Please let me introduce myself …

Threats of an election seem to be in the wind. There is a chess game being played here. The leaders position their parties to maximize their advantage, and certainly to embarrass their opponents. Duceppe is the most active in this respect, lobbing his ‘nation’ question into the middle of the Liberal Party, like a hand grenade. It turned out to be a dud. He tries another move, this time a motion on Afghanistan. His idea is to force federalist politicians to expose themselves.

Jack Layton is in one of his silent periods, also by design.

This one of those times of year when ugly announcements are made by politicians on the way to the airport. Another clarification about Income Trusts perhaps. Or the purchase of a fleet of heavy lift aircraft for the military.

In Ontario, the politicians are giving themselves a 31% raise!

I’m Simon, I am hoping to bring Ontario into a higher focus on this forum.

Simply because Ontario is so electorally overwhelming, it is hard for us to imagine that many Ontarians are as discontented as anyone in Quebec or Alberta. We imagine Ontario, as the power center of the country, to be taking care of itself first.

In the next day, and continuing over the Christmas lull, I can promise you I will post some background on Ontario — a little study I am doing, hoping to explain Ontario’s electoral behaviour over the last three or four elections. After that, a summary of the gossip going around Caledonia, full of suggestions about what is really going on.

Confusion, then Pride

Being from the Lower Mainland can make for confusing news day.  When I read, “Investigator to board Picton Castle“, I think that they are going back to the pig farm in Port Coquitlam to look for more hooker’s remnants, not for why Bob Gainey’s daughter was swept overboard.

In other news, I have to echo the pride felt by some at Mr. Harper’s statement of yesterday on the Afghani military operations:

“If ultimately I were brought down on that (the Afghanistan Mission – ed.), and even defeated on that, I can live with myself. I could not live with myself making a decision on Canada’s role in the world and our strategic and defence interests if I knew I had done that for political reasons that were the wrong reasons. That I could not live with.”

It is refreshing to see our Prime Minister stand up for what they believe in.  Wait.  Check that.  It is refreshing to see our Prime Minister stand up for something that he believes is right, as opposed to politically expedient.

What about Bob?

Commenter “Bob”, while attempting some paltry logical analysis, drops this howler in the comments:

However the whole thing rests on IP1. If that’s not true, nothing else follows.

Not so. An argument’s form establishes validity. Its material content determines whether its true or not. To say it does not follow implies that one of the steps in the argument must be true for the argument to be valid.

Its much easier to take someone’s attempts at logical refutation seriously if they understand how material implication works and the difference between truth and validity. Ah well. At least Bob spelt backwards is still Bob.

Pagan update: Commenter Scott from Winnipeg unfortunately is a little rusty on Charles Norris Cochrane’s Christianity and Classical Culture: A Study of Thought and Jaroslav Pelikan’s Action from Augustus to Augustine and Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism (Gifford Lectures Series)

 Charles Norris Cochrane was little appreciated in Canada, though the late W.H. Auden (whose proclivities will go unmentioned for now) said of his book: “Since the appearance of the first edition in 1940, I have read this book many times, and my conviction of its importance to the understanding not only of the epoch with which it is concerned, but also of our own, has increased with each rereading.”

Government by Farmer and Rotary Club Member

As I ask back here, who the f**k is Lloyd Snelgrove and why is he suddenly the most powerful minister (besides Stelmach) in Alberta?

Before his entry into provincial politics, Mr. Snelgrove served two terms on Vermilion’s town council…

Mr. Snelgrove’s business endeavours date back to his active participation in the family’s farming operation and construction company…

He…retains an active membership in the Vermilion Rotary Club.

There you have it. The qualifications needed to be a senior minister in an Ed Stelmach cabinet.

Unfortunately, Ted Morton failed to meet these stringent entry requirements and was therefore made a junior minister. Why, I don’t think he’s even sat on a village council before!

Honest Ed Stelmach?

Most Alberta PC contestants had agreed to do it, except for Jim Dinning. They pledged to disclose the sources of their campaign funding. Ed Stelmach, the man for whom the word “honest” was often used to precede his name made the same pledge. Two days after winning the leadership of his party, Stelmach reiterated his intention to publish the list of donors to his leadership bid. Now, Stelmach has gone back on his word, however he wishes to rationalise it.

