Self-Interest: Surgeons and Ministers

Three excerpts from a well-written article from the Times of London:

"In the emergency room of Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Dr Raed al-Arayni was entering his 12th day of nonstop work and was preparing for yet another operation when his worst nightmare came true.

The bloodied little boy being carried into the room by a neighbour was screaming at him. “Baba, baba [daddy, daddy],” the child cried."

---

'“Israel has acted, is acting and will act only according to its considerations, the security needs of its citizens and its right to self-defence,” Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister and the ruling Kadima party’s candidate for prime minister, said on Friday.'

---

And perhaps, what the purpose of all this is:

"Likud is still leading the race with an expected 32 seats and Kadima is likely to win 27 or so seats, but the centre-left block is closing fast."

On Killing and Guilt

I cannot look a child in the eye and tell them that down the street, or even next door, a murderer lives and I am going to kill him but in doing so I might kill the child. I cannot say this to the child's mother or father.

But if I allow someone else to take this risk, am I not guilty in some way?

Beyond what the murderer deserves or the need to stop the person, this child's life would be taken as a calculated risk, but a risk that was accepted. By accepting the risk, one accepts the responsibility for it.

We have to move on in our own lives but we are party to the actions of the leaders we elect. When Harper says he accepts the risk that a child will be killed in order to murder a murderer, then he accepts it on my behalf. I am guilty as a Canadian in the child's death.

I cannot support this. As a Liberal, I do not like Mr. Ignatieff, as the party leader, accepting the risks of manslaughter in Israel and Gaza on my behalf. I am now guilty in the killing of humans.

Are inactive shareholders not responsible for the demise of a company? Maybe not but they lose their shirts.

Liberals Kill 40 At School

Is there any question that fighting should be stopped through international intervention if necessary:

"A single Israeli strike kills at least 40 at a school, the third involving UN-run schools on the same day."

Here.

Another few days is unacceptable. We are guilty already and worse if we continue just standby. It's time for leadership, Mr. Ignatieff, at the least from you; we can expect nothing from our Prime Minister.

To continue with some moral leadership...

"UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it "totally unacceptable" that Israeli bombardments would strike near four UN facilities - three schools and a health centre - where Palestinians had sought refuge in Gaza.

Some 15,000 Palestinians have packed the UN's 23 Gaza schools because their homes were destroyed or to flee the violence. The UN provided the Israeli military with GPS co-ordinates for all of them."

Senator David Smith: A Coward?

The title is just meant to be provocative. I would however like to hear Senator Smith and MP Anita Neville, of the "Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel", to comment on the disgusting behaviour of the Israeli goverment. To object as a caucus to Harper's decision to not intervene in cases of Canadians sentenced to death in other countries, but to stay mum about the arbitrary (let's be honest) and immoral killings of the people locked into the concentration camp that is the Gaza Strip, is cowardly. Senator Smith, stand up for the Jewish people in Canada, and demonstrate how the government has abandoned morality.

ONLINE Vote: T-Minus...?

Dear IT-inclined bloggers,

How long would it take the Liberal Party to set up a robust online leadership vote? Given that it took me about 10 minutes to set up an online poll, I cannot imagine it is really that hard to do. Maybe one problem is compiling all the national membership lists, as was suppose to be done after the last convention. Perhaps the Executive would be against this because it would show how little important work they had done!

There seems to be a possible excuse to go against OMOV as the motion for this system did not pass at the convention with the required 2/3 majority to change the party constitution. Fine. But there should be a process of popular expression for any non-convention selected leader. A non-binding online one member, one vote is perfectly legitimate for that purpose.

For worried Iggy fans, I dare say he'd probably win anyway; it would just be important for the membership to express what direction they wanted Iggy to go in, as he seems to be rather non-committal on issues right now. Maybe even combine the vote with a referendum on a publicized terms of agreement on NDP-Liberal coalition - well, that might not work as a good tactic against Harper.

Humour

Edmonton MP Linda Duncan to bring down Harper!

The perfect icon to move a motion of no confidence in Mr. Harper's dictatorship is NDP MP Linda Duncan. She represents a crack in Harper's Alberta firewall, dispells the smokescreen of "western alienation" and represents a change in Canadian politics.

