The Great Canadian Global Warming Debate.

I can say with conviction, dear readers, that the debate over Global Warming has never had more depth. If I can summarise the positions of the celebrity blogosphere for you:

From progressives - Boy. It sure is warm out. (Scroll down to the very bottom of the page. January 1 entry)

From conservatives - Boy. It sure is cold out.

OK so saying something with conviction doesn't mean one is telling the truth. ;-)

Seems like this year Santa's Christmas gift to the regional echo chambers was exactly the weather they needed to bolster their pre-existing beliefs! Stick THAT in your world peace, baby jesus.

Canada Among Nations

Last night I attended a panel on international relations held at U of T's Munk Centre for International Affairs. entitled:

DEBATING THE HEADLINES

Minorities and Priorities in Canadian Foreign Policy:

Harper vs. Dion

With a title like that how could Cicero in Pants NOT attend? It was in support of the latest Canada Among Nations volume of essays which is co-edited by Dane Rowlands, a favorite NPSIA professor of mine who is currently Assistant Director there. It was great to be back in a pure academic foreign affairs milieu. I've missed it. Unfortunately I can't do a coherent blog post summarising the event because the discussion was all over the map. Instead I'll just go through some basic bullet point observations.

On the Speakers

• Professor John Kirton- He likes that Harper fella a lot. Is also thrilled that Dion won the Liberal leadership. I think that, much like me, Kirton likes the idea of dueling policy wonks of demonstrated integrity. Seems hard for Canada to lose this way. Kirton thinks Harper's foreign affairs plan is coherent and well executed. He would, I think, take considerable exception to Jeffrey Simpson's poo-pooing of the record.
• Professor Wenran Jiang isn't so sanguine. He thinks the Conservative's China policy is a disorganised mess.
• Professor Ann Denholm Crosby reveals a secret: according to her, Canada is already doing everything the US wants it to do on Missile Defence. The only thing we aren't doing is giving it a public endoresement.
• Cicero in Pants really needs to do some reading to figure out why "Weaponisation of Space" is apparently such a "Very Bad Thing". Is it just because a priori war is bad and guns are bad? If you can suggest a source to get my reading started please send me a link through my comments section.

On the Audience

• An audience microphone and the word "Harper" really brings out the angry rambling kooks. People - if you need to rant that badly do something self indulgent like, oh I don't know, give yourself a silly nickname and start a blog! A captive audience in an auditorium is not being impressed by you.
• Young urban Canadians hate Tories reflexively even when they are running to the left of the Liberals. Demonstrated by one young man's rant about Canada's "disgusting most neo-conservative government ever" which segued into the importance of China policy focussing on human rights instead of trade. (by the way, young man, technically this is Canada's only neo-conservative government ever. )
• Apparently both the failure of China to become a liberal democracy in the last twelve months and the length of time it took to achieve a cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah are direct personal failures of Stephen Harper. Apparently, he should be ashamed.
• Martha Hall Findlay was at the event. She didnt speak. Just listened. This is a useful time for me to say this though: What she's said and done over the last two years - and particularly during the Liberal Leadership race - demonstrates that she's the kind of person we need more of in Canadian political life. I would encourage anyone who can to support her however they can, wherever they can regardless of their political leanings.

Slate blogs the Bible

I'm secular. I go to midnight mass, pray to God for help, thank him for my blessings, and feel compelled to say grace if I look down and see more than one fork and a tablecloth. But really, I don't truly believe in my own religion - or yours. That having been said, the Bible is one of the foundational works of our civilization and few of us would be ill served by knowing more about it, particularly since the desert God is still so central to global politics.

Slate has been running a great project for a while that might interest anyone who identifies with my point of view, as well as the more obsevant among you. The idea behind their Blogging the Bible project is simple. David Plotz, a non-observant jew, reads some bible and writes about it - not from the point of a believer, but from the point of view of a bemused first time spectator. In his own words:

My goal is pretty simple. I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I'm in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document. So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents? What will delight and horrify me? How will the Bible relate to the religion I practice, and the lessons I thought I learned in synagogue and Hebrew School?

His comments are fun and fresh. Not at all boring. I think I'm going to start reading along (not aloud. This won't show up on the blog again.) Wanna come?

OK, OK. To entice you. Here. The first two paragraphs of the first entry:

Genesis, Chapter 1

You'd think God would know exactly what He's doing, but He doesn't. He's a tinkerer. He tries something out—what if I move all the water around so dry land can appear? He checks it out. He sees "that it was good." Then He moves on to the next experiment—how about plants? Let's try plants.

