Super Hugh-Ro

You may have seen that I was in attendance at the PC Party press event this afternoon at St. Vital Park. I would like to share a story with you that likely won’t make the daily news or tomorrow’s paper.

My wife and oldest son Sebastien were also in attendance at the time. While all the candidates were lined up by Hugh, my wife pointed at the PC vehicle with his picture on it. She then pointed to Hugh and told Sabs that Hugh was “that man” on the vehicle. As my son has many The Batman DVD’s (a show that comes with a great Winnipeg/Sisler/Red River College connection, no less), he was quick to think Mama meant “Batman”. He spent the rest of the event calling Hugh “Batman” and proudly declared “Dada wook with Batman”.

So if Hugh McFadyen is indeed The Batman, what does that make his nemesis Gary Doer? I guess that depends on the issue in question. If it is the promise to end hallway medicine in six months, he is The Joker. If you are trying to get a straight answer on Crocus, he is The Riddler. And if you want to talk about long term economic viability, he is Mr. Freeze.

Thanks to Hugh, my son thinks I’m the coolest Dada ever. After all, I know Batman…

Compassionate Conservatism, Part 2

The most heartwarming part of being in politics is when people come to you with the honest conviction that you will hear their concerns and/or act as an agent of change on their behalf. I received such a phone call yesterday and spoke with the concerned constituent at some length over the course of last night. You could hear this person’s sense of frustration in the face of the adversity that they confronted.

This individual’s biggest complaint was that their concerns seemed to be falling on unreceptive ears. They contacted Theresa Oswald numerous times to no avail. When they actually managed to get some face time with Ms. Oswald (having gone to great pains to do so), the MLA for Seine River told this person to speak to her assistant. If a constituent goes to such lengths to seek answers from their MLA, the least their MLA owes them is to hear their story.

Are the answers to all of society’s woes at my ready disposal? Probably not – after all, Gary Doer and Theresa Oswald haven’t solved hallway medicine in 96 months, let alone within the 6 months they promised. It is my belief that the important first step in trying is to offer voters the courtesy of listening to their concerns. You can’t solve problems if you are unwilling to face them.

Do you also have any tales of what the NDP’s “Moving Forward not Backward” actually means to you? Please share them with me at proudwpgr@hotmail.com . In the words of a fellow blogger, “the lines are open.” I’ll be listening. If there are enough stories and the participants are willing, perhaps we could even air YOUR concerns publicly over the airwaves and in print. After all, these wouldn’t be attack ads, they would be ACCOUNTABILITY ADS. Holding your government accountable is not only a reasonable expectation, it’s your right.

We’ll leave the Who is Hugh? and Tory Translator to the NDP, who seem reticent to trade on their time in office. Perhaps your tales of woe over the past eight years will tell me and the rest of the PC Party why the NDP doesn’t feel their administrative record alone is enough to keep them in office…

The Home Stretch

As the Seine River nomination meeting for the PC Party of Manitoba is tomorrow night, I thought I’d write down a few of my thoughts going in to tomorrow’s race:

1) Politics is the world’s longest job interview. Prior to engaging in the political process, I had no idea how much went into getting a candidate lined up for a riding. The nomination leg of this journey requires an amazing amount of effort – phone calls, one-on-one meetings followed by phone calls and more door knocking.

2) There are amazing people out there. All too often, we are cynical of those that engage themselves in the political process. The people I have had the good fortune of meeting are involved in the PC Party because it is their heartfelt belief that the core values of the Tories are the ones that will give them and their families the opportunity to achieve their life’s ambitions when government provides the requisite strategic framework. You will not read about most of these people in the papers or on the blogs but without them, democracy would suffer. It’s the people toiling away behind the scenes that make the magic of the electoral process happen – the riding executives, volunteers and members.

3) Those who grumble about a lack of choice in candidates only have themselves to blame. A wise person told me that they are astounded at how reluctant some people are to participate in the nomination process even when they are dues-paying members of a party. The nomination meeting is a perfect opportunity to support someone that you feel best represents your views and who will give the opposing political camps a run for their money. Seine River Tories have three very capable candidates to choose from tomorrow night. This is the perfect time to throw your support behind the person you feel will best take on what is sure to be one of the ridings to watch during the upcoming provincial election.

The meeting will be held tomorrow night (Wednesday April 18, 2007) at the Dakota Community Centre – 1188 Dakota Street. Registration starts at 6:00 pm and speeches will start at 7:00 pm. People from outside the riding are welcome to attend. I hope to see you there!

From Humble Beginnings

“Dear Sir: please be informed that two of your executives from the Caracas office are trading with inside information. A copie with description of ther trades so far has been submitet to the S.E.C. by separate mail. As is mantion on that letter if us customers do not benefit from their knoleg, we wonder who surveils the trades done by account executives. Upon you investigating to the last consequencies we will provide with the names of the insider on their owne hand writing.”

Ask yourself how much credence you would give the letter I just quoted if this landed in YOUR inbox. Would you have given it a cursory review and then thrown it out? It would be tempting to dismiss this as a poorly written note worthy of only the recycle bin or shredder.

Having answered my first question, I now ask you to identify this letter. This document (sent to Merrill Lynch compliance officials) was the catalyst for the S.E.C.’s investigation into the insider trading scandal of the late 1980’s. It started the chain of events that led to the prosecution of such Wall Street titans as Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken.

