Election Time

... It's a pretty funny time in Canadian politics these days. In a few months the Conservatives will introduce a new budget, which will be defeated by the opposition parties, triggering another election, returning the Tory's a minority government. and resulting in the resignations of Mr Dion and Mr. Layton.

... Smiles everyone...

Conservative compromise...

(in response to Andrew Coyne's "Selling the Conservative soul" N.P. 01/20/07)

How tempting the current climate of conservative compromise, getting caught up in our own cleverness, and at the end of the day losing both principles and popularity, equally as empty as any Liberal.

The column was like the sudden sound of a bagpipe from the turret of the ivory tower, piercing the grey fog of day-to-day politics.

Mr. Coyne must be re-reading an Ayn Rand novel...

Freedom and the State

(in response to a letter in the Post 01/16/07)

Classic question- why does the Right turn to the force of the state to achieve moral values and not economic ones, and the Left vis versa?

Personally, I only address questions of political economics, so I will leave political moral questions to others.

Capitalism is the opposite of exploitation. Exploitation is the forcing of others. Capitalism defends the liberty of the employer to offer employment, and the liberty of the employee to accept or refuse employment at the offered conditions.

What we do with our freedom is a question of ethics, which are values rightly sustained outside the role of the state.

Christ as Socialist?

This week, Hugo Chavez stated that Christ was the greatest socialist- which nicely illustrates one of the more popular errors in political economic philosophy.

The difference between Christ and socialism is the difference between freedom and force. Christ encouraged true charity- the free giving of one's time or earnings to help those less fortunate. Socialism or communism as preached by Marx is forced economic redistribution by the state- which, as always, destroys the spirit of true Christian charity.

The unifying theme of the Left is it's instinctive turning to the force of the state to solve all it's problems- whether economic or environmental.

The Left?

Sometimes, things are necessary for a while, and then having achieved their purpose, are no longer necessary.

Such seems the case with the political Left. The left-ward turn of the Liberals by Mr. Dion, wiping out almost half of the NDP support overnight, reveals the crumbled foundations of the left-wing movement... their remaining supporters being mostly angry old hippies, and gullible union members.

We all owe the Left a debt of gratitude for it's perseverance over the decades in bringing environmental issues to the forefront of all political party's platforms

It could be that one day we will see an NDP MP crossing the floor... to the Conservatives. Now, that would be an exciting day!

The New Year...

You know, I've been trying to think of something to write about this week, but actually things are going very well...

Mr. Khan's decision to join the Conservative party continues the increasing irrelevance and obscurity of the Liberal party, and the polls show a steady decline in their numbers.

The NDP deservedly returns to a position of importance, honestly representing the old hippies and well-intended (yet mis-guided) youth.

The health of our environment has now become a non-partisan issue, recognised by all parties equally... the challenge for all being to find the most balanced, sensible solutions.

Even in the global context, PM Harper seems easily the most principled, intelligent head of state (admittedly not such a distinction in a field of desperate compromisers).

So, exciting times in an exciting country!