I’m Supposed to Write a Blog Post Today

When I rebooted this blog in the fall of 2018 I made a commitment to post at least once a month and so far I have kept that promise to myself. However I have not posted yet this month and it has been over a month since my last post. But what to write about.

Our neighbours to the south in the United States seem to be going deeper into the abyss day by day. People blame Trump, people blame the system, people blame the voters. But what more can be said that has not been said before.

In the Middle East a brutal genocide is being carried on against the Palestinian people by a governing regime of a state that was founded by holocaust survivors. Whatever can one say about that.

And what can we say about the British Labour party going off the ideological rails.

In Canada the people united to keep the Maple MAGA Conservative Party out of power by electing a Liberal government led by a small c conservative who has been called a climate activist. And this government thinks the key to our future is in becoming a fossil fuel superpower. How does one react to that.

I am at a loss for words about what to say about these things so there is no blog today,

Portugal Bike Tour Slideshows

These photos were taken during the excellent Pedal and Sea Adventures  Portugal’s Blue Coast Cycling Tour featuring excellent guides and lovely accommodations. There was a lot of climbing and some wonderful descents, but at 75 I was fortunate to be on an e-bike as I would not have managed on an ordinary bicycle.

Map of Route

 

Altitude Profile

 

Lisbon Before Portugal Bike Tour Slideshow

 

Portugal Bike Tour, Day 1 on the bus Slideshow

 

Portugal Bike Tour, Riding Day 1 (Sesimbra to Setúbal) Slideshow

Portugal Bike Tour, Riding Day 2 (Setúbal to Santiago do Cacém) Slideshow

Portugal Bike Tour, Riding Day 3 (Santiago do Cacém to Vila Nova do Milfontes) Slideshow 

 

 Portugal Bike Tour, Riding Day 4 (V.N. Milfontes to Alejezur) Slideshow

 

 

Portugal Bike Tour, Riding Day 5 (Alejezur to Lagos) Slideshow

Portugal Bike Tour, Final Day at the Hotel Slideshow

Vienna After Portugal Bike Tour Slideshow

 

The Non-Profit Small Business Model

The non-profit small business model provides interest free start-up loans to individuals or groups who apply to start a non-profit business. The application must include a business plan with a timeline to pay off the loan. The business plan must commit the non-profit small business to pay employees (including a designated manager) a living wage with appropriate benefits and pensions. The business plan must also commit the business to meet designated health and safety and environmental standards.

Any excess of revenues over expenses may be used to pay down the loan sooner or expand the business, or it shall be paid equally in bonuses to all employees.

I do not know if the non-profit small business model exists anywhere, but it should.

The Next Four Years: An Opportunity for the New Democratic Party

The last election may have been an electoral disaster for the NDP but it is also an opportunity that should not be passed by.

Indeed the NDP should not be rushing into a leadership campaign but rather let the Parliamentary leader act as party leader until the party has a chance to rebuild itself.

The parliamentary party’s role for the next four years should be to, not play games, but support the government in it’s war on Trump’s tariffs and annexation talk and Maple MAGA’s efforts to Americanize Canada.

Meanwhile the broader party should start a process (preferably in collaboration with the Green Party and Canada’s social movements) similar to the 1961 founding of the New Party, which became The New Democratic Party, to build a true Social Democratic Party of Canada. It needs to abandon it’s experiment with left wing populism and build a party built on principles and philosophy. Some would call this ideology but the NDP is at it’s best when it is ideological. It is time for an NDP rebirth.

I would propose a two year time frame to do this purposefully and carefully including the election of a party leader for the new Social Democratic Party of Canada at the end.

This should be followed by two years to rebuild the membership and solidify links with Canada’s social movements and for the parliamentary caucus of the new Social Democratic Party of Canada to press for democratic reforms and in particular electoral reform, either through a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) or  Ranked Ballot Voting system so that Canadians can elect a truly representative government in the next election without the possibility of the least desired party having one hundred percent of the power in the House of Commons.

Hopefully during this time the true conservatives in the Conservative Party will see the error of throwing their lot in with the Canadian Alliance and Reform Party and rebuild the former Progressive Conservative Party and exile the extremists to the right wing fringe so-called Peoples Party.

Lambda Posters Year Four 1972-1973

This is part of a series of blog posts featuring posters published in the Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario) student newspaper, Lambda during the years I worked there while studying Political Science (1969-1973).

Please note: if you wish to read the small appearing print on the posters please enlarge/zoom the images.

1972-10-10 Vol 11 No 5

 

1972-11-07 Vol 11 No 9

 

1972-11-28 Vol 11 No 12

 

 

 1972-12-05 Vol 11 No 13

  

 

1972-12-12 Vol 11 No 14

1973-01-03 V0l 11 Special A

 

1973-01-03 Vol 11 Special B

 

1973-01-09 Vol 11 No 15

 

 1973-01-16 Vol 11 No 16

 

1973-01-23 Vol 11 No 17

 

1973-01-30 Vol 11 No 18

You can access the online archives for Lambda here:

Lambda Archive Laurentian University student newspapers - Lambda: InternetArchive

Lambda Posters Year Three 1971-1972

This is part of a series of blog posts featuring posters published in the Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario) student newspaper, Lambda during the years I worked there while studying Political Science (1969-1973).