This haphazardness may be why Creation seems so out of order. If God made light on the first day, what was giving the light, since the sun doesn't appear until the fourth day? And God tackles the major geological and astronomical features during the first two days—light, sky, water, earth. But Day 3 is a curious interruption—plant creation—that is followed by a return to massive universe-shaping projects on Day 4 with the sun, moon, and stars. The plant venture is a tangent—like putting a refrigerator into a house before you've put the roof on.

Get the idea? It's all like that. I love it and he's up to Isaiah now. Have fun. :)

Simpson Flays Harper on International Affairs

...and check out Simpson's response to a question on Harper's International Affairs policy. (Half way down. Question by Irving Nyman).

Ouch! Skewer. You can bet I'll be spending some time thinking about this on the weekend.

Cicero and Jeffrey Simpson

I asked Jeffrey Simpson a message on the Globe and Mail website, today. The whole discussion can be found here. I'm on page 3.

---------------
Cory MacDonald from Toronto writes: Jeffrey. I know that the conventional wisdom is that Rona's move to Intergovernmental Affairs is a good fit. I'm not so sure. I know she has some civil service experience in intergovernmental affairs, but its very low level experience. At the same time she has not shown herself to be particularly adroit at handling hot button files. Quebec's place in Canada is still the quintessential 'hot button'. Stephane Dion was a very successful Intergovernmental Affairs Minister under the Chretien government and her french is said to be just 'passable'. Do you think this move will backfire for the Harper government?

Jeffrey Simpson: Ms. Ambrose was in inter-governmental affairs while a mid-level civil servant in Alberta. That is actually bad training for playing a national role. I spent quite a bit of time with her when she first arrived in Ottawa talking about fed-prov relations. She was very provincialist, carrying that Alberta perspective. But, look, it doesn't matter. Mr. Harper runs federal-provincial relations. Period. She won't have much to do, frankly.
------------------------

I agree with Simpson on everything he said, but still think she's a vulnerability for Harper. She'll have to answer questions at some point.

Cicero in Pontification (with Atlas Hugged)

Hey all,

Here's an internet chat I had today about the Cabinet Shuffle with Atlas Hugged. Feel free to read it - or act it out in your drama class while wearing togas. Whatever works for you.

Its basic political armchair athlete stuff. Please don't take any facts in this as gospel. This is off the cuff chatter posted here for interest's sake. We didn't fact check on the fly and weren't planning to post it at all until late in the conversation. If anyone reading this wants to correct any facts - or make any other observations about how stupid or smart we are, just post in the comments box. No reasonable entries refused. :) Also - if someone could teach me the html to hide this conversation behind an html link (like an LJ cut) I would be most appreciative.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:16 PM CIP: [ I comment that Rona Ambrose went to Intergovernment Affairs after all. I guess the Prime Minister of Canada didn't heed my blog. Oh the humanity! ]

12:25 PM Atlas Hugged: meh- this way she can fuck up the fiscal imbalance I feel sorry for baird

12:30 PM CIP: I feel sorry for Ablonczy. Why do you feel sorry for Baird. He just got one step closer to being a future PM of Canada. Im not predicting he will be by the way. He's still a gay conservative. but he's being tapped as a central performer and he can't do anything with this portfolio but look better than Rona did because he's a much better communicator.

Atlas Hugged: this file will kill him, like it killed everyone else. and he has no interest in leadership .

CIP: interesting. so what does he want to do with his life when he retires from politics at the age of 40 then?

12:33 PM Atlas Hugged: ambassador to the US or UK actually

CIP: good to know. anyway, time will tell if this slaughters him. I wish him the best of luck. Remember the good old days when David Anderson could sit in the chair, do nothing, and not take any heat? ah. good times...

Atlas Hugged: back when there were separatist in power in quebec and issues were dealt with by throwing money at the mob- I miss those days

12:35 PM CIP: lol

Atlas Hugged: and conservatives only cared about stupid issues like the composition of the family and senate reform

CIP: they still only care about those stupid issues. You can tell by how half assed their other policy initiatives are.

12:36 PM Atlas Hugged: its true- I can't wait to hear Baird blame liberal corruption for climate change

CIP: oh he will. but it will be effective when he does it. he'll blame liberal inaction. in that bold Baird way.

12:37 PM Atlas Hugged: well, I think that is a matter of opinion- I think he was brutal in the house up until now- mostly because I don't like catty/yelling/heckling

CIP: and it will have more traction than when Rona speaks and nobody listens Atlas Hugged: well, it also assumes that PM isn't going to micro-manage this file anymore- I Think this is a signal that he won't but this file is WAY harder than the last one baird had

12:38 PM CIP: yeah. I agree. I think the PM micromanaged Rona because of intangibles regarding Rona. I think he and Baird will work much more constructively. That having been said - you are right. Its a difficult file at a difficult time. Still I cant think of many choices better than Baird to be honest. maybe bad for Baird, I dunno. But certainly one of the best moves possible for Harper, in my opinion.

