Recently in politics Category

This morning's Globe and Mail has a real investigative scoop, but apparently they don't realize it.

As most Canadians know by now the government wants to make the census long form voluntary rather than mandatory, which everyone who has any expertise in statistics knows, will destroy the validity of the survey.  The head of Statistics Canada,Munir Sheikh, has now resigned rather than implement the decree from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Industry Minister Tony Clement.


In an editorial this morning (July 22) the Globe notes that:

And in recent days, the rhetoric has become baffling: the government has invoked the fact that a tiny mischievous minority list "Jedi Knight" as their religion as a reason to get rid of the questionnaire.

As the millions of people who have seen the Star Wars movies know, that when former Senator, now Chancellor (the equivalent of the  Prime Minister in the galactic republic) Palpatine does when he is ready to seize absolute power is to wipe out the Jedi (the guardians of freedom and the light side of the Force)  from the toddler younglings all the way up to the Jedi Council. As we all know, Palaptine succeeds in destroying almost all the Jedi, and then becomes the dictatorial emperor of that galaxy far, far away.

Some columnists and commentators have said that Harper and Clement are embracing American style Tea Party politics, extreme libertarianism where no one supports the maintenance of society.  

Now thanks to the Globe's scoop, we know the future is much more  ominous.

Ottawa columnists have said that Harper is the unfriendly dictator, with his whims and short term political tactics governing his decisions. Some commentators have said that Harper is a king, especially when it comes to the rule of law where Harper personally decides whether or not the law applies to certain individuals.

Now it appears that if there are no Jedi in Canada (at least on paper or in a StatsCan database), Harper will be free to declare himself Emperor, with Count Dooku Clement by his side. (And since the Liberal Party, the supposed loyal opposition, is in as much disarray as the opposition in the galactic republic was, the Jedi may be Canada's only chance.  Is there a Luke Skywalker somewhere in the dry land country of south central  British Columbia?).

We have to keep our fingers crossed for a new hope.

Now to get serious for a moment.  That reference to the Jedi in the last census actually proves the value of the long form.  Fewer and fewer people in Canada believe in traditional religion. Canadians are interested in various forms of spirituality, and the George Lucas Star War's concept of The Force is one way of expressing that spirituality. So if someone in Canada believes in a spirituality that say blends The Force, aboriginal spirituality and traditional monotheism, there is no little box to check that says part of a, part of c and part of e.   Calling oneself a Jedi Knight maybe be mischievous for some, but for others it is an accurate reflection of their beliefs.

That amorphous spirituality is another inconvenient truth among many that the Conservatives want to bury (especially those who are Christian fundamentalists). 

 

Here in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has twice prorogued parliament to avoid  political challenges, first the threat of a coalition of the three opposition parties and second a rather unsuccessful attempt to avoid nasty questions about the treatment of Afghan detainees.

When Harper porogued  parliament, all the government bills on the order paper died and had to be reintroduced in the new session of Parliament. In Canadian democracy, federal or provincial, the same thing happens when the prime minister (or premier) goes to the governor general (or lieutenant governor) to "drop the writ" and call an election.

The outrage among Canadians at Harper's tactics was loud and clear and many, even some Conservative supporters, consider the second proroguation an affront to democracy.

But there's a silver lining to all that...... in our nuanced world, nothing is ever black and white.

If a government is facing the electorate,  the death of those bills is a key element in democracy, any bills should be stopped until a new parliament can consider them.

Not apparently at the Mother of Parliaments, at Westminster, where there is what my friends in the UK call the "mash-up." The actual  political term is apparently "wash-up." That means after the election is called, the not-so-honourable members get to push through bills at the last minute. "Mash-up" is certainly a more appropriate term.

Based on my Canadian experience, I was rather surprised at the blogs, tweets and Facebook entries from the United Kingdom that said the controversial digital economy bill was still alive and to be voted on in Parliament, even after Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the Queen to ask for the disolution of Parliament for an election.

In the wee small hours, Friday, Apr. 9, 2010, with only a few members in the  House, the highly controversial Digital Economy  as reported by The Guardian: Digital economy bill rushed through wash-up in late night session

The government forced through the controversial digital economy bill with the aid of the Conservative party last night, attaining a crucial third reading - which means it will get royal assent and become law - after just two hours of debate in the Commons.

The bill claims to promote the "digital economy" by what some say are draconian copyright provisions. As a creator and writer, I am very much in favour of copyright and copyright enforcement. This UK law (or will be law as soon as the Queen signs it) is largely the creature of the giant media companies and follows their agenda. There are even fears that the bill could lead the UK to block Google and sites like Wikileaks..

So the law is not a step forward to protect creators but a step by the media corporations to protect their empires. The only outcome will be more income from media lawyers, bureaucrats and whatever copyright police come into existence, rather than a real attempt to create a 21st century copyright framework.

Also according to The Guardian, the outraged digital community in the UK are now going take a very active part in the coming election and lists of MPs who voted for the bill, voted against the bill and just didn't show up are already available on blogs. See the Guardian's: General election 2010 Digital economy bill backlash dominates e-election debate