Conservatives Would Hold Balance of Power, Not Bloc

If the Conservatives found themselves in opposition then the balance of power would be with them not the Bloc. Indeed, if they chose to never support the government then this power would be with the Bloc. Thus, the conclusion is that if the Conservatives could not help make Parliament work then they would be destabilizing the government and allowing the Bloc to play their "nasty" cards on controversial issues.

Results: Large Majority Support Dion

The results: 65% of us remain in support of Mr. Dion staying on as leader.

The poll I put up on Oct 18th for Liblog participants received 126 votes that day, but only 10 the next. I think it is safe to say, all votes are cast. I do not think it was descended upon by Tory bloggers and believe it represents a fair size of the Liblog-reading public.

Personally, I hope the Liberal Party of Canada does not make the wrong choice tomorrow.

If you want to keep voting, here ya go...

Polls Powered By MicroPoll

Liberal Leadership Poll: Dion - Yes/No

The aim of this poll is to poll Liblogs, NOT push people either way, i.e. don't be a loser and keep answering.

Dion Should Stay

Mr. Dion has guts and brains. I believe this election has taught him a few brawler moves, at least I hope so. He learned the French fighting techniques with his Clarity Act fight. The liberal leadership have lessons to learn; most important to them and those of us who are addicted to politics, 'how do we engage the electorate and generate enthusiasm for a progressive party?'

Dion's experience and familiarity with today's public is the key ingredient to a progressive liberal government next time around.

Dion Should Stay

Mr. Dion has guts and brains. I believe this election has taught him a few brawler moves, at least I hope so. He learned the French fighting techniques with his Clarity Act fight. The liberal leadership have lessons to learn; most important to them and those of us who are addicted to politics, 'how do we engage the electorate and generate enthusiasm for a progressive party?'

Dion's experience and familiarity with today's public is the key ingredient to a progressive liberal government next time around.

BOuNCE... It's actually a good political tune.

HERE>>> Listen.

Check out Baba Brinkman's website: <<>>

Pretty cool that's he's Joyce Murray's son, too.

BOUNCE... It's actually a good political tune.

HERE>>> Listen.

You can see Baba Brinkman's website here:  >>>XXXX<<<

He's Joyce Murray's son, oddly enough.

Rural Women: "Sexy Stephane"

Getting his fashion right at the Stampede seems to have been his foundation.  The latest Harris-Decima poll shows a steady, dramatic climb for Liberal popularity amoungst "rural women"* at the same time as the media at the Liberal's Celebration of Women event today were asking about the possible downward trend in support from "urban women".

See for yourself:

A consistent rise from 20 to 30% over the course of 10 days.  Does this suggest the Conservative "rural advantage" a cracking foundation?  And, what's this, Ekos predicting a Liberal seat in Alberta?

*Of course, it does depend on what is "rural" and what is "urban" in these polls

Make Poverty History: Dion is Brilliant!

Make Poverty History is a media savvy and well publicized organization.  They have posted short clips of one-on-one interviews with the party leaders answering 5 specific questions on poverty.  Dion's answers are excellent - specific, compassionate and intelligent.  Harper refused to sit down with the group.

Education: Student Loans... Navigating the platforms

One of the most difficult things when you graduate from post-secondary education is realizing you have yet to earn proper income but your student loan becomes due in 6 months.  The challenge shifts from paying it off to paying off just the interest.

For me, the two policy changes I would like to see made are:

1) Lowering the interest rate to the prime rate (it's now prime+3%)

2) Extending the interest-free period to at least two years

I reviewed the websites/platforms of the Tories, Grits, NDP and Greens to see what they had to say to the issue of student loans.  I did NOT look at their wider post-secondary policies, such as lowering tuition fees and increasing university funding.

A) Conservatives:

There is nothing on their website that I could find.  I even did a word search for "student" in their posted October 2007 Throne Speech, 0 hits.  Education was not listed in their section "Key Issues"... sovereignty was though.  In the "Taxes" section they do say they "eliminated income taxes on student scholarships, fellowships and bursaries."  Sadly, I was never bright enough to gain much from those.

B) NDP:

Their platform was released today but I can't find it on their website anywhere.  Looking through their section on "Education & training your family can afford", they highlight a couple of achievements, all seemingly led by Victoria MP, Denise Savoie:

- Tabled the "Canada Post-Secondary Education Act" which gave the provinces cash in exchange for guaranteeing "reasonable access" to such education regardless of socio-economic status.  Sadly, C-398 was tabled in February of 2007 and never got further than first reading; of course, I don't know why, as there was never a vote on it.

