tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131948392024-03-13T14:42:25.117-07:00B.C. Policy Perspectives"B.C. Policy Perspectives" is the web log of Mark Crawford. THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG IS NOT PARTISAN OR IDEOLOGICAL. INSTEAD, I TRY TO IDENTIFY POSITIONS AND PERSPECTIVES THAT ARE NEGLECTED, DROWNED OUT OR UNDERREPRESENTED ELSEWHERE. Some politicians and journalists have found it helpful and interesting, and I hope that you do, too!
This blog is linked to BOURQUE NEWSWATCH, THE TYEE, THE SIGHTLINE INSTITUTE, and The MARK NEWS. Check them out!!Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.comBlogger302125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-78997268868263424962023-07-12T04:27:00.005-07:002023-07-14T14:12:07.112-07:00"They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival in an Indian Residential School" by Bev Sellars<p><i> {This article originally appeared in the July edition of the Anahim-Nimpo Lake Messenger . It was submitted in June 2023.}</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There is one book that
everybody in the Cariboo-Chilcotin should read: Bev Sellars’s <i>They Called Me
Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School</i> (Talon
Books: 2013). Most of the events Sellars describes occurred in places you may
have heard of: her home community of Deep Creek, Soda Creek, the St. Joseph’s
Mission, and a certain town called Williams Lake, B.C.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even more interesting
for me is <i>when </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>these events took
place. Ms. Sellars is only five years older than I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her mother, Evelyn, was born in 1925—in the
same year and only a month later than my own mother, also named Evelyn, was
born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When my family moved to Williams
Lake in 1973, we moved into the house at the airport turnoff, eight miles north
of town. At that time, Sellars would have been eighteen and starting her first
job as a teaching aide at Wildwood Elementary School, which was only a mile
away from our home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She and I had some of
the same teachers at Williams Lake Junior Secondary School: Mr. Poulton for
grade 8 French, Mr. Wiebe for social studies, and a math teacher I would later
have at Columneetza (Mr. Scheck).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had
much in common. If I had met her at the Wildwood store or while walking along
the path that joined Wildwood to the airport, would we have struck up a
conversation? Would that possibly have sparked an awareness of native issues
that I clearly lacked?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It seems doubtful
somehow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had just had a close call
with a RCMP officer who had tried to lure her into his car (possibly the same one
who allegedly assaulted another girl from a neighbouring community a short time
later).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three or four years earlier,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a female relative of hers had been assaulted
close to my house. It was well known that White men were able to rape native
women and get away with it most of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So she would not have been walking alone and striking up conversations
with strangers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Many native people have
a gift for candour, and you know that every word she says is true, because she
doesn’t hide embarrassing facts about herself—like the time she almost ran down
some white hitch-hikers for giving her the finger. “Father O’Connor, later
Bishop O’Connor, was the only principal ever tried and convicted. Four
principals in a row should have been charged, three of whom became bishops. If
the top people at these institutions were abusing, it is easy to see why the
others were allowed to abuse so freely.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She doesn’t jump up and
down accusing the school of killing her brother. She is not even certain that
he committed suicide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you know from
her description of the way Bobby’s head hung after he had been caught by
the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RCMP and marched back to the Mission
that his spirit had been broken, and that it was the School that had broken it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She lets the facts speak for themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It was not just the
occasional horror of sexual abuse, but the constant mis-use of corporal
punishment (“In addition to the daily ritual of kids getting the strap for
wetting the bed, hardly a day went by without someone getting the strap for
some other reason.”) One native acquaintance of mine from my high school class
told me that her mother got the strap just for speaking her own language.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But for me the most heart-breaking
parts are when high hopes and expectations were cut short by .dream-killing
systemic racism. Sellars observes that “Good teachers didn’t last long.” She
herself was steered into a vocational program that prevented her from becoming
a nurse. These stories give a hint of what could have been if a modicum of goodwill
and adequate funding had been brought to bear in native education. In the years
following the Second World War, federal governments spent billions on
vote-getting shared cost programs to provide better health and education for
the provinces, while continuing to neglect the very kids they were most
responsible for in their own jurisdiction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As a teenager, I was
very conscious of the fact that my father only had a grade six education, and
that I belonged to the first generation in our family to graduate high school
and go on to college or university. But there was a far bigger local story
going on. We should have been celebrating the first generation of native
students who were participating in the public schools on a more-or-less equal
footing, and doing something to repair the damage that had been done to the
people who came before them. But instead, it never crossed my mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am truly very sorry about that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></p>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-91955773027635396732022-03-23T22:24:00.002-07:002023-08-03T20:45:19.125-07:00<p> </p><p> Here is a link to a short column I wrote in the Anahim-Nimpo Lake Messenger for April 2022 on the subject of the INVASION OF UKRAINE.<br /></p><p> </p><p> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qMLFGnyJqen-hR3vNW7UqNXAx3-Q1bsOz2DJ7SH0smk/edit?usp=sharing</p>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-33057991285374853302022-02-27T09:01:00.012-08:002022-02-27T09:06:20.971-08:00Worries about Ukraine<p> Are we prepared to discipline China for helping Russia through the back door? How prepared are our leaders to inflict economic pain on ourselves? </p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What will become of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the university where I taught in 1994-95? Its bilingual status (classes in English and Ukrainian) and long history are pointedly non-Russian: it is implicitly against the Russian imperium. I urge my readers to <a href="https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukma.edu.ua%2Feng%2Findex.php%2Fnews%2F876-kyiv-mohyla-academy-appeal-to-international-community&data=04%7C01%7Cmarkc%40athabascau.ca%7Ccf8c3a193751422939dc08d9f97b70eb%7Ca893bdd2f4604252aa344d057436a09d%7C0%7C0%7C637815130840581775%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=7oBgJpR6QVDDVR51ImNtrHb4moDW7k46%2F6eM0v5wwDg%3D&reserved=0">read their plea</a>.</span></p><div><br /></div>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-48777195743021190452022-02-19T12:46:00.003-08:002022-02-19T12:46:39.576-08:00About the Trucker's Strike<p> <span style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">"In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs."</span></p><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="" dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc dati1w0a e5nlhep0" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_md" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 4px 16px;"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg" style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: -5px; margin-top: -5px;"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto" style="color: var(--primary-text); display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> --Walter Lippmann</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Well, I think that the government is administering justice between protestors who complain about the infringement of their liberty by public health regulation and the rights of those whose liberties they have infringed---the rights of residents to live in noise-free environment most of the time, the rights to cross the border, cross the bridge, and to live in a relatively safe reduced-COVID environment. Since most public health regulations have actually fallen short of what health experts have recommended, and three weeks is an indulgently long time to allow such a costly protest to continue, the truckers would be unlikely to survive the section 1 proportionality analysis in a Charter Challenge for the infringement of their section 2 Freedom of "thought, belief, opinion and expression". On the other hand, they might have a chance of arguing (thanks to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association) that the invocation of the Emergencies Act was unnecessary and disproportional. The court case and the commission of inquiry will shed some useful light on whether Justin Trudeau shares some of the blame for allowing this to get out of hand.