It looks like history is about to repeat itself.

Mr. Harper has announced that he wants to eliminate government subsidies for political parties. So far he’s only said that he wants to use that as a Conservative plank in the next election, but I’m betting that it will appear in bill form sometime before early March – just before a budget would have to be brought down.

Why? The first time the government tried to eliminate subsidies, the opposition parties freaked out and botched forming a coalition. This time around, instead of proroguing, Harper is going to force the vote and allow the government to fall on this handy dandy wedge issue. In the subsequent election, he can paint the other parties as pigs at a trough, and say “there are already generous credits and incentives in the tax system to encourage people to give to political parties today.” Oh wait. He just did.

I can pretend the move is antidemocratic: the subsidy means that everyone’s vote has value. In a donation-only system, only people who have spare cash can donate, so they’ll donate to parties that pander to their wants meet their needs. Poor folks (who can’t wait until tax time for their tax credits to be returned) won’t be represented as well.

But, in my heart of hearts, my main reason for supporting the subsidy is that it benefits the Green Party. The subsidy forms a substantial part of the our budget, so any reduction of the subsidy would cripple the federal party. I tend to think of that as a bad thing, but others would probably disagree.

Yesterday, one of CTV shut down evening newscasts in Ottawa, and did similar things in Barrie, London, and Victoria. In doing so, they have cost Ottawa yet another media outlet, and yet another avenue for paid journalists to keep our politicians, bureaucrats, and corporations honest. Coincidentally, kottke.org has linked to a story describing how the cuts to Baltimore’s daily newspaper has made the police force less accountable:

Half-truths, obfuscations and apparent deceit — these are the wages of a world in which newspapers, their staffs eviscerated, no longer battle at the frontiers of public information. And in a city where officials routinely plead with citizens to trust the police, where witnesses have for years been vulnerable to retaliatory violence, we now have a once-proud department’s officers hiding behind anonymity that is not only arguably illegal under existing public information laws, but hypocritical as well.

And this isn’t just an American problem. As the Dziekanski enquiry is proving, Canadian police reports can sometimes differ dramatically from reality. Without an engaged, and well funded press, there will be no one to hold these officers to account.

What solutions do we have? A CRTC-mandated carriage fee for cable broadcasters? Preferential tax treatment for smaller news organization? Increased funding to public broadcasters? There are solutions, but we, as an electorate have to wake up to the fact these cuts don’t just cost jobs, they are a danger to our public institutions.

I’m an atheist¹ but I really do enjoy the Christmas season. It has everything I love: snow, time off, parties, a reason to see friends, and an excuse for binge drinking. Given the length of the Ontario winter, I’ve always thought that we should have Christmas sometime in late January, but I’m rarely consulted on these matters.

Here’s the first (and possibly last) Annual Pie Palace Gift List

Canadian Electorate

Over the past year, Canadians have stayed away from the polls in droves, and expressed consternation when opposition parties did their job and opposed poorly considered legislation.

• What they want: A Prime Minister like Barack Obama.
• What they deserve: A remedial civics lesson, explaining why voting is important, and the role of the opposition.
• What they will get: A Prime Minister like George Bush (namely Stephen Harper).

Iraqi Shoe Thrower

Muntadar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at George Bush, yelling “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.” An event already immortalized across the intertubes by numerous animated gifs and at least one (crappy) flash game.

• What he wants: Stability in Iraq. (presumably)
• What he deserves: Stability in Iraq, and a new pair of shoes.
• What he will get: A long jail term, likely with abuse. (It looks like the abuse has already started)

Green Party Candidate Jen Hunter

Poor Jen. She ran as Green Party candidate in Ottawa-Centre during the 2008 federal election, getting 9.9% of the vote. If she’d gotten an extra 38 votes, she would have gotten 10%, and Elections Canada would have refunded 50% of her campaign expenses to the party.

• What she wants: A seat in Parliament.
• What she deserves: 39 more votes.
• What she will get: A new iPhone, and possibly a scarf.

OC Transpo’s Bus Drivers

Poor bus drivers. They just want their 7% raise over three years, and a contract that will allow them to set their own hours. Is that too much to ask?²

• What they want: A 7% raise, byzantine scheduling rules that favour drivers with seniority, and a pony for every driver.
• What they deserve: Better public relations.
• What they will get: Back to work legislation.

Stephan Harper

This year has been a bit of a roller coaster for the leader of Canada’s least disliked party. Breaking his own law and calling an election early, getting dissed by the Parliamentary auditor he appointed, almost losing the House when his poorly planned fiscal update backfired, and doing anything necessary to hold onto power.

• What he wants: A majority. And a pony.
• What he deserves: Visits from the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Future.
• What he will get: A visit from the Ghost of Joe Clarke.

This post is a tardy addition to A&J’s Ottawa Blogger Virtual Christmas Party.

Image credit: AP and AbstractionReaction. Used without permission.

1. Agnostic, to be exact. But “agnostic” sound too noncommittal for my taste. It would probably be more accurate to say that I’m committedly unconvinced of the existence of any higher powers.
2. I’m not sure how I feel about the strike. The union is doing a terrible job at getting their side of the story out. As a bus rider, I want the drivers to be treated fairly, and service to resume – but it’s hard to tell if the drivers’ demands are fair, when I can’t find out what they are.