The Black Rod once again unearths another juicy Crocus morsel. While the spate of recently leaked Crocus documents have been dismissed by many, as shown above, we ignore even the most seemingly innocuous correspondence at our peril.

Another lesson to be drawn from the novel Den of Thieves (a brilliant tome on the aforementioned insider trading scandal) is that the first mover advantage goes to those who cut deals before anyone else. If anything untoward did indeed go on at Crocus, I would recommend all potentially implicated individuals read about what fate befell the ones who held out instead of jumping ship post haste.

For the sake of all Manitobans, I sincerely hope that there is nothing to the Crocus story. Until a public inquiry is called, however, a black cloud looms large over our capital markets, much to the detriment of any entrepreneur who wishes to make his or her fortunes in Manitoba. Manitoba Means Business? Not until Today’s NDP restores faith in our markets…

Compassionate Conservatism

As someone who has followed politics since elementary school, I find the relatively recent state of “right vs. left” discourse rather disconcerting. While most moderate right-leaning individuals view their left-leaning counterparts as idealistic but naïve, the left feels compelled to label us as evil neo-conservatives. These assertions are made by certain columnists, bloggers and now Today’s NDP:

Doer also accused the Tories of campaigning like American politicians.
"The Conservative party has been trained by the Republicans and they're pretty ... the negative ads were out in November, and we're merely protecting ourselves," said Doer.

If the NDP’s latest website is any indication, Doer et al have no intention of trading on their administrative record. Given that my decision to seek office is based in large part on their two terms, I can hardly blame them.

While the free market economy may not be perfect, there is no other system that has managed to make as many people so well off. As third world countries continue to join the developed world, I am sure that millions of additional people in future generations will continue to experience better living conditions. One only need look at the dichotomous experiences of North and South Korea to see that change can happen for the better if economies are developed via market mechanisms instead of being led solely by government decree.

Does this mean that I believe that government has no part to play in our own back yard? Absolutely not. Government’s job is to enable the strategic framework for an efficient society. Citizens that attempt to cheat the system through theft, murder or corporate malfeasance should be punished. Honest individuals should have faith that these systems are there to protect them and not the aforementioned criminals. Government should also deliver other goods that the private sector cannot deliver as efficiently such as highway systems, healthcare, public education and our very own Manitoba Hydro.

Another contention from the NDP seems to be that only people in support of left-leaning politicians are allowed to articulate their views. The Who Is Hugh? website offers a link to Hugh’s supporters, many of whom are some of Winnipeg’s best and brightest. Perhaps their Conservative leanings are what enabled them to be successful. If so, wouldn’t you want to support the same party that successful people do? I doubt that the folks behind the Who is Hugh? site would express the same dismay over the fact that the UFCW’s April publication has a well-timed feature story on how the Tories hurt the Worker’s Compensation Board. By virtue of living in a democracy, every person should be entitled to articulate their views, be they union, business interests or non-partisan.

It would seem that my banter with Brian over at Just Damn Stupid has led to my being delisted from his blogroll. If one truly has faith in their own convictions, are anyone else’s beliefs really threatening? Why is it that in the Manitoba blogosphere, those of us on the right have no qualms about linking to left-leaning blogs while we are not beneficiaries of a reciprocal courtesy? I encourage everyone to visit the Blackberry Addicts and Just Damn Stupid and then come back and sample more of what is posted on my own blog. After all, I’m of the persuasion that my brand is better than theirs so I heartily encourage you to comparison shop. Compassionate Conservatism is a limited time offer that will expire if the NDP wins the next election – act now to ensure maximal customer satisfaction! ;)

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants?

What do John F. Kennedy, George Soros, Mick Jagger and Greg Selinger all have in common? They are all alumni of the London School of Economics, one of the most prestigious educational institutions on the planet.

Great thinkers from this institution have spread the mantra of trade liberalization. This philosophy has enabled one-time moribund economies such as South Korea to prosper faster than ever before. It is my personal hope to see many more economies follow suit. The LSE’s George Akerlof articulated one of my favourite economic tenets – Informational Asymmetry.

Knowing of Mr. Selinger’s educational pedigree, I am all the more perplexed at his lack of leadership in the terms of prudent fiscal management. The most recent budget seems to be a stinker in the eyes of many. Our finance minister should have been well versed in the economic incentives that would inevitably lead to cost overruns when the NDP decided to pursue their forced unionization on the Floodway expansion. Surely someone from the LSE can appreciate the gravity of the stewards of our capital markets being unwilling to call the public inquiry into Crocus that would restore investor faith in said markets.

The great Sir Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of Giants.” Having studied in the hallowed halls of an institution which housed 14 Nobel Prize winners and countless heads of state, surely Mr. Selinger himself should be able to see just as far. Unfortunately for Manitobans, the administration of which he is an integral part sees fit to persistently spend faster than the rate of inflation, a no-no in the mind of most economists. In the face of record revenues and federal transfer payments, even now he must use remove another $37 million from the rainy day fund. Why hasn’t he been able to see far if he himself is standing on the shoulders of giants?

I see trouble on the horizon if Mr. Selinger doesn’t start reversing many trends he helped create. Of course the LSE does offer many fields of study other than economics. Surely, however, someone in charge of an entity with over NINE BILLION dollars in revenue would have SOME sort of solid economic background or training, right? He did after all, go to the right institution for it…