</div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="stjgntxs ni8dbmo4 l82x9zwi uo3d90p7 h905i5nu monazrh9" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 8px 8px; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="l9j0dhe7" style="font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div class="bp9cbjyn m9osqain j83agx80 jq4qci2q bkfpd7mw a3bd9o3v kvgmc6g5 wkznzc2l oygrvhab dhix69tm jktsbyx5 rz4wbd8a osnr6wyh a8nywdso s1tcr66n" style="align-items: center; border-bottom: 1px solid var(--divider); color: var(--secondary-text); display: flex; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; justify-content: flex-end; line-height: 1.3333; margin: 0px 16px; padding: 10px 0px;"><div class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 buofh1pr ni8dbmo4 stjgntxs" style="align-items: center; 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overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; width: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="gpro0wi8 pcp91wgn" style="font-family: inherit; padding-left: 6px;">1</span></span></span><span class="gpro0wi8 cwj9ozl2 bzsjyuwj ja2t1vim" style="background-color: var(--card-background); float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-left: -100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="pcp91wgn" style="font-family: inherit; padding-left: 6px;">Heather Buzila</span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="pcp91wgn" style="font-family: inherit; padding-left: 6px;"><br /></span></span></div></div></span></div><div class="kb5gq1qc pfnyh3mw c0wkt4kp" style="background-color: white; color: #65676b; flex-grow: 0; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; width: 7px;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-90998886912747325922021-09-10T18:27:00.001-07:002021-09-10T18:45:02.629-07:00The 2021 English Leaders' Debate<p> </p><div><b>And the Big Winner was: <i>Francois Legault</i>.</b> Having extracted a pricey child care subsidy and an endorsement of Quebec's constitutional "nationhood" by dangling the possibility of a majority in front of Trudeau, he then pivoted with a thinly-veiled endorsement of O'Toole for respecting provincial jurisdiction. Then Blanchet was able to fan some nationalist flame over Bill 21. Even Annemie Paul's strong performance helps Legault & O'Toole, since she takes most of her votes from the NDP and the Libs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Justin Trudeau got played by a Quebec nationalist premier. His father must surely be spinning in his grave.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps the debate will have little impact on the course of the election. But it prevented either Trudeau or Singh from punching through, which either of them could have done under a different format.</div><div><br /></div><div>A possible small winner: Paul Manly, the Green MP in Nanaimo-Ladysmith, who had been given up for dead but can now try to run on Paul's strong debate performance.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the big problem in a possible future minority government alliance between the Bloc and western -based Conservatives is that it will prove to be about as stable as the Quebec-West alliance was under Brian Mulroney. (Think: polar opposites on equalization and climate/energy.) </div><div> </div><div>And we all know how that turned out. <br /></div>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-37289015336871054492021-07-02T21:25:00.001-07:002021-07-02T21:25:14.018-07:00Hell-Fire<p> </p><div><div class="" dir="auto"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc e5nlhep0 dati1w0a" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_1ez"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Dakota Smith, a meteorologist at Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, said in a tweet that he observed “absolutely mind-blowing wildfire behavior in British Columbia.”</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">He included satellite images from above Lytton earlier this week and added: “incredible & massive storm-producing pyrocumulonimbus plumes.”Daniel Swain, a climatologist with the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA, wrote on Twitter: “I’ve watched a lot of wildfire-associated pyroconvective events during the satellite era, and I think this might be the singularly most extreme I’ve ever seen.”</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">He added: “This is a literal firestorm, producing *thousands* of lightning strikes and almost certainly countless new fires.”Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist with Vaisala, which tracks lightning strikes around the world, told <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl py34i1dx gpro0wi8" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FSFGATE.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0iUIjnckDEReVmSDG0yJSXXvH9DvfFKBWhngsVjy3jgnXheW6q-kOFEr8&h=AT3x_zf3myw7RHUDErxAwrDHbnnip7Y1wQq6Pa8L4mXPakr1rLEqVtejZyERyaA-XYWrJFjvMbsijnSqDXGLLnTrVJ0W8egoPxZ0K_A8Vhn2ygo8bEdWjuwqJBxKjOR37Y_v&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT16D3PPT-cULJ4rlfCGOSFFu0XG13gKmwnx_M40vrmaouh60UuDG2Ersel0ELbCDKntxSch5TI7XBFxI3U1guulnUo9HoF0mE0OP0eU8IR6pJJf267yZqOwcedCCmfHyuFa5TP5lAjgV5g0ceI" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0" target="_blank">SFGATE.com</a></span> that the North American Lightning Detection Network sensed 710,177 strikes across British Columbia and northwestern Alberta over the course of about 15 hours in recent days.</div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-26957555410391203232021-07-02T15:47:00.001-07:002021-07-02T15:47:29.084-07:00On the Legacy of Sir John A. 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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The discovery of 215 bodies in Kamloops is
a gruesome reminder that maybe “genocide” is an appropriate term to use for Canada’s
assimilationist policies after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
this may just be the tip of the iceberg: what will the final death toll be,
once the grounds and the paper trails of every residential school in Canada
have been thoroughly examined? Native Residential Schools were Canada’s Crime
of the Century.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And yet… many people still think that it
is wrong to be tearing down statues of our first Prime Minister, Sir John A.
Macdonald, and removing his face from our currency, and his name from every
school and every airport and public building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why? Because, in the words of Macdonald’s most recent biographer,
Richard Gwynn: “No Macdonald, no Canada.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And if there is no Canada, there is no New Treaties, no Section 35 of
the Canada Act, no aboriginal title, no <i>Delgamuukw</i> case, no <i>Chilcotin</i>
case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No official multiculturalism, no
official bilingualism---and probably no universal medicare or gun control, for
that matter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Besides, according to Macdonald’s apologists,
most of what befell the First Nations people was not really his fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, it is argued that he never actually
intended the starvation of the Plains Indians, who were devastated by the
spread of new diseases and the decimation of the buffalo herd long before he took
charge. Moreover, it is worth noting that attendance of indigenous children in
residential schools did not become compulsory until 1920, which was 29 years
after Sir John A.’s death.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">David Frum attempts to restore Macdonald’s
reputation in </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/06/defense-canada-prime-minister-john-macdonald/619236/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">a
recent Atlantic Monthly article</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.
He states: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="d2edcug0">"As
attorney general of the pre-confederation province of Canada, [Macdonald] battled
to protect escaped American slaves from extradition. His government persuaded
the British government in 1862 to pass a new habeas corpus act that imposed new
restrictions on cooperation with U.S. slave hunters. He welcomed Jewish
immigration to Canada and for a long time strenuously but unsuccessfully
resisted efforts to exclude Chinese immigrants … He headed a political
coalition that bridged Canada’s great divide between French speakers and
English speakers—and worked all his life for accommodation and respect between
the two mutually suspicious cultures. … </span>As the person who proposed the
[residential] schools, Macdonald shares the blame for their grim human
consequences. But … the worst wrongs in the schools happened after Macdonald
had left this Earth, and could neither be aware of them, nor correct them.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">All of these
things may be true, but Frum is still white-washing the past. It would be more
accurate to say that Macdonald’s attitude to slavery mirrored that of the
British Foreign Office: opposed to slavery in principle, but also willing to
encourage the secession of the slave states if it meant that the USA was less
of a threat to the British colonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">And although his attitude toward
escaped slaves and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>immigrants may have
been morally ambiguous, his attitude toward Canadian indigenous peoples was
not.</span> They stood in the way of his vision of continental expansion. So he
was harder on them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He may not have been
the initial cause of their starvation or of the near-extinction of the buffalo,
but he still rationed their food relief so as to induce them into fixed
settlements. He starved them. His motive for doing so was plain: he felt that land
had to be taken for white settlements and for the Railway, and the natives forced
into becoming agricultural and industrial workers, whether they wanted to or
not. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Americans seem to be able to accept that
Washington and Jefferson owned slaves, but it is difficult for Canadians even to
accept that Macdonald authorized residential schools. That is because the
residential school system is so recent, within the living memory of so many
Indigenous Canadians. Sure, Macdonald may have only intended to “assimilate”
native people and not to literally kill them. But ultimately, that is not such
an easy or excusable distinction to make, as the discoveries in Kamloops make
all-too clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Mark Crawford is an Associate Professor of
political science at Athabasca University.</span></p>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-8572641687348687032021-05-22T00:11:00.001-07:002021-05-23T03:13:30.996-07:00Tom Berger, R.I.P.<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was saddened last month to hear of the passing of Thomas R
Berger, the pioneering lawyer, human rights advocate, politician and Royal
Commissioner who was famous for three things (although by no means only three):
first, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bringing the <i>Calder</i> case<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to the Supreme Court, which established in
1973 that Aboriginal title can exist in Canadian law; second, leading the
MacKenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry; and third, leading the protest in 1982 that
got the section 35 Aboriginal rights clause<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>put back in the Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I knew Tom Berger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was a friend of his daughter, Erin Berger, who was a classmate of mine at UBC.
