You are More Charitable Than You Think

Yesterday’s post by the Black Rod raises a lot of great issues. The folks over at the Rod spend some time mulling over just how much the “private” sector actually contributed to the Spirited Energy campaign. An interesting little tidbit popped up:
“Manitoba Public Insurance gave $60,000 for this summer's travelling Spirited Energy street teams.”

Why is MPI giving ANY money to this campaign? Does Spirited Energy have anything to do with road safety or auto theft prevention?

It seems that the society pages of both the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Sun always have a large crown corporation contingent attending rubber chicken circuit events. In the free market, if you don’t agree with company A’s charitable initiatives, you can buy the products of company B. As the ones picking up the tab for Manitoban crown corporations, we can only hope that the vast expanse of charitable shindigs doesn’t mean higher rates the next time they appear before the Public Utilities Board.

If charity is the end goal of buying a table for 10 or 12, why not conduct yourself in a charitable manner? The bitter irony of having a banquet to raise money for hunger should be alleviated by having most of the seats filled by hungry families. Would you rather see the smiling mugs of a table of Manitoba Lotteries, Manitoba Hydro or Manitoba Public Insurance employees or 2 of their employees photographed with 8 to 10 people that actually use a food bank? If the dinner is to fight cancer, how’s about filling the tables with people that are in from out of town getting chemotherapy sessions for their children?

As the ones paying for all this fundraising, we should expect them to maximize the benefits of OUR generosity…


Motivational Tunes:
Megadeth – Paranoid
Motorhead – It’s a Long Way to the Top
Porno for Pyros - Pets

A Nation or an Island Unto Itself?

Every corner of our glorious nation is spectacular. From the breathtaking view along the Cabot Trail to the amazing skies on a cold Prairie night to watching a pod of killer whales navigate the waters along the West Coast. And yes, Quebec is one of the many jewels in Canada’s great crown. However, are the Acadians, pioneers and cowboys any less special or distinct than the Quebec people?

Montreal should still be the financial nerve centre of Canada. Unfortunately, separatist sentiment caused capital investment to move west to Toronto. Instead of learning from this experience, politicians and pundits still insist on fanning separatist flames. Perhaps instead of discussing whether Quebec is a nation or a distinct society, the discourse should revolve around the true costs to Quebec of separating from Canada. I would include:

1) Canadian money would be withdrawn from circulation in Quebec. The new nation would have to establish its own monetary system and a method for circulating currency.

2) A new central bank – in line with number 1, Quebec would have to set up a central bank that sets monetary policy and deals with Quebec’s currency fluctuations in the international markets. If you think Canada has a tough time fighting currency speculators, imagine how much fun a nation with a fractional percentage of Canada’s population will have dealing with its “sovereign” currency in the international money markets.

3) New embassies, diplomats and foreign relationships. As an independent nation, Quebec would not be allowed to use Canadian embassies for foreign relations. They would have to construct their own from scratch.

4) New customs initiatives. It would now be incumbent on Quebec to monitor its own borders and waterways. This would include Hudson’s Bay and the Arctic.

5) Quebec would be required to negotiate its own air transport agreements with other nations. Imagine the difficulties of air travel if Canada did not grant Quebec even First Freedom privileges.

6) Quebec would require its own military. The new nation would also be required to develop its military technology without the help of Canada.

Naturally, this is only the beginning of the problems Quebec would face were the province to separate from Canada. Where would they even BEGIN to come up with the money and expertise to address these issues faced by every other nation on the planet? After all, when a teenager decides to run away from home, the parents don’t usually provide that teen with their chequebook. The streets of the Global Village can get pretty mean…

Only in America You Say? Pity

An anonymous commenter on one of my older posts left an interesting link. I can honestly say that up to this point I had never heard of the Libertarian Party in the United States.

From their website:
Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians agree with conservatives about freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians also agree with liberals on personal tolerance, so we're in favor of people’s right to choose their own personal habits and lifestyles.

With so many of our political parties vying for the coveted “middle of the road”, it would be interesting to see how well a Libertarian Party would do up here in Canada. Just how many Red Tories and Blue Liberals are out there? Could we amount to more than just a faction of the Conservative or Liberal parties?

