Jack and me

I don’t advise listening to every little thing that comes out of Jack Layton’s mouth. Most of the time I’d compare what I hear to the senseless mumbling of my 11 month old niece. Sometimes I think even she makes more sense. So, it will most likely come out of left field to most people on the one area of black and white agreeability between the two of us.

Sometime ago, Jack Layton mused that the Taliban had to be involved in negotiations to end the war. At the table he said! Almost laughed out of the Commons, he was!

But it’s not a half bad idea. When we look at the major conflicts in the world over the past one hundred or some years, those that were settled ultimately had the co-operation of all the warring parties sitting at one table discussing the various give and take that would form the basis of a lasting peace.

The Treaty of Versailles (WW1) and the Paris Peace Treaties (WW2) are definitely the two best known treaties signed in the past couple hundred years. Both had all parties involved sitting at the table setting out the terms of peace. Granted, both wars were essentially won for the Ally side, but the defeated parties were still present. Those two treaties delivered peace until this day, and in the terms of The Paris Peace Treaties, it delivered an ally to the West in Germany.

The difference between this conflict and the hundreds that preceded is there is going to be no clear winner or loser in Afghanistan. Unless you consider the pull out of occupying forces a “win” for the Taliban. If that happens, another group will be in Afghanistan in 20 years, trying to fight a war that couldn’t be won by our Allied Forces or the Russians before.

That absence of a clear winner in this conflict makes it so much more important for the governments of the occupying forces to welcome the Taliban to the table. And it is much easier in Afghanistan than in Iraq, because the Taliban have made it clear they are the force being fought, whereas in Iraq, the insurgency is moreover based on a civilian militance, and then backed up by Al Qeada. Iraq also has a large amount of sectarian violence, violence that the U.S. soldiers cannot stop, even if they wanted to.

Until the U.S. government is ready to end these conflicts there will be fighting. Ending them will mean more than crushing the insurgency. It will mean showing real progress on rebuilding efforts in the country and in particular, showing Afghans that progress without it being wiped out by militants.

The ability to re-construct schools, hospitals, and office buildings will not happen without their wanton destruction unless there is a genuine effort to settle the conflict. The reason for invading Afghanistan was to catch Osama Bin Laden and rid the country of the Taliban. Neither is close to happening, in fact, the Taliban are arguably stronger than they have ever been and Bin Laden is nowhere near capture. Therefore, instead of talking about scaling back a combat role for our soldiers, and training Afghan troops to take the fight to the Taliban, let’s engage a discussion that would see positive results that may be the beginning of another Paris or Versailles sort of treaty. One for a lasting peace.

Dion loves Atlantic Canada

“Well of course he is.”

That’s the response I hear from people in Central Nova when I tell them that Stephan Dion is in favour of implementing the Atlantic Accord the way it was written. And it’s the right response to hear.

It has a little of two view points.

The first is that if Stephan Dion WASN’T in favour of giving Newfoundland and Nova Scotia what was promised to them, then he’d be selling himself and the Liberals down the river in Atlantic Canada. The second is a little more satirical- as if to say “well, of course he is, he has to have the opposite position of the Prime Minister.”

The point that is missed though, is that Dion doesn’t realize we ALREADY KNEW he supported the Accord. It was, afterall, his government that signed the now defunct deal with both provinces, under then-PM Paul Martin. He, as a cabinet minister, wasn’t all that hot on the idea, but ultimately bowed to the wants of a PM who wasn’t all that hot on him.

But, why does the Liberal Leader feel the need to continue this debate? He can gain very, very little from it politically. Dion already has monumental support in Atlantic Canada. And, there are only a few politicians in the region that are even close to losing their chairs in the Commons.

You have to think that Bill Casey has punched his ticket for the foreseeable future because he acted decisively on behalf of his contituents. Unlike Gerald Keddy. If the issue stays in the minds of Atlantic Canadians, it’s a good bet the South Shore MP could find himself without a job after the next election. The same fate could befall Fabian Manning in Avalon, NL. The same can’t really be said for political heavyweights like Central Nova MP Peter MacKay and Federal Fisheries minister Loyola Hearn, both of whom will probably have their seats for as long as they care to keep offering.

Back to Dion.

The Liberal Leader sure seems like he’s spending an awful lot of time in Atlantic Canada. The party is holding a caucus meeting in St. John’s over the next several days to map out strategy for the fall sitting of the house. Why St. John’s? Why not somewhere where the Grits support is softer? B.C., Saskatchewan, hell, even Quebec would be better than a province where the Liberals took 4 of 7 seats in the last election. It would make just as much sense for the Grits to hold their annual caucus in P.E.I.