12:42 PM Atlas Hugged: I could think of three better choices - 1) Clement 2) Ablonczy and 3) Premier Lord

CIP: Rona in Intergovernmental is still an accident waiting to happen but at least there the PM can be his own minister

12:43 PM Atlas Hugged: I think the sec states are interesting too- I think it says a) emerson isn't running again and b) chuck is getting sicker

CIP: I dont agree with Clement over Baird. I don't agree with Ablonczy...and I don't agree with Lord. Sorry just thought them through one at a time. I still think Ablonczy deserves in but I think Baird is the perfect choice.

Atlas Hugged: I would like to remind you that Baird hasn't actually run a large ministry before. Baird will backfire because he will be too agressive

CIP: yeah - thats the concern for sure. you may absolutely be right. I dont think so but you may be right.

Atlas Hugged: and, he has come out very strong against kyoto before- that will come up again

CIP: I think that would be what happened to ablonczy too though. Clement would be ok... but since he has been seen as lackluster at health the optics of the move wouldnt advantage the govt right now - doesnt seem dynamic - no win in it for Harper. and Lord - well, he isnt available as quick as this needs to happen without Harper pulling another Fortier. anyway - I see all those choices as less of a win for harper

12:47 PM Atlas Hugged: but that is the whole point- the election is in ten minutes-

CIP: but, as I say, time will tell. and Lord is just another rival breathing down Harper's neck btw- although I dont think he will ever win. My gut tells me to predict Jim Prentice's star as ascendent to the throne as next tory leader.

Atlas Hugged: I would like to remind you who the finance minister is

12:49 PM CIP: yep. I know. and my gut tells me to predict Jim Prentice's star as ascendent to the throne as next tory leader.

Atlas Hugged: no, I was responding to the lord comment- if harper was actually worried about that kind of shit, flaherty would be minister of whales and dolphins

CIP: ah. yes - I was more wondering how many he would want to deal with. anyway, we shall see what happens between now and the election 10 minutes from now. So far, I predict...another Tory minority!!!

12:51 PM Atlas Hugged: I think everyone does-

CIP: 65% possibility with 35% liberal minority! :)

Atlas Hugged: I think that harper is the only guy who can hold the tories together right now.
I dont' think this is going to play well in quebec- especially with Baird, who has basically called quebec "criminals" for a year now coo-coo-ing them with environmental platitudes will not work If I had more time, I would blog all this. oh well. (Edit: Looks like Atlas found time)

(Cut: discussion in which I ask to post the conversation and Atlas accepts)

Atlas Hugged: ok- so you know the sec state thing- Strahl's cancer is getting worse and emerson isn't running

CIP: yep.

Atlas Hugged: I am surprised at mills too, actually- he knows the file backwards and forwards and wrote the CAA, and he isn't even on the spec com weird

1:06 PM CIP: Don't know about that. No opinion really. I found the Solberg - Finley move interesting actually. any thoughts on it? I can only assume it has something to do with Solberg's dealings with protesters and an attempt to add a few other costless moves to broaden the shuffle. But I don't know.

1:09 PM Atlas Hugged: Honestly, it probably has more to do with the fact that finlay handles questions poorly, and gets some in her old job

CIP: you think that wont happen in immigration? :S

Atlas Hugged: monte has answered like ten questions all year- because arar questions were handled by day or the PM

1:10 PM CIP: hmmm... I guess... still... he's the one who got chased out of a hall by protestors. I don't think its a soft landing for anybody.

1:11 PM Atlas Hugged: meh- both are total non-jobs it is like shuffling the chairs onthe titantic

1:12 PM CIP: well - that was sort of my point. I wouldnt call them non-jobs exactly, but they are equivalent 2nd tier ministries for sure, in my opinion. anyway - I gotta get back to work. lunch is over. ttys.

Atlas Hugged: cheers

Cicero in Pants: Neo-fascist corporate Stooge!!

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm in the midst of the January crunch at work so I'm going to leave any serious ranting for the weekend - a weekend that I will be spending in my house because, like most of you, my head and my wallet need some time to recuperate from the Christmas season.

In lieu of an original post though, I thought I would post this fun tidbit from way back in 1999. Back then I won the "As Prime Minister" essay contest that Magna International runs. Here's an abridged version that still sits on the Guelph website. My thanks go to John the commenter. Apparently, the right wing slant I put in the essay really cheesed off someone named Jennifer Sumner at the time.

