Canada Voted!

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Canada., Liberal, NDP, scheer, Trudeau

Canadians voted on 21 October and the choice was between a progressive social agenda and a corporatist nativist agenda. Parliament has 338 seats, Liberals have 157 seats, the Conservatives (CPC) 121, New Democratic Party (NDP) 24 and the Bloc Quebecois 32. The Green Party does not have official party status in the House of Commons but have secured 3 seats which is a gain of 1 seat for them. There is also 1 sole independent Jody Wilson-Raybould a former Liberal who decided to leave the party over the SNC-Lavallin affair and is now sitting on her own and likely to disappear behind the curtains of the chamber.

You can see by the topics that the progressive social agenda is that of the Liberal and New Democratic Parties of Canada. The Corporatist and nativist agenda is that of the Conservatives under Andrew Scheer. A very stark difference amongst this two group of voters.

Some 27.7 million people had the opportunity to vote yesterday. Canada’s total population is 38 million.

The campaign was extremely divisive, full of hate and at times bordering on the violent. The Conservative not learning from past mistakes under Stephen Harper doubled down with the negative agenda full of fear of what a progressive social agenda would do. Also the Conservatives under Scheer made the mistake to concentrate their campaign on the issue of pipelines and oil which is the sole topic of one province Alberta with a population of 4 million people. Forgetting that World markets at keeping the price of oil low and private companies are not interested in building pipelines. Scheer during the debate made the mistake of telling the French Speaking Province of Quebec what to do and said he would build the pipeline across the territory of Quebec. How could anyone be so clueless.

The Liberal and NDP represent multicultural and pluralistic Canada, the Conservative represent mostly White, Christian, Anglos, gun lobbyist, evangelical christians, if you do not belong to that group, they don’t want to hear from you. But this is the minority in Canada now. Canadians with this election showed that we do not care for American Trump style political campaign. Andrew Scheer who hid the fact that he is an American, until he was outed and had to admit employing Trump campaign strategists and receiving campaign contributions from Republican groups in the USA created a lot of unease amongst Canadian voters.

Trudeau in his first mandate had controversies and broken promises. He is arrogant and his style can grate on people. However he is more of a people person, whereas Scheer is phony as a $3 dollar bill, something the average person can sense.

The News Media especially PostMedia, the Sun, and CTV and the Globe and Mail had concerted campaign with the Conservative Party to attack and create fake news, even now after the Liberal victory, they are still questioning the legitimacy of the Trudeau victory. This is not good for a democracy because it set people up against each other.

The second term of Justin Trudeau in a minority government looks like what happened in 1972 when his father Pierre E. Trudeau got a second mandate with a minority victory.

We will now have continuity and stability. I do not expect the right wing media to stop attacking the government or Quebec or anyone who does not agree with CPC agenda. However the #Scheer nightmare is over, he will be most likely be replaced pretty quickly by a new contender for the Conservative leadership.

Election results in PEI

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Green, Legislature, party, PEI, Vote

An historic night in PEI,  the Liberal government of Premier Wade MacLaughlan was reduced to minority third party in the Legislature, Wade lost his seat in his District.

We now have a new Minority Conservative Government with Dennis King as Premier designate. He just became the Conservative party Leader 2 months ago. His government will have 12 seats in the Legislature.

The big news is the victory of the Green Party who in a matter of 4 years went from having just one member to having now 9 members, of those 5 are women. The Green Party is now the Official Opposition, a first in Canadian Political History. Peter Bevan-Baker is a charismatic leader and this evening his speech was unlike any other I had ever heard from a political leader, he was gracious and he started first my recalling the memory of the late Josh Underhay and his little son Oliver who died on Good Friday in a tragic accident. The election in District 9 where Josh was a candidate was suspended and will take place in 3 months time. It was an emotional speech but also that of a gentleman avoiding the usual phraseology so common in speeches today. The Green party has a strong position now in the PEI Legislature and many hope that the minority government of Dennis King will work in cooperation with the Greens. King as Premier designate gave the indication that he would pursue a path of cooperation with other parties.

There are only 27 seats in our Island Legislature so getting along is important for good government, something our out going Premier forgot too often.

In my own District 12 Green Party candidate Karla Bernard was elected as our MLA. She is a very good person and I have confidence that she will be good for us.

Peter Bevan-Baker, Leader of the Official Opposition in the House and Green Party Leader.

Unfortunately the referendum to change the way we vote did not get the necessary votes to pass. Only 15 out of a mandatory 17 District votes Yes for a change or 49%.

The number of people who voted was also down from the usual 82% to 76% this election, difficult to understand what actually happened.

