"Wynne"-ing ways

In the end, it wasn't even close - 1,150 to 866. Although Sandra Pupatello was leading after the second ballot, both Gerrard Kennedy and Charles Sousa dropped out and threw their support behind Kathleen Wynne and their delegates followed. Wynne becomes the first female Premier in Ontario history and the first openly gay Premier in Canada.

At the convention she didn't shy away from the possible impact of her sexuality.

Let's put something on the table: Is Ontario ready for a gay premier? You've heard that question. Let's say what that actually means: Can a gay woman win? ... I don’t believe the people of Ontario judge their leaders on the basis of race, colour or sexual orientation. I don’t believe they hold that prejudice in their hearts.

In the end it may be a factor for some, but not important enough to matter. What is more pressing is how she will deal with governing in a minority situation, the continuing labour strife with the teachers and, most importantly, the deficit of $11.9 billion. She seems to be making the right moves by promising to call back the legislature next month and to work with the opposition. The opposition, however, must want to work with her as well and, after all, this is politics where despite the lip service paid to putting the Province ahead of ideology that has seldom happened. She is a conciliator, but that can be a double-edged sword. She risks appearing ineffectual and overly accommodating.

None of this may matter. Ontarians have reached the end of their patience with the Liberals; McGuinty's prorogation of the legislature after his resignation as Premier didn't help. Wynne may not have time to change this, even if she can, before the Conservatives and the NDP, sensing blood, pull the plug and force an election.

Switching teams

Not really. In a previous post on Glen Murray's candidacy for leader of the Ontario Liberal Party I wondered if a gay man would be Premier of Ontario. With Miller's withdrawal on Jan 10th that is not to be, but there is a bit of a silver lining.

He threw his support behind Kathleen Wynne. Wynne, who is an out lesbian, has strong support. However, Wynne leans left and it may be she will be seen as unsuitable by the party members to continue the current austerity programs. We'll know on January 27th. And then the fun begins.

No matter who wins, will there be an election? Will the NDP instead support the minority Liberal government which will then limp on in uncertainty? With Liberal support at a low ebb, will there be time for them to try to rebuild or, like the Federal Liberals, are they doomed to be decimated by an election no matter when it takes place?

Laurier LaPierre (1929 - 2012)

If you are Canadian and old enough, you should remember the 60's CBC programme This Hour Has Seven Days. Controversial, a combination of news, interviews and satire. It tilted an the stodgy Canadian windmills, refusing to back down from the difficult stories. You may not have agreed with all it had to say, but it was never dull.

Laurier LaPierre, along with Patrick Watson, hosted the programmme and brought to it a passion that hadn't been seen on CBC. He didn't just report, he tended to become involved in the stories. Perhaps he should have maintained more distance, been more objective, and he managed that on many occasions, but not all.

Unknown at the time, at least publicly, LaPierre was gay. In later life he came out and was actively involved in LGBT causes.

More at the CBC Laurier LaPierre, ex-senator and broadcaster, dies at 83

Why Canada needs Québec

"Some international perspective is all it takes to remind you that the only thing more boring to the world than the enduring mystery of Canadian identity is the eternal question of Quebec's future. But I am old enough to remember a time when Quebec separatists offered the closest thing Canada had to serious political violence. The very existence of the Front de libération du Québec served to satisfy the 'issue envy,' as Mordecai Richler called it, that ever afflicts peaceable, well-ordered Canadians when they view gritty world affairs. ..."

With the resurgence of the the PQ, although in a minority government situation, the idea of Québec separation is once again rising to the surface in Québec politics. The brouhaha about the removal of the Canadian flag from the Québec Legislative Assembly is merely a symptom, but how real is separation? Mark Kingwell has an opinion. Judge for yourself how valid it is or whether it's just ruminations from an ivory tower.

"Doppel Gang" at The Walrus

F-35 Jets. What does the "F" really stand for?

This has been a fiasco for the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. The original cost for 65 jets was set in 2010 at $9 billion over 20 years. That's when it began to unravel.

The parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page estimated the costs would be $30 billion over a life cycle of 30 years because the original costs hadn't included appropriate "sustainment" costs and the lifespan was too short. But the government dismissed his report. Then the Auditor General also called the government on their estimates saying that they would be $25 billion over 25 years, but that life cycle was also too short.

The entire process was revisited by the newly-minted National Fighter Jet Procurement Secretariat who arrived at $44 billion over 42 years as more likely. The audit firm KPMG verified that - sort of. They added another 1 billion for lost aircraft over the life cycle. The cost, including "sustainment", now sits at $45.8 billion over 42 years - for the same number of planes. And that is by no means final.

But those are the Canadian implications. See the link below for the potential broader ones.

So what does the "F" stand for? Fiasco perhaps, but thanks to Stephen Harper and his sidekick Peter MacKay the song that Country Joe and the Fish performed at Woodstock comes to mind - "Give me an f!, Give me a u! . . .

Read Brian Stewart's analysis Super-costly F-35s, a global wrecking ball

On my nightstand

Bits & Bites

• In an unusual move, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, becomes the Governor of the Bank of England. He is the first foreign national to hold the post.

• It's status quo after the federal by-elections. The Conservatives retain 2 seats and the NDP 1. House standings remain: Conservative - 165, NDP - 101, Liberal - 35, Bloc Québecois - 4, Green - 1, Independent - 2.

• Rob Ford the Mayor of Toronto, Canada's largest city, is ousted for conflict of interest. But he's not going without a fight or without blaming "a left-wing conspiracy." Rob, Rob, Rob. You used city property for your own purposes and then, after the Integrity Commissioner called you on it, participated in the Council discussion and vote that determined you didn't have to pay from your own pocket. And your excuse was you hadn't read the conflict of interest guidelines. Conspiracy has nothing to do with it. You screwed yourself.