Point number one of Stelmach’s so-called “new Alberta agenda” promises to “govern with integrity and transparency.” No matter how one cuts it, Stelmach does not look good on this. He is going back on his word, even if only in part. He is giving the impression of hiding or shielding people’s names who donated large sums of cash. There is no way to make that look good before Albertans.

These are acts that do not reinforce “integrity and transparency.” In fact, Stelmach’s actions give appearances to the contrary. Skating back to withhold some of the names is surely not transparency, and in light of the promise to make the list known, it is not integrity.

Not even a week into the oath of office the man called “honest Ed” is not living up to the very first principle outlined in his “agenda” and makes some call into question the qualifier before his name.

In a twist of the old adage: It is not enough to simply be honest beyond reproach; one must be seen to be honest beyond reproach. And regardless of whether Stelmach likes it, there is no way he, or any other politician, can justify taking untold thousands of dollars from undisclosed sources.

Of all the places to slip right at the beginning of his premiership, this is not the best for “honest Ed.” Stelmach sure seems to be out of touch with the desire for change that there is in his party. The same old tactics are not going to work, and the expectations are now much higher. Stelmach will either move with the winds of change to work on real honesty and transparency, or he will be swept by them.

crossposted from civitatensis.ca 

Strike One – Link Byfield Disagrees with Stelmach

Link and Ted Morton go way back, to the Reform Party’s early beginnings, and Link’s recent article shows his displeasure with Premier Stelmach’s choices for the provincial cabinet,

The one-in-three Alberta Conservatives who voted for Ted Morton two weeks ago – all the ones I know, anyway – feel like they got short shrift from new Premier Ed Stelmach on Friday.

Morton, who ran a strong third and beat four former cabinet ministers in the leadership race, was given a trivial portfolio in Stelmach’s cabinet.

Better than nothing, to be sure – barely.

The full commentary can be found here.

A Voice for Freedom and RIGHT OF CENTER ICE think Morton’s position is positive, however the real story is the lack of urban representation. The Enlightened Savage disagrees and crunches the numbers…

Godwin’s Law Tuesday

I am going to try something: every Tuesday I am going to scour the vastness of unreality to find the weekly use of Hitler or Nazis to vilify someone. It has been happening so often, I think we need to keep an eye on the trend. I may wind up keeping statistics on who gets called a Nazi too.

The rules: pretty arbitrary. To win Godwin’s Medal of Honor, you must be a significant public personality, though you don’t necessarily need to be in media. It doesn’t matter why you’re famous but you need to be someone people listen to in large numbers. Mass media carry more weight than internet media for now though that may change over time. If you happen to notice someone breaking Godwin’s Law in your casual surfing, please let me know – it will make my job a little easier (job it is you know! This blogging stuff is taxing on the… um… well send it in anyway!)

For those of you who may not be aware of Godwin’s Law, it reads as follows:

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

This award is meant to dishonor those who have finally succumbed to tarring and feathering those souls whom they hate.

This week’s winner of Godwin’s Medal of Honor is Joy Behar, co-hosting on that grand dame of women’s shows, “The View“. Her victim? Donald Rumsfeld, outgoing member of George W.’s cabinet (himself a frequent medal victim, or would have been as we started handing out this medal sooner).

Godwin says, you lose, Mrs. Behar.

Justice Dallas K. Miller

Some readers of thePolitic will be delighted to see this release from the federal Minister of Justice:

OTTAWA, December 18, 2006 – The Honourable Vic Toews, Q.C., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment:

The Honourable Dallas K. Miller, a sole practitioner in Medicine Hat, is appointed a Judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. He replaces Mr. Justice W.V. Hembroff ( Lethbridge) who elected to become a supernumerary judge.

Mr. Justice Dallas Miller received a Bachelor of Laws in 1984 from the University of Saskatchewan and a Bachelor of Arts (History) in 1992 from Athabasca University ( Alberta). He was admitted to the Bar of Alberta in 1985 and practised with Gordon, Smith & Company in Medicine Hat (1985-1993) before opening his own firm (1993-2006). Mr. Justice Miller’s practice expertise is in the areas of civil litigation, real estate law, wills and estates law and mediation. He has acted as a Member of the Alberta Provincial Court Nominating Committee (2004-2006), as Judicial District Representative for Medicine Hat for the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association, and as Chair of the Board of Directors of International Justice Mission.

