Canada's leaders Simpsonized

Have a good look at the leaders around the country. You can probably guess who they are.

www.simpsonizeme.com

Thomas Walkom: Vladimir Ilyich Harper (Toronto Star)

Toronto Star's Thomas Walkom writes about how he sees Stephen Harper's views on democratic decision making in Canada.

Nor is he particularly democratic. Harper's main complaint about his old Reform party was that it gave grassroots members too much authority.

Rather, he is a democratic centralist in the Bolshevik sense. Like Lenin, he feels that the leader, once chosen, has the right to dictate. He has little time for his own cabinet and less for the media, most of which he has cowed into submission.

The fact that during this campaign he has appeared at no events open to the general public is indicative. Harper sees a leader's role as speaking to people rather than hearing from them. Unlike most politicians, he takes no joy in meeting strangers.

We Canadians need to ask if we should trust Harper as prime minister if he won't even listen to us and cannot trust us Canadians to help shape our society.

Why Stéphane Dion is like Big Ethel

When I was a little kid reading Archie Comics, I read a story about Archie and his male friends judging a female beauty contest. There were five judges: Archie, Reggie, Moose, and two other guys. There were six contestants: Betty, Veronica, Midge, two other women, and homely Big Ethel. The five judges were told by their girlfriends to vote for them. Archie had to vote for Betty, Reggie for Veronica, Moose for Midge, and the other two guys had to vote for their girl friends. Each judge had to give two points to their favourite beauty contestant; one point for their second choice. Each judge gave his girlfriend two points and strategically voted for the not-so-pretty Big Ethel as second choice with one point from each. All the beauty contestants received two points except for Big Ethel who received five.

Stéphane Dion reminds me of Big Ethel because he was the Liberal Party's second choice candidate who won in the end. He won because he wasn't Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff.

Thornhill Village Festival

I'll be frolicking around the Thornhill Village Festival today just north of Toronto. I'll probably see a re-enactment of a War of 1812 redcoats vs. bluecoats battle. I'm not sure if a battle actually occured in Thornhill. I wonder if I will see Liberal Susan Kadis and Conservative Peter Kent battling each other for voters today. I saw Kent last year. Kadis might have been there but I didn't notice.

The riding of Thornhill will be a two-way battle between Kadis and Kent.

Canada is not a police state

Who gives the police the right to tell reporters that they, the reporters, may not speak to protesters? I watched a CTV news segment on Conservative leader Stephen Harper's campaign bus stopping in Montreal. At first, reporters were not allowed off the bus. Then, they were apparently told by the police that they needed to talk to the Prime Minister's Office if they could talk to the protesters (which didn't happen).

Canada is not a police state. The police who are with Stephen Harper are there to protect his safety, not to protect his photo-op and soundbite. If this is the Canada that Stephen Harper wants, a police state, then I don't want to be a part of it.

A one-man government is a dictator

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper ran a highly centralized government where even his cabinet ministers and Conservative members of parliament had practically no say in the legislative affairs of Canada. At least there was some sort of checks-and-balance from the opposition parties much of the time (not including the Liberal abstentions). If Canadians vote for Harper's Conservatives and if the Conservatives receive a majority of the seats, expect Harper to run a one-man government. A one-man government is not democratic; a one-man government is a dictator. Dictators do not trust cabinet ministers or parliamentarians, nor do they trust the citizens. Harper won't empower his cabinet minsters or MPs to think creatively. He does not trust them. Harper won't trust the Canadian citizens. If elected with a majority of Conservative MPs, Harper will be a dictator.

Did you hear the joke about the 17 dead soldiers?

Aaron Wherry comments in his Maclean's blog about whether or not Gerry Ritz would still be the Agriculture Minister if he had made a joke about 17 people dying in a different situation.