We were both working in Ottawa the fall after graduation, she as an Assistant
to Ian Waddell and I as a Parliamentary Intern (in that capacity I worked for
the Liberal MP Pierre Deniger and the NDP MP Nelson Riis in addition to a host
of other activities.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I had dinner with Tom and Erin one evening in Ottawa in
November 1981, when he was in town (not, as it turned out, just to visit his
daughter, but also to discuss what was happening with the constitutional
negotiations.) I noticed that he seemed to be uncharacteristically anxious to
finish eating and to hear what was on the news.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> I vividly remember being in his hotel room, sitting down to
watch the National News with him and Erin and like a thunderbolt, the lead
story was his condemnation of the initial constitutional deal (which had left
out native rights at the request of certain premiers). Then-prime minister
Pierre Trudeau was saying to reporters that Berger, as a sitting judge, was “out
of line” to be “getting mixed up in politics”, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and then the proverbial s**t hit the fan.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The following day, Berger had an op-ed in the <i>Globe and</i>
<i>Mail</i>, in which he took Canada’s elected leaders to task:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">No words can deny what happened. The first
Canadians — a million people and more — have had their answer from Canada’s
statesmen. They cannot look to any of our governments to defend the idea that
they are entitled to a distinct and contemporary place in Canadian life. Under
the new constitution the first Canadians shall be the last. This is not the end
of the story. The native peoples have not come this far to turn back now.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> As a result, a complaint against him was filed with the
Canadian Judicial Council, and even the venerable Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court, Bora Laskin, criticized him for breaching the norms of judicial
impartiality. But he could not remain silent in the face of what he saw as a
fundamental injustice. As a result, Tom decided to resign from the Bench.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had sacrificed his judicial career, but in
his mind it was worth it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And it probably was worth it. His
op-ed had galvanized the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">federal
NDP to insist on the inclusion of the aboriginal rights clause, which – along
with the activism of Indigenous leaders– made it clear to Trudeau that unless
section 35 was reinstated, he could not count on their support for the
patriation deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The subsequent renegotiation brought native
rights (and women’s rights) back into the Constitution. Among its progeny was the
<i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Tsilhqot’in</span></i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>case, which represented the first declaration by the Supreme Court of
Aboriginal title for a First Nation in Canada. </span>Its significance ranks on
par with the Supreme Court’s previous decisions in <i>Calder</i> and <i>Delgamuukw</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I recall a conversation I had with him about the life of
David Lewis, the CCF-NDP firebrand who had just lost his battle with cancer,
and whose autobiography, which I had been reading, was appropriately titled <i>The
Good Fight</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notwithstanding Tom’s
patient and pleasant demeanour, it might have made a fitting banner for him as
well. As it was, he eventually settled on an equally suitable title for his own
memoir: <i>One Man’s Justice</i>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His was the very definition of a
life well lived.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-64904901145457358472021-04-24T17:09:00.002-07:002021-04-24T17:09:51.650-07:00Review of David Lewis's Memoir, "The Good Fight".<p> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5774639-the-good-fight" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Good Fight: Political Memoirs, 1909 1958" src="https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/111x148-bcc042a9c91a29c1d680899eff700a03.png" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5774639-the-good-fight">The Good Fight: Political Memoirs, 1909 1958</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8554737.David_Lewis">David Lewis</a><br/><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br/><br/><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/20856794-mark-crawford">View all my reviews</a><br /><br /></p>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-86127104939467050482021-04-16T01:34:00.005-07:002021-04-16T01:34:59.775-07:00List of qualifying digital news subscriptions - Canada.ca<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/deductions-credits-expenses/deductions-credits-expenses/digital-news-subscription/list-qualifying-digital-news-subscriptions.html">List of qualifying digital news subscriptions - Canada.ca</a></p><p>Seeing the new digital newspaper subscription tax credit was just the nudge I needed to take out a couple of paid newspaper subscriptions to the Globe and Mail and i-politics. <br /></p><p> </p>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-71462863589797312302020-01-27T05:07:00.001-08:002020-01-27T05:12:14.343-08:00B.C. Politics Today: Green, Red, Orange--and 50 Shades of Grey<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footer"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="index heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of figures"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="envelope return"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
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<br />
When the leader of the B.C. Green Party chooses to sit as an Independent,
while the interim party leader attends ( as a sympathetic participant) the same
high-profile Native Protest that the Premier has repeatedly refused to attend,
you know that something is up in B.C. politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are repeatedly reassured on both sides of the Green-NDP marriage that
a painful divorce is not imminent: Dr. Weaver <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>merely wants some “space” to deal with
personal family health matters. But this seems a little odd: The Greens would
surely have allowed him to take a compassionate leave from caucus duties, and
the other parties would surely have excused Weaver from any committee
responsibilities. Why, then, did he have to leave the party?<br />
<br />
Perhaps his stated reason is sufficient enough to be taken at face value: he
stated on his MLA blog that ““I believe that it is important for the B.C. Green
party to develop a new vision and voice independent from mine. My presence in
the B.C. Green caucus could hinder that independence.” Thoughtful of him---I
guess. But is it considerate of the voters who elected him, in large part
because he was a Green?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could
reveal a certain hubris on his part, that of course the voters of Oak Bay voted
for him because he was Andrew Weaver, the distinguished climate scientists, and
not because he happened to be the leader of a particular political party.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Premier Horgan looks less than perfectly virtuous himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with the Site C dam, he had to give in on
the LNG pipeline, but it doesn’t look great. The message we are getting is that
pipelines are evil—as long as they are transporting Alberta oil. If it is
fracking BC natural gas on unceded native land you’re talking about , that is a
completely different matter. But is it, really?<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"> </span><br />
Then there are the Liberals. They are still in the news because of the blind
eye they allegedly took to money laundering in the gambling and real estate
industries when they were in office. According to a January 2009 RCMP anti-illegal
gaming unit report, a businessman “connected to Asian organized crime” was
allowed by a British Columbia public servant to buy part of a <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/bc-lottery-corp/">B.C. Lottery Corp.</a>
casino, and that government employee was later hired in another B.C. casino.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as if that wasn’t bad enough, <i>instead
of following the report’s recommendations, B.C.’s government defunded and
disbanded the illegal gaming unit just three months later.</i><br />
<br />
So whether or not Liberals did anything legally 'wrong', I have long felt
that they were far too relaxed about money laundering whether in real estate or
in gambling. On the other hand, as <span style="color: black;">my securities
regulator friend put it to me recently</span>, nobody, either in China or the
West, understood and predicted the impact of massive mainland Chinese capital
flight. Easily a trillion dollars per year moves illegally out of China. When
you have that much clandestine money floating around, shit happens. British
Columbia, just like Australia and others, needed to make strict and clear rules
about Chinese money as soon as it started coming but, again, the weight of the
problem was not understood. “To put it slightly differently, when someone
starts throwing money at you, you need to have really good powers of analysis
and self-discipline to say “No”. You know that one of your neighbours will say
“Yes” the next day.”<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are fortunate to have finally had
a change of government in 2017, so that a new party with a cleaner slate could
tackle this subject. But that doesn’t mean that an Adrian Dix government
between 2013 and 2017 wouldn’t have been just as compromised as the Liberals were—Dix’s
own corrupt, dishonest and “process is for cheese” behaviour while Glen Clark’s
assistant during the Burnaby casino scandal (and on several other occasions) <b>strongly</b>
suggests otherwise.<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am placing the odds of a B.C.