I'm a fairly centrist guy who describes himself generally as economically centre-right and socially centre-left so I don't know how much of a corporate stooge I really am. I'm also contrarian enough that I know I'm not "indoctrinated" by anyone about anything, but I think I'll review that old essay soon and see how much of it I still actually believe. Should be an interesting exercise.

In the meantime I hereby give Jennifer Sumner circa 1999 the floor. If you don't much like me, you'll get along famously with Jennifer. Here ya go:

http://www.uoguelph.ca/atguelph/00-03-29/letters.html

ESSAY CONTEST PROMOTES GLOBALCORPORATE AGENDA

Cory MacDonald's "prize-winning essay" printed in the March 15 issue of @Guelph is a disturbing symptom of our times. It is a mere parroting of neo-liberal dogma with, so far as I can see, not a single fresh word in it. It does not represent a "political vision" to improve our living standards, but only the program of a global corporate agenda that the majority of people in Canada are now suffering through.

Cory MacDonald's essay represents the triumph of life-blind ideology. No thought needs to accompany the slogans, just unquestioning acceptance. But a review of the literature on globalization from a range of disciplines reveals its negative impacts in Canada as well as around the world.

First of all, the concept of globalization needs to be labelled for what it is - corporate globalization. According to Herman E. Daly, former senior economist with the World Bank, the ideal of globalization, when closely examined, "turns out to be unfettered individualism for corporations on a global scale."

Those who promote corporate globalization are working to raise the living standards of corporate stockholders and high-level corporate managers, not the living standards of the vast majority of Canadians. (And if anyone still believes in the trickle-down theory of economics, I have some swampland in Florida I'd like to sell them.)

In rejecting the nation-state, Cory MacDonald leaves behind all the human and environmental protections built up over years of negotiation. There are no laws to protect either people or the environment at the global level, only laws to protect the movement of money and transnational corporate commodities. The "supranational bodies" he wants to pass power to have no accountability to life-protective regulations, no democratic process.

While acolyte MacDonald exhorts us with clichés to "compete with the world on equal terms" and "expose business to a number of harsh realities," economist Daly understands what the slogans really mean: "The economic integration of any high-wage country with an overpopulated world is bound to lower wages and raise returns to capital, widening the gap between labour and capital toward the more unequal world distribution."

The victims of that unequal distribution have been described by a recent United Nations Human Development Report as:

- the 1.3 billion people living on a dollar a day or less;
- the 160 million malnourished children;
- the one-fifth of the world's population not expected to live beyond 40; and
- the 100 million people in the West who are living below the poverty line.
- The moderator of the United Church of Canada warns that people are getting chewed up by an uncaring economy: "People are dying in the process. . . . they are being sacrificed, literally, to the god of the market."
- Rural communities in Canada represent a microcosm of the devastation brought on by corporate globalization, eroding the very foundations of the rural way of life that has historically valued community, neighbourliness and co-operation.
- Economically, they have been hammered by the growth of corporate farming, poverty and debt creation, restructuring, deregulation, privatization and changes in employment and unemployment patterns.
- Politically, Canadian rural communities have been made insecure by public-sector slashing, tax and subsidy discriminations, cutbacks to rural services and an assault on shared risk policies.
- Socially, Canadian rural communities have suffered from reduced access to health services, loss of vital social institutions like schools and hospitals, and population migrations.
- Environmentally, Canadian rural communities have endured soil depletion, pesticide persistence, agricultural pollution, exhausted fisheries and reckless clear-cutting.
- Culturally, Canadian rural communities are losing their heritage of mutual help and their distinctiveness in the face of commodification, mass consumption and the invasion of big-box stores.
- In terms of gender impacts, rural women in Canada have experienced greater wage decreases than men have, more off-farm labour (in addition to their on-farm labour) and increased responsibilities as social services are withdrawn.

The impacts of corporate globalization on rural communities are fracturing a quality of life that is Canada's historical identity. So, whose "standard of living" is Cory MacDonald really talking about when he extols the virtues of corporate globalization? Certainly not the majority of Canadians, but the minority of stockholders and corporate managers who stand to benefit from the endless search for increased profits that transnational corporations restlessly seek - at any cost. Canadian standards of life are an "externality" to corporate globalization and constitute a "barrier to trade" whenever they do not advance what Daly describes as "global corporate feudalism." The fact that Magna International awarded $56,000 in cash, prizes and an internship for this essay should be a chilling wake-up call.

The trouble is, indoctrinated students like MacDonald now get to be "prime minister" and win huge corporate prizes for proposing to sell out the country to transnational corporations. They should be educated, not rewarded for their ideological programming.

Jennifer Sumner

Rural Extension Studies