A Tough Week

First the Reverend Harry Lehotsky and now Milton Friedman.

The world is a better place because for a fleeting moment, these two outstanding individuals were in it.

Rest In Peace…

The PPG Believes in Empowerment

Paul Samyn’s blog entry today features the tale of the tape on the latest “war” between the Parliamentary Press Gallery and Harper. Thankfully, Lemon Chicken’s post of a few days ago also helps us understand what went on.

While I hope the real aggressor gets pilloried in the court of public opinion be they a PPG goon or Conservative lackey, I do have a question for the indignant Samyn and Lemon Chicken - is the PPG so bereft of pointed questions for Prime Minister Harper that a camera operator is now empowered to ante up questions in the PPG journalists’ stead? And what an amazing question to ask:
He tried to ask Stephen Harper a question about whether he would accept the challenge of 18-year-old Dawson College shooting victim Hayder Kadhim to debate the Tory promise to abolish the long-gun registry.

So the camera operator wants to broker a debate between the Prime Minister and an unfortunate victim who is so traumatized that he can’t tell the difference between an assault rifle and some Western Canadian duck hunter’s gun? How very Michael Moore. If a PPG member ran up to the podium and gave Prime Minister Harper a wedgie, I bet the look on Harper’s face would be one for the ages – is this Robin Samyn and His Merry Men’s next move in their self-imposed role as “official opposition”? If you are going to paint Harper as the next Idi Amin, what better way to do it than with a picture of Harper making a funny face.

The PPG would go a long way in establishing credibility if they were to beat Harper at his own game instead of just keeping Amnesty International on speed dial. Go on the dreaded list and SHOW your readers that the Conservatives are playing favourites. Getting camera operators to act like belligerent frat boys paints PPG journalists in a light that straddles the great intellectual divide somewhere between Michael Moore and a real-life Borat. I for one expect more from our press than Gotcha! journalism…



Motivational Tunes:
Motorhead – Killed by Death
Crush – Jellyhead
Public Image Ltd. – Seattle
Loudness – We Could Be Together

Our Own Private Kyoto

The Conservatives have taken a lot of heat lately over their Clean Air Act. Some have gone so far as to call for reinstatement of our obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. To all of the detractors I ask the following questions:

1) Have YOU cut your dependence on fossil fuels by making better use of public transit and by using a programmable thermostat? Public transit ridership data seems to show otherwise. I’m also sure significantly less than 100% of Manitoba homes have programmable thermostats.

2) Do YOU make a conscious effort to buy 100% recycled paper towels and toilet paper? It’s out there – it may not be the Quicker Picker Upper but it still works. In a similar vein, do you make a conscious effort to buy detergents with lower levels of phosphorous? Do you buy products that have higher recycled content than competing products or that use 100% recycled paper and/or plastics in their packaging materials?

3) Are YOU using low wattage ballasted bulbs and recyclable batteries? (Incidentally, we did manage to find the toy in question a week later – in the dryer, right where one would expect it to be. If it wasn’t for the weekly ritual of laundry day, said toy would be lost forever.)

4) If you are a journalist or employee of a newspaper, WHAT PERCENTAGE of your paper uses recycled newsprint? What are the targets to get this number to 100%? Do your advertisers have the same goals for the three tonnes of flyers they include in your daily deliveries to subscribers? Is that bag your sister publication comes in made out of 100% recycled plastic as well?

It is commendable that some expect our government to commit to radical changes. Perhaps we can all start by making micro-level changes in the way we run our OWN households prior to expecting government to solve all of our problems for us. After all, as consumers, we have the power to vote with our wallets. And that is far better than ANY government-led initiative. I’ll be the first to admit that there’s a lot of changes I need to make before I can hold Harper & Ambrose to account for the environment…

If I Worked for the CSA

If I were an employee of the Canadian Standards Association, I would make car seat manufacturers take a simple test prior to granting them permission to sell their car seats in Canada:
In my presence they would have to take a 70-80 pound RABID Doberman and attempt to properly secure it in their own creation. I would have the utmost confidence that should any manufacturer pass this test, parents would have somewhere between a 33-47% chance of being able to put their own children into the same seat. Cujo pales in comparison to a toddler who hasn’t had his/her nap.

