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Close the bedroom door for privacy
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
Jul. 27, 2010
Given the lack of logic in the government’s position, it’s understandable that critics suggest something else must be up. It is part of Stephen Harper’s innate distrust of the bureaucracy, they say. Or it’s part of his fundamental libertarian DNA… Most likely he was throwing a bone to a chunk of his voter base, not realizing what wrath he had wrought. When the critics arrived, a government not prone to compromise dug in its heels. So here we are, a nation full of unhappy statisticians under a government willing to defend your right to keep your number of bedrooms private. Unless you decide to sell your house, in which case everyone will know the answer anyway.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Fresh thinking on native policy
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Jul. 22, 2010
Shawn Atleo… the charismatic young entrepreneur, who is National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), told his organization’s annual meeting in Winnipeg this week that it was time for Canada’s aboriginals to agree to a dismantling of the Indian Act and the federal Indian bureaucracy created in the Act’s image. It was time for greater independence. But then in the next breath, he called for new federal agencies that would ensure the provision of land, health care, education and other items promised in treaties.
Tags: Indigenous, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
When it comes to the census, markets fail
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
July 21, 2010
… of all the publicy-provided services that small-government advocates could target, the census is very near the bottom of the list of priorities. Many of the services provided by governments could and perhaps should be produced by the private sector. But the economics of databases such as the census aren’t the same as the goods that inhabit most economic models… When it comes to things like the census, markets fail.
Tags: participation, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Voluntary version of U.S. census proved unreliable, costly
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Jul. 19, 2010
The U.S. Census Bureau tested out the idea of making a mandatory national survey voluntary — as the Conservative government now plans to do with the census in Canada — but quickly discarded the idea because it produced what was deemed unreliable data at an exorbitant price… The bureau saw a “dramatic decrease” in response rates when they tested out a voluntary version… with mail-in replies dropping by about one-third… [and] only a small difference between the mandatory and voluntary surveys in terms of how many questions people completed.
Tags: budget, participation, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Bad science: Global-warming deniers are a liability to the conservative cause
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
July 15, 2010
… too many of us treat science as subjective — something we customize to reduce cognitive dissonance between what we think and how we live. In the case of global warming, this dissonance is especially traumatic for many conservatives, because they have based their whole worldview on the idea that unfettered capitalism — and the asphalt-paved, gas-guzzling consumer culture it has spawned — is synonymous with both personal fulfillment and human advancement. The global-warming hypothesis challenges that fundamental dogma, perhaps fatally.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
How the Liberal elites lost touch with Canadians
Monday, July 12th, 2010
July 7, 2010
The transformation began under Lester Pearson, when the Liberals launched huge new social programs — universal medicare and pensions — that were uncharacteristically collectivist for the party. Their central characteristic was the suspension of personal responsibility. Canadians were to be guaranteed health care and retirement income regardless of whether they had made plans and sacrifices during their healthy working years for the time when they became sick or old… In short, the Liberals have become “elitist” — because they no longer trust ordinary people to make the right choices for themselves.
Tags: ideology, participation
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Ontario Ombudsman to probe controversial G20 ‘five-metre rule’
Friday, July 9th, 2010
July 9, 2010
… a change to the Public Works Protection Act made behind closed doors by Premier Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet applied only to the inside of the security fence, which stretched around a large section of the city’s core. The Act, which dates back to 1939, governs most public space in Ontario and is applied every day in courthouses and other designated public areas. The chief of police had originally said there was a five-metre zone around the security barrier where police could ask people to produce identification, explain why they were there and allow officers to search their bags… but the police force and provincial government made little effort to correct the record.
Tags: rights
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Dishonesty as the political reality
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
July 7, 2010
The federal government spent more than $1.2-billion on what turned out to be an annoying and disruptive photo-op. In an age of technological wizardry the idea of dragging thousands of people from around the world to a downtown fortress for a day or two was beyond ludicrous… The G8/G20 meetings are just a symptom of the greater problem: We have become allergic to the truth. And worse, we are aware of this state of affairs and accept it as the price for getting along. Deep down, though, most of us have become utterly fed up with our politicians and leaders. It has lead to cynicism and isolation from each other and the institutions we should respect.
Tags: budget, participation
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The dynamics of U.S. poverty
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
July 7, 2010
America suffers much more child poverty than do comparably wealthy countries – Germany, France, Canada, etc. – for two main reasons: * Our much higher levels of immigration and especially unskilled immigration, which continually add to the population of poor in this country. * Our much lower levels of social spending, which mean that poor families receive far less social support than do poor families in other countries… American freedom and individualism are important national values to be celebrated and defended. But let’s not flatter ourselves: Those values exact a social cost – and they would be easier to defend if the cost were less high.
Tags: ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Conspicuous donation
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
June 30, 2010
A couple of weeks ago, the world’s richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, launched a scheme to “invite” America’s billionaires to give away half or more of their wealth… Capitalism and philanthropy have in fact always been closely allied since the days of John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie (whose reward was to be dubbed “Robber Barons”)… Unfortunately, universal support for the idea of “giving something back” implies that business fortunes were the result of “taking something away.”
Tags: ideology, participation
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
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