Panglossian Notes

So, ANWR safe for awhile

With the November elections over down South and the outcome not looking too good for the Republicans better to hid away and fight again sometime maybe, eh.

Thus the House backed off with the Budget reconciliation bill - no one is going to burn bridges if they don't have to, I guess.

But maybe to early to rest just yet. Myself I don't believe that either US party is particularly enamored with ANWR.

Technorati Tags: News and Politic, Resource Revenue

Just the beginning!

The question as to whether or not there will be a new federal government soon - i.e. PM PMs minority government falls - commands lots of print and airtime space.

However, following up on old problems that need to be resolved before the country shifts gears into the new century maybe independent of which party forms any new government.

Jeffrey Simpson at the G&M had indicated the nature of the questions that need to be asked in dealing with one these matters.

But no one is going to go down the road of forced re-settlement again, are they? The law suits aren't settled from the last couple of centuries attempts at social engineering - residential schools for example.

So even if someone gets the bright idea, stop.

I don't want to pay from it nor do I want the next generation to pay for policies that backfire.

The fact that I immediately jumped to re-settlement as a solution may, of course, mean that I'm already disqualified to think of a way out of this type of problem. It means I think that small isolated communities with no economic rationale for existence are doomed to substandard living conditions relative to the population as a whole in a modern world.

Richard Gywn over at the The TO Star points to an attitudinal change in the population that may mean very different answers to hard questions if they are asked now.

This actually may mean that the current crop of federal politicians could, in the immediate term, get things quite wrong. Case in point PM PM has indicated already that he wants to throw more money at the problems.

To put things into some context, maybe it's time to take a breath, eh. Hope PM PM can keep his problem solving spendthrift inclinations under control.

I wonder how much of this will filter into the policy halls. Realistically, I wonder how much will pass into the public perception which now, I would think, assumes that the worse is always going on.

So, most from Kashechewan have got a trip out, usually a good thing for those in a remote community if it isn't for medical reasons. I suspect Wal-Mart may notice an increase in sales as people do the sensible things and stock up before the trip back.

Will anything really change though? I hope it will but there will have to be movement on both sides for any real solution to occur and about this I'm much less optimistic.

As implied by Richard Gywn, the country as a whole is moving on and about to embark on a new immigration policy. These issues need to be settled shortly or risk being completely marginalized in a new society with no residual burden of guilt for past policies of either the 19th or 20th century.

Technorati Tags: Accountability, Canada, First Nation

Let the drilling commence?

The US Senate approved today budget legislation (S 1932) that includes a provision opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil & gas exploration.

A group of Democratic Senators had proposed an amendment to strike the section of S 1932 that included the provision to drill in the ANWR. It wasn't successful.

Stéphane Dion has indicated that we will keep lobbying the US House of Representatives which now has to consider whether it agrees to the amendments made by the Senate. (Both the Senate and the House have to agree on a Bill and any amendments either chamber makes before it's sent to the President to consider.) But most think it unlikely that the House won't agree with the provision.

An interesting aside is the new blog coming out of the US Embassy in Ottawa called "no stone unturned".

I suspect the point is to encourage some debate. The paragraph below was quoted by the CBC talking head to Henry Champ in Washington. Henry's response was critical and a bit defensive but it was simply read to him over the wire. I think it was taken out of context and unfortunately the CBC news item may have conveyed the wrong impression. Talking heads, eh.

Based on the impression left by the CBC story I hope the poor guy writing the blog doesn't get numbers of nasty e-mails.

The paragraph in question:

What has got the Canadian Government so upset about possible drilling in ANWR? Is it really about the caribou? Or is this simply another issue that resonates with Canadians in election season? Objectively, proposals to do exploratory drilling on one small section of a 19 million acre wildlife refuge wouldn't seem to merit this level of attention.

Blog from the
Embassy of the USA
Ottawa

The saber rattling has already started in the North.

Technorati Tags: Canada, Nunavut, Politics, Resource Revenue

Please, does anyone know where you can hid from Gomery

Gomery overload, I think, hit sometime in the summer, once the formal hearings had wrapped up actually.

So now the first installment is out we will likely be subject to endless rehashings of the whole process with the elements of the real situation becoming more and more distorted as time goes on.

All to be expected, but boring, and off the point, except for those clamoring for justice or what they really want, retribution, who may find this exciting.

The word "governance" will be thrown around 'til you are sick of hearing it and until it has lost complete meaning and becomes another ineffective "business speak" word which has no power to convey any meaning whatsoever. Can we just say control and quit trying to bumph up or obscure meaning of very clear words.

Gomery's next installment will have recommendations on how to fix things. Boy I can hardly wait. Utopia will be unfolding in Canada this coming spring. I can now sleep peacefully.

Lost somewhere in this, is of course, any consideration of what voters really do faced with the current set of options. Nothing has really changed, my earlier assessment, I think, still holds

Technorati Tags: Accountability, Canada, Politics

OK if you were surprised go sit in the corner!

So Gomery is out, do you think PM PM and his crew can now get on with it?

My preference is to hear what the voters think.

A bit of a first cross section here, but we'll now have to wait for the polls. Lots of skepticism so far and an unfortunate degree of fatalism it seems mainly because of the ideological bents of the 2 other national parties - the Conservatives and NDP.

Technorati Tags: Canada, News and Politic, Politics