election occurring this year, and not in the spring of 2021 as contemplated in
the NDP-Green Supply Agreement, at around 50%. It is impossible to say from the
current polls who would be most likely to win that election--- there is plenty
to be unenthusiastic about on all sides. So, there you have it: very little
black and white, just 50 shades of grey, B.C.-style.Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-47899083935917768402019-11-03T17:18:00.001-08:002019-11-03T17:26:42.006-08:00Letter to the Edmonton Journal, Friday, November 2, 2019 (In Response to the October 24 Budget)<div class="p1">
We have just one generation left in which to convert the
Alberta Advantage (in non-renewable resource revenue) into a New
Advantage built upon renewable and sustainable energy and human
resources.</div>
<div class="p1">
It is probably already too late to ever
build the Heritage Trust Fund into what it should have been. But by
sticking its head in the oilsands and deliberately ignoring the real
problem (i.e. government’s continuing reliance upon the energy-revenue
roller-coaster, against the global backdrop of ecologically induced
shifting demand and technologically induced over-supply), and
ideologically pretending that the solution is simply one of cutting
taxes and expenditures, this government risks squandering the few
opportunities we have left to get our transition to the low-carbon
economy right.</div>
<div class="p1">
As a result, we may ultimately find
ourselves no better placed to face the conditions of the mid-21st
century than our neighbours in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. And that would
be no “Advantage” at all.</div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-28811449950449075972019-04-21T07:32:00.002-07:002019-04-22T20:15:47.339-07:00Isn't it Ironic?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">By any measure, the victory of Jason Kenney and the United
Conservative Party (UCP) over Rachel Notley and the NDP in the April 16 Alberta
provincial election was impressive: 63 seats versus 24 for the NDP, with 54.8%
of the popular vote <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>versus 32.7% for the
NDP, on a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>71% turnout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The UCP tapped into the economic insecurity
of Albertans caused by a sluggish oil economy and growing frustration with the
lack of pipelines. Conservative candidates promised to “stand up to Justin
Trudeau” , and “get tough” with opponents in British Columbia and Quebec.
Listening to Kenney and his supporters in the right-wing media, you would think
that the problem was that Notley played too nice with the Feds and those
“foreign-financed” environmentalists and Native peoples, and that all that was
needed was to replace the carrot with the stick. In truth, the exact opposite
was true: if the government of Alberta had simply tried to force BC and the Feds to
allow the pipelines by threatening to “turn off the taps”, the likelihood of
regulatory and judicial approval would have been even smaller.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Thus the campaign waged by the Alberta Conservatives was fundamentally
ironic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the federal Conservatives between 2011
and 2015, including Mr. Kenney, who discredited the National Energy Board and
sparked the Idle No More protests---and ensured defeat in court over Northern
Gateway. And, if the Trans-Mountain is finally approved this spring, it will
be because governments and TMX have finally met the high standards of
environmental protection and First Nations consultation that the law now
requires. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the biggest irony that
I have seen in federal politics since the Harper Conservatives took credit for
avoiding the worst of the financial crisis, after promoting the use of
sub-prime mortgages in their first budget in 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As for the supposed failure of "social licence", were
conservatives suggesting that a truth-based energy and climate policy is only
warranted if it gets a pipeline built in under 4 years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The irony is that our most enlightened oil
companies have more in common with Ms Notley on this point than they do with
Mr. Kenney: the CEOs<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of Suncor,Shell and
Cenovus all favour the carbon tax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Furthermore, the NDP’s farsighted industrial diversification policy was
better than anything Alberta <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had seen
since the days of Peter Lougheed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">All this from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
first gender-equal government in Canadian history, a government whose entire
caucus had fewer scandals than any new government that I can remember. Support
for pipelines outside of Alberta rose from 40% to 70% thanks primarily to the
efforts of Rachel Notley, Canada’s finest premier. Can Jason Kenney really do better? It
seems more likely that he will benefit from a pipeline that was enabled by
Notley’s salesmanship and paid for by the Canadian taxpayer. As Alanis
Morrissette might<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>say, that’s more than
a little ironic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-47832321116999597172019-02-15T07:50:00.001-08:002019-02-15T08:31:34.582-08:00Canadian Healthcare at a Crossroads<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Canadians generally like their heathcare system, and rightly
so. It guarantees basic physician care and hospital care (insofar as such
things can be practicably guaranteed, given our geography<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and diversity), so that we can get on with
our lives, and cope with catastrophic illness when that happens, without having
to also worry that it will wipe out our savings or saddle us with huge debts.
Most of the world’s leading health economists and health policy experts
generally approve of universal care and single payer not just on the grounds of
equity and general health outcomes,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but
on the grounds of efficiency and cost containment as well: it pools risk,
spreads cost, and provides patients generally with bargaining power vis a vis
health care providers and drug companies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From a comparative perspective, the cost <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of Canada’s health care system is best
described as middle of the pack-- in 2017 we spent about 10.5% of our GDP on
health care (7.4% publicly and 3.1% privately), compared to an average among
the ten most comparable OECD countries of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>10.6%, (7.9% publicly and 2.7% privately), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>#11 in spending in the OECD. (The United
States, at about 17.3% of GDP,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is far
and away the biggest spender.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
problem is that many of these countries include a broader basket of health<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>services on a universal basis than we do. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Canadian medicare coverage has been described as being stuck
in a rut that is "deep but narrow". The narrowness comes from our
difficulty imagining our dentists, home care workers, pharmacists, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>optometrists and physiotherapists, etc.
billing the government like our doctors and hospitals do. It also comes from
our difficulty imagining a doubling of transfer payments from the federal
government to the provinces in order to help pay for the expansion of coverage.
Notice that the problem does NOT stem from our single-payer model per se, but
from how it articulates with fee-for-service private payment schemes <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and our system of fiscal federalism.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Alberta's practice of allowing a small number of visits to
physiotherapists to be paid for under Alberta Health (I believe the
number is six visits), has a general preventive benefit in terms of
encouraging early treatment, as well as enabling workers to gauge the
value of physio in managing pain, etc so that they can make an informed decision about whether to pay for further treatment. Similar benefits on a larger scale could be expected from having a basic public dental plan. I have never studied the economics of dental care
specifically, but it seems to me that basic dental care (annual check up and
treatment up to $1000, for example) would not only catch many problems early
and thereby improve the general health and productivity of the population, but
would also act as a payroll tax cut--since our company plans (such as my own)
would no longer have to pay for the basic care. In other words, it should not
be regarded as a deadweight loss of $1000 to the treasury, or to the economy as
a whole. And just think of all the nursing costs and drug costs that could be reduced if we could just remove them from the aegis of hospital and physician care, viz. the most expensive venues imaginable. A lot of seniors have been housed (at enormous expense) in hospitals because of the lack of space in seniors centres, or the lack of publicly-funded home care. Or kept in a hospital so that their drugs could be paid for. These practices are humane and quintessentially Canadian; but they are also wasteful.If people could access drug treatments and senior care outside of hospitals, we could help more people for the same amount of money.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So the issue is whether we can introduce a broader range of
services into our provincial health plans, while still remaining a median
country in terms of overall health expenditure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In Canada , we <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>probably spend too
much of our health care budget <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in areas
(physician and hospital acute care) that are expensive, and made more expensive
than necessary by the fee-for -service system . <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should therefore focus on reducing and modifying
fee-for-service, improving the blurred accountability created by federal
transfers, and confining any experiments in "new" models of
co-payment to the presently uncovered areas of homecare, pharmacare and eye and
dental care. In other words, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>let’s try
not to throw out the single-payer baby with the bath-water.<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2019-01-19T21:14"></ins></span></div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-36931938965613380842018-08-20T20:46:00.003-07:002018-08-20T20:46:38.140-07:00It's Now Obvious Why We Needed a Change of Government in 2017
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you voted for the NDP in the last election because you
wanted to stop the Site C project or halt the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion,
then you must be very disappointed. But if you did so because of the cesspools
of patronage and mismanagement <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>at ICBC
and BC Hydro, and the strong smell of dirty money in gambling and real estate suspiciously
coupled with the BC Liberals’ avowed determination<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to hang on to outdated campaign finance laws,
then your choice has been powerfully vindicated. It was definitely time to have
a change of government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In 2001, the newly elected Liberal government vowed to take
politics out of the management of BC Hydro and ICBC, as part of Gordon
Campbell’s extensive “New Era” basket of promises.<span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-07-23T16:42"><span style="color: teal;"> </span></ins></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Accordingly, the BC Utilities Commission had
