Bits and Pieces
With my busy schedule, I haven't been able to up date my blog on a daily basis, so here is my take on the major issues of the day.
It appears the Tory attack ad might violate copyright laws. While I think tv clips should be fair game for political ads, I do believe the party should follow the law until such time as it is changed. Barley producers on the Canadian Wheat Board will get a plebiscite with three different possible options, so should be interesting to see how this turns out. I would support a dual marketing system whereby farmers who want to sell outside the Wheat Board can do so, so long as they never ever use the Board again. Otherwise you are either in or your out, no flipping back in forth between the board and an open market. This would allow those who want choice to have it without destroying the Wheat Board in the process. Ottawa apparently plans to sell many public buildings. As bad as the idea may sound, it actually makes sense since owning a building is not as easy as some think, rather it requires specialization in that area. Very few private companies actually own the buildings they work in and I suspect they lease them because it is cheaper to do so. Still I think it should be done on a case by case basis, not a blind target as the minister set. This idea had been raised by Scott Brison as public works minister two years ago, but for whatever reason never came up again. Question period is back in action and off course the big topic is the environment and rightly so. It appears that the Tories are under fire for appointing Mississauga-Streetsville Conservative candidate Raminder Gill as a citizenship judge without going through the proper process so as to make way for Wajid Khan's defection. I guess one more reason to be relieved Wajid Khan is no longer a Liberal.
The big story of the week is the letter Stephen Harper sent out to Alliance members back in 2002 about Kyoto being a money sucking socialist scheme. Besides the over the top rhetoric, which I think is a major thing that turns many Canadians off right wing politics, this brings about the question about whether Stephen Harper accepts the science behind global warming. While one's views may change, I think the opposition needs to hammer him on this and if he cannot give a decent answer, as I don't suspect he will, then bring it up in the attack ads in the next election. While I would prefer we could keep a more civilized political discourse, if the Tories want to throw mud at us, then we need to attack back. When you go to a bar, you don't go looking for a fight, but if someone punches you first, you fight back. The science behind global warming may not be 100% certain as nothing is ever 100% certain, but it is very conclusive and the fact Harper is still a skeptic and only pretends to support it when he sees his poll numbers falling should be of great concern.
Finally there were the income trusts hearings. I personally think that a longer transition period for existing trusts should have been granted, that being said the last thing the market needs is uncertainty so better to stick with the decision even if it was done sloppily. Besides I think Harper's broken promise suggests to me more incomptence then a lie since anyone closely watching the market would have seen this coming, but I suspect Harper actually believed this could be avoided as he understands economics well, but seems to have very little understanding of how the actual business world works.
It appears the Tory attack ad might violate copyright laws. While I think tv clips should be fair game for political ads, I do believe the party should follow the law until such time as it is changed. Barley producers on the Canadian Wheat Board will get a plebiscite with three different possible options, so should be interesting to see how this turns out. I would support a dual marketing system whereby farmers who want to sell outside the Wheat Board can do so, so long as they never ever use the Board again. Otherwise you are either in or your out, no flipping back in forth between the board and an open market. This would allow those who want choice to have it without destroying the Wheat Board in the process. Ottawa apparently plans to sell many public buildings. As bad as the idea may sound, it actually makes sense since owning a building is not as easy as some think, rather it requires specialization in that area. Very few private companies actually own the buildings they work in and I suspect they lease them because it is cheaper to do so. Still I think it should be done on a case by case basis, not a blind target as the minister set. This idea had been raised by Scott Brison as public works minister two years ago, but for whatever reason never came up again. Question period is back in action and off course the big topic is the environment and rightly so. It appears that the Tories are under fire for appointing Mississauga-Streetsville Conservative candidate Raminder Gill as a citizenship judge without going through the proper process so as to make way for Wajid Khan's defection. I guess one more reason to be relieved Wajid Khan is no longer a Liberal.
The big story of the week is the letter Stephen Harper sent out to Alliance members back in 2002 about Kyoto being a money sucking socialist scheme. Besides the over the top rhetoric, which I think is a major thing that turns many Canadians off right wing politics, this brings about the question about whether Stephen Harper accepts the science behind global warming. While one's views may change, I think the opposition needs to hammer him on this and if he cannot give a decent answer, as I don't suspect he will, then bring it up in the attack ads in the next election. While I would prefer we could keep a more civilized political discourse, if the Tories want to throw mud at us, then we need to attack back. When you go to a bar, you don't go looking for a fight, but if someone punches you first, you fight back. The science behind global warming may not be 100% certain as nothing is ever 100% certain, but it is very conclusive and the fact Harper is still a skeptic and only pretends to support it when he sees his poll numbers falling should be of great concern.
Finally there were the income trusts hearings. I personally think that a longer transition period for existing trusts should have been granted, that being said the last thing the market needs is uncertainty so better to stick with the decision even if it was done sloppily. Besides I think Harper's broken promise suggests to me more incomptence then a lie since anyone closely watching the market would have seen this coming, but I suspect Harper actually believed this could be avoided as he understands economics well, but seems to have very little understanding of how the actual business world works.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 4:55 PM
2 Comments:
I personally feel attack ads should be limited to actual election periods, and tv ads should be banned. At the same time, Harper is simply setting himself up for failure, as he's annoying the voters, who may not take too kindly to him running attack ads between elections.
I too think attack ads should be limited to the election, but I think if a party wants to run them, they should be allowed to although I as a voter don't appreciate it. The best way to stop it is don't vote for parties who do it since if it doesn't work then parties will stop doing it.
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