The results

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CBC, Charlottetown, life

Well the election took place and the results surprised me and I am puzzled. The bulk of the votes went to one candidate, I think it is called a landslide in election parlance. No that person was not me. However I did receive a flood of message from friends and supporters this morning who congratulated me for a dignified campaign, well run, focused on issues and the City and that is always nice to hear. Yes I am proud of my campaign despite the nastiness, I stayed above it all and refused to engage in negativity.

During this campaign there was a lot of talk about change and how the people wanted fresh air, a new approach. There was also much talk about engaging youth and how they could be voting for change at City Council. All that was nothing more than talk and nothing came of it.

The local newspaper held a televised coverage on Eastlink which is a private service available only to subscribers, the CBC only offered radio coverage. The Guardian invited the out going Mayor to comment on the election of the new Mayor and for the youth panel we had the same 3 faces who represent all youth in the Province to offer their comments which were not terribly illuminating and dovetailed with the out going Mayor’s comments. Engaging youth and youth is our future are themes that come back all the time but I found few young people under 35 willing to put their money where their mouth is. Even the youth panel when asked why they had not put up their names for the election avoided answering and instead fell back on the old canard of no time and other priorities and blame the boomers.

On City Council only 2 new faces in my ward 1 (downtown) and ward 9 (near the airport) out of the ten councillors again not exactly the massive change the people were apparently asking for.

During this campaign I learned an awful lot, this being a small place, the political/business alliances do control all and in some cases in a pernicious way and if they support a candidate, will expect much for their support.

Ward 1 in particular being the downtown core is now firmly in the grasp of big corporate and business elite. This means that the corridor from Pownal to Prince streets and Euston street to the river will see the change business wants and gentrification will now happen in accelerated mode. This is not a bad thing much needs to be improved upon in that specific area if we are to revitalize the downtown core.

Now comes with the end of the year the Budget period and I have a project on this one I started last year and got a little bit of result and now with a new Mayor and renewed City Council I will propose again an open process for the budget. The one councillor who blocked my motion last year is gone, so I may get better results.  I have not lost any time and already reconnected with those councillors with whom I have been working in the last year.

So now time to move on and first a vacation with a departure date fairly soon to Portugal. For my new look, I know with this new look I could be Freddy Mercury’s twin, I bet that is what you are thinking or is it Hercule Poirot.

People now refer to me as a politician, in my life I have been a Public Servant, a Diplomat and now a Politician, it makes me smile.

 

Events

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Charlottetown, elections, municipal, PEI, synagogue, Vote, Ward 1, XMAS

So today 5 November is Municipal election day in PEI in the 4 big towns, Charlottetown, Stratford, Cornwall and Summerside. The other places are more resort or settlements with less than 600 people living in any one spot so they simply have assembly meetings and people discuss issues and vote on them.

Charlottetown the Capital has 36,000 people, Summerside 15,000, Stratford 10,000 and Cornwall 6000. In the last 7 days we have had lots of torrential rains and during the past weekend 18 hours of 95 to 130km winds which I am told is hurricane grade, this is what happens here in the Fall and Winter Season, high winds. So canvassing was not possible and many of my electoral campaign signs just vanished or were badly damaged by the wind. What I have learned though is that you only put up your signs in the last 6 days of the campaign, no need for signs prior to that since the most important element is to meet people on their door step and chat. I did that a lot and visited them again reminding them of what we had talked about.

Today I walked around the neighbourhood and met at random people, all told me they had voted for me and why they did. I found that very encouraging, I am hoping for the best. However if I do not win it will not be the end of the world and life goes on, I do have lots of projects and volunteer work and will still keep in touch with what is going on at City Hall, which is not difficult to do in a small town.

Of course now that we are about 7 weeks from XMAS!!!! a lot of fairs and charity events are in full swing. For the Holiday Season there is a lot of food and clothing drives and gift donations for poor children.  There is a lot of poverty in PEI but it is often well hidden until like me you start walking the neighbourhood or go out in the small settlements and see how people live. Makes one wonder how they survive in Winter, when the choices between food or heat becomes stark.

One Charity we like to support is called

Christmas Tree Dress Fashion Show Fundraiser

this is part of the Santa’s Angels Charity drive, the idea is to arrange for a $50 Xmas gift for a child who has never had any gifts on Christmas Morning, it also includes food and clothing for a family who are in need.

There are many other such charity events around the Province, Farmers give out 10 pound bags of potatoes, the CBC our National Broadcaster does a turkey drive and each year will collect over 1000 turkeys for families who cannot afford to buy one. There is also a warm clothing drive for adults and for children. Visits to Seniors home and to Hospitals. The idea being not to leave anyone behind or alone.

