Events this past week
Over the past week, the main political event is the Mulroney-Schreiber case. As someone who is tired of hearing about scandals, I have basically ignored this one as it is something you get with every party. Besides Harper was a Reformer while Mulroney was a Progressive Conservative at the time, so I really don't see them as being too heavily connected. They are only connected by convenience since Mulroney wanted the Liberals out of power while Harper turned to someone last election who actually knew how to win elections. So I won't discuss this any further, but instead focus on three other major issues.
The Conservatives have proposed adding 5 seats to Alberta, 7 seats to British Columbia, and 10 seats to Ontario in order to ensure they reflect their growing populations. While I agree with the changes in the first two, I think giving Ontario only 10 more seats is shortchanging them and McGuinty is right to argue against this plan. I don't agree with the Quebec position that Quebec should have more seats than Alberta and BC combined despite having fewer people. However, I do believe in the idea of every vote being worth the same and therefore think Ontario should get an extra 21 as opposed to 10 seats. It also seems quite politically stupid to anger Ontario as there are far more seats there than the West and the Conservatives need to do well there to win. Whether this was a simple mistake or a deliberate attempt to make the changes more favourable to the Conservatives, I cannot say, but it needs to be corrected. The NDP and Liberals should try to amend this legislation in committee. Just because the West was historically given the short end of the stick doesn't mean the Conservatives should turn around and give Central and Eastern Canada the short end of the stick. We should be finding ways to unite the country not divide it. As someone born and raised in British Columbia, with most of my family in Alberta, and now living in Ontario, I believe we as Canadians have far more that unites us than divides us, so lets focus on that.
Another major issue, was Harper's stance at the Commonwealth on climate change. I agree with his assertion that developing countries should not be exempt from targets as if we are going to seriously tackle global warming, China, India, Russia, and the United States must be included. The European Union and a few other developed countries such as Canada will not be able to make the necessary changes on their own. By the same token, I agree with the opposition to that Harper's insistence on not doing anything on this file is also wrong. We cannot ask other countries to take action if we are not willing to take action, therefore we need to set actual targets for GHG reductions in law regardless of what other countries do. Unfortunately, it appears Harper is more interested in finding any excuse he can to avoid dealing with the issue. Lack of an international consensus should not condemn Canada to inaction. Despite the federal government's unwillingness to do anything, BC has moved ahead with aggressive targets as has California in the United States. Both jurisdictions didn't let their federal government's unwilligness to deal with the issue stand in their way.
Finally, there is the issue of the Conservatives change in stance on the death penalty. Ronald Allen Smith is suing the government for not seeking clemency. While it is tough to say what will happen, I don't think one can rely on the Charter to protect them beyond our borders. I generally believe as a rule of thumb that one should go by the laws in the country they are in, not where they hold citizenship. At the same time we have every right to request his sentence be commuted and off course the United States can decide to accept our request or ignore it. I am an unequovical supporter of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but I also realize it is a uniquely Canadian document that reflects who we are as a nation and our values. Just as it would be wrong to say an American has the right to carry a gun in Canada even though it is a constitutionally protected right in the US; therefore we cannot turn around and say we expect other countries to honour our Charter if we won't honour their constitution for their nationals. I also read the transcript on the debate of the death penalty at the UN. Singapore along with a few Caribbean countries argued that the EU was trying to impose its values on them and that, they didn't tell the EU it had to bring back the death penalty, so the EU had no right to tell them to abolish it. In the narrow scope, I fully oppose the death penalty, so it is easy to say we should ban it everywhere. But another principle I hold very dearly is respecting a country's sovereignty and the view that other country's should stay out of our domestic affairs and likewise we stay out of theirs. So I am somewhat conflicted on this issue since I am dead set against seeing the death penalty returned to Canada, but at the same time I want us to have the ability to decide our own laws irrespective of what other countries think. Now, I agree the Liberals have every right to condemn the Conservatives' reversal here since the issue of the Conservatives not intervening because they don't want to intervene in another country's domestic affairs doesn't stand up with their previous positions. If this is their position, then they need to pull out of Afghanistan and stop lecturing China on human rights, otherwise this position holds little weight and should give everyone reason to fear they would bring back the death penalty if they won a majority.
