One example of why Alberta's Minister of "Justice" is a dumbass...

Ron Stevens figures he'll go to court to fight SSM, even though he knows he'll lose. Says Stevens:

"I know what the outcome will be because the federal legislation, when it becomes law, will determine what marriage is," he said. "It will take precedence to the definition that we have in our marriage act."

Sayeth those in know:

Keith Brownsey, a political scientist at Calgary's Mount Royal College, said there isn't much doubt that if the Alberta Tories choose the court option, it will be in the interest of maintaining the support it garners from its right-wing Christian supporters. "They have to be doing it for political reasons to shore up the fundamental evangelical right-wing in the party to make sure it stays loyal to the Conservatives," he said.

And then they wonder why no one goes to church anymore.

One of my favourite quotes is from Oscar Wilde: "A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it." Wilde also correctly pointed out that, "Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived." Fifty years from now, they'll be looking back at us, the same way as we look at these guys.

Yet another reason to live in B.C....

...as if there weren't enough, what with the mountains, weather, people and such. The City of Vancouver has become the first municipality in North America to refuse Wal-Mart a permit to build a store in their town.

Campbell suggested that the rest of council's opposition to the development had more to do with ideology and the business practices of Wal-Mart than with land use.

The horror! How dare anyone stand in the way of Wal-Mart because of ideology and their business practices! Bastards.

Meanwhile, back in the trenches....

A "debate" I was involved in today on the Vine.

Now don't get me wrong-- Christians as a group are a-ok. But ones like this piss me off. In point of fact, God and Seven archangels could come down from Heaven and argue that gay marriage is fine and St. Peter has been rogering John the Baptist for ages and this kind of person wouldn't buy it. Bigotry, plain and simple.

Betrayed?! What, again?

Not that I think any agreement with America ought to go unexamined, nor am I generally a fan of greater integration, given recent statements by David Dodge, the head of the Bank of Canada on the liklihood of an American economic meltdown.

But once again, the old war cry of Canada is Doomed appears.
Timmy the G thinks that the new North American security plan is a betrayal of Canadian Sovereignty. As the NDP puts it:

"In addition to being undemocratic, the deep integration strategy ignores the need to maintain Canada's identity and sovereignty. Allowing corporate North America to define our interests as a nation implies, in the end, complete regulatory harmonization with the U.S., and the subordination of our economic, social, cultural, and environmental policies to US policies," Mr. Julian said.

It's just that I've read this so many times now in the course of my research, going back to the 60's with Watkins, Laxer and The Waffle, and going through the 80's and 90's with the FTA and NAFTA. I'm just not convinced that THIS is the time the sky is falling, you know?

In other news...

...Paul Martin agrees with me that SSM
won't be an issue in the next election.

Sure, could be wishful thinking, but as with anything, most of the battle is getting a new policy established. Now that SSM is here, there will be other, more immediate issues for people to get excited about in the next federal election.

I'll give Martin this much-- SSM was a huge albatross hanging around his neck. But he's got it through the House and now the Libs can go on to easier issues. He may have the nickname "Mr. Dithers" but he's been a clever boy this term. It took a combination of divine intervention and Liberal parliamentary saavy to survive this term, but give Martin credit-- he made the most of his opportunities, while Harper kept fumbling easy handoffs.

Thank Heavens for Harper

I mean, this guy has been a godsend to Canadian left-wingers everywhere. Initially, I was disappointed when the dumbasses in the Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives finally figured out that their just weren't enough right-wingers in Canada to go around. But Harper has been a dream come true.

Let's look at this realistically. When Martin becomes PM last year, he has something like a 45-50% approval rating. Then, Harper is handed an absolute whopper of a scandal. The Liberals drop 10% in the polls before anyone even knows what's going on. But during the election:

• Harper makes it public he thinks he will get a majority and publicizes he's talking to our favourite PM of all time, Brian Mulroney, in the middle of an election campaign no less. Brilliant!
• Harper's candidates make a number of idiot announcements that show everyone just what kind of reactionary zealots they'll be getting if they vote Conservative. One announces that Cons. will use the notwithstanding clause (which is oh-so-popular in English Canada) lots so they can ignore the courts. The weekend before the election. Jeez. Hello in there!
• Klein picks that moment to announce he will do an end run around Medicare, and Harper, who has publically announced he will do more or less the same as PM can only watch. Has no one told him that most Canadians aren't interested in private health insurance?

So Harper loses. And obviously he has underperformed, because the %tage of those voting for Conservatives is less than the combined %tage of those voting Aliance or PC in 2000. Most of the old PC'ers went Liberal, helped along by Joe Clark announcing Harper is dangerous.

But let it pass. In 2005, Harper again gets a golden opportunity to take down Martin, gift wrapped and with a big "Gomery" tag on the package. What does he do?