This appointment is effective December 23, 2006.

Congratulations, Justice Miller!

Gunter on Harper’s Philosophical Shortcomings

Thanks to kaqchikel for pointing out this excellent editorial by Lorne Gunter, who argues that the Harper government needs to do a better job defending the conservative principles for its policies, instead of simply getting into political debates, which Gunter thinks they’re bound to lose. I tend to agree. I suppose Harper staffies might object by saying that only majority governments can have the leisure of the “vision thang,” but that would be b.s. One becomes the majority government by making a vigorous and manly case for one’s principles, and for showing up the shortcomings of the opponents. This is what made Harper such an effective Leader of the Opposition, campaigner, and president of the National Citizens Coalition.

Don’t go wobbly, Stephen!

So-called word wars

Last week the Prime Minister used some selected words when being grilled on the environment. He referred to greenhouse gases as “so-called greenhouse gases”. Queue the imperial death march and lower the black helmet. He’s obviously gone mad to refer to the very truth of environmental issues at such a demeaning level, adding the words “so-called” before it.

By adding those two simple words before the problem, he belittles the situation and wraps up all the focused attention to it with a seemingly smug attitude. Almost showing the sense that he knows something more than the screaming masses on some elevated level of thinking.

That’s the question here. Some have said that Harper has an utter disrespect for the environment and those folks would push toward measurements like Kyoto. Others may suggest that it isn’t in the typical ‘neo-con’ personality to be of concern for the environment, big Alberta oil, etc. These automatic assumptions have made some jump onto Harper’s words with some zeal.

Jason Cherniak is a lawyer in Toronto, runs the Liblogs blogroll, and he has elevated levels of zeal for the situation. He jumped first. In a recent email to Liblogs subscribers he asks that they make mention of the words in their blogs and establish a gathering storm, so that the main-stream media will pick it up and run stories about the phrase. In his opinion it was a “big screw up on his (Prime Minister’s) part”. I understand those emotional feelings Cherniak has towards this situation and he feels they are being lowered levels at a time.

But just for a second, tear away the emotion in the situation (because Harper doesn’t seem to act on an emotional level) to see what is the real reason for his choice of words.

It isn’t a secret to say that the media and Harper have butted heads in the past and continue to do so almost on a daily basis. Now if you were to ask yourself who in the press gallery represents the biggest thorn in Harper’s paw, I would hazard a guess that the CBC would top the list. A public funded broadcaster to the tune of almost one billion a year, with a seeming slant against the party that Harper represents. This slant has been acknowledged and denied thousands of times and will never stop spiraling that way. The CBC has a keen fashion in bending facts or reporting on one side that is almost at an art form. And if you happen to catch them in the act, they will refer you graciously to their in-house ombudsman who will investigate at lengths and explain to you (in CBC terms) why you were mistaken (and it usually translates into “you’re just not smart enough to understand”).

The “so-called” phrase has a meaning in this context. Years ago the CBC adopted a mandate to change two of it’s reporting styles reflecting their left of center views. First was “Terrorist = Fundamentalist” followed by “The War on Terror” = “The So-Called War on Terror”. These terms were abducted and switched in all television and radio news reports and the reason for doing so was explained at an elevated level of thought (thanks to the CBC ombudsman).

That smug attitude and belittlement raises its head again, only this time it is on the other side of the politic spectrum. Just as greenhouse gases are an environmental concern, terrorists and a war are concerning as well. Neither of which should be brought down to the level of being labeled “so-called”.

Harper proves his point with that statement. His point is sharp and hurts those who disagree or choose to see the world in a narrow view. This emotional turn of terms is pointed directly at the Liberals and seems to have extracted the emotional reaction Harper was looking for. However in a Liberal is there ever any other reaction other than emotional?

I’m sure some juice will be squeezed from the “so-called greenhouse gases” phrase, in Liberal blogging entries or on CBC NewsWorld. They will react and accuse the usual suspects in the usual ways. Now all the Conservative party needs is a “so-called” ombudsman to explain why their emotion is misplaced and mistaken.

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