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So you really want to make Syrian Refugees an Election Issue?
So you really want to make Syrian Refugees an Election Issue?
Thomas Pynchon once wrote: ‘If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers.’ Words to live by for the the major political parties in Canadian Federal politics.
The refugee crisis in Syria, Iraq and spilling into Europe has become an election issue, with each of the major parties pulling magic numbers out of their ears around “how many” is the “right number” of refugees to admit to Canada, which once again underscores the Libertarian criticism that the both major political parties espouse largely uniform campaign platforms in which the issues are for the most part homogenous while the really important questions are rendered conveniently out-of-scope (and even the NDP’s, sniffing a faint shot at power, are pivoting off their principles in order to get it)
If we peer behind the veil of mainstream media oversimplification we find that the humanitarian crisis we are faced with today are the straight line consequences of a decades-old policy on the part of the West (defined as the US, the UK, Israel and including complicit Canada) to subvert and destabilize the very nations that are submerged in civil war and strife.
A String of Coup D’Etats
Syria and Iran were both once full-on democracies who’s duly elected governments committed the literal, mortal sins of offending Western corporate powers. Iran’s Mohammad Mosaddegh wanted to audit the books of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and was instead overthrown and replaced with the Shah. We’re all aware how that turned out why Iran is so fond of the West to this day.
Syria’s plight is not as well known, our (meaning the West’s) first political coup d’etat against their elected government was in 1949, when the CIA over throws Shure al-Quwatly and replaces him with the first of many military strongmen in Syria, Colonel Husni al-Zaim.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks peak as Canada eyes election timing
‘It’s hard to put out a press release during an election, let alone a 21st century trade agreement’
Pity Ed Fast’s campaign manager in Abbotsford, B.C.
While most MPs running for re-election are focused on campaigning, Stephen Harper’s trade minister is in Maui, Hawaii, this week to see if there’s a Trans-Pacific Partnership deal Canada can sign on to.
It’s an agreement, the prime minister said in June, that’s “essential” for Canada, establishing a basis for trade among not only the 12 Pacific Rim countries at the table, but others who could join later — like China, India or the Philippines.
- Supply management in Canada: Why politicians defend farm marketing boards
- Analysis: ‘Shrewd’ Canada playing long game as TPP talks begin in Maui
A bad deal for Canada — or a deal so bad Canada has to walk away — would be another blow to the Conservatives’ election narrative of sound economic management.
Trade Minister Ed Fast joins the talks Tuesday – and might have to interrupt his election campaigning in September if talks drag on. (Daniel Munoz/Reuters)
Fast appeared cool last week, not rising to the bait of Americans launching their position — a dismantling ofCanada’s marketing board regime for dairy, poultry and eggs — loud and clear in the media.
But as ministerial talks begin Tuesday, Fast faces awkward timing.
Newly enabled by fast-track authority from the U.S. Congress, the Americans and Japanese speak of concluding a deal now, and finalizing by the end of the year, before 2016 elections.
The Harper government might want to stretch final bargaining until its own vote is over — to strengthen its mandate and minimize electoral risks from what unfolds.
Timing not up to Canada
One of the trade minister’s former staff said it would be “next to impossible” for Canada to negotiate during the writ period.
Public opinion in the U.S. is divided over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal – but U.S. President Barack Obama has fast-track authority to get a deal done sooner rather than later. (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press)
“It’s hard for a minister to put out a press release during an election campaign, let alone a 21st century trade agreement with 40 per cent of the world’s GDP,” said Adam Taylor, now with Ensight Canada’s international trade practice.
“I think people would never expect a democratic country in the middle of an election to come to the table to negotiate in a meaningful way.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Harper Is Right: This Election Is about Security Versus Risk
Harper Is Right: This Election Is about Security Versus Risk
It’s our nation’s ruthless economic insecurity that Canadians must weigh.
Stephen Harper chose the Calgary Stampede (now Rachel Notley country) to launch the theme of the now full-blown election campaign. Harper proclaimed he was confident that “this October Canadians will choose security over risk.” Let’s hope so. The question is, of course, what kind of security and risk are we talking about? Political language is never simple or straightforward. It is subject to sophisticated manipulation by professional word-smiths and public relations experts. The choice of what language to use is subject to hundreds of hours of deliberation and enormous resources, because if you get it right, you usually win. If you get it wrong, well, it’s a lot harder. Getting it right means no one even suspects you of manipulating them.
Experts in the art of issue framing will tell you that those who frame an issue first have a huge advantage, because they force their opponents to reframe it — in other words get you to take the time to reconsider what the words actually mean. Maybe that is why neither the Liberals nor the NDP have taken the trouble to challenge Harper’s framing of the security issue as exclusively a foreign policy and military issue: security against terrorism.
That’s unfortunate, because not only is Harper vulnerable on his own limited anti-terror grounds, he is extremely vulnerable when it comes to the kind of security that actually affects millions of Canadians. When it comes to economic and social security, the vast majority of Canadians haven’t been this insecure since the Great Depression.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
