Please, Won't You Be My Neighbour?
Election Fever has actually started taking hold in Canada, with only a few days left to go...
Between simultaneous debates on both sides of the 49th parallel and the general flurry of political activity amidst the looming failures of capitalism, the differences and similarities between the campaigns in Canada and the United States are both striking--especially in how the same approach to something can be viewed differently in each country.
I haven't really had time to take a breath and update the federal election situation until now, so prepare for a barrage of news linkage and video. Feel free to skim through to your cause(s) of choice.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, seeing a potential defeat on the horizon, has been trying to soften up his image, since his general public persona is...well, wooden would be a polite term for it. In doing so, he has relied on the Mister Rogers Charm School, heavily favouring sweater vests in ads and public appearances. Somehow, though, this hasn't changed some voters' perception of him:
The sweater's become so associated with this manufactured image that NDP leader Jack Layton used it to launch a zinger in the English-language leaders' debate which has been getting a lot of play online:
(In the interests of fairness, I should mention that the Tories have since released their election platform, but only after the debates, and after the Liberal platform, the NDP platform, and the Green Party platform were already out there.)
Of course, there's no need to do anything like fake ominous emails from Stephen Harper when Harper himself won't answer questions posed by Make Poverty History, goes against his own previous complaints about patronage appointments, and refuses to meet with other parties to deal with the economy.
(I'm embarrassed to say that he recently revealed one thing we share in common--we're both former Reach for the Top players. :/)
The rest of the Conservatives seem to be talking out of their puffin-place, too, providing plenty of evidence on their own that a wardrobe change doesn't hide their true colours. The party as a whole is willing to use the RCMP to block reporters, avoid answering questions from university students, practice the same avoidance when a candidate caught making homophobic remarks is invited to a debate by his riding's GLBT community, and generally refuse to answer questions posed by any organised group.
Their positions are also edging closer and closer to the neocon model of other countries, so much so that a Tory speechwriter had to resign when it was revealed he plagiarised from a speech by former Australian Prime Minister John Howard for a speech given by Stephen Harper in the House of Commons on the subject of Iraq. Here, see for yourself:
Harper also seems to like the American Republican mold for other policies, though his repeated statement that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" doesn't seem to be getting him in as much trouble as John McCain has faced in the US for saying the same thing. Meanwhile, Canadian columnist Heather Mallick was drawn into some American election shenanigans after she wrote a column attacking Sarah Palin, which led to the usual vitriolic attacks from everyone's favourite propaganda arm, Fox News. Mallick wrote another column this week detailing the fallout and explaining why she (wisely) chose not to appear on that network herself.
Here are some other Canadian campaign issues, both new and revisited:
Aboriginal Issues: As usual, these have been all but ignored during this campaign. :/ Even though the government's policies on sentencing, poverty, and bureaucratic appointments, amongst others, have all been attacked for not addressing First Nations concerns, this segment of Canada's population tends not to register on the political radar. Wab Kinew gave a good summary of this problem and its consequences for CBC Radio, and Katherine Walker has also provided her own analysis.
Afghanistan: My brother-in-law got back a couple of weeks ago, as have all of the Manitoba-based soldiers who were there. :) Meanwhile, those who are still there have already voted, and it turns out (perhaps unsurprisingly) that our mission there is costing more than predicted. (This government has had poor accountability on this front, despite promising before they were elected into power to be more transparent than the previous government.) We're not in Iraq, of course, but American Iraq War deserter Jeremy Hinzman managed to win a stay of deportation while the courts look at his appeal.
Arts Funding: The Conservative government has cut millions of dollars in arts and culture funding this year, and tried to introduce a policy which would withhold tax credits from films which were deemed "not in the public interest" after the outcry from some circles about this movie (which, despite the title, is witty but mostly harmless). After protests from actors, protests from every other political party, protests from provincial and territorial ministers, and protests from the Cool Theatre People, the Tories seem to be backing off a bit, though the protests continue.
Part of the reason for the backpedalling is that this kind of funding is a wedge issue in Québec, where the Tories have been losing ground. Many people there feel that continued financing is the only way to fully preserve their unique francophone culture. The Québécois arts community's feelings of alienation from this federal government might be best exemplified in this video:
Even "CanLit Queen" and SF-denier Margaret Atwood has backed the Bloc Québécois on this issue, although I feel she might be more vocal at the moment because she has a new book out which ties into the current economic crisis, which she's been discussing in American media outlets as well. (In fact, she will be delivering the 2008 CBC Massey Lecture on the subject here in Winnipeg on my birthday a week from today.)
Copyright: The Conservative Party keeps trying to introduce copyright-reform legislation, despite many criticisms from different quarters. Michael Geist (whom I mentioned in my last entry) has been trying to get federal candidates to pledge that any reform of the Copyright Act will take a more balanced approach. Shockingly, no Tory candidates have signed on.