All of it done by volunteers, hundreds of them, it is quite the operation.

This is the WESTJET Airline entry into the Xmas Tree Fashion Show.

A group photo of the Fashion show, the idea being that each dress would be appropriate for a Xmas Party event.

 

Yesterday the 4 November around 3pm the small Jewish population of Charlottetown and other residents gathered in front of Founder’s Hall, which is the old Canadian National Railway repair shops now transformed into a market place to commemorate the memory of the 11 victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg last week.  A nice quiet service attended by about 100 persons.

 

 

None but the Brave

Tags

Charlottetown, municipal, PEI, Politics, Ward 1

Today is Friday 26 October and advance voting has started in PEI on the municipal elections. By having a lot of days of advance voting PEI Elections hopes that more people will participate and vote. I have encouraged people in my speeches to vote, young or old, you must vote it is your Civic duty as a Citizen. I did so this week to a class of 16 year old at a school near us. They can vote in 2 years and luckily their teacher had prepared them well.

I voted today for a new Mayor and for myself as Councillor in Ward 1. It took all of on minute to do. I also finished thanking the people of the Ward for receiving me and listening to me and giving me their views.

All along I ran a dignified campaign according to several people who took an interest in what I was doing. I continually emphasized that it was about the people and not me the candidate, my wish is public service and what I can do for you.

I was the first to use YouTube to produce videos on issues, I ran an 8 month long campaign, most probably the longest in the history of this Island Province, however I wanted to attract the attention of the public who often was not interested. Would I do it again, yes but differently. I learned a lot about society in PEI and complex alliances amongst individuals. I also learned about the economics of the province and its social problems. I have now a far better understanding of the Capital and the Province. My past government work experience helped a lot.

In the oratorio Alexander’s Feast by Haendel, the aria None but the brave deserves the Fair = Success comes to those who dare and act.  The proverbs which illustrate that success comes only to the people who are ready to work hard. This proverb means that one can attain success only when a person is bold enough to act and ready to give up every other enjoyment in life and sweat for his success. The goddess of success visits only those who dare to act and lay everything at her Altar. I hope the goddess will smile on me and Fate will reward my efforts on November 5. But who knows, I take nothing for granted and hope that it comes to pass. If not well life goes on and I have other plans. One being travel, we will certainly travel in late November somewhere and again this Winter. I also have my volunteer job at the Art Gallery and at Government House plus other volunteer work at the Fédération Culturelle as Secretary where I have been reconfirmed for another 2 year mandate.

 

 

About this Electoral crisis

You know me I never have an opinion on anything and surely not on something political, it is too disagreeable for words and gentlemen never comment on such matters.

However the current Election campaign in Canada, the second longest in history since 1892 is driving me and at least 30 million other Canadians to distraction, Ok maybe 10 million. At any rate it is long and tedious and so far we have 7 more weeks of it before October 19.

the four Canadian Political Party Chiefs, from left Stephen Harper, Elizabeth May, Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair.

The issues facing this Dominion of ours, no one is really speaking about them, its all about Fraud Trials, who is going to jail or who is not, who is lying and who is committing fraud, who has been disqualified from Voting (voter suppression à l’Américaine) or who is disqualified from running in this Federal Election. There is a lot of hate out there against PM Harper who has now fallen into third place according to at least a dozen Pollsters who publish results in various media outlets. We are now in a Recession the second one since 2008, unemployment is going up, the dollar is worth as much as one Indian Rupee. Many Canadians cannot afford to go South this Winter.

But what of the real issues? Like good governance, investments, job creation, our foreign policy, Unity of the country, infrastructure. It seems those topics are gone. The Middle Class gets lots of play but what about the poor, the Veterans, the over 55+, pensions, respect for our Judicial System as a pillar of our Government system, respect for our democratic system, Parliament, the Charter of Rights.

Will a party Leader present a plan to reign in the almost dictatorial powers of the Prime Minister to put a stop to the abuse we have seen in the last 9 years. Our Democratic system in Canada is broken, that is clear. Unelected persons, insiders working for the Conservative Party have far to great powers to influence and intervene in all sectors of government. Ministerial responsibility is gone, Ministers are mere puppets of the Prime Minister. Everything they say or do comes directly from the Prime Minister’s Office Communication Bureau with its 1000+ staff. The RCMP, has been reduced to nothing more than a personal Praetorian Guard of the Prime Minister who rides around Ottawa in a 9 car heavily armed convoy, as if we were in Lagos, Nigeria. We are spending over 20 million dollars on his personal safety more than we have ever spent on any PM in 150 years of history. Does he really need 200 armed RCMP guards 24/7, when the Heir to the Throne is in Canada, him and the wife get 10 bodyguards and the Governor General who is the Head of State has 7 guards only on a daily basis. There is something seriously wrong with this picture.

