Month: July 2006

In today’s Globe and Mail, reporter Daniel Leblanc describes a letter that was sent from Liberal leadership contender Joe Volpe to Senator Dan Hays, the Opposition Leader in the Senate.

“In the course of the debate, we established in Canada a sense that the spirit of the law is that no one under the age of 18 would make a political contribution. I lived to that standard by giving the money back … I ask you to move the following amendment: ‘All persons under the age of 18 are prohibited from making financial contributions to leadership and political campaigns.” — Joe Volpe

So, Joe Volpe wants the Federal Accountability Act to be amended to include a ban on donations from minors?

According to government MP Pierre Poilievre, donations from people under 18 need not necessarily be banned, it is the laundering of money through the names of parent’s children to circumvent the Elections Act which is illegal and it is this very illegality that tripped up Mr. Volpe despite his laughable attempt to explain away his dubious fundraising,

“Apparently these kids just connected with me; they loved what I did … When they heard I was running for the leadership, they said ‘What can we do?'” — Joe Volpe on accepting $27,000 in donations from 11 year old twins and three other minors

It would be difficult to find anyone that thinks that Volpe honestly believed in what he was saying and that the $27,000 donations weren’t a circumvention of the maximum allowable amount stipulated by Elections Canada for the children’s parents. Similarly, a company cannot give $5400 to each employee on the condition that the employees make a donation to the candidate or party of their choice.

Jonathan Denis, a Calgary-based lawyer that specializes in eletoral law agrees and helps by explaining the current law,

“The Canada Elections Act does not prohibit donations from people under 18. However, contributions from minors to Joe Volpe’s leadership campaign are definitely cause for suspicion: does anyone really believe an 11-year-old has $5,400.00 to contribute?”

So what about Volpe’s new found desire for showing everyone that he’s turned over a new leaf and that he desires a change to the legislation to bar donations from people under the age of 18?

Not only was Volpe indifferent to donations by minors until he was caught, his letter to the Senate asking for amendments seems to represent more talk than action.

Volpe did not present any amendments to the Federal Accountability Act when it was before the House of Commons. He did not even speak on the legislation.

In fact, ever since the scandal of the donations broke, he hasn’t appeared in the House or voted on any motion. If he was really concerned about making changes to the legislation, he’d put his money where his mouth is (sorry) and show up in the legislative chamber in which the Canadian taxpayer pays Volpe a salary to sit and participate.

If Volpe is so concerned about making donations from minors illegal, how come he didn’t use his status as a Member of Parliament to make an amendment to the Accountability Act himself?

I’d like to wish all visitors to this website a very happy Canada Day. Today marks the unofficial start of the BBQ season and a good time to share some cold beers with friends.

Today, I am pondering what people are celebrating this wonderful day.

Does Canada Day represent the celebration of a “nation” of people, a celebration similar to that held by Quebeckers to fete their own self-identified nation? Certainly many people of Quebec share a common heritage, yet Quebec contains others from a variety of backgrounds. Similarly, Canada cannot be labeled a “nation” of people for the same reason. From the very foundation of this country, this country has been constituents of peoples from a variety nations. Is Canada a nation of nations? Perhaps, but the idea of “nation” is not the appropriate term as Canada is not a “nation” in the conventional sense as known in old-world Europe, or Asia or nations in between.

So, on Canada Day should we be celebrating the state? Certainly, in past years much has been written about Canadian identity and how, for some, our identity is rooted in the state. But do national programs and institutions define Canadians and who we are? Are we citizens of New Brunswick, Canada and the National Heathcare system? Do Canadians swear loyalty to the national childcare allowance? Certainly, Canada should not be defined by national institutions. There must be something more appealing than the cold concept of the state that we celebrate. What is it that fires the spirit of Canadians to celebrate Canada?

I believe that as Canadians, we celebrate our ideals and our values. As Canadians, we should celebrate our beautiful geography that has given us so much, yet is deserving of our respect and proper management. We can celebrate a country that is formed by nation of peoples, yet one that seeks a common and prosperous future. We should celebrate our history which describes sacrifice of our Western settlers, historical figures that challenged a restrictive status quo to uncover liberty for others and we should celebrate those that found to defend Queen, country and freedom from tyranny in a variety of conflicts including two world wars, Korea, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.

On Canada Day we should celebrate our country. We should celebrate this country that seeks to protect, instead of limit, the liberties bestowed upon all people at birth.

To me, perhaps the most striking example of what deserves celebration is our freedom to debate the important questions. I enjoy every opportunity that I have to contribute to the discussion.

Happy Canada Day.