1. In February, Harper decides he won't defeat the government over the budget. "There's nothing in this budget that would warrant an election at this time," he says.
2. As Gomery gains steam, Harper decides that his party "cannot support their programs" afterall. Then he joins up with the Bloc in a Parliamentary tag team.
3. With the Tories ahead in the polls Harper can't quite get the Libs to accept what he calls a non-confidence vote. So now, he comes off as petulant, yappy little dog barking after his Master has left him out on the front porch. Constitutional experts agree with Martin. Allied with the Bloc, Harper shuts down the House.
4. On the eve of a crucial budget vote, Harper goes Alpha male on Stronach, apparently figuring she'll just meekly take it. Instead, Stronach jumps to the Liberals, changing the balance of power in the House in a close vote. Conservatives fail to defeat the government.
5. By June, the Conservative lead in the polls has evaporated. On June 23, the Liberals force through a motion extending parliament and passing the last of their budget legislation. Where are the Conservatives during this? Drinking, heading home for the weekend, that sort of thing. Who cares if it's a dirty trick? If the Cons were awake, they'd of caught it. These yahoos want to run the country?
6. The day before a vote on SSM Harper can't win, he tells Quebeccers that their votes are illegitimate. That's the same Bloc he was working with on the budget the week before. I gather he no longer sees much hope for seats in Quebec.

I love it! If the Cons EVER had any chance at forming a government, this was the time. But under Harper's leadership (and the strategy of the Calgary backroom boys) they have systematically tanked every opportunity by a combination of stupidity, Parliamentary incompetance and an inability to see that social conservatism doesn't fly in Canada. He hasn't won a battle, and now, according to Chantal Hebert he just looks like a bigot.

I hope he stays leader for ever and ever and ever!

Same Sex Marriage Hysteria: Canada goes straight to Hell

An entirely original first post for Early morning June 29th, 2005, I will grant you. I'm sure that there is no one talking about this at all in Canada just now. Hell, it'll be lucky to make the papers.

Anyways, SSM passed the House last night, by a good margin. Of course, Harper is saying that if he gets to be PM that "There will be a chance to revisit this in a future Parliament,” Mr. Harper said. “Our intention is to have a free vote.” How he is going to manage this is unclear since he will a) never be PM and b) the feds would have to invoke the notwithstanding clause, something every Tom, Dick and Hairy with the slightest knowledge of the Constitution has been pointing out for months.

But, given the liklihood of the Conservative administration, one of my favourite Christians, Uncle Jaja was praying for divine intervention to stop C-38, sort of like the Jesus Chalk Hoax. Me, I figure God actually saved Martin's government when Stronach crossed the floor.*wink*

More amusing is the reaction on some conservative blogs and boards. Andrew Coyne has been on vacation for a bit, doubtless appalled by Harper's antics. But a small sample:

• "Canada committed the the ultimate act of degradation on a national scale"
• "Well, Canada takes another step into Hell as our Parliament formally endorses the perversion of marriage." (This is an exact quote. One can only wonder what this person was smoking)
• "Morally and ethically, Canada has gone just about as low as a country can get without being Rome before the Fall."
• "I imagine the polygamists will be next to voice their desire for legal marriage here. 'Afterall, if any two consenting adults can be wed, why stop at two?' will be their argument. 'Why, any number of consenting adults should be able to get hitched, no matter what their sexual orientation.'"

Anyways, it goes on. The hysteria is amusing. However, I can report that according to the Weather Channel, as C-38 passed no lighting struck the Parliament buildings.

In any case, religious groups have threatened to get really pissed about this. Of course, by the time the next election comes along, no one will give a damn. The next election is about health care, with perhaps a very small amount of Gomery left over. The rest of it is just going to be shrieking hysterics that is going to send moderates for the NDP and Liberals as fast as possible.

Blog No. 1

I guess it's time I started one of these, bandwagon jumping though it is. I wander by enough political blogs that the idea has caught my interest. I expect all of two people to ever actually read the thing, but whatever. An online diary isn't my story really, but I do this stuff on message boards all the time, ironic when I remember that I dropped a course on internet communication third year University ten years ago because I couldn't figure out what the hell hyperlinking was. In my defence, the prof never actually explained hyperlinking, just described us and told us to write an assignment with links in it.

Anyways, I'll see if I actually keep this up at all, and then move it somewhere Canadian like. I guess I'm thinking mostly of Canadian politics with the odd bit of sports thrown in for good measure. Highly original I'll grant you, but so what?

Politically, I tend to be left of centre. Political Right wingers irritate me. I understand that, to some degree at least, politics are based on beliefs systems about one's fellow man, the role of families and so on, but I can't help but think a great number of them don't have a great deal in the way of brains. In any case, conservatives (the generic kind) tend to structure their political beliefs around the Strict Father model proposed by George Lakoff; not really my story. The Nurturant Parent is more my speed, but the designation Liberal doesn't quite get me either. If I'd been born 50 years ago, I'd probably have been a Red Tory, but I'm not religious, don't care about the monarchy, and believe that individualism has its uses. At the end of the day, I don't think an idea is valid because it comes from a particular political leaning or party, but whether or not it makes sense, is good for society, and is just. I vote NDP, but I don't think the Liberals are evil or anything, even though they have far too many links to "business first" types. At the end of the day, the Liberals, at least in their current incarnation, are at least willing to defend the federation, and that'll always get them brownie points from me.

Which leads me to the other thing that will probably distinguish my posts. I'm a Canadian Nationalist. What I mean by this is that my loyalty is to the political nation of Canada, not to any provinces, certainly not to any other countries. I agree, the Quebecois have their own nation, but I hope they won't bail. If we have to change the distribution of powers around a bit to make Canada more stable, that's good with me. I'm not anti-American, though I think their current government is bollocks and I like when we do things to differentiate ourselves from them. Americans are people like anyone else, though, granted, those who are evangelists and warhawks are particularly loathsome.

Kay, I think I'll start blogging now.