The Environment: No sooner had I described The Green Shift as "a central plank of the Liberal platform" than Stéphane Dion came along to insist that The Green Shift is not a central plank of the Liberal platform. Well, sorry, guy. (On the other hand, it really is a central plank, though.)
Scandals! The Conservatives have their share of scandals to talk about, but in a further reflection of the American campaign landscape, some of our scandals now come from books conveniently released or leaked ahead of the election. Julie Couillard had some past ties to biker gangs before becoming more well-known for her relationship to former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier (the equivalent of the US Secretary of State), who had to resign when it was revealed that he left behind confidential briefing papers at her house, and she talks about all this and more in her new tell-all memoir. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Paul Martin trashes Liberal rival and fellow former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in his upcoming autobiography, Hell or High Water.
Strategic Voting: Because of the number of left-leaning parties facing off in Canada against the one right-leaning party, left-leaning voters are worried that a split amongst "the crowded left" will allow the Conservatives to sneak in and win again, possibly even with a majority government. Anti-Harper Vote Swap Canada was launched on Facebook to help prevent this, and Elections Canada determined that such online vote-swapping is legal after a brief investigation. Other groups which have formed in an effort to keep the Tories from re-election at all costs include Anything But Conservative, launched by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams (himself a Progressive Conservative!); the Department of Culture, who want them out because of the aforementioned arts issues; and Vote for Environment, who want them out because of the aforementioned environmental issues.
Democracy Watch even went so far as to go to Federal Court to try and stop the election, since (as I mentioned when the election was called) Stephen Harper violated the intention, if not the strict letter, of the fixed-date election law introduced by his own party in not waiting until next year. As so often happens in such cases, however, the case won't be argued before the courts for months, making the whole exercise somewhat academic.
Er...did I forget anything? ;)
On a more personal note, I was quite surprised when I got two voter registration cards in the mail recently. Thrilled though I was at the opportunity to vote early and often, it appears to have been a "simple" snafu on the part of Elections Canada, though it was enough to merit a brief appearance on the local news by my brother, who was also doubled up.
I was also surprised to learn that the riding where I'm writing this, Winnipeg South Centre (The Fighting South Centres!), is considered a tight race in this election, which concerns me because the Conservative candidate seems to be rather homophobic. I'd much rather have Muppets at my political rallies, but that seems to be more of a West Coast phenomenon.
Even with the increased efforts by ordinary Canadians to take part in this election, and some of the disgusting antics now on display by the Republicans in the US election, I still envy other efforts from American groups, such as this production (no doubt already nestled comfortably in dimpled_infamy's bookmarks):
At the end of the day, I have heard the people sing on my own...
Between simultaneous debates on both sides of the 49th parallel and the general flurry of political activity amidst the looming failures of capitalism, the differences and similarities between the campaigns in Canada and the United States are both striking--especially in how the same approach to something can be viewed differently in each country.
I haven't really had time to take a breath and update the federal election situation until now, so prepare for a barrage of news linkage and video. Feel free to skim through to your cause(s) of choice.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, seeing a potential defeat on the horizon, has been trying to soften up his image, since his general public persona is...well, wooden would be a polite term for it. In doing so, he has relied on the Mister Rogers Charm School, heavily favouring sweater vests in ads and public appearances. Somehow, though, this hasn't changed some voters' perception of him:
Click to viewThe sweater's become so associated with this manufactured image that NDP leader Jack Layton used it to launch a zinger in the English-language leaders' debate which has been getting a lot of play online:
(In the interests of fairness, I should mention that the Tories have since released their election platform, but only after the debates, and after the Liberal platform, the NDP platform, and the Green Party platform were already out there.)
Of course, there's no need to do anything like fake ominous emails from Stephen Harper when Harper himself won't answer questions posed by Make Poverty History, goes against his own previous complaints about patronage appointments, and refuses to meet with other parties to deal with the economy.
(I'm embarrassed to say that he recently revealed one thing we share in common--we're both former Reach for the Top players. :/)
The rest of the Conservatives seem to be talking out of their puffin-place, too, providing plenty of evidence on their own that a wardrobe change doesn't hide their true colours. The party as a whole is willing to use the RCMP to block reporters, avoid answering questions from university students, practice the same avoidance when a candidate caught making homophobic remarks is invited to a debate by his riding's GLBT community, and generally refuse to answer questions posed by any organised group.
Their positions are also edging closer and closer to the neocon model of other countries, so much so that a Tory speechwriter had to resign when it was revealed he plagiarised from a speech by former Australian Prime Minister John Howard for a speech given by Stephen Harper in the House of Commons on the subject of Iraq. Here, see for yourself:
Harper also seems to like the American Republican mold for other policies, though his repeated statement that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" doesn't seem to be getting him in as much trouble as John McCain has faced in the US for saying the same thing. Meanwhile, Canadian columnist Heather Mallick was drawn into some American election shenanigans after she wrote a column attacking Sarah Palin, which led to the usual vitriolic attacks from everyone's favourite propaganda arm, Fox News. Mallick wrote another column this week detailing the fallout and explaining why she (wisely) chose not to appear on that network herself.