Fixing Our Electoral System

In case you hadn’t heard, our electoral system is broken. It needs to be fixed. Duh.

Afghanistan

I’m not a fan of Canada’s current mission in Afghanistan. I do believe that Canada should be doing its best to promote the expansion of human rights, but I’m concerned about the way the mission is being run. I’d like to see more civilian oversight, a broader humanitarian mission, and a wider coalition of forces in the country. As such, I approve of the Green Party’s proposal that Canada should push for a UN mandated mission, and operate within that framework.

Removing Corporate Subsidies

Corporations are odd beasts. At their best, they reward innovation and generate wealth for their employees, investors, and suppliers. At their worst, they gerrymander government policy, squander economic resources, stifle innovation, and mistreat their employees. The Green Party policy reflects my belief that economic entities should not receive long-term subsidies from the government, nor should they receive large one-time perks. Yes, I’m looking at you, Fort McMurry.

Fair Trade

Imagine the crappiest job that you’ve ever had. Now imagine that job with a fraction of the pay, a 60 hour work week, and physically dangerous conditions. Toss in some physical and sexual abuse to make things a rollicking good time. Don’t forget that you’re enjoying these conditions so fat bastards people in the first world can buy a t-shirt for less than $10. Or save ten cents on a coffee.

Certified fair trade is a mechanism that exports human rights to countries that make our stuff. First world countries pay a little more for goods, and the premium is rolled into educational programs, local infrastructure, and health initiatives in countries where the government is either unwilling or unable to provide for those needs.¹ The Green Party wants to include those principles in our international trade agreements, and government procurement.

Yeah, there’s other stuff: decent healthcare policy, doing something about Darfur, and, yes, even environmental policy. But those are the things that caught my imagination. I don’t particularly care about income splitting. Nor do I care about nixing nuclear weapons.

Vote how you will. I’m voting for tomorrow.²

1. It’s a little more complex than this. In some cases, it also involves agreeing on prices before the start of a growing season, third-party verification that labour and environmental standards are being adhered to, etc. TransFair has a fairly opaque website, but they’re the most trustworthy certification body that I know of.
2. Or possible next Wednesday, we’ll see.

Green Party supporters at NAC

What I didn’t expect was the general nastiness of the Conservatives. While we Greens were happily waving to passersby, the Conservative supporters started yelling “Get a job!” and “Get a real leader!” at us. I don’t mind that they were doing that (they stayed on their side of the street, and they’re welcome to be pricks over there), but I’m surprised that they found seventy or eighty Green Party volunteers and supporters to be so threatening. What happened to politeness?

Conservative supporters try to hide banner reading 'Harper: Race to Extinction'

While we Greens were happily chanting “Oui May!” a couple of the folks from ecoSanity marched up behind Harpers’ peeps with a banner showing a dinosaur with the words “Harper: Race to Extinction.” They Conservatives tried to cover it up with their signs, but somehow managed to convince the ecoSanity sign bearers to take the sign down. As far as I could tell, no tazers were fired during the incident.

for those that watch the debates I think Elizabeth May will destroy Stephen Harper’s crappy record, or at least put a good sized dent in it.

She’s releasing the Green Party platform right now and she’s taking all comers, put them in a head lock then doing pile driver – you should be proud to have the strongest leader of a major political party in Canada.

Elizabeth is a doing a great job in front of the crowds. And I’m sure she’ll do a great job on the debates.

Elizabeth May on CBC Radio One - Calgary

I’ve been involved in four elections as a Green so far, and I have to say that I have a weirdly confident feeling about this election. The Greens are getting pretty good coverage nationally, and in our riding. We’ve (just) gotten into the national debate. People are asking, left, right, and centre for Green signs. In Ottawa-Centre, we’ve already gotten more volunteers than we had last election.

Congratulations to everyone who sent an email, made a call, and signed the online petition. You’ve shown that the electorate can take on a media consortium, and can make politicians do the right thing.

Photo Credit: ItzaFineDay.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dwarf

The Green Party isn’t being included in the debates because three of the four establishment parties don’t want the Greens there. I’m surprised that they cared enough to threaten to pull out.
(Update: Edited for style)

Blair Wilson was elected as a Liberal in the BC riding of West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country. He left the Liberal Party under allegations of election spending irregularities (of which he was cleared by Elections Canada), but tried to rejoin as recently as last month.

How does this new, high profile Green effect the Party? His status as a sitting MP removes the most recent excuse for the television stations barring the Green Party leader from the televised national debates. The significance of that can’t be overestimated – it gives us credibility, and the ability to reach a huge audience. Of course, the TV stations could simply raise another barrier, as they’ve done when we met their requirements in the past.

Sadly, Mr. Wilson probably won’t get a chance to represent the Party in the House, since Harper looks to be gunning for an election at the earliest possible date.

Welcome aboard, Brian. We’re happy to have you. Hopefully you’ll have a few more GP pals in the House come this Fall. And do try to get re-elected.