Please note: if you wish to read the small appearing print on the posters please enlarge/zoom the images.

1971-10-12 Vol 10 No 5

  

1971-11-09 Vol 10 No 9

 

1971-12-14 Vol 10 No 14

 

1972-01-01 Vol 10 No 16

 

1972-02-03 Vol 10 No 20

 

1972-03-14 Vol 10 No 24 A

 

1972-03-14 Vol 10 No 24 B

 

1972-03-21 Vol 10 No. 25 A

 

1972-03-21 Vol 10 No. 25 B

 

You can access the online archives for Lambda here:

Lambda Archive Laurentian University student newspapers - Lambda: InternetArchive

Lambda Posters Year Two 1970-1971

This is part of a series of blog posts featuring posters published in the Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario) student newspaper, Lambda during the years I worked there while studying Political Science (1969-1973).

Please note: if you wish to read the small appearing print on the posters please enlarge/zoom the images.

1970-09-29 Vol 9 No 3

 

1970-10-08 Vol 9 No 4

1970-10-22 Vol 9 No 6

1970-10-29 Vol 9 No 7

 

1970-11-12 Vol 9 No 9

1971-01-21 Vol 9 No 14

 

You can access the online archives for Lambda here:

Lambda Archive Laurentian University student newspapers - Lambda: InternetArchive

Lambda Posters Year One 1969-1970

This is part of a series of blog posts featuring posters published in the Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario) student newspaper, Lambda during the years I worked there while studying Political Science (1969-1973).

Please note: if you wish to read the small appearing print on the posters please enlarge/zoom the images.

1969-09-24 Vol 8 No 3

1969-11-26 Vol 8 No 13

1970-01-29 Vol 8 No 19

1970-03-19 Vol 8 No 25

 1970-03-31 Vol 8 No 26

 

You can access the online archives for Lambda here:

Lambda Archive Laurentian University student newspapers - Lambda: InternetArchive

Canada Needs a Red-Orange-Green National Unity Government

At a time when the country that has been our best friend, ally, and international partner for longer than we have been a country has decided that we are now the enemy (and the country that was our and our NATO allies’ historical enemy is now their best fiend) we need to be united.

This time in our history is not the time for a snap election, a change of leadership, or for a Prime Minister to be distracted by an election campaign, especially when Justin Trudeau has just proven himself to be the leader we need.

At this time, facing this existential threat, we can certainly not depend on Pierre Poilievre and his MAGA and freedumb convoy sympathetic Conservatives to lead us against the attacks of the Trump regime to the south.

There is however a solution. The Liberal Party, New Democratic Party and Green Party must come together to form a coalition National Unity Government. Justin Trudeau can continue as Prime Minister until after the fall election without the political distraction of having to seek re-election.

In the next election the three progressive parties must pledge to not run against each other, with the candidate from the party with the most votes in the last election in each constituency being the National Unity Government candidate. The new Liberal Party leader will lead the Liberal Party campaign leaving Prime Minister Trudeau free to lead the country in this battle for our existence until a new government is elected.

This war will be continuing and I would propose the continuing National Unity Government (if the voters so choose) appoint Justin Trudeau as a special envoy to deal with the Trump regime.

The National Unity Government should also bring in electoral reform in it’s first term after re-election. Ranked Ballot Voting which essentially keeps our single member constituency system, effectively only changing the way ballots are counted, will probably be the easiest to find a consensus for. 

A Radical Idea to Return to Government by The People Rather Than by One Person

In the United States today perhaps we are seeing the epitome of government by one person, at least in countries that claim to be democracies.

Here in Canada ever since Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau made his alleged famous “MPs are nobodies off Parliament Hill” remarks and started the concentration of power within the Prime Minister’s Office, which was increased by Stephen Harper, and if his control over his caucus is any indication would be increased even more by Pierre Poilievre, we have been heading in that direction.

The Canadian public, and to a degree the Canadian media, overwhelmed by American media and news sources seem to have come to accept that, and people tend to think they are voting for a Prime Minister (or Premier) when they go to the polls.

But that is not the way our system works. We have a parliamentary system where Parliament governs and the executive function is shared by a Cabinet where the Prime Minister is considered “first among equals”. The Prime Minister is not elected as Prime Minister but serves as Prime Minister by virtue of, not only the confidence of the House of Commons as a whole, but also the confidence of their caucus and Cabinet. It is because Trudeau lost the confidence of his caucus, not the electorate or his party, that he announced his intention to resign.

How do we change this attitude that the Prime Minister is elected as “ruler of Canada” rather than chosen to be Prime Minister by virtue of having the confidence of the House of Commons.

I propose we get rid of party leaders as they are now selected by the parties in what could be considered an undemocratic manner where new party members have a disproportionate amount of influence.

Parties should contest elections based on their party platforms and local candidates, not a mythical claim by their leaders to be running to be Prime Minister. Let us bring the candidates the voters actually cast their ballots for to the forefront of the election process and put the emphasis on local constituency debates. There could also be a series of debates on subjects where the parties select different spokespersons to debate in each subject area.

After the election each caucus of elected Members of Parliament should elect their leader and the Governor General will ask whoever is best positioned to have the confidence of the House to become Prime Minister.

Let us bring back government of the people back.

 

Postscript: for a more comprehensive look at our democratic system see On Democracy.