Dion seems to be playing a game of follow the leader with the Prime Minister. He’ll see trouble with that if he starts to mirror Conservative policies and especially if he starts to backtrack on the Liberal position on Afghanistan. Any change in position on that issue would only help Dion get crucified during the next election– as he has become the voice for positive change in the combat role for Canadian Troops– differing in opinion from the PM, who wants to keep troops there for as long as the US needs them, and also from Gilles Duceppe, who will force the issue by threatening defeat in the Commons and will ultimately be seen both in Quebec and other parts of the country as a french Jack Layton- when the going gets tough, turn and run.

Baker’s problem indicative of something larger

Nova Scotia’s Finance Minister got into a little hot water over the past month for a set of rental cottages he owns with his brother and two other business partners in Lunenburg County. Apparently Michael Baker wasen’t paying the correct amount of tax on the properties, paying a residential tax rate instead of the correct commercial rate. No worries, according to the provincial departments making these decisions.

In a bit of a larger perspective, the Rodney MacDonald government has seemed to lurch from problem to problem, mostly created by their own sense of political ineptness. The Conserve Nova Scotia appointment is one of those little problems that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the politicians insisting on rewarding their friends with high profile jobs, making high profile cash.

No one should be surprised the minister of finance gets off easy in this instance. The Tories have been in power so long in the province that the bureaucracy attending to their various departments are all friends of the Tory machine.

The Conservatives have had time to put these departments in place and staff them with bureaucrats who will bow to the wants of the government, and enthusiastically implement only the policy of the ruling party. They don’t only prop up the government, but also decry any opposition idea as out to lunch, until months later when the government decides that it is in their best interest to bring in what was a great idea in the first place.

So, it was no surprise this morning when officials from Service Nova Scotia and the Department of Tourism said that the Finance Minister did not have to change the rate of tax he’s paying. They say since Mr. Baker’s business is set up to rent the cottages by the month, it falls outside the laws governing those types of tourist accommodations.

Baker obviously knows these regulations and no doubt set his business up in such a way as to usurp said regulations. In a word, shady.

So, the question that comes to mind is if it were any other person with this type of cottage, and other business owners complained, what would happen? It’s a good bet that if they weren’t connected to the Tories, it wouldn’t be an issue. However, if they weren’t, the tune would most certainly change. The Tourism and Service Nova Scotia departments would be ordered to “take another look” at the governments policy.

Another sad example of politicians and bureaucrats helping their own.

To flip or flop or not at all

Now, I’m not a political strategist, but if I was the first thing I would tell Stephen Harper after his recent cabinet shuffle is- a flip-flop on policy in Afghanistan will be the beginning of the end.

CTV.ca speculates that the installation of Peter MacKay as Minister of National Defence and Maxime Bernier as Foreign Affairs Minister may be a sign the PM is shifting positions on the war.

Harper still says it’s (the conflict) “the right thing to do,” and he’s an ideologue, which is why a change in policy on the war would be seen as nothing more than a classic pluralistic flip-flop. But Harper has told parliament that unless there is “some sort of consensus” on extending the mission, he will not keep the troops there longer than their mandate.

A change in direction would spell the beginning of the end for a number of different reasons. The first, and most likely the worst, is that this government would be seen as bowing to the pressure of the electorate in the hope they could gain enough support to form a majority. Second, it would show that Harper and the Conservatives are not as principled as they maintain they are. Put the two together, and the Conservatives begin to look a lot like the Liberals.

The Liberals, under Chretien and Martin, bowed to the pressure of the electorate at every occasion and for mostly “politically sexy”* issues, such as aid for Africa and Global Warming. The problem is that these two issues have never really been solved, despite many lofty platitudes and promises from the now opposition Liberals. Stephen Harper can ill afford to follow that yellow brick road, as it leads back toward the purgatory the Conservatives have managed to claw out of. The Harper Conservatives sell themselves as getting things done for Canadians, but the mere impression of another direction change like the Income Trust fiasco and the Tories will be branded as a government who says one thing, but does something completely different.

Don’t go back on your decision Mr Harper. Show Canadian that you are exactly what you said you were– A principled man, who stands by the decision made, politically sexy or not.


*That’s not to say these issues are any more or less important than others, but that politicians tend to grab onto issues that are more in the eye of the public and have the most ability to swing voters their way.

The Drabbling Interview- Elan Divon

Every so often I talk to someone through work that has something to say or is doing something that makes me thank-ful there are people like them in the world. Every so often I’ll bring you these interviews.....D

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Elan Divon is the Executive Director of Peace Camp Nova Scotia, a 2 week workshop bringing together 20 young people from Palestine and Israel, to beginning breaking the barriers that have led to the constant conflict in their region.

DT: So Elan, what is the overall goal of the Peace Camp process?

ED: The overall goal of this camp is essentially to cultivate real and authentic trust and understanding between these young Israeli’s and Palestinians. That means getting them to understand their daily lives, the relative cultures and religions of each side and becoming to appreciate that there are different perspectives, that each culture is different and beautiful in their own way, and just getting them to build authentic friendships and authentic trust, because I believe there are a lot of very difficult decisions that have to made with respect to this conflict. So our goal is not to get into a dialogue as to what a two-state solution would look like, but to give them the ability to have the basic trust, so that when they sit down as the young leader that they are, and begin working through these problems, they will have the inherent trust to work through the problems. So, it’s about trust I think.