Here are some other Canadian campaign issues, both new and revisited:
Aboriginal Issues: As usual, these have been all but ignored during this campaign. :/ Even though the government's policies on sentencing, poverty, and bureaucratic appointments, amongst others, have all been attacked for not addressing First Nations concerns, this segment of Canada's population tends not to register on the political radar. Wab Kinew gave a good summary of this problem and its consequences for CBC Radio, and Katherine Walker has also provided her own analysis.
Afghanistan: My brother-in-law got back a couple of weeks ago, as have all of the Manitoba-based soldiers who were there. :) Meanwhile, those who are still there have already voted, and it turns out (perhaps unsurprisingly) that our mission there is costing more than predicted. (This government has had poor accountability on this front, despite promising before they were elected into power to be more transparent than the previous government.) We're not in Iraq, of course, but American Iraq War deserter Jeremy Hinzman managed to win a stay of deportation while the courts look at his appeal.
Arts Funding: The Conservative government has cut millions of dollars in arts and culture funding this year, and tried to introduce a policy which would withhold tax credits from films which were deemed "not in the public interest" after the outcry from some circles about this movie (which, despite the title, is witty but mostly harmless). After protests from actors, protests from every other political party, protests from provincial and territorial ministers, and protests from the Cool Theatre People, the Tories seem to be backing off a bit, though the protests continue.
Part of the reason for the backpedalling is that this kind of funding is a wedge issue in Québec, where the Tories have been losing ground. Many people there feel that continued financing is the only way to fully preserve their unique francophone culture. The Québécois arts community's feelings of alienation from this federal government might be best exemplified in this video:
Even "CanLit Queen" and SF-denier Margaret Atwood has backed the Bloc Québécois on this issue, although I feel she might be more vocal at the moment because she has a new book out which ties into the current economic crisis, which she's been discussing in American media outlets as well. (In fact, she will be delivering the 2008 CBC Massey Lecture on the subject here in Winnipeg on my birthday a week from today.)
Copyright: The Conservative Party keeps trying to introduce copyright-reform legislation, despite many criticisms from different quarters. Michael Geist (whom I mentioned in my last entry) has been trying to get federal candidates to pledge that any reform of the Copyright Act will take a more balanced approach. Shockingly, no Tory candidates have signed on.
The Environment: No sooner had I described The Green Shift as "a central plank of the Liberal platform" than Stéphane Dion came along to insist that The Green Shift is not a central plank of the Liberal platform. Well, sorry, guy. (On the other hand, it really is a central plank, though.)
Scandals! The Conservatives have their share of scandals to talk about, but in a further reflection of the American campaign landscape, some of our scandals now come from books conveniently released or leaked ahead of the election. Julie Couillard had some past ties to biker gangs before becoming more well-known for her relationship to former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier (the equivalent of the US Secretary of State), who had to resign when it was revealed that he left behind confidential briefing papers at her house, and she talks about all this and more in her new tell-all memoir. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Paul Martin trashes Liberal rival and fellow former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in his upcoming autobiography, Hell or High Water.
Strategic Voting: Because of the number of left-leaning parties facing off in Canada against the one right-leaning party, left-leaning voters are worried that a split amongst "the crowded left" will allow the Conservatives to sneak in and win again, possibly even with a majority government. Anti-Harper Vote Swap Canada was launched on Facebook to help prevent this, and Elections Canada determined that such online vote-swapping is legal after a brief investigation. Other groups which have formed in an effort to keep the Tories from re-election at all costs include Anything But Conservative, launched by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams (himself a Progressive Conservative!); the Department of Culture, who want them out because of the aforementioned arts issues; and Vote for Environment, who want them out because of the aforementioned environmental issues.
Democracy Watch even went so far as to go to Federal Court to try and stop the election, since (as I mentioned when the election was called) Stephen Harper violated the intention, if not the strict letter, of the fixed-date election law introduced by his own party in not waiting until next year. As so often happens in such cases, however, the case won't be argued before the courts for months, making the whole exercise somewhat academic.
Er...did I forget anything? ;)
On a more personal note, I was quite surprised when I got two voter registration cards in the mail recently. Thrilled though I was at the opportunity to vote early and often, it appears to have been a "simple" snafu on the part of Elections Canada, though it was enough to merit a brief appearance on the local news by my brother, who was also doubled up.
I was also surprised to learn that the riding where I'm writing this, Winnipeg South Centre (The Fighting South Centres!), is considered a tight race in this election, which concerns me because the Conservative candidate seems to be rather homophobic. I'd much rather have Muppets at my political rallies, but that seems to be more of a West Coast phenomenon.
Even with the increased efforts by ordinary Canadians to take part in this election, and some of the disgusting antics now on display by the Republicans in the US election, I still envy other efforts from American groups, such as this production (no doubt already nestled comfortably in dimpled_infamy's bookmarks):
At the end of the day, I have heard the people sing on my own...