- Started a petition calling for: increasing grants, decreasing interest rates, a student loan ombudsman, conduct rules for collecting agencies, increased relief situations, extending full-time studies to include medical residency, liberalize bankruptcy protection.  When this petition was sent out I don't know but it does call for decreased rates and hints at increased interest-free periods.  Strangely, they ask for this period to be 6 months, which it already is.

C) Green Party:

I dared myself to first go through the platform.  Wow, that didn't take long, it's written in bullet points using large fonts.  Their "Vision Green" section is more detailed and costed in their budget:

-"Increase funding for a needs-based Canadian National Student Loan and Bursary Program with low interest rates and reasonable repayment schedules." There is no line for this in their budget.  Does that mean it doesn't really exist as a policy?

-"Forgive 50% of a student's loan when they complete a degree or certificate program." ($2.2 Billion/year)

-In the budget only, it mentions: 200 tuition-free university positions for art students ($3 million, increasing over three years to $9 million/year), and tuition-free graduate studies for healthcare professionals who agree to work in under-serviced areas ($30 million/year, rising to $150 million/year).

D) Liberals:

I left this party last due to my bias, hopefully I am now informed what others have on offer to compare whether they truly have a "real plan" not "monopoly money" like they claim about the NDP and (probably) the Greens.

Well, to start, it took me much longer to download the Grit plan than the Green platform.  Then, you actually get to read, with logic and goals explained using real sentences.  The section on "Reforming Student Loans" and the one just before it presents:

- The creation of "200,000 needs-based bursaries of up to $3,500 per year and 100,000 access bursaries of up to $4,000 per year" once fully implemented.

- All students eligible for $5,000 student loans regardless of parent income

- Lower loan interest rates to prime rate +0.5%, claiming this is the rate given by banks to their best and most credit-worthy customers.  Hm, I know students that negotiated student loans paid off by banks for lines of credit at the prime rate.  Maybe these are rare exceptions.

- Increase interest-free grace period from 6 months to 2 years.  Well, that's exactly what I wanted, plus they actually knew the period as it stands now.

- Extend the repayment period.

- Increase access to loans for under-represented groups.

The total "Support for Students" section is costed at $1.15 Billion spread over a three-year period.  Of this, $550 million are spending plans and $600 million come from tax changes.

In summary, the Conservative plan doesn't exist.  The NDP plan lacks firm commitments, dollar numbers and is founded on claims of half-efforts lacking follow-up.  I suppose their platform will have more details.  The Green Party have some numbers, big numbers, and I'm not sure how some of their plans benefit the majority of students.  While the half-relief of debt for graduates is a positive idea, it doesn't fix any problems; nor does it help those who have socio-economic reasons for interrupting their studies.

Inspite of my bias, the standout choice is the Liberal platform which is aggressive and covers all students.  It addresses my concerns of interest rates and payment schedules.  The bursary programs could help the poorer and under-represented students.  I was impressed with the low cost of the programs.

Harper's National Energy Program

Harper pledged to limit exports of bitumen* if re-elected.  But according to the Deputy Premier of Alberta, Alberta disagrees and the province has jurisdiction.  Let's make some noise so this sticks out as Harper's National Energy Program.  The truth of the matter is that Harper will walk over any jurisdiction or person to benefit himself.  Here he's contrived a pointless policy that is no more than a headline and didn't consult or hesitate to ignore the government of Alberta.

*As I read elsewhere: the limit is in fact all nonsense as it applies only to "new" contracts and the conditions for limitation are a joke.

Dion's Video Blog

Stephane's video blog posts on the Liberal website are excellent.  They are personal, natural and really well produced.  They show the day's events without media editing.  We should encourage voters to look them up.  Also, the Harper's Indexes are great.

The 2006 CBC Ombudsman Report

The previous election raised the same problem for the Green Party; my advised complaint now was also made back in 2005.  In reply then, the ombudsmen wax on about the difference between "equitable" coverage vs "equal" coverage.  But, they cite the Consortium's submission of debate inclusion criteria and the right to "editorial freedom".  As Ms. May has said, her party has fulfilled all of these strict criteria.

Regarding editorial rights, the ombudsmen had even warned the Consortium to set some proper ground rules to account for the lack of proportional representation in government and the advent of minority governments.

The rather wanting report is here: 2006 Ombudsman Report