It has to be understood that how we govern ourselves in Canada has to do with established Conventions and not a written Constitution where everything is detailed, spelled out and explained. Like in Britain where there is NO Constitution, we simply rely on what has always been done in the past, on Tradition. This worked fine for us until Harper came along and he demonstrated in words and deed that he is not going to play according to established Conventions. Our Constitution the British North America Act of 1867 and 1982 and the Charter of Rights of 1982 spells out in section 92 how the powers are divided between the Provinces (who created the Federal Government of Canada in 1867) and the Federal Government, but that is it and how Parliament will operate with the phrase ”For the advantage of Canada” pretty broad meaning, the rest is up to established traditions and conventions.

The word Canada in 1867 meant Quebec and Ontario.

The Queen EIIR signing the Constitutional document with the enshrined Canadian Charter of Rights on the steps of Parliament in Ottawa in 1982.

I have been voting since 1974 and this is the first National Election, I cannot remember any other past election were pure hate and division between Canadians is fuelling the constant bickering across party lines. Harper has made a hallmark of his regime to use wedge issues and appealing to the lowest common denominator in his base that 30% who will vote for him no matter what, to govern. His base are a very strange lot of people, they are not the old Conservatives of the years prior to the amalgamation of the Reform Party and Conservatives which took place in 2002. No, it is a group of extreme Right Wingers, xenophobes, gun owners, racists, neo-nazis and Rapture Evangelical types, who hate anyone who is not in their camp. Harper’s political allies are people like George W.Bush, Karl Rove, Silvio Berlusconi who he admires, David Cameron, the Koch brothers who help him out. So you get the picture.

The issue which Harper constantly likes to bring up is the deficit and government waste, convenient issues since few people really understand how the government works and most imagine there is massive waste due to lazy bureaucrats who are all corrupt. In turn the bureaucrats are helped by the Media who are all liars according to the Conservative Party spokesperson Kory Teneycke. Of course the White knight who will save us is Stephen Harper.

The fact that Harper added more to the Federal debt in his 9 years in Office than any other PM combined is lost on his supporters. He has been unable to balance a budget in 9 years and our economic growth is the weakest since the great depression of the 1930’s. Harper has slashed taxes so much that the government is unable to function properly, programs are in place with no money to administer them. Some 2 million children in Canada, our population is 36 million, live in poverty and the number continues to grow at an alarming rate, but he is oblivious to it. We have lost more of our Canadian Veterans from the longest war (12 years) in Afghanistan to suicide than to the Taliban, again it is not his problem, Harper cut budgets and services to Veterans and fought them in Court to deny them compensation, he claims we have no responsibility towards them.

Now the refugee crisis, Harper refuses to act, despite the fact that in 1947 Canada was one of the founders of the UNHCR and until 10 years ago we were a leader on refugee questions in the World. Harper declares that this conflict is a regional one, he blames the population of Syria and Irak for the situation, after all they are all Islamists, Arabs, people he has made abundantly clear he hates and his base is convinced that they are all terrorists, did Harper not tell us so repeatedly, so why should we help them.

This will be a very close election who ever wins will not win a majority. We may need a coalition, NDP-Liberals to defeat the CPC. There is a movement afoot to either vote strategically to ensure that Harper does not get in again or ensure a coalition to defeat him, nothing is certain. I cannot see a future for Canada under Harper if he was to be re-elected. Unfortunately there is still that 30% of voters who refuse to see the disaster this man brought upon us. Hatred, Xenophobia, Ignorance, Racism, this is what motivates his base.

We have had Prime Ministers in the past with whom I could not agree or disliked their policies, but there was always a middle-ground, there was always a way to reach a concensus which is the Canadian way in Politics. Now that is gone, only extremists remain and the politics of division, that is not good for our Dominion. It was understood in the past that your political rival was not an enemy but a rival and in the end all worked for ”Canada’s advantage” to quote our Constitutional text.

The road out of this tunnel is a long one and many Canadians say they want their Canada back the way it was. I am afraid this will never happen, we have become a nasty little country where bigots are proud. It will take a great effort to turn that tide, we can only hope.

 UPDATE!!! 8 September 2015

New poll shows Conservative in third place, if election was held today they would not even be the Official Opposition. Let’s hope this confirms itself on Election day Oct 19.