its authority to set BC Hydro’s rates restored, along with the authority to set
the rates for ICBC’s compulsory Basic insurance. Following the 2009-10
recession, however, the Liberal government decided<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to get more involved in the financial affairs
of both major public corporations. Their profits gave the government some
badly-needed revenues, and their cash transfers reduced the government’s direct
borrowing requirements. The fiscal shell game had begun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starting in 2010, the government began to
appropriate ICBC’s Optional insurance surplus capital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2011, the Liberals exempted BC Hydro<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from rate-regulated accounting rules; then,
the following year, the government took direct control of BC Hydro’s annual
rate setting authority. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard
McCandless<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is a retired public
servant<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>whose analysis of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the 40-year financial history of ICBC was
published in the academic journal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BC
Studies</i> in 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His paper exposing the
BC government’s manipulation of the finances of BC Hydro from 2008 to 2014 was
published in that same journal <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in
November 2016.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he described <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it, “[t]he government’s politicization of the
finances of BC Hydro and ICBC has come at the expense of future customers in a
classic ‘pretend and extend’ gambit.” <span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-07-23T16:42"><o:p></o:p></ins></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">McCandless shows how in <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2013, cabinet imposed limits on the annual
change in basic insurance rates, and suppressed <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BC Hydro’s rate increases and enhanced <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>its apparent profits through deferring cost
overruns and revenue shortfalls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cabinet
orders in March 2014 required the Utilities Commission to approve a highly
dubious “rate smoothing” deferral account<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>for BC Hydro, allowing it to count future unbilled revenue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to McCandless, “[this device allowed
the government to continue to suppress electricity rates while reporting higher
yearly profits as government revenue (and to extract dividends which added to
BC Hydro’s debt).”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a result of these Liberal manoeuvres, BC Hydro customers
now face a much higher debt liability, which, when coupled with <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>recent massive capital expenditures such as
the Site C project, threaten to cause the province’s credit rating to be
downgraded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, over at ICBC, the
failure to curb the growth in Basic claims costs, and the government’s
suppression of the growth in Basic rates, has reduced the corporation’s once
healthy capital reserves, making <span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-07-23T16:42"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: teal;"> </span></span></ins></span>a future <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>car insurance rate hike likely unavoidable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As McCandless wrote on the eve of the election
in May 2017, “The [Liberal] government’s <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>manipulation of the finances of the two public
corporations has been incremental, and therefore has generally occurred out of
the glare of the media spotlight.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now,
the Liberals are no doubt hoping that it is the NDP who will be blamed for any
rate hikes, tax increases<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or credit
rating downgrades necessitated by their own poor<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>governance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You are probably thinking that it is only a matter of time
before the NDP starts playing the same sort of games, or the Liberals get back
in and start doing the same things all over again. But maybe this cycle of
corruption can be broken by having a more democratic electoral system. If
governments are composed of broad coalitions representing a true majority of
voters, then we can hope that the parties who are <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>coalition partners (i.e. friendly competitors
for each other’s share of the votes) can keep each other honest, making the kind
of financial legerdemain <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that we have
seen from the BC Liberals more difficult to get away with in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-04-22T11:20"><span style="color: teal;">Mark
Crawford<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: teal;">is a professor of Politica</span></ins></span><span style="color: teal;"><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-04-22T11:21">l</ins></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-04-22T11:20">
Science at Athab</ins></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-04-22T11:22">a</ins></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-04-22T11:20">sca University.</ins></span></span></i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-91869593603840973102018-06-07T09:25:00.002-07:002018-06-07T09:29:45.860-07:00Trudeau fails to get optimal compromise between economy and the environmentFor the past decade, Canada has lost $117 billion of economic value (about $ 30-40 million per day) simply because Alberta tar sands oil has not been readily exportable to Asia and we have been captive to the American market.<br />
<br />
That money has simply flowed into the pockets of American oil execs, shareholders and consumers at our expense.<br />
<br />
The only way to stop this hemorrhaging of economic value in the foreseeable future was to build the Trans Mountain pipeline, but legal and political delays from B.C. were going to make Kinder Morgan walk away from the project, damaging investor confidence in Canada even further.<br />
<br />
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That is why a lot of people supported the federal government’s recent decision to buy Trans Mountain from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion —and remember, that doesn’t even include the costs of constructing the pipeline, which will be at least another $7.4 billion, and possibly much more.<br />
But all of this makes me wonder: What if all of this legal and financial muscle had been used a couple of years earlier, in order to avoid being painted into this corner in the first place?<br />
<br />
If the bottom line for environmentalists is avoiding the shipping of diluted bitumen along the B.C. coast, and the bottom line for Alberta and the energy industry is to get oil to tidewater, then the best solution is one that respects both of those bottom lines, by shipping something other than bitumen through a less congested route.<br />
<br />
It is to the credit of B.C. newspaper publisher David Black and B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver that they understood the importance of getting Alberta oil to tidewater.<br />
<br />
Five to six years ago, (when China was more anxious to get an equity stake in the Canadian oil sector) a major Chinese company was lined up to invest in a refinery in Kitimat to go along with the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.<br />
<br />
Northern Gateway could have worked, created jobs, and reduced the need for the KM pipeline expansion.<br />
<br />
Sending refined oil on a route with more open water would have been less risky environmentally; I believe that on balance it was the socially optimal compromise—and every First Nations group or environmentalist or opportunistic politician who opposed it should have realized that by blocking the Northern Gateway, they would be creating pressure for a $10-15 billion per year zero-sum game over the KM expansion.<br />
<br />
So thank you, Adrian Dix, Elizabeth May, Justin Trudeau and David Suzuki, for helping to ensure a tripling of bitumen shipments along the B.C. coast!<br />
<br />
Perhaps it is too late, and Trudeau’s nationalization of the Trans Mountain pipeline was the only remaining option.<br />
<br />
But surely we could have done better.<br />
<br />
Chalk it all up to too many professional political hacks gathering support from Nimbyist communities, and too few true leaders with long-term vision.<br />
<br />
<em>Mark Crawford teaches political science at Athabasca University</em>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-37747523107931561662018-04-22T20:21:00.003-07:002020-01-27T05:11:05.525-08:00Plenty of Blame to go Around on TMX Pipeline<br />
<br />
<h1 style="margin: 24pt 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At the time of writing, I still have no idea how much money our “progressive”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>governments in Victoria, Edmonton, and Ottawa are planning to shell out in order to persuade the (mostly Texan) shareholders of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kinder Morgan to complete the $7.4 billion Trans Mountain Pipeline Project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justin Trudeau continues to utter <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>annoying banalities about “the national interest” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>without providing any independent or detailed economic analysis justifying a major bailout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right-wing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pundits delight in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pointing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>out that it wouldn’t be necessary to throw taxpayers money at the project if these three governments’ environmentalism hadn’t scared away private investors in the first place. For once, I am inclined to agree with them. Trudeau and Notley are potentially spending billions to bail out a company to do something that it was going to do anyway, until one NDP government's concern for the environment created too much uncertainty for the company. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My spin is different however: if billions in public money were available to invest, it should have been to produce and export something other than diluted raw bitumen so as to achieve something more like a win-win for both the economy and the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have been saying this for many years, but it is hardly original: David Black (B.C. local newspaper publisher) was promoting this notion for the Northern Gateway project sometime ago, with apparent support from Andrew Weaver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If progressive politicians had been singing from this song book all along, they might not have backed into the current “reactive” posture, in which Premier Notley does not have time to contemplate changing the nature of Alberta’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>oilsands <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>industry, but simply must get the pipeline built if she is to have any hope of being competitive in next year’s provincial election. If all three governments had committed to putting money from carbon taxes to subsidize an “anything <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but diluted bitumen” approach<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tidewater oil exports, and promised to facilitate the export of anything else (bitumen pellets, refined crude, gas, diesel) ,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>taxpayers<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>might have gotten value for their money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Instead, politicians of all stripes at all levels have been working at cross purposes as they follow their own short-term, self-interested <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>political strategies. If I had been the provincial NDP leader in 2011 B.C. election, I would have put this approach clearly on the political agenda--back when there was conceivably still time for such a policy to work. It also would have been smart politically, since it would have suggested an openness and sensitivity to national economic interests as well as to local environmental ones. Instead , Adrian Dix’s trademark mixture of ignorance and arrogance (redolent of his time as Glen Clark’s closest advisor) yielded a last-minute unilateral decision to chase after green voters that backfired by playing into the hands of ‘pro-economy’ B.C. Liberals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, Stephen Harper decided to use his newfound majority government to ham-fistedly provoke the Idle No More Movement with his Omnibus Budget legislation, bring the NEB and the pipeline approval process into disrepute with his narrowing of environmental criteria and attacks upon environmentalists, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and (eventually) a losing court case to First Nations over the Northern Gateway proposal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But the real culprit now in my eyes is the Federal Liberal Government of Justin Trudeau. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The federal Liberal Party <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has had much more room to manoeuvre on this file than either John Horgan or Rachel Notley over the past three years. A true ‘win-win’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was theoretically possible. Instead, Trudeau opted for an implicit bargain with Notley whereby she would support the National Climate Plan in exchange for his support for the Trans-Mountain pipeline. But what happens to that bargain if Jason Kenney’s Conservatives get elected next year?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trudeau will be left holding the bag--which will have a big hole in the bottom of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><i>Mark Crawford<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is a professor of Political Science at Athabasca University.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-72097059868551869052018-03-24T10:44:00.001-07:002018-03-24T10:51:17.958-07:00When "Balance" Really isn't Balanced: An Example of Right-Wing Media Bias<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Have you ever noticed a bias against climate change science
in many of Canada’s newspapers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
give you a great example I saw recently in the Edmonton Sun in a column by its
notorious right-wing columnist Lorne Gunter. In an article titled “CLIMATE
CHANGE ALARMISTS: Cherry-picking facts about weather extremes to make their
climate danger arguments”, Gunter of course makes much of the fact that there
was more snow on March 3 than there had been in 25 years, followed by the
coldest March 4 in 22 years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Then there is a deceptive flash of intelligence:
“Fine, I know, weather is not climate. But…when weather extremes fit the
alarmists’ climate-change theory, we’re told it proves the environmental
science is settled. But when the weather doesn’t reinforce their panicky
message, it’s dismissed as meaningless.” [ Unfortunately, however, the
inconvenient truth is that the past couple of harsher-than-usual winters actually
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i></b>
fit the theory. Warmer air being funneled to the poles by the Earth’s
convection currents has caused sea ice to melt that had previously been holding
the polar vortex in place. As a result, the vortex has weakened and drifted
south, yielding longer, harsher winters for most of North America.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Gunter lets loose an unsubstantiated
whopper: “For decades now, the sun’s activity has been on the increase. Solar
scientists predict it will now lessen for a couple (or three) decades. And as
it lessens, global temperatures should fall , too. ..We can shut every coal plant
on earth, ban SUVs and force everyone to ride transit, and it will have
negligible impact on climate.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here is the funny part: on the opposing page is an
article by PostMedia’s science writer Hina Alam, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in which she interviews Katherine Hayhoe,
director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, stating that
the sun’s energy has been measured very accurately for about 4 decades now, and
that its energy has been going <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">down</i></b> over the last few decades, once
you control for the 11-year sunspot cycle: the precise opposite of what Gunter
asserts. “So if we are being controlled by the sun’s energy right now, we
should have been getting cooler, not warmer.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her facts are easily corroborated by NASA and university scientists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Humans are controlling the climate, and that
means that our choices will determine our future.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, here is the more subtle and insidious part: if
you were to complain to the Editors of the Sun about Gunter’s error (prevarication?),
they would point out that it was they who placed Alam’s report on the same page
as Gunter’s column, and the interview with Hayhoe on the opposing page. Gunter
is an opinion columnist and is therefore entitled to his opinion, and they also
made the opposing opinion about climate change available to their readers, who
could then make up their own minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What’s wrong with that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, here’s
what’s wrong with that: providing equal space to two different scientific “truths”--flat
and round Earth, evolution and creation, sunlight falling or increasing,---<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is not the same thing as providing a balance
of opinion. Accurate measurements and scientific consensus should provide the
common basis upon which <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reasonable
discussion and difference of opinion takes place, so that truth can be advanced.
Instead, we get a complete relativization of truth itself--the kind of “fair
and balanced” journalism more worthy of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fox Television than a respectable Canadian news outlet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Would the same media relativize objective facts congenial to the right-wing point of view in this fashion? We should ask: who are the real cherry-pickers, and how are they operating?</span></span></div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-49478035203209958192018-02-25T17:36:00.006-08:002018-02-25T17:36:59.136-08:00Addressing the Pipeline Dilemma
<br />
<h2 style="margin: 10pt 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tying up the Kinder Morgan pipeline in the courts
may be a good move politically for premier John Horgan, but as a Canadian, I
must say that all this strategic delay pains me terribly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cost of not getting our petroleum to
tidewater has been more than $117 billion over the past seven years: that is a
transfer of wealth that has varied between US $11 to almost $40 per barrel,
typically averaging between 30 and 45 million dollars <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">every day</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as we are forced to send 99% of our
oil to a single customer, all of that money will be scooped up by American
consumers and refiners at the expense of Canadians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is painful even from a green perspective
because, if we are relying on a depleting and highly polluting resource for
some transitional period, we should at least get the full market value for that
resource! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Mark%20Crawford" datetime="2018-02-25T17:35"><o:p></o:p></ins></span></span></h2>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On the other hand, diluted bitumen is a toxic sludge
that, if spilled, slowly sinks and leeches into the water, coating everything
in the marine environment that it comes into contact with. Moreover, the
process by which the pipeline was approved was widely discredited by experts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That sounds like a horrible
dilemma. Either disingenuously flout constitutional law in order to suck
billions out of the Alberta and Canadian economies to the financial benefit of
Americans, or gamble that we can increase tanker traffic tenfold without a disastrous
spill so that Asians can heat and pollute the atmosphere even more just so we
(especially Albertans) can benefit from greater fossil fuel revenues here in
Canada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what are we to do? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Well, I am nothing if not an
inveterate policy wonk and an incurable optimist. Here is what I hope happens:
that some combination of Indigenous, environmental and NDP legal delay and
political resistance will force Alberta, Ottawa and the oil industry to
re-think the pipeline strategy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
theoretically possible (according to recent findings by researchers at the
University of Alberta), to turn bituminous sand into dry pellets that can be
shipped by rail and which will not pose a serious environmental risk to the
coastline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also theoretically
possible to process and refine bitumen here so that we are shipping regular oil
and gas instead of diluted bitumen. It is even theoretically possible to do
either one of these things, and boost our energy exports to Asia, without
greatly increasing our net Greenhouse Gas Emissions. This could be done by diverting
supply from the U.S. and from rail transport, using oil sands revenue to
purchase green energy and efficiency offsets, and by cooperating with our Asian
customers to reduce emissions.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">None
of these things are as easy or as profitable as simply building the pipeline
extension as quickly as possible. But hey, who said it was going to be easy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-41552552820326780622017-09-03T09:03:00.000-07:002017-09-03T11:46:49.030-07:00Were the BC Liberals to Blame for Fire Season From Hell? <em>{This is a short column that I submitted last month to the Williams Lake Tribune, the 100 Mile Free Press, and Vanderhoof Omineca Express. So far it has not been accepted by any of those papers,but I think it raises a pretty basic question and tries to come up with a fair answer.}</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">“Interface fires, which occur in places where wildland meets
urban development, were at an all-time record high. The interface fires of last
summer destroyed over 334 homes and many businesses, and forced the evacuation
of over 45,000 people. The total cost of the Firestorm is estimated at $700
million.” Sound familiar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those words
were written by the Hon. Gary Filmon <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">thirteen and half years ago</i></b>, in the
Report of the Firestorm 2003 Review Committee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">That is why Bill Tieleman, a political columnist and
left-wing political strategist in Vancouver,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>recently wrote a piece
provocatively titled “Blame BC Liberal Neglect, Not Climate Change, for Year of
