tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post230647329165001891..comments2024-03-28T10:07:24.955-04:00Comments on Northern Reflections: When The Leaving Was GoodOwen Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-68525238966814078052015-06-18T10:30:58.880-04:002015-06-18T10:30:58.880-04:00Small minds can't see past their noses, Steve....Small minds can't see past their noses, Steve.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-8956136559198902122015-06-18T07:06:13.605-04:002015-06-18T07:06:13.605-04:00two seats, two seats, come on Canada make it so.two seats, two seats, come on Canada make it so.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14162783936999869984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-8781175093404074962015-06-16T13:18:35.373-04:002015-06-16T13:18:35.373-04:00Ignorance and apathy are Harper's allies, Les....Ignorance and apathy are Harper's allies, Les. And he cultivates both.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-22402190431806031352015-06-16T12:50:18.005-04:002015-06-16T12:50:18.005-04:00Regarding the outcome of the coming election, I...Regarding the outcome of the coming election, I'm more than worried.<br /><br />The owner-Manager of my local M&Ms is a good indicator of the "average" voter.<br /><br />She's happy that she's had tax reductions, she's looking forward to receiving that cheque from Harper, and she swallows whole all the ads on television that say how great Harper is, and how bad everyone else...<br /><br />This is the sum total of her knowledge of politics.<br /><br />At the Five Guys hamburger place (they're excellent, BTW), I noticed that they had a sign proclaiming that they were using potatoes from Cavendish.<br />I commented that they were from the place that Mike Duffy pretended to live.<br />The response: <br />"Who's Mike Duffy?"<br /><br />These are Canada's typical voters.Les Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13903671221997959167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-27868936888072771842015-06-16T12:39:50.425-04:002015-06-16T12:39:50.425-04:00He's being shown the same contempt which he ha...He's being shown the same contempt which he has shown others, Mogs.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-67102798860596412352015-06-16T12:37:47.609-04:002015-06-16T12:37:47.609-04:00Lots of choices come down to being the least obnox...Lots of choices come down to being the least obnoxious choice, zoombats. That's exactly the choice voters are going to have to make in the next election.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-41437736481218095212015-06-16T12:34:44.108-04:002015-06-16T12:34:44.108-04:00I agree wholeheartedly, Ron. History will not be k...I agree wholeheartedly, Ron. History will not be kind to Harper.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-83873295665462802852015-06-16T12:32:32.688-04:002015-06-16T12:32:32.688-04:00Harper has left a wasteland in his wake, Lorne. An...Harper has left a wasteland in his wake, Lorne. And, he will do whatever it takes to maintain that wasteland.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-919225613334902762015-06-16T12:29:20.169-04:002015-06-16T12:29:20.169-04:00Harper is a courtier to those with economic clout,...Harper is a courtier to those with economic clout, Mound. If being a lap dog to those who will make you comfortable is a measure of success, then Harper has been successful.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-37832690420593909732015-06-16T12:25:15.678-04:002015-06-16T12:25:15.678-04:00Harper lacks a conscience, Rural. And when he'...Harper lacks a conscience, Rural. And when he's backed against the wall, he knows no restraint.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-56003369440838721642015-06-16T12:08:13.719-04:002015-06-16T12:08:13.719-04:00When some one with little or no moral compass with...When some one with little or no moral compass with as much power as Harper has taken for himself is "backed against the wall" it scares the H out of me Owen. I begin to wonder what he will do to retain his strangle hold on our Canadian democracy in the next few months!<br />The just released Voices-Voix 'Dismantling Democracy' report at www.voices-voix.ca details what he has already done in this regard.Ruralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11814103548500393628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-57284877690712367802015-06-16T12:05:37.182-04:002015-06-16T12:05:37.182-04:00I wonder how Simpson can declare Harper one of the...I wonder how Simpson can declare Harper one of the most successful prime ministers our country has known. What success? Is longevity the hallmark of success?<br /><br />Surely success is a measure of achievement. Harper is a dud on that score. As Mel Hurtig points out, Harper has delivered 7 consecutive deficit budgets and, with oil revenues in the tank, the next will repeat what's now the standard. Is that success?<br /><br />Harper, with the collaboration of the Liberals and New Dems, has succeeded in compressing the political spectrum. The Libs, under Ignatieff, moved well to the Right where they remain mired under Trudeau. In an even more unprincipled power play, the New Dems abandoned the Left and themselves moved sharply Right. Ignatieff/Trudeau and Layton/Mulcair made Harper's dream of permanently shifting Canada's political centre hard to the Right come true. That could be called success for Harper but at great and as yet not fully understood cost to the Canadian people.<br /><br />This move to the Right has consolidated neoliberalism as the default operating system of the government and opposition parties alike. This explains why so many Canadians have become politically disaffected, estranged from government and politics. They're grey suits stuffed with wet cardboard, the lot of them. Technocrats, administrators, petit fonctionairres.<br /><br />I have recently been giving some thought to whether today's "new world order" - national, regional, global - has left political institutions so shackled, fettered, as to be unable to respond effectively to the mortal threats confronting us this century. A great deal of sovereignty has been surrendered to globalism which is ultimately a capitulation and surrender of political power to global corporatism. Yet you will hear no challenge to that from any of our political parties and their complacency ensures our future and our children's will continue to be subordinated to corporate interests.<br /><br />Just to call Harper "successful" reinforces my point. The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-88648530331172704922015-06-16T11:14:40.275-04:002015-06-16T11:14:40.275-04:00Put in those terms, Geof Stevens presents a chilli...Put in those terms, Geof Stevens presents a chilling portrait of Canada's current state under this most oppressive of prime ministers, Owen. there is also a report coming out today signed by the former head of Oxfam, Amnesty International Canada and Greenpeace Canada accusing Harper of stifling democracy in our country.<br /><br />Taken in the aggregate, if these things don't move our fellow citizens, I don't know what will.Lornehttp://www.politicsanditsdiscontents.blogspot.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-950962089893117522015-06-16T10:53:07.153-04:002015-06-16T10:53:07.153-04:00Regardless of when or how he leaves, he will go do...Regardless of when or how he leaves, he will go down in history as the absolute worst first minister this country could ever have produced, leaving Canada and Canadians with a black pall that will take years, if not generations, to heal.ron wiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15395990851263472440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-11342818647421938722015-06-16T10:01:52.616-04:002015-06-16T10:01:52.616-04:00Hi Owen. With all the evidence pointing to the dem...Hi Owen. With all the evidence pointing to the demise of the Harper Government I still can't help being very nervous about the outcome and how I should vote. I have always been a lib but have steadily lost interest after Paul Martins reign, Dions problems, Iggy's lacklustre performance and the more recent blonde bimbo welcomed into the fold. Add to that the stand on C-51 culminating with Blair's anointment into the fold, What's a Libber to do. If Blair is a liberal, then I'm the Queen of England. If you talk about the writing on the wall, maybe we should read it and get on board one side and make a push. Could any choice be worse than what we have?zoombats in Hong Kongnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-40870698990241038922015-06-16T09:41:34.769-04:002015-06-16T09:41:34.769-04:001)he is to power hungry for that 2)he wants to des...1)he is to power hungry for that 2)he wants to destroy Canada that he has not completed the way is grotesque mind wishes 3)he wouldn't get to live on our 'dime" 4) he couldn't play the 'great leader game' anymore 5) he would be lonely as hell<br /><br />He even admitted once "I have no friends pathetic.<br /><br />MogsMogs Mogliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09086959842254833850noreply@blogger.com