Wsetern Premiers to the rescue - PART 2

Here is a news flash for you.  Harper and the gang that can't legislate straight have decided that the nuclear industry is toxic to them.  Oh sure, they promote nukes as an alternative energy source and think that isotopes are sexy, but they are planning to sell off AECL's non-toxic divisions to the French or the Americans and then bury the isotope project deep underground.  "We are getting out of the isotope business," declared Harper.

Now Brad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan, is jumping to the rescue.  He wants to take over the isotope businesss from AECL and move it all to U of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.  Great idea.  Go for it Brad.  But -- wait for it -- Brad wants the feds to pay the majority of the costs.

This is a deal that Harper cannot resist.  It has all the earmarks of political success except for two things; 1) there are very few more seats in Saskatchewan for the Cons to buy and 2) once you are sucked in to funding nukes in Saskatchewan, you are on the hook forever -- and that does not square with the "getting out the isotope business" statement.

It also, you can bet your navel fuzz, is going to cheese off the governments of Ontario and Quebec if you move everything to Saskatchewan.  Ontario because they lose another industry and Quebec because they did not get it.

Welcome to Canada.

 

The election is over?

When our election started 36 days ago, the Americans were approaching the end of theirs.   Our is over - and the Americans?  They are still approaching the end of theirs. I have no idea why I bring that up - it just seems a bit odd.

But what is the downside and the upside of our election.

The downside is that we have another minority government at the cost of $340 million tacpayer dollars.  The upside is that, being a minority government, the Cons cannot run crazy across Canada doing what they really want to do.

The downside is that almost all of the incumbents in the election were re-elected drowning out new ideas and voices.  The upside is that the new ideas were put into the public domain during the campaign.  Sure many of them were distorted and ignored for political gain - but at least they are out there.

The downside is that Steve, Stephane and probably Liz and Jack will lose their jobs.  The upside is that Steve, Stephane and probably Liz and Jack will lose their jobs.

It may be time to talk about a Unite the Centre Left movement.  This election like many before it shows that Libs, Dippers and Greenies are not so different that could not work together under a single flag.  The Right did this with the CPC and Reformers.  The time may be right.

Is it time to seriously discuss an Ontario party - the Blonct, shall we say?  Ten percent of the population of Canada control twenty percent of the seats in Parliament because they concetrate their work in one province.  Is it time for us to do the same?