Fires”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He alleges that that the
Liberals ignored key recommendations of the Filmon report, pointing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>out that over the years between 2006 and 2015,
the government <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>spent only $8 million a
year to remove fuels from just 80,000 of a total of 685,000 hectares of “high
risk forest land”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As then -NDP
forest<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>critic Harry Bains pointed out in
Question Period on March 3 2016, it took the government 12 years to treat
just<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>8 percent of the land considered to
be high risk by the Filmon Report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tieleman calls that the very epitome of the old saying: “Penny-wise,
pound foolish.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In fairness to the previous government, let me push back at
Tieleman a bit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I had initially reasoned that i</span>f it cost the government $80 million over a
ten-year period to remove fuels from “just” 80,000 hectares, that would be only $1000 per hectare -- so it would have cost $685 million to fully
implement the Filmon Report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In fact, however the Forest Practices Board in its 2015 Report put the true cost of fully treating a hectare of land as somewhere between $5000 and $10,000, depending upon the terrain.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And the pine beetle epidemic and other factors have caused the amount of "high risk" forest to almost double to 1, 347,000 hectares. </span> That means the total cost for treating all of the high-risk forest land would be at least $6.7 billion. ‘Money
doesn’t grow on trees’. And no doubt land-use conflicts would arise closer to population centres, as thinning and prescribed burning would affect quality or value of privately-deeded or First Nations land. As for Harry Bains and the NDP, why did they wait
until March 2016 to start ringing the alarm bells in the Legislature? That
leads me to wonder whether the NDP would have fully implemented<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Report’s recommendations, either: after
all, politicians get more credit for responding to problems than they do for
preventing them, most of the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Nevertheless, to those of us have been expecting another Big
Fire season for years, the only wonder is that it didn’t happen much sooner. <strong>And the fact that the problem has grown bigger should have been a reason for doing more, not an excuse for doing less.</strong> It
was always obvious that even the partial implementation of the Filmon
Report--such as we might have expected under an NDP government--would have been
a very worthwhile investment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
example, an extra $16 million per year over 2006-2015 could have removed extraneous fuel from another
1000-2000 hectares on average surrounding<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>16 population centres in the interior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Admittedly, one or two thousand hectares is not a lot to show for 10 years work and $10 million dollars spent, but in the land adjacent to Williams Lake and 100 Mile House it would have made a significant difference, and would have freed up more firefighters to help smaller communities in the Chilcotin. </span>As the B.C Forest Practices Board pointed
out in its Report in 2015, “hazard mitigation costs less than wildfires when
all costs are tallied.” <strong><em>No kidding.<o:p></o:p></em></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-31593299400297508852017-08-21T09:28:00.000-07:002017-08-21T09:28:40.585-07:00Deliberative Polling is Path to Electoral ReformHere is a link to my OP-ED on ELECTORAL REFORM in today's Vancouver Sun.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/opinion-deliberative-polling-a-route-to-electoral-reform">http://vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/opinion-deliberative-polling-a-route-to-electoral-reform</a>Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-13232703595650202262017-07-25T13:30:00.004-07:002017-07-25T13:30:58.909-07:00Were The Fires Forseeable?
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My parents moved to the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cariboo in the spring of 1973. Despite my initial misgivings, I soon
came to be grateful that they did, not least because<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it put me into direct contact with two things
that despite their fundamental nature had been pushed to the margins of my
consciousness in the suburbs of Vancouver:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First Nations people and the working Forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the Forest naturally came an awareness
every summer of forest fires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since my
parents’ house was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the Wildwood area
, at the foot of the airport hill, I jumped at the chance along with my
brother<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to get an opportunity to work at
the Tanker Base at the Williams Lake Airport the following summer, mostly
washing the airplanes between missions and while they were being
re-fuelled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see what tough, hot
important work it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also
dangerous: we even lost two pilots that summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Flash forward 30 years, and I stopped at my parents’ home<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in August 2003 en route to a teaching
position at the University of Northern British Columbia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the worst fire summer we had had up
to that point,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the smoke-filled
sky<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and several charred patches of
forest that were visible from the highway were seared in my memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, as our understanding of climate change
grew and the number of dead and dried out trees multiplied due to the pine
beetle epidemic, I expected that another, much more serious fire season than
2003 was bound to happen. Well, it finally did, and we are living through it
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Of course, professional foresters
will tell you that my theory about pine beetles and climate change is a little
simplistic --sometimes wetter areas with more living trees can become more
flammable if they go through an unusually dry spell, because they deposit more
fuel on the forest floor, and the fire spreads more quickly from crowns of
trees, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever the precise
combination of factors, it seems that we had just the right mix of factors this
year.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is of course too early to point blame at anyone, but I
wonder if it is pure coincidence that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>so
many of the worst fires occurred near population centres?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it possible that governments, failing to
take heed of the terrible fire season of 2003, did not put enough money into
controlled burning near Cache Creek, Ashcroft, 100 Mile and Williams Lake?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have required budgeting more money
for that purpose, and it would have had the effect of inconveniencing a lot of
people with a lot of smoke, so it is perfectly understandable that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>such an error of omission could have
happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not an expert, so I
don’t pretend to know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am asking
the question, and I am expecting some answers. One other thing I want to say: Thanks
to all the volunteers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-26829860754278870732017-07-06T16:32:00.003-07:002017-07-06T16:53:00.898-07:00The Incredible Christy Clark{<em>An earlier version of the following column was written for the July, 2017 issue of the Anahim-Nimpo Lake Messenger--MC</em>}<br />
<h2 align="center" style="margin: 10pt 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></o:p> </h2>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">“Incredible” is one of the most over-used and mis-used
adjectives in the English language. I generally avoid using it altogether, except
I find that it is the best word to describe<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>our recently-deposed B.C. premier, Christy Clark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I see it, the premier’s strategy of trying
to embarrass the NDP by placing several of the NDP’s key policies in the Throne
Speech is problematic in policy terms and likely to backfire politically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In terms of policy, what she is saying is
that, if the Liberals had gotten 189 more votes in the Courtney-Comox riding,
thereby securing a majority of seats in the Legislature, it would somehow have
been better to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i></b>spend a billion dollars on new child care spaces, or to raise
welfare rates by $100 per month, or to have a moratorium on the Massey Bridge,
or to have<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a ban on corporate and union
donations. But, since the Liberals failed to get a majority and were facing
defeat on a confidence motion in the Legislature, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>these things all of a sudden became the ‘best’
things to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Call me old-fashioned, but
either child care is a good thing or it isn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Premiers owe it to their voters to stick to the principles they
campaigned on, or they lose credibility with those voters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, if Clark and the Liberals had
fallen on the sword of their own platform, and we had<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>another election in six months’ time, I would
expect Conservative voters to see the error of their vote-splitting ways and
vote Liberal in enough numbers to win more ridings like Courtney-Comox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But since the Liberals ignored their own
platform and tried to enact the same<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tax
and spend agenda that they had campaigned against, Conservative voters may
learn to trust the Liberals even less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
there are the urgent questions of Site C and Kinder-Morgan--you know, the
reasons Clark said in May that it was urgent to re-convene the Legislature,
until she realized that by dragging her feet before legislation could be
changed, she could fill Liberal coffers with new corporate donations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incredible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Most incredible of all are <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the messes at ICBC and BC Hydro. At ICBC , it
was revealed this year that insurance rates had been suppressed for political
reasons and that the Corporation had been forced to raid its capital reserves
to the tune of about $500 million. Meanwhile , over at BC Hydro, the Liberal cabinet--which
had stripped the BC Utilities Commission of its rate-setting authority in 2012--
has been setting BC Hydro’s annual rate increases well below the actual cost of
acquiring and distributing electricity. BC Hydro has been forced to take on
debt in order to pay $1.3 billion in dividends to the BC government. These
practices have increased BC
Hydro’s debt to the point that Moody’s is warning that this trend may threaten
the province’s credit rating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Of course, the Liberals could just let the NDP government
