New Media and Politics - Why Aren't Canadians Pissed Off?

The more I sift through the Canuck news on a daily basis the more frustrated I become. I don't understand why that frustration is not shared and why complacency is the order of the day. Near as I can tell both the Liberals and the NDP have been given the gift of Harper, an obfuscating idealogue whose policies do not reflect how most Canadians feel on... pick a topic!

They should be eager to go to the polls and run against the policies of the Conservatives, yet clearly they are not. Do they feel unable to articulate these differences and afraid run stictly on matters of policy and principle - as opposed to personality? If so, both Iggy and Layton should retire immediately then and let people with courage take their place.

Sadly, Canadians lost another soldier in Afghanistan on Monday - Trooper Lary Rudd. The 26-year-old Brantford, Ont., native was killed when an improvised explosive device went off underneath him on Monday. He was on patrol near the village of Salavat in Afghanistan’s Panjwai district, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. Heartfelt condolences.

Our brave MP's who have not experienced an audit of their expenses in 20 years are doing everything possible to avoid one now. Sheila Fraser is quite right in suggesting that if they've nothing to hide there really should be no problems. As it's Canadian taxpayers money at stake here, there really should be an audit every five years or so - anything else just encourages corruption.

Of course we are dealing with a government that does everything in their power to fight transparency - in fact, it looks like they are gunning for another showdown with Parliment as there's new Tory policy that says only cabinet ministers and not their political staff can appear as witnesses before parliamentary committees. House leader Jay Hill pathetically blamed the opposition and decried the "tyranny of the opposition majority." Conservatives the world over are consistent - whenever they disagree with the rule of law and don't like what's happening, they claim victimhood. In a democracy that tyranny of the majority will get you every time!

Speaking of tyranny of the majority, someone should tell Cardinal, Marc Ouellet that Canadians have had the debate and favour choice by a 2 -1 margin. Maybe he'd like a debate on whether or not churches should retain their tax free status I'm against it, especially if they're going to get involved in politiics. Still, you won't catch me shoving my opinion down his throat. It'd be nice if he'd reciprocate, but I'm not holding my breath.

Bad news on infant mortality in Canada - we've dropped from 6th to 24th. The main causes cited by researchers were poverty, isolation, premature births and to some degree, the way the data are collected. Finally, good news about teenage birth and abortion rates across Canada, which have dropped by 36.9% as a result of progressive policies that include sex-ed and acceptance of adolescent sexuality.