Mercy, Keep Shining That Light Brother on Stephen Harper and the Cons' Ideology

Posted: 9:45am, PDT, 25 Jul.'10 The Mark
When Smart Parties Make Stupid Decisions, Paul Saurette, Associate Professor of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Jul 23 2010
http://www.themarknews.com/articles/1907-when-smart-parties-make-stupid-decisions?page=1

Paul Saurette demonstrates a good handle on the current political realities in Canada, the US, et al. regarding the Con movement:

This includes his assessment of Tom Flanagan, in generalities but not updated - he would have to reconcile the statement by Flanagan the other day:
"I think it was an exercise in bad government to suddenly spring this on the public without any previous discussion, no consultation at all . . . You don't deal with the public that way in a democracy." (Montreal Gazette)."

I'd love to hear more.

On Jul.18 I posted to my blog: cicblog.com/comments.html
(excerpt)
"Clement says the government chose what it felt was the best course, but he would not reveal what the other two options were." (CBCNews, 16 Jul)

The key to understanding all this is the statement by
Tony Clement:
" the government chose what it felt was the best course"

How about an explanation as to why Harper, Clement and all the other Con's feel it is the best. It seems that this is the same patronizing obfuscation we are getting with the $16 billion Harper and the Con's are spending on the 'next generation' fighter-jets.

You know that there was no objective rationally approach weighing of the pro's and con's with respect to what is in the best interest of all Canadians and Harper and the Con's are looking to benefit a small segment of the population. My guess is that it is the 33% die-hards, with epicentre in Alberta.

This is bolstered by the fact that, as seems to be the general consensus with those that ought to know, it can only undermine the reliability and hence the usefulness of the information. This is not just for the private sector, but for the government as well. It undermines the federal government's ability to implement and oversee public policies that have applicability throughout all of Canada as a whole and for all Canadians. These are precisely the polices that unite all Canadians in a common cause and give us our identity as a nation.

Of course one must look at it from Harper's point of view as well - if you have dedicated the whole of your public life to dismantling Canada as a unified, cohesive nation and transferring everything to the Provinces, then why do you need a reliable, general body of data on Canadians as a nation.

Lloyd MacILquham cicblog.com/comments.html

also posted to:
Friday, July 23, 2010, Why we're census-obsessed, Gloria Galloway
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/why-were-census-obsessed/article1649356/