and its allies in the Green Party take the heat for any such downgrade while
they are in office, along with the unavoidable rate increases at ICBC and BC
Hydro, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>making it easier for the Liberals
to return to power<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in 6-18 months<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with a grinning Christy Clark once again
recapturing the premier’s chair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given
who is truly responsible for these messes, that would be “incredible”. But
don’t bet against it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-87895647449586095922016-12-23T04:11:00.001-08:002016-12-25T00:17:18.723-08:00Three Darts, Five Laurels: My First Newspaper Column for 2017{<em>This is a column that I wrote for the Anahim -Nimpo Messenger, 100 Mile Free Press, and Omineca Express for December 2016/January 2017. It contains a few brief retrospective observations about the year past.--MC</em>}<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Before welcoming in the New Year I have three things
to get off my chest--on softwood lumber, electoral <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reform and political fundraising---and five
Christmas presents to give out (to my picks for the top 5 MPs of 2016).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><em><strong>First</strong></em>, softwood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Docherty says
he’s unhappy with the Liberal effort on the softwood lumber file. Well, I was
unhappy with Stephen Harper’s effort on the softwood file:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he basically capitulated to the Americans
without making a serious effort to get the promised amount of buy-in from
Canadian Lumber producers, mainly because he wanted a deal before the 2008
election and wanted to cozy up to former US President Bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, despite having a stronger basic
legal position than the U.S., the Canadian government handed over $1billion of
the duties collected from Canadian companies--$500 million to the US companies,
and $450 million to the Bush Administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No wonder a lot of smaller lumber exporters felt let down, sacrificed by
their own government for larger political ends. So, exactly how have the
Liberals fared worse than that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
still waiting to receive any useful instruction<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>from Todd Doherty on how to handle the Softwood file---and see only
negative lessons from the record of the previous Conservative government.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><em><strong>Second</strong></em>, electoral reform. I never expected Justin
Trudeau to keep his election promise “to make 2015 the last first-past-the-
post election in Canadian History.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
so, I was appalled that Trudeau and Democratic Reform Minister<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maryam Monsef wouldn’t clearly commit to the idea
of a referendum or even a free vote in the House of Commons on proportional
representation, just because of the small chance that they might lose control of
the agenda and actually be forced to keep the promise that they had so clearly
made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shame on both of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><em>Third</em></strong>, political fundraising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On this issue, too, the Liberals were
deceptive and hypocritical in the same old ways that they always have been. A
Chinese billionaire gets around the $1,500 contribution limit by making
donations to Trudeau’s favourite charity (which just happens to be called the
Trudeau Foundation) and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by offering to
pay for the erection of a statue <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of his
famous father. But we are supposed to relax, because after all it is Justin Trudeau and
Liberal Party who are receiving the donation. Tighter controls on financial
contributions are now to be considered as unnecessary as electoral reform,
because it is now the Liberals who are the beneficiaries! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="border-color: currentColor currentColor windowtext; border-style: none none solid; border-width: medium medium 1.5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: currentColor; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong>Here are my picks for <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Top 5 MPs of the Year”</strong> for performance in
Parliament:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1) NDP Leader
Thomas Mulcair, truly Canada's "Comeback Kid"; 2) Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose, who has been a great Leader of the Official Opposition; 3) Nathan Cullen,
the NDP critic for Environment and Climate Change as well as Democratic Reform;
4) Green Party Leader Elizabeth May; and 5) Liberal Trade Minister Chrystia
Freeland. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">P.S. Here is a link to two editorials relating to electoral reform, which appeared in both <em><strong>The Ottawa Citizen</strong></em> and <em><strong>The Edmonton Journal</strong></em> : <a href="http://ottawacitizen.com/author/mark-crawford">http://ottawacitizen.com/author/mark-crawford</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Happy New Year!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13194839.post-54784350053936586602016-11-21T15:51:00.001-08:002017-07-06T16:59:50.492-07:00Canadian Progressives Recognize an Old Problem, and See a New Fix{An edited version of this article appeared in the <a href="http://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-canadian-progressives-recognize-old-problem-and-see-a-new-fix" target="_blank">Edmonton Journal on November 21, 2016</a> ; <strong>below is the longer unedited version</strong>}<br />
<br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mark
Crawford teaches Canadian Government and Democratic Theory at Athabasca
University. He was also employed for five years as a public servant both
federally and provincially in the areas of trade and labour policy.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As surely as the receding tide slowly unveils a submerged
coastline, the current juncture in Canadian public affairs is revealing a long
familiar pattern, almost as old as Canada itself: the gradual de-radicalization
of a Liberal election platform.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Seasoned progressives saw it coming, of course. Assigning
wily veteran John McCallum the task of walking back promises on the timing of
Syrian refugee settlement and on Temporary Foreign Workers was just the first,
and most deliberate, step. Now, they brace themselves for the release of the
Report of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform (ERRE). The prime
minister’s vow to make 2015 “the last first-past-the -post election in Canadian
history” never sounded convincing, unless he were saddled with <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a minority government and therefore had to keep
this promise as a condition of remaining in power. Any sincere preference on
the prime minister’s part was premised upon the possibility of a majoritarian
ranked ballot, or Alternative Vote system being adopted, not any form of
proportional representation, with the power-sharing coalitions that they would
almost certainly entail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The biggest obstacle in this regard may not be
cynical self-serving calculation as much as sincere self-delusion. Many
politicians simply refuse to believe the (counter-intuitive) truth that they
would generally make better decisions if they were more constrained by the need
to maintain support by representatives of an actual<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>majority. This belief that greater discretion
or agency on the part of the political executive equals better policy is
contradicted by both the most serious cross-national research and the Liberals’
own sterling record of productive, activist minority governments. Yet it
remains the unreflective default position of most political leaders in this country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">No doubt Justin Trudeau and Trade Minister Chrystia
Freeland are convinced that their dramatic rescue of the Comprehensive Economic
and Trade Agreement with the EU would have been impossible if the Liberals had
been forced to work with coalition partners. Leaving aside the logical
possibility of forming a true majoritarian coalition with the Conservatives
around this and other economic issues--a last-ditch<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>resort to be sure--it should be remembered
that enlightened Greens and New Democrats are not simply “protectionists”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many would love to see genuine reciprocal
exchange of goods and services, instead of governments holding market access
hostage in return for enhanced rights of corporations to sue governments for
such “regulatory takings” as public auto insurance, environmental laws and
low-priced generic drugs. When strong resistance to investor-state provisions
arose in Germany, France, Belgium and elsewhere, and the EU’s bargaining
position on behalf of its pharmaceutical giants weakened after the Brexit vote,
a window of opportunity opened to negotiate a genuine free trade deal that
would benefit all consumers, not just consumers of beef and autos at the
expense of consumers of medicines and public goods. Inserting some new
language<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>about health and the
environment for investment lawyers to argue about in secretive trade tribunals
didn’t turn CETA into a “progressive trade agreement,” any more than labour or
environmental side deals and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a so-called
Social Services Reservation turned NAFTA into one. It is even more doubtful
that Ottawa’s offer to “re-negotiate” NAFTA with President-Elect Trump will do
anything to curtail Chapter 11. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And what about the Liberals’ ambitious new infrastructure
plan, which hopes to leverage billions in new private investment dollars by
expanding the categories of P3s to include equity investment-in-exchange for
“negotiated returns”? If “negotiated return” sounds like something that is both
sheltered from competition and legally guaranteed (i.e. litigable), then you
probably already have a hint of what some of the problems will be--especially
in the context of myriad international investment treaties. Yet there is a
considerable body of scholarship in economics departments and schools of public
management across the country that is critical of P3s (what<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the late urban thinker Jane Jacobs called
“monstrous hybrids”); a progressive coalition would draw upon that knowledge and
exercise greater caution and discretion in awarding public contracts on this
basis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Liberals now look set to side with the
Conservatives on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both</i></b> of the most critical structural issues currently facing
our democracy: the persistence of an unfair voting system and the scope of
corporations’ rights to privately challenge public policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So while Mr. Trudeau may be understandably
loathe to make New Democrats and Greens seem more relevant and influential in
Parliament by making all of their votes count, he should also realize that, if
he doesn’t, he will probably make them more relevant and influential
anyway:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by ceding to them the mantle of
authentic progressive politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mark Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11904245045490682686noreply@blogger.com0