• Finally, to "un-Grinch" Christmas, $2 million of toys and goods stolen from the Salvation Army have been recovered.

We sometimes take things for granted

"In his last blog entry, activist Sattar Beheshti wrote that Iranian authorities had given him an ultimatum: Either stop posting his 'big mouth' attacks against the ruling system or tell his mother that she will soon be in mourning.

"'We will tear down your cruel cage,' Beheshti typed on Oct. 29 before signing off.

"A day later he was arrested. Within a week, his family had collected his body. They began calls for an investigation that have been echoed by Washington, European allies and rights groups."

Full story at CBC.ca

War is hell, but let's tweet it anyway

"The only shocking thing here is how quickly some voices, otherwise bullish on free speech online, are suggesting that information be blocked from their sensitive eyes. Both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict have maintained for decades that the mainstream media is hopelessly biased in favour of the other. At the very least, the level playing field of the Internet equalizes this part of the fight. Through social media, without editing or varnishing from newsroom interlocutors, the words and pictures issued from both sides are offensive, shocking, manipulative, saddening, graphic, bizarre and awful as this endless war itself."

The complete article at Maclean's

Walking close to the edge

"Bernanke may have been aiming his remarks at a U.S. audience. But the whole world was listening... and with good reason. The general consensus seems to be that if the Americans don't figure out a way of avoiding the cliff, the potential damage caused by that failure on the Canadian and the global economy could be huge"

More at CBC

Will a gay man lead the Liberal party in Ontario?

When Dalton McGuinty retired as Premier and resigned as leader of the Liberal party, it threw open the door for many contenders. Among them, and one of the first to declare, is Glen Murray. Murray was mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba from 1998 to 2004; he was also the first openly gay mayor of a major city in North America. He moved from Manitoba to Ontario and was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2010. His seat in Toronto Centre was previously held by George Smitherman who is also gay. In 2011, he was appointed Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities in the McGuinty government.

So far, he hasn't had any fellow cabinet ministers express support for his bid. It's early days in the campaign since the leader will be chosen in late January 2013. Other high profile candidates will likely outshine him, particularly Sandra Puppatello who, although not currently a member of the House, is considered a front runner.

Murray's sexuality is a non-issue in the leadership contest and likely would be in any election. Having said that, of course there are always bigots who will try to make it so, but that would likely have little effect

Whoever becomes leader of the Liberals will, by default, become Premier of Ontario. Ontario, like all of Canada, is a parliamentary democracy. The party with the greatest number elected forms the government. The leader doesn't necessarily campaign for the position of Premier, but to gain the largest number of seats. Of course, the leader sets the tone for the party, for the government and its policies, and has the most influence. He becomes the public face.

There is no requirement for the sitting government to resign and call an election. As a matter of fact, should Sandra Puppatello win, a by-election would have to be held in order for her to win election and take a seat in the Legislature. The Legislature is currently prorogued, likely until the new Premier takes office and requests the Lieutenant Governor to summon parliamentarians to continue the session.

Well, that was a bit of a

but not as much as many had expected.

Just a few random thoughts.

As someone who sits on the left of the political spectrum, I found the idea of Romney as president worrisome. What he would do internally wouldn't have much effect on me, but his foreign policy and his world view and that of his advisers is another matter.

The dichotomy in American politics seemed even more pronounced this time. Perhaps it's because there appear to be no moderate Republicans, at least to the outsider, just tea party and their ilk. Or if there are moderates their voices were drowned out by the rhetoric. A year or so ago I had a cousin from Michigan ask me if I could do an internet search to find Obama's real birth certificate, because, "You know, right, he was born in Kenya." Now this person is not some backwoods hick. He is well-educated, a business owner who benefited from the auto bailout. And yet he took this seriously, as I am sure many others did and continue to do.

Is the issue of race ever far from the surface? The posts on Facebook about putting the white back in White House were a symptom. Is it a real issue or is Ann Coulter right that racism ended in the mid-60's? Perhaps institutionalized racism did, and that's debatable, but on a day-to-day basis is it still there?

As an outsider I risk being told that I don't understand and that I should tend to my own house. I'll take that chance. I don't pretend that Canada doesn't have its problems, but that's for another post.

Decision day

As Canadians, why should we care who gets elected in the U.S.?

History and proximity are hard to ignore. We've fought a war against the U.S. and more than one with them. We've struggled through the Dirty Thirties together and all the other dirty years that followed. But we've celebrated their greatness as well. Martin Luther King, Neil Armstrong, JFK. Many of us have family living in the U.S. It's estimated that there are a million Americans living in Canada and an equal number of Canadians in the U.S. As far back as 1850, there were 148,000 of us there, even though they would not be technically Canadians until 1867.

So, yes, we care. We watch from the sidelines, wondering if the choices they make will be the right ones, both for themselves and, somewhat selfishly, for us.

"Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder. What unites us is far greater than what divides us."

John F. Kennedy

"Living next to you is like sleeping with an elephant; no matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt."

Pierre Elliott Trudeau

What's to come

"David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2009, says it's a relationship that is vital on both sides of the border.

"'Seventy per cent of Canadian exports go to the U. S.,' he observed, in an interview from Greenville, S.C. 'We're important to Canada. Canada's important to us. We need to do all we can to enhance the relationship.'

"Here's a look at the issues he and other Canada-U.S. watchers feel will land on the big desk in the Oval Office in the months and years to come."

The complete article is on CBC

Get 'em, Granny