The Conservatives have proposed adding 5 seats to Alberta, 7 seats to British Columbia, and 10 seats to Ontario in order to ensure they reflect their growing populations. While I agree with the changes in the first two, I think giving Ontario only 10 more seats is shortchanging them and McGuinty is right to argue against this plan. I don't agree with the Quebec position that Quebec should have more seats than Alberta and BC combined despite having fewer people. However, I do believe in the idea of every vote being worth the same and therefore think Ontario should get an extra 21 as opposed to 10 seats. It also seems quite politically stupid to anger Ontario as there are far more seats there than the West and the Conservatives need to do well there to win. Whether this was a simple mistake or a deliberate attempt to make the changes more favourable to the Conservatives, I cannot say, but it needs to be corrected. The NDP and Liberals should try to amend this legislation in committee. Just because the West was historically given the short end of the stick doesn't mean the Conservatives should turn around and give Central and Eastern Canada the short end of the stick. We should be finding ways to unite the country not divide it. As someone born and raised in British Columbia, with most of my family in Alberta, and now living in Ontario, I believe we as Canadians have far more that unites us than divides us, so lets focus on that.
Another major issue, was Harper's stance at the Commonwealth on climate change. I agree with his assertion that developing countries should not be exempt from targets as if we are going to seriously tackle global warming, China, India, Russia, and the United States must be included. The European Union and a few other developed countries such as Canada will not be able to make the necessary changes on their own. By the same token, I agree with the opposition to that Harper's insistence on not doing anything on this file is also wrong. We cannot ask other countries to take action if we are not willing to take action, therefore we need to set actual targets for GHG reductions in law regardless of what other countries do. Unfortunately, it appears Harper is more interested in finding any excuse he can to avoid dealing with the issue. Lack of an international consensus should not condemn Canada to inaction. Despite the federal government's unwillingness to do anything, BC has moved ahead with aggressive targets as has California in the United States. Both jurisdictions didn't let their federal government's unwilligness to deal with the issue stand in their way.
Finally, there is the issue of the Conservatives change in stance on the death penalty. Ronald Allen Smith is suing the government for not seeking clemency. While it is tough to say what will happen, I don't think one can rely on the Charter to protect them beyond our borders. I generally believe as a rule of thumb that one should go by the laws in the country they are in, not where they hold citizenship. At the same time we have every right to request his sentence be commuted and off course the United States can decide to accept our request or ignore it. I am an unequovical supporter of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but I also realize it is a uniquely Canadian document that reflects who we are as a nation and our values. Just as it would be wrong to say an American has the right to carry a gun in Canada even though it is a constitutionally protected right in the US; therefore we cannot turn around and say we expect other countries to honour our Charter if we won't honour their constitution for their nationals. I also read the transcript on the debate of the death penalty at the UN. Singapore along with a few Caribbean countries argued that the EU was trying to impose its values on them and that, they didn't tell the EU it had to bring back the death penalty, so the EU had no right to tell them to abolish it. In the narrow scope, I fully oppose the death penalty, so it is easy to say we should ban it everywhere. But another principle I hold very dearly is respecting a country's sovereignty and the view that other country's should stay out of our domestic affairs and likewise we stay out of theirs. So I am somewhat conflicted on this issue since I am dead set against seeing the death penalty returned to Canada, but at the same time I want us to have the ability to decide our own laws irrespective of what other countries think. Now, I agree the Liberals have every right to condemn the Conservatives' reversal here since the issue of the Conservatives not intervening because they don't want to intervene in another country's domestic affairs doesn't stand up with their previous positions. If this is their position, then they need to pull out of Afghanistan and stop lecturing China on human rights, otherwise this position holds little weight and should give everyone reason to fear they would bring back the death penalty if they won a majority.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 5:26 PM
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