Stephen Taylor

In what is my 2nd bi-weekly installment of slagging Jack Layton for spamming his NDP membership (and NDP-watchers like me), I post the latest efforts of Wacky Jack to seek validation for his faltering party by pimping, er… rather *ahem* propelling his hero Thomas “Tommy” Douglas into top spot as Greatest Canadian.

As usual I detail my “personal” email from “Jack” (my emphasis in bold, snide comments in italics)

Who’s David Suzuki Voting The Greatest Canadian?

The answer may surprise you

David Suzuki’s voting for Tommy. You should too!

Ok, I lied, the answer won’t surprise you.

Last Sunday on TVOntario’s program Allan Gregg in Conversation with…, Dr. Suzuki said that his vote “is for Tommy Douglas.” And for Dr. Suzuki and all Canadians – there are only a few opportunities left to vote for Tommy Douglas in the CBC contest ‘The Greatest Canadian.’

I’d vote for David Suzuki (a contender for the same contest), if for nothing else but his modesty before I’d vote for a man that will have Jack shamelessly gloating in the House while all of the other MPs roll their eyes before they continue to ignore Layton and sort out the nation’s business.

Voting ends on Sunday, November 28 and the results will be announced on Monday, November 29 – That�s only over a week away – Tommy needs your vote now!

Tommy Douglas is the “father of healthcare” (or so I’m led to believe) but should we be heralding a man for a system that’s not currently sustainable, a system which needs “a fix for a generation”, a “massive overhaul”? Layton ran on a promise of more money for healthcare instead of providing real solutions for keeping costs down and achieving sustainability. Forty cents of every tax dollar goes towards this massively inefficient system. Jack’s solution? Keep it at forty cents but collect more tax dollars. The solution of every other politician with at least a sense of economics? Get that cost down to achieve sustainability.

But I digress…

Tommy? — If you want the respect for him as one of the greatest Canadians and thus a true statesman and ambassador of all things Canadian call the man Thomas! Johnny MacDonald? Petey Trudeau? Give Thomas Douglas at least some respect when it comes to his name! Terry Fox, of course, is the exception: we call him Terry because he was young and died after finishing his selfless act of running his Marathon of Hope for others who would be diagnosed with cancer long after his death. I call him Terry out of the greatest respect for a young man who is the greatest example of sacrifice and heroism in modern Canadian history.

If a 60 year old man introduced himself to me as “Timmy” and told me invented the economy, I’d probably laugh.

When can I vote?

There are only three voting windows left to vote for Tommy as “The Greatest Canadian”.

Window 1: now until Monday 8:00pm

Window 2: Vote between Monday 9:00pm and Wednesday 8:00pm

Window 3: Vote between Wednesday 9:00pm and Sunday Nov 28.

You can vote at any time of the day. You do not have to vote while the show is on or directly after the show airs.

You can vote five times on each phone line that you have access to (including your cell phone) in each of the three voting windows.

(!)

So you can vote five times on your home phone, plus five times on your cell phone, plus five times on your work phone = 15 votes. Do this in each of the three voting windows and you’ll get 45 phone votes.

If this is how Jack wants to handle electoral reform, I want no part of it.

If Tommy Douglas wins this contest, he won’t be Greatest Canadian for all Canadians. Instead, he’ll be the Greatest Canadian among overly caffeinated NDPers, who’d vote for a man who created a healthcare system over a man who set out to run across the country on one leg to try and fund it.

And…

You can vote once in each voting window with each e-mail address that you have access to.

So you can vote once from your work e-mail and once from your home e-mail. Do this in each of the three voting windows and you get six more votes!)

I wonder what the NDP webmaster is doing with his unlimited @ndp.ca email aliases…

And…

You can vote once in each voting window by using text messaging for each cell phone that you have access to. Just put Tommy’s name in your message!

Some people are just too committed

The competition has heated up in the past two weeks. We can’t coast to the finish line. Every vote counts. Vote now and pass this onto your friends and encourage them to vote for Tommy as many times as permitted!

If Jack had worked so hard during the election… well, he wouldn’t be Prime Minister, but maybe Olivia Chow would be one step closer to thinking SHE is.

