And they're off!

It's election time here in Canada, and I have the pleasure (and, at times, pain, depending on the politicians) of watching it all unfold from outside a newsroom. As a resident of Canada, but not a citizen, I'm not allowed to vote. So I figure that makes me the perfect guide through the quirky theme park that is ElectionLand Canada. Stay tuned - it's only open until May 2.

In the blue corner we have inveterate minority ruler Stephen Harper, aching to finally get more than half the vote. Heck, even half the seats would be nice.

In the red corner, we have Michal Ignatieff, an egghead and former professor whose barbecue bus tour last summer managed to make him seem, um, like an egghead former professor making a big effort to connect with real people. He won over the press, but that's likely because most of them don't understand normal people either.

And in the other three corners of this pentagon-ring, we have Jack Layton and the New Democrats (does that sound like a band name or what?), the Greens (the sports bra of politics: Lots of support, little to show for it), and the Bloc Quebecois, which really only cares about one province (guess which one? Bet you can't...), only fields candidates in that province, and generally likes to play spoiler a lot in parliament while quietly propping up the governments they claim to despise.

The writ was dropped last Friday, and the weekend produced lots of hubbub, but really, most people around here were too busy looking out the window and wondering why we still have a foot of snow on the ground at the end of March. (We'll get interested in a Spring election when it actually starts to feel like Spring.)

Still, this is my cranky-because-I-can't-vote-but-secretly-happy-I-don't-have-to-choose-from-this-sorry-lot report card on yesterday's events:

RIGHTO: Michael Ignatieff was actually discussing policy. The Liberals went hard on student funding, but I'd like to see how that funding would be dispensed. More college/university places? Only if they're used to do something other than push more kids into paths they're either not good enough or not interested enough to warrant. I have enough misplaced students in the class I teach, and there's only five of 'em in the course.

MEH: Jack Layton was in town (Kitchener), discussing the tough times of small business. Yup. Got that. Nice of you to buy a couple of shirts from your photo-op stop though. Points for that.

WHAT THE??: Stephen Harper, who continued his 'Look, I promise I'm not a robot!' series of photo opps by standing next to (and what's that? Singing with? Save us now...) that kid who sings Lady Gaga songs really well. Really, Steve, how many of your hard-core supporters like listening to Gaga's 'lesbian transgendered life'? 

(Note: Harper spent the weekend warning about democracy-killing coalitions. Here's a heads-up for you, mate: Coalitions are democratic. They're actually more democratic, because they involve co-operation among parties elected by the people. Spell that with me. "C-O-O-P-E-R..." Oh never mind.)

BOO!: The bloody consortium of broadcasters that televises the leaders' debates has excluded Greens leader Elizabeth May because her party doesn't have a seat in parliament. The party gained 6.8 per cent of the primary vote last time. That may not seem huge, but remember, Harper formed government with just 37.6 per cent of the primary vote and the Bloc was the third party with just 10 per cent.

It's not a lack of support that is keeping the Greens out - it's the parliamentary first-past-the-post system that is used here in Canada.  If you want a truly representative democracy, get this woman in the debates and get yourselves a bloody decent electoral system.

Harrumph.

This is from SavageChickens, and was dedicated to the 2005 election campaign. Not much has changed...

The Waterloo Chronicles

If you haven't been to Waterloo, you'll likely be surprised by what you find. As well as the two universities, the area is home to RIM headquarters (yup, I live at the home of the Blackberry), the Perimeter Institute for theoretical physics, the Institute for Quantum Computing and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). There's a lot of smart people here. Really smart. Which leads, generally, to some absolutely fascinating events and conversations.

Two weeks ago I attended a panel discussion hosted by CIGI at its headquarters (which is, incidentally, a converted rum distillery). The topic was 'The Dark Side of Globalisation', and discussing the matter were former Chilean ambassador Jorge Heine, John Ralston Saul, writer and husband of a former governer general, and political science prof William Coleman. 

The three of them differed greatly in their backgrounds and approaches to the topic, but came to a similar conclusion: Globalisation, for all its ubiquity and apparent unavoidability, has created many problems that simply are ignored. (You can read about the discussion and watch the webcast here.)

It really got me thinking: Many great empires ended due to their own success. While the colonised lands asserted their statehood through independence movements, they often retained the societal structures of the colonisers. Which means, ultimately, the colonisation was successful.
Is that what will happen with globalisation? Globalisation has until now been a largely one-way process: The democratic and capitalist West 'globalises' the poorer, often undemocratic rest of the world. Will those countries embrace what they want of the West's loaded gifts, and tweak them to their own national purposes before booting out the globalisers? Will we see a number of interpretations of capitalism, some different variations of democracy, emerge in these lands? If that happens, none of these end results will be the same, so the world will remain splintered into nations catering to their own needs first, potentially at the expense of cross-border business and governance. Does that mean globalisation has worked when it fails? 

And is that what we're witnessing in the Middle East? In rejecting a status quo that had been supported by the West, while also striving for democracy, perhaps these countries are becoming the first of a post-globalisation world. It's too soon to tell. History shows that many will fall prey to the power-hungry bastards that often step into a power vaccuum. But at this moment, with so much reform and so many peaceful resolutions* seeming possible, these are fascinating developments to watch.

*Sadly, that's not likely to include Libya.

The mea in the culpa

Oh, woe me. How did it come to this? Two months back at the grindstone and all of my fun extra pursuits have completely fallen off the map. Bread making? If you're lucky. Art and card creation? Dream on. It's all work this, house that, and my most creative and artistic pursuits have largely revolved around the graceful shovelling of snow. And some damn fine wallpaper removal, if I do say so myself. 

Such is life. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I just have to somehow make it seem interesting enough to chronicle here. Or find something better to talk about. Or drink wine. Stay tuned.