Why Parliament Hill's gong show goes on
Canuck57
I really like the part about "Don't just vote, think."
But the gong show will go on...
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Why Parliament Hill's gong show goes on
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/659542
Ottawa
Frustration is the national capital hamster wheel. Here are 10 reasons for
the futile spinning:
LIQUID CASH
Somewhere, somehow, Ottawa spends nearly $300 billion a year. No one knows
where it all goes. Ministers and mandarins spent decades perfecting covering
their tracks. Now they can't come clean even when there's nothing to hide.
The Star once tried to write a good news story on how much is spent keeping
Canadians healthy and out of hospitals. The secret is safe.
Play Dough
Separating new money from old is almost as hard as following the dollars.
There ought to be a Guinness record for the number of times a reannouncement
is reannounced. This year's economic stimulus, 80 per cent implemented for
those gullible enough to believe the television spots, is a contender. Even
the Mother of all Spreadsheets - sold separately but, permanently out of
stock - couldn't help you tell new money from old.
Hold that thought
There's no such thing as a bad idea as long as it's good politics. Here's an
example: Bailing out car companies is an ideological anathema to
Conservatives and few Liberals think it's money best spent. But with
auto-dependent Ontario deciding most federal elections, neither the ruling
party nor an ambitious official Opposition is willing to risk just saying
"no." Funny, eh, how self-interest revs the motor?
Dumb and Dumber
Happiness here is reducing complex problems to a bumper sticker. "Do the
Crime, Do the Time" resonates, but it doesn't make Canadians safer any more
than cutting the GST made us noticeably richer. Keep it simple, stupid, is
the rule, not the exception. So stick this on your subsidized Suburban:
"Don't just vote, think."
Smaller Heroes
You can buy a plastic Mountie on a horse; you can't find a statue of
Halton's Michael Chong. To recap, the RCMP, among other horrors, skewed the
2006 federal election and got away with it. When Stephen Harper didn't
bother to consult on a seminal decision within Chong's portfolio - the
recognition of the Qu�b�cois as a nation - the minister resigned on
principle. Democracy demands less of the former, more of the latter.
Technophobia
Quill pens are still the rage here. Putting official Ottawa online would
free information logjams and provide the openness party leaders promise and
forget the second they arrive here. Of course that would spike systemic
secrecy and, holy smokes, give politicians awkward moments. It's so easy a
fix you can only speculate why it hasn't happened.
Suffer the Children
There's no surer sign of skulduggery than the solemn assurance that
something's being done for the children. If politicians really care about
future generations they would do more than dump crushing debt on unborn
backs. They would be brainstorming with the provinces on a national
education strategy, building a Harvard, an Oxford or a Sorbonne for all
those bright kids waiting to blossom in the early education system
far-sighted countries have now and this one desperately needs.
Spin
There's a rule here that no one can be called a liar. Honest, that's a fact.
What Parliament Hill has instead is spin doctors who administer half-truths.
All they do is leave out the really good bits, the need-to-know stuff that
helps ordinary folks find the grey zone between black and white. Oh, well,
you're probably better off not knowing the whole truth anyway.
Polls are for dogs
It's no surprise that in a place this surreal, perception is reality. What
matters here is what voters believe, not what they know. Trouble is, too
many of us believe Elvis is alive and don't know if Sir John A. Macdonald
was the first prime minister or started a burger chain. Along with a civics
course, what's needed is a culture of deliberation and the discipline to
know what we are talking about before we let the whisky wisdom speak. A
round for the House, please.
So's your old man
Always a blood sport, federal politics is now a brawl. Liberals threw the
first punches by demonizing the Reform Party and then its successors as
agents of a secret agenda. Conservatives are swinging back harder, accusing
their rivals of being soft on crime, unpatriotic, even traitors. It's
schoolyard ugly and so hyperpartisan that public debate ends in personal
assault. Embarrassing, yes, but frustrating, too, for a country deserves
better.