Trying to get my kids safely secured before we hit the road is reminiscent of those episodes of COPS where the redneck just won’t cooperate by getting into the back seat of the squad car. Swap the wifebeater shirt for a winter snowsuit and you have a parental rite of passage anytime you want to travel between the months of November to March.



Motivational Tunes:
Dangerous Toys – Scared
Kylie Minogue – Love at First Sight
Enuff Z’nuff – Fly High Michelle
Madonna – Deeper and Deeper
(divas and hair bands!)

The Throes of Addiction

This past weekend, I got my first glimpse into what it must be like being a crack addict looking for the next hit. All I can say is that it wasn’t pretty. What was I trying to score? Batteries for my kids, naturally.

It all started innocently enough. Our oldest is now obsessed with robots. We accordingly bought him a battery operated robot toy. The batteries lasted about as long as Kevin Federline’s tenure on the Billboard charts. As we had bought AAA rechargables, we thought it fiscally prudent to use them in this new toy lest we otherwise be forced to give our mortal souls and title to our house to the Energizer bunny.

You would be astounded how many children’s toys these days take batteries. The precision screwdriver is like the crack pipe of the parent – my wife and I spent the better part of the day trying to figure out which toy we last put the rechargeable AAA’s into. Since most of the toys are powered by AA batteries, this is trickier than it sounds – the toys mention 1.5 volts of power but NOT whether it needs AA’s or AAA’s – one must actually go to the pains of opening the battery compartment, which has anywhere between 1 to 4 screws that are arc welded to the battery compartment.

It is now a day later and we STILL have no idea where those ****ing AAA rechargables are. We have many AA’s kicking around – maybe a visit to the pawn shop is in order. Such is the life of an addict…



Motivational Tunes:
Days of the New – Enemy
Moby – We Are All Made of Stars
Nine Inch Nails – Dead Souls
Boz Scaggs – Lido Shuffle

Oh No Dave!

A little while back, I posted an entry complimenting Dave Angus. Today, I am here to do the opposite.

In yesterday’s Free Press, Angus and the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce critique the CWB task force report because it “doesn't address the impact its recommendations would have on Winnipeg's economy.”

Forgive me for thinking that the only important issue in this matter is the farmers themselves. While it would be nice if the farmers decided that the CWB remains intact and gainfully generating economic spin-offs for Winnipeg, the benefits to the ‘Peg should NOT be a deciding factor in the CWB’s future.

I prefer that the economy of my beloved city be predicated on viable corporations, government agencies that serve a useful purpose and citizens that push themselves to the best of their abilities. Keeping a government entity just because it creates “spinoffs” strikes me as anything but a sound business decision. If the farmers decide that the CWB (or some version thereof) is the best way to represent their interests THEN we should go on to make a compelling case for why the CWB belongs right here at home.

Surely the Chamber of Commerce sees Winnipeg as more than just a Potemkin village of government agencies that are kept with a view to maintaining jobs and economic benefits without actually having a mandate to address the needs of people said agencies are supposed to represent...

I’m #1123

Rick Mercer has asked Canadians to weigh in on the Michael Fortier issue. While I have been supportive of most of Harper’s initiatives thus far, I think Fortier SHOULD run in the Repentigny by-election. So you can find me as petitioner #1123.

Is running in the by-election a suicide mission? Perhaps. On the other hand, should Fortier get a simple & cushy pass in the next general election by safely running in a Tory stronghold?

Prime Minister Harper has taken a lot of heat over giving Fortier the Public Works portfolio. I for one thought it was a clever move to extend an olive branch to Montreal voters. Let’s see how they repay Harper’s generosity. If they elect another Bloc-head (I still marvel at how a party with a separatist agenda can engender so many federal votes), it is the Repentigny voters that will look bad, not the Conservatives.

After all, Harper tried to give Montreal a seat at the table. If Repentigny wants to sit this one out, it is their loss…



Motivational Tunes:
Marc Anthony – I’ve Got You
KISS – Shock Me
L.A. Guns – Rip and Tear
The KLF – Last Train to Transcentral