Political Opportunism

I really only use this blog when I have a particular subject I feel inclined to rant about. Today that subject is current state of the New Democratic party of Canada. For anyone who doesn't follow Canadian politics closely, these are the views of someone who follows them very closely.

Over the last few years, I have become increasingly concerned with the behavior of the federal NDP. Keep in mind that my issue is not with the members themselves, but with the party leadership.

Longtime NDP stalwarts like Joe Comartin, Libbie Davies, and even new additions like Bill Siksay continue to do good work, standing up for the values the NDP has always stood for. They are not the people that concern me.

The new guard of the NDP leadership, represented by Jack Layton, his closest advisors, and especially his new hatchet man, Deputy Leader Tom Mulcair, represent a new direction for the party. The NDP, under Layton, has become the most opportunistic and bloodthirsty of our four main political parties.

Just off the top of my head, three examples of this. The big one of a few years ago, and two recent examples.

1. The defeat of the Liberal government of Paul Martin.

With this action, Layton handed that reigns of power to Stephen Harper. And why? Because the most important thing in the world to him is to continue to increase his base of power.

Did we Canadians imagine that corruption was unique to the Liberal party? This seems absurd, as any government in power for 13 years is likely to pick up the stain of corruption. On top of which, the majority of those implicated in the sponsorship scandal turned out to be bureaucrats, not members of the Liberal administration itself.

What possible reason did Layton have to defeat a government whose policies were far more in line with those he advocated? The only answer I can find is that he saw an opportunity to absorb some of the vote from a stumbling Liberal party.

2. The questioning of Karlheinz Schrieber before the Commons Ethics Committee

By far, the most aggressive questioners here have been the NDP, mainly Pat Martin and Tom Mulcair. While the Liberals are focused on trying to implicate Mulroney and Harper, and the conservatives are intent on exonerating the same, what have the NDP been doing?

They have been throwing out every name they can think of. Retired Liberal and Conservative MPs, people who have served their country honorably, whose only mistake appears to have been having dealings with Karlheinz Schreiber. They seem intent on tarring everyone that they can with vague accusations of bribery and skulduggery.

In the days leading up to the calling of Schreiber before the ethics committee, this same drive-by smearing could been seen on the floor of the house, once again being led by Tom Mulcair.

3. The accusations leveled by NDP MP Irene Mathyssen against Conservative James Moore

This most recent example, which looks like a rather silly gaffe on the part of a freshman MP, speaks to this base opportunism that has characterized the NDP's behavior policy under Jack Layton.

This recently elected NDP MP stood up in the house of commons, and essentially accused a young, upstanding member of the House of Commons of looking at porn on his laptop, in full view of herself, and the public gallery. She used this to get on a soapbox and insinuate that the Conservatives advocated a lack of respect for women, and even that the advocated violence towards women.

Not two days later, she is expected to recant, and apologize, after James Moore provided a reasonable explanation for the incident.

But the one thing that really bothers me, is that this wasn't just a gaffe by one solitary MP. Mathyssen presented this course of action at a FULL CAUCUS meeting. The entire NDP caucus apparently approved this ridiculous attack, when all they had to do was approach Mr. Moore in private, and ask for an explanation.

Now, having said all this, I invite anyone to approach me, and tell me why I am wrong. Tell me that the NDP is still the party it used to be. A party that stands apart from the petty, partisan squabbling that has come to embody our political system in the minds of many Canadians.

But I don't hold out much hope. I think it really is time for a new generation of leaders.

Preventable Tragedy

Both in the US and here in Canada, the true story is often never told. We hear how disturbed the killer was, how sick, how evil.

But we never hear the real truth. That many of these school shootings are the result of a culture that all contribute to. A culture of cruelty and intimidation, of cliques and loners.

I encourage everyone to listen to what Cho Seung-Hui says in his videotaped manifesto. He calls Kleybold and Harris martyrs, and rails against those who tormented him.

We must all, parents and students and the world at large alike, realize the real truth. That only through kindness and respect, through diligence and watchfulness, and through a real desire to help our fellow man, can we begin to combat this violent cycle.

Only through understanding can we avoid these massacres. For we are a society that is as sick as the sickest of us.

So remember, every time you see someone being bullied, or acting strangly, or crying out for help, remember. Remember that incidents like the recent one at Virginia Tech are the price we pay for doing nothing.

Tears of an Attorney (not a clown)

Watching the statements of Maher Arar and his lawyer today resulted in a new occurrence in my life.

Never before have I come so close to crying at the carefully considered words of an attorney. He almost broke down himself, as he told the Canadian people why his client wanted a written apology from the prime minister. He told us that Mr. Arar's wife wanted written proof, for the day her children come to her with questions about the allegations that were once leveled against their father. His words conjured in my mind the image of a child, running home from school in tears, having just been told by some ignorant and insensitive peer that his father was a terrorist.

As lawyers are so often considered nothing more then social parasites, it's important to acknowledge that some among them truly have dedicated themselves to the advancement of truth and justice. I applaud what they have done on behalf of Mr. Arar. If only all litigators had such lofty goals, the world would be a better place.

Each and every time this story is revisited, it transports me back in time to the point the story broke, and I remember how it made me feel. How embarrassed I felt, as a Canadian, that our nation and its government could have let such a monstrous perversion of justice befall one of our citizens.

The fury that I felt, mostly directed at the American authorities who dared to violate one of our fellow Canadians in such a despicable manner, is easy to recall. I imagine that many Canadians felt something similar, particularly those who may have been born under an oppressive regime. People who came to Canada looking for a place were they’d be free of persecution, and the threat of torture, must have felt it far more deeply then the rest of us.

Something I heard today however, from the chief counsel of the Arar inquiry, made an impression on me. He said that we, as a people, had failed this man, by failing to cry out, by failing to pressure our own government to free him. It’s something to think about. But will Canadians ever take to the streets over such injustice, or will we always be too slow, too complacent, and suffer the consequences of our inaction?

Musing complete.

They can't see what lies ahead when sun is gone and moon is dead

And in the night when all is quiet and we are all alone, are we also unseen? Or does some force watch our lonely musings, our furtive movements, our joy and suffering? Some celestial voyeur who takes his pleasure from watching us wander through life? If we squint hard enough, can we catch this entity at work? If we could, what would we learn from him? That all life is pointless? Or would we learn something of greater value? Some greater purpose, perhaps, for each one of us. We could live our lives with the knowledge that someday we might find that purpose, and our lives might have meaning.

No matter how hard I squint, I still don't see it. So what does that leave us with? If we search hard enough, can we find our purpose for ourselves? Forge a path of our own creation, perhaps. Or maybe we should just stop looking, and acccept that things are what they are. Can a man of science, a man who can't see that greater guiding force, do any less? This is my conundrum.

Science shall say that all is as it is because of natural law. But if we evolved from simple one celled organisms, guided purely by the forces of nature, then what possible purpose could we serve? Beyond the niche we hold, by force of our will, in the amazing ecosystem of this third rock from the sun, what purpose does this man serve? Not just one man, but all men (and women)?

In the end, the only purpose we can serve is to each other. But we all can't be doctors and nurses. We can't all cure cancer, or stamp out hunger, or mental illness. If we did, who would drive the buses, who would clean up the streets, pump the gas of the middle class man? Who would make your clothes and cook your food? Who would grease the wheels that make our daily lives livable? Who would do the thousand tasks that you don't want to?

So if you see him, thank God for those that choose to help the world in their own way. And if you don't see a guiding hand, but instead just a flawed being like you trying to be useful, then thank them for what they bring to your life.

Imagine what it would be like without them.

Musing complete.