If I’ve added up the number of times that NDPers can vote for Tommy Douglas correctly, I get 70 (assuming work, home and spam email addresses). Ironically, if you apply this number votes to a forum in the real-world, say the House of Commons, the NDP would have (70 votes * 19 seats = 133 votes) which is one seat short of the Liberal Party’s ruling minority! (Carolyn Parrish got booted from the Liberal caucus today).

which begs another question… why am I writing about Tommy Douglas?

Field in Flanders, Canadian stretcher bearers, 1915

Today, along with Kingston residents, war veterans and fellow students, I attended the Remembrance Day service at the Cross of Sacrifice by the waterfront. The frigid cold wind and icy snow on this gray November day only served to remind us of the sadness of the ultimate sacrifice performed by the fallen sons and daughter of this nation, and the bitter practice of war waged to defend it.

Remembrance Day, for me, is a time for solemn reflection on the sacrifice of veterans and those left behind, the appreciation I feel for never having to know war personally, and the bravery of those that serve today so that I may never come to know it.

God bless our heroes past, present, and future.

Today, as Canadians, we remember lest we forget.

On the eve of the American election, a solid majority of Canadians are hoping for the defeat of the incumbent President George W. Bush in favour of the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, John Kerry. However, our Liberal Prime Minister may be quietly hoping for the Republican status-quo on November 2nd.

Paul Martin will achieve more in trade negotiations with Bush and as he does he will appear to have stood up to the Republican ‘cowboy’ President. Under Kerry, Canada’s already shaky position at trade talks will be tougher for Martin to manage.

John Kerry has made it known that he plans to make bulk prescription drug purchases from Canada to lower American costs. Supply and demand dictates that Canadian drug costs will sky-rocket under the Kerry plan. Paul Martin’s “fix for a generation” and plans for pharmacare will be shelved for another generation as drug companies raise their prices to a point which is most profitable given the new demanding environment of the consumer that is the American federal government. Soon, the cost of drugs will reach a new equilibrium, between the two countries, as the markets merge giving the large American consumer a slight discount while dumping a large price-hike on the relatively small Canadian counterpart.

On April 7th of this year, John Kerry signed a letter, along with Democratic Senators Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to maintain the ban on Canadian beef. Canadian beef farmers are still suffering under this export ban which is based upon politics rather than science. John Edwards, John Kerry’s running mate, is a staunch protectionist that voted against NAFTA. While John Kerry voted for it, he wants it reviewed to protect the American worker. Canada should not also be so quick to embrace the democratic ticket because outsourcing of American jobs actually helps us. Nearly two thirds of outsourced American jobs go to Canada and Ireland, largely in the auto parts manufacturing and telemarketing industries. Southern Ontario and New Brunswick are particularly against the idea of Americans clamping down on outsourcing under John Kerry. The Democrat will actually weaken Paul Martin’s ability to favourably manage the Canadian economy.

Granted, the American federal deficit has ballooned under George W. Bush, however, I don’t see how John Kerry can ameliorate the situation with his proposed $2.2 trillion of new spending. However much of that figure is spin, Kerry does plan to increase spending drastically. George W. Bush has made the American dollar weaker, while driving up our dollar in comparison, weakening our exports and trade deficit. However, the American economy isn’t about to get better under John Kerry’s watch, and as stated, neither is our export situation.

The perceived unilateralism of the war in Iraq made a profound statement to Canadians regarding the new direction of American foreign policy, in particular its largely unpalatable policy of pre-emption. Yet, the Iraqi war is a red-herring, at least in Canadian domestic politics. Whether or not Americans went into Iraq had little bearing on the day-to-day functions of our lives, however, as Canadians who have largely lost their international influence and voice, we felt both helpless and frustrated due to our inability to influence or even interject. Let us also not forget that Paul Martin privately endorsed the war and that his first Minister of Defense, David Pratt, was also for the invasion of Iraq. Politically Paul Martin would prefer to keep our American cousins cautiously while appearing to achieve a coup in trade relations rather than achieve nothing with a Democrat President who speaks French, plays hockey and largely appeals to Canadians in their hearts but not their wallets.

Would John Kerry be better for the world at large through his promise of multilateralism and broad alliances?

Arguably yes.

Would John Kerry be better for the Canadian economy and Paul Martin’s domestic agenda?

No.

(The author wishes Americans all the best in the upcoming four years yet believes that neither presidential candidate is qualified for, nor deserving of the job)