new world order (and canada, too!)

So.  The prime minister we all love to hate has increased his minority government.  The resounding chorus of facebook statuses collectively cried "at least it's not a majority!" after the results were in.  Many of us are sad, but not destroyed.  And the good news is there is a bright silver lining to all of this.

Martin Lawrence (my favourite Globe columnist) has a prediction that Dion will exit as Liberal leader before 2009, and that (God willing!) Harper will be out within two years.  His argument for the latter is that the PM has failed to achieve a majority after two tries, and that the next Liberal leader will be popular (unlike Mr. Sweatervest).

I tend to agree.  And, of course, we mustn't forget that Obama will very likely be President of the United States.  This is important because it's looking as though there is going to be major movement from western leaders to begin working together for the greater good.

See this Economist article, which reports the European Union's efforts to not only avoid an economic disaster, but to also reform "capitalism" so that it's based more on morals and people.  With Obama's career-defining commitment to helping people work together, this is a recipe for a major global shift in culture.

I really liked Dion, and he represented an approach to governance that could have lead to great things.  However, the unfortunate truth of the matter is that we live in a media-driven world and if you don't translate well, you won't be heard.  The next Liberal leader (my bet is on Ignatieff) will most certainly be popular and likely win the election - and s/he will be running on a platform influenced by 2 years of Dion environmentalism.

So.  Take heart!  We will suffer some further deconstruction of our social fabric for a little while longer, but once the time comes to decide again, our choice will be clear.  And this leader will be guiding us through a global climate where community and collaboration are the ideals on everyone's lips.

competitive arts and culture

I've been trying to figure out what Prime Minister Stephen Harper's vision is for Canada. It's hard to tell with this guy.

My theory is that Harper is not so much concerned with governing the people of Canada, but rather with operating Canada on the world stage. It would appear that Harper wants to be in the big leagues with world leaders.

Our Prime Minister is diverting attention and social funding to explicit economic initiatives and, most importantly, to the army. In my opinion, his approach to bolstering the economy is severely flawed, but that is not the point. Harper is probably trying to strengthen our economy and army in an attempt to gain clout among the leaders of the developed world.

If this is indeed the case, then he's doing it all wrong. First of all, it would appear that the Harper government is adopting American-style policies. There is a lot of evidence that the Bush administration's approach to governing is not working very well at all.

More importantly, however, is the PM's low regard for social and cultural funding. Among many other programs cut by the Conservative government were ones that fund literacy programs and international promotion of Canadian culture.

An illiterate population is easier to control, so one can see why Harper would want to chop that. However even the slowest of us realize that an educated populace is more productive. And as for promoting Canadian culture abroad, cutting this program works against Harper's possible plan to gain clout among the other leaders of the world.

Harper seems to ignore that leaders in other parts of the world are influenced by their citizens (at least somewhat). Briefly put, a populace that knows and understands and likes Canada is more likely to have a leader that feels the same way.

Harper may be a good strategist, but as he enters the world stage his narrow-minded approach is becoming apparent.