DT: And not only trust, but a mutual respect between the two....

ED: Absolutely, Mutual respect is a great word.

DT: What will you be doing with the participants?

ED: Well, our program has three components; the first is dialogue. In a sense this is the bread and butter of the program. We want to set the ground rules of how we go about engaging in dialogue and what it mean to dialogue. We want, in this case as well, to develop the listening skills, because we believe that listening is the beginning of peace, because listening doesn’t just mean not to talk, but it also means that when you’re listening you’re not thinking about how you want to react and not judging, but you’re completely open to receiving the information that’s being delivered to you.

Then we move into Stereotypes. We try to get them to be very honest in bringing out all of the stereotypes and perceptions and crazy ideas that they may individually, or collectively have about the other groups. From there we get into defusing those stereotypes and showing the participants that these are completely wrong and ignorant. So the idea, through the camp and their own interaction brings them to sharing personal stories, in small groups with facilitators. They’ll talk about real moments in their lives in which they were feeling the most hopeless, afraid, hopeless. They’ll share stories about being directly affected by the conflict. We have a great many people who have been affected int his horrible way. Through this sharing process, the participants hopefully start to see themselves in the other person. They begin to see that their pain is the same pain as their “so called’ enemy. They realize that we are all human beings and they have both inherited this difficult problem with this conflict, and they have a lot of the same fears and frustrations, but they also share the same hopes and dreams for the future.

Then we’ll start to go through the peace process and what that means to them, both individually and collectively. Then we’re going to start thinking about what they can do individually and collectively when they go back to the region, and building on the work that has begun here in Antigonish.

DT: You mentioned “peace”...this is a decades old conflict and the “peace process” is often just lip-service. So , you trying to go deeper than that, instead of just scratching the surface....

ED: Yes, much deeper. I think, for us, when we get to the whole dialogue program we realize that, even though peace is a wonderful word, it has vastly different means to different people. When you talk to an Palestinian about peace, they’re talking about freedom and independence. When you talk to an Israeli about peace, they talk about security, or the absence of any sort of terrorist threat. So, then they come to realize that what they mean by peace are two different things but they start to realize that what they want individually for peace is very much the same. It’s always interesting to see that realization happen.

Canada's re-worked re-vamped "New" Government

As with most news announcer's I've just about had enough of Canada's "new" government. Not the actual government per se, just the word "new." After 19 months in power, I'm sorry, but this government is no longer new.

I understand the penchant for the Prime Minister to want to keep the glow on this government. It is the first Conservative government in more than a decade, and Prime Minister Harper really needs to seperate his government from the previous Liberal administration and their ability to create scandal like it was nobody's business.

With a cabinet shuffle in our midst, scheduled to come down later today, Harper will re-energize and re-shape his cabinet, the face of his government, no doubt allowing him to hold on to the moniker of Canada's "new" government. Probably it should be Canada's "re-newed" government.

The re-shaping of the highest levels of the Conservative government is the pre-cursor to what Stephen Harper and his band of merry men (and women) are calling the "second phase" of their mandate.

Even though the "new" thing is getting a little old, Harper will most likely pull off another stunt to keep the word at the top of Canadians minds; by proroguing Parliament.

Proroguing Parliament allows the government to have a "new" speech from the throne, allowing the government to set a "new" direction for the government. So, see, it's not that hard for Harper to justify keeping the "new" in Canada's "new" Government.

MacKay deserves to stay

If there’s one thing that people in Central Nova know about politics, it’s we have a high profile and important minister representing our area. That’s more than a lot of people can say.

But how long will that last?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will shuffle his cabinet tomorrow, in an effort to re-energize his government and give the impression that he is a pro-active leader that makes changes when they are necessary. There is no doubt about the pro-active part and the Lord knows that this government could use a re-energizing.

If there is one thing I hear in Central Nova is that voters like having a high profile minister, and they do not want the PM to demote our minister t a lesser role.

Sure, Peter MacKay had some stumbles out of the block, but has come along nicely as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. MacKay certainly has his feet under him now and is performing wonderfully as the country’s representative to the world on a daily basis. He’s forged an amicable relationship with Condoleezza Rice and has largely patched relations between our country and the United States, something left lacking by the Liberals under former Prime Minister’s Chretien and Martin.

A demotion for MacKay now would spell one thing for the Conservatives not only in Central Nova but in Atlantic Canada- trouble. Not only would the Prime Minister have forsaken the region with the Atlantic Accord issue, but he would indirectly show both a doubt of MacKay’s abilities and a measure of disrespect.

For the Prime Minister to give MacKay anything but the status quo or a promotion would be seen by voters, here in Central Nova, exactly what they have come to expect from this PM– that he has no respect for the region or it’s people.