Hydro, Climate, and The War

Why Stephen Harper REALLY Saved Potash

So a big fuss has been made, about Emperor Harper actually preventing a Canadian company from being taken over by foreign corporations (for once). Never mind that we're in a recession, and Harper had previously been letting our companies (and jobs) go like they were candy, apparently the business world and Harper's core supporters are up in arms -- that should show you where their loyalties lie.

But, I'll tell you why Harper really stepped in to save the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (a fertilizer company being eyed by Australia, if you don't know). Simply put, Harper did this for the same reason he caved in to opposition demands to start a (pitiful) stimulus program, and (barely) caved in to demands to hand over Afghan torture documents: to save his own ass.

Stephen Harper only does ANYTHING for one reason: power -- either getting it, or holding on to it. Whether he's willing to admit it or not, he is hanging by a thread, right now -- not only with the country at large, but within his own party. If he'd sat back and let a lot of Saskatchewan workers be laid off by another country, it doesn't take a genius to see that those workers -- and the countless other people whose livelihoods they contribute to -- would be really pissed off at whoever let it happen. When Harper needs all the votes he can get, he really can't afford to lose a lot of them -- especially when the whole province could potentially turn on him, and we're talking about a province that has generally been a Tory stronghold since Confederation. A disaster like that would not only cost Harper his government, but it would probably kill his political career.

I liken it to Hollywood, from what I've seen of it; even if you're the biggest jerk in the world, The Powers That Be will only keep you around if you make money for them. So if your movie flops, you're in trouble. If you single-handedly destroy one of the biggest franchises in town, you're a dead duck.

So Harper really had no choice but to step in and protect Potash -- but don't believe the propaganda for a minute, it was most certainly not to protect the jobs of working Canadians, in an economic downturn.

Douchebag of the Decade

Situation Normal -- All Fucked Up

So the government has finally admitted, what the rest of the world already knew: we are in a recession. What's more, it's affecting everyone. That's particularly evident in Hamilton, where one of our steel mills has shut down for the possibly first time ever. They say that it's only temporary, but strictly speaking that can mean anything from just a week, to over a year. We are definitely in the worst financial shape, since the Great Depression, and what is our government doing about it? Sweet fuck all.

Locally, we still have councillors, citizens, and special interest groups griping about the new stadium that now we pretty much have to build. Now look, here are the facts: the stadium we have right now, is falling to pieces. So unless Hamilton wants to have no outdoor sports at all, we need to build a new one. It has to go somewhere, and no matter where we put it, someone's going to be pissed. That's a fact of life, that you have to live with. More importantly, though, in case no one's noticed, this whole city is going to be a slum very damn quickly, if we don't give the steel mills some kind of business. What better, than to build a stadium in their home town? Oh right, I forgot, Hamilton doesn't believe in taking pride in itself.

Provincially, things aren't much better. At least Premier Dalton McGuinty is trying to invest in an infrastructure, but for some bizzare reason the construction work is being farmed out to places OUTSIDE of Ontario! What the fuck are these guys thinking? We have an auto industry that is bleeding to death, and McGuinty wants our buses to be built in Europe?! AGH!

Then of course, we have the cold-hearted, soulless assholes in Ottawa, otherwise known as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative party. After needing to have their arms twisting into doing anything at all about the economy, they've decided to spend most of their time and taxpayers' money, financing a slush fund that has no strings attached at all -- which probably means it's going to mainly go out to Conservative interest groups. Oh, and making ads that attack the opposition -- outside of an election -- accusing them of not being up to the job. That's a little like an emo putting down a schizophrenic, isn't it?

Anyway... when the Stelco plants shut down in Ontario, this was the time for the Harper government to show Canada some leadership. Instead, we have an Industry Minister, who never has any idea what our industries are doing, and a Human Resources Minister who doesn't believe in putting anyone on unemployment insurance. She says that the people ought to be finding work, but what Marie Antoinette doesn't seem to understand is that there is no work. Interestingly enough, the Minister, the Dishonourable Diane Finley, is the Member of Parliament for one of the towns that will be hurt by the steel shut downs. It would be verrry interesting to see what she says now.

It's at times like this, that it's very frustrating to be a Canadian. Every other week, we hear about leaders in third-world countries being overthrown for exact this kind of incompetence and indifference, yet in this country most people can't even be bothered to vote. When are we, as a people, going to find the balls to stand up for ourselves? If we just keep trusting these idiots and lunatics to run things themselves, the Canadian people will die a very slow death. That's it for me.