Wednesday, September 30, 2009

My Political Wish List

Things that need to be legalized

1) marijuana,

2) prostitution

3) euthanasia.


Needed Federal Programs

1) Dental dental

2) National Child Care program

3) Natonal Drug plan


Upgrading of national standards

1) National minimum wage

2) Miniumum 4 weeks vacation a year. This is the European minimum.

3) Massive increase the number of ridings. The hinterlands have way too much electoral clout.


Things that need to be abolished

1) Native Rights If someone was to suggest that land should be reserved for, say, Chinese Canadians and that Chinese Canadians should have rights that other Canadians do not have, you would first ask them to lie down; you would then call 911 and tell the person at the other end of the line that you believe that the person before you had suffered a stroke and that paramedics should come quick. Whether it be billions lost to illegal cigarette sales, or setting up school food programs for kids who live on land that if divided equally would net them tens of millions on the open market, it hard to think of anything quite so daft.

2) The Senate.

3) Family Unification If the main point of a high rate of immigration is to lessen the effects of an aging population, what sense does it make to allow immigrants to sponsor their parents and grandparents? The average immigrant to Canada is only a bit younger than the average Canadian. Now do not get me wrong. Canada needs more immigrants -- alot more. Canada needs to at least triple the number of economic immigrants to Canada each year. However at the same time as it needs to do that, it needs to all but eliminate every other category of immigrant. Also, there needs to be a greater emphasis and youth, and language skills.

4) The ability of employers to bring in unskilled temporary workers. The Canadian tax payer should not be paying to have temporary unskilled workers brought in just so the Tim Horton's and company can undercut wages of Canadians. If they want workers, they can pay the piper.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps what you meant to say was that it is time for Canada to live up to its treaty obligations and settle land claims in good faith. Just today in Winnipeg federal courts decided that the former army base lands should not be sold to a private developer as was tried, "Canada acted contrary to law by failing to meet the mandatory legal requirement of consultation with the Brokenhead and Peguis First Nations before the making of the November 2007 decision to transfer the surplus lands at Kapyong Barracks to the Canada Lands Company pursuant to the Treasury Board Directive on the Sale or Transfer of Surplus Real Property; and, as a result, the November 2007 decision is invalid." Canada failed to honour its contracts. It's high time to live up to them, not pretend that they aren't valid.

Joan said...

Lots of good points but you are dead wrong about the Native Rights issue. They were here, with legitimate societies when the Europeans arrived and deprived them of rights, land and culture.
There were treaties, albeit insufficient and duplicitous, signed which have never been recognized by our governments until they were forced to do so by our courts. All others, including your ancestors and mine simply took what was not theirs and have almost destroyed our aboriginal cultures.
Speaking of the Chinese, how would you feel if the Chinese descended upon us by the millions and simply, by virtue of their numbers, took over our lands and cities and isolated us somewhere in a remote northern location where we could fend for ourselves out of sight of the larger (Chinese) community?

Tomm said...

Wow.

That's quite the shopping list.

With respect to aboriginal rights; the broader society has no idea how much bigger and gnarlier this item is likely to get. As long as we as a charter based society allow group rights to have primacy over personal and individual rights, we are doomed to see this grow bigger and bigger. Our only hope is to settle land claims equitably and as quickly as possible. Once that occurs, begin the process of local self government, on reserve local taxation, and solidify the democratic inclusive nature of band elections. This will slowly turn the corner for ghetto type aboriginal communities to see a positive future. As long as we shovel money and a patronizing attitude toward aboriginal people as a group, we will continue down the rabbit hole. As the saying goes, if you want people to act with responsibility, give them responsibility.

I've got several aboriginal friends and colleagues and without exception it is personal initiative that lights their way, not group identity.

Koby said...

No what I meant to say is that Canada should abolish native rights.

Look not even bleeding hearts bother to defend such as an idiotic armament. All you do is drone on and on about treaties signed or not signed, as it were, some 140 plus years ago. Needless to say, I do find such fatalistic and masochistic arguments convincing. The law is a tool; it is a way of creating for ourselves a better life and if the laws are not doing that they need to be changed.

Joan: Look if native rights were to be abolished those northern communities you speak so lovingly of would the die. Conversely, it is you that condemns future generations to be born into a communities that completely economically unviable. Without hope for a better future, these children will be plagued by the same problems that plagued their parents. Lamenting high infant mortality rates, teen pregnancy rates, teen drop out rates, crime rates and rapid substance abuse, means nota if you are setting in motion the very things you lament.

The same goes for racism. You can lament that racism still exists in Canada all you want, supporting a policy that defines native in the same manner that Nazis defined Jew and giving one particular group rights that no other groups enjoys, is preventing things from getting better. Do not kid yourself.

Koby said...

Yes Tomm it is the "stupid charter". Trudeau's sold his soul and ours in order to repatriate the constitution. Collective rights will be the death of us. Of the big issues facing Canada, I would list the intellectual abortion that is native rights as the biggest challenge facing Canada after an aging population. I have no faith that things will get better only worse. What is needed is for one of major parties to get behind the issue and make the willingness judges to role back the idiocy as limitus test for sitting on the bench.

Anonymous said...

Abolish native rights? Whew.....this is awful. You see, we took their rights away, signed treaties and there are rules and laws and hopefully most Canadians have a conscience about this.

Actually, this is quite a childis rant here.

And, with your views, why are you on Liblogs - you sound very NDP here.

Koby said...

Yet another bleeding heart dough head. Go on defend the idiotic system, then we will talk.