservatives in elections. Instead, I vote for Green Party because I know they at least have the balls to stand for something. Since I started paying attention to politics in general, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that regardless of which party is in power, we basically enjoy the same level of unproductive fence jumping from our government. This is where Mr Harper comes in. As somebody who has been attacked from the beginning (justifiably or not) as a Canadian version of George W. Bush, his policies have undeniably polarized the Canadian political environment. The reason why I say this is a good thing is because it has FINALLY allowed the Liberal party to get up the courage to separate themselves from the Conservatives policy-wise and actually stand for something (other than the petty arguing that is supposed to appear like standing for something). Today the Liberal Party announced plans for a carbon tax, and frankly I just about fell out of my chair. The plan, which is extremely necessary for climate chnage reversal and long overdue, stands to place pressure on commerce to force more environmentally friendly practices. Of course, we can expect HARD lobbying to reject this, but it's still an enormous step forward. For those concerned about extra costs, yes some things will cost a little extra, but part of the plan is tax breaks for the public to not only compensate for the extra costs, but to concede that commerce has never really taken on the tax burden that they should have.
All in all, we can expect a lot of resitance to this from the Conservative Party, who has already launched aggressive attack ads (which frankly are insulting to the listeners' intelligence) as well as from big business (like somehow this environmental idea is new to them), and maybe in the end it won't end up being that effective, but it's still an enormous step forward for Canada simply to have the framework in place from which to build upon later. So thank you, Mr Harper, for being shockingly right wing even for your party, and allowing the Liberals to actually be, well...liberals.
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2 comments:
Good point Rob! The only problem is Dion keeps backing down after making noise, refusing to force an election out of fear they'll give the Cons a majority. Yes, the Liberals have begun acting more like Liberals in a way, but they won't drop the gavel and that's a problem.
While down south they're really right winged by nature, Canada is a naturally liberal culture. We tend to vote in the Tories every now and then, but it seems like it's more a punishment to the Liberals to get their shit in gear. I agree that Harper has done an excellent job of kicking the Liberals in their collective butts, the country will be much better once the next Liberal government is voted back in
The thing about big companies is that they will ALWAYS pass on extra costs to the consumers except where they think the demand will go down. Therefore I think people get upset at corporations for the wrong reasons. Corporations have one mission and one only. To maximize profitability for the shareholder. It is not up to them to arbitrarily decide that they should pay extra for something and assume that their shareholders agree. The onus is on shareholders to contribute by not consuming and to give to charity as they see fit. Remember that the majority of shareholders in Canadian corporations are middle classe families like yours and mine saving for retirement. I think portraying them as big ugly giants is a little naieve. When they have record profits all it means is that the shareholders do well. The point of government is to set the standards for corporations to follow. It is not for corporations to set them. Therefore, if this is a big priority to voters (who are the boss of the government) then it will either become conservative policy (as a reaction) or the liberals will be elected. This is not the only issue in an election and there is so much else to consider. Therefore, it is a matter of choice where someone ranks this on a list of priorities. It is not right or wrong to have this as a top priority. Just remember that for everything that is taken or given there is a reaction and that we always have to be prepared for it. Whether that be recession, higher costs, etc. It is easy for middle class and well off people to support this but think about people who aren't so well off. This could make a huge difference in their quality of life. So just remember there is an action and a reaction and that it is never appropriate to say that ones views on a political issue are wrong or stupid. The only thing you can ask from a government is to tell the truth, don't waste money, and to carry out the general will of the populus. I think that the conservatives have done this and the next election will be the time for voters to weigh in on this issue.
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