Politicians need to resolve to change

Here we are on the brink of a new year. And a new decade (the 10s?), to boot. Do you have any resolutions?

What is it about a new calendar year that makes us eager to reinvent ourselves, if only a little bit? The coming of a new year is seen as a fresh start and a time for deciding what needs to be changed and where to go next. It’s for these reasons that so many people make New Year’s resolutions to accomplish …Read more

Liberal fire-sale needs to be dowsed

Dalton McGuinty has run out of ideas. The proof? He’s recycling a lame proposal floated by Mike Harris and his crony Jim Flaherty: the sale of provincial assets in the name of deficit relief.

The provincial government has engaged two investment banks to study the sale of, among others, the LCBO, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. and the electrical transmission system operated by Hydro One. …Read more

Lowered expectations will fuel cuts

Woolwich councillors made the first of a series of hard, but necessary decisions as they cobble together a budget for 2010. In turning down requests for large funding increases to Woolwich Community Services and the Woolwich Counselling Centre, they’ve set the stage for the cuts that will have to come, not just next year but for the foreseeable future …Read more

Gun control’s about curbing violence

December’s arrival has moved the yuletide season into high gear. The time of happiness and goodwill will be intruded on tomorrow, however, for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

It may not be the ideal season for such thoughts – really, when is? – but the timing was dictated by Marc Lépine, who on Dec. 6, 1989 murdered 14 young women at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal simply because of their …Read more

Change is happening, accept it or not

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was under fire this week for opting out of attending the climate-change conference in Copenhagen. That’s partly due to Harper’s history as a skeptic, but mostly about the opposition looking to score points off the fact U.S. President Barack Obama has decided to go to Denmark.

Harper eventually changed his mind. …Read more

The Afghanistan posturing continues

There should be no surprise in revelations by diplomat Richard Colvin that detainees rounded up by Canadian troops were tortured upon being turned over to Afghan officials. As with Iraq, that appears to be standard operating procedure.

While his comments to a parliamentary committee will be dissected for clues about who knew what when, that’s really of little interest to most Canadians. It’s the bigger picture that matters, and perhaps one question: when are we getting out?

Right now, we’re still on track for a withdrawal by mid-2011. By that time, additional lives will have been lost, and we’ll have spent billions. All to no avail. Of course, we were only there to appease the U.S., having declined to join the escapades in Iraq.

Conservative MPs tried to discredit Colvin’s remarks, fearing tales of widespread torture would prompt the public to call for a quicker return of our troops. That might lead to people expecting the government to respect the wishes of a growing majority of Canadians opposed to taking part in the occupation.

This was never a good situation. There’s nothing to be “won,” and history has shown the effort will have no effect on the situation:  we’ll continue to pour lives and money into a country unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

The occupation is all about taking control of strategic territory. That’s the one and only reason foreign troops are there. Yet we’ll hear nothing but platitudes about democracy and freedom.

At the end of the day – and sooner or later there will be an end – we’ll have nothing to show for it but gravesites and a tremendous tab.
Aside from the obvious wrong of occupying an independent country, there is a purely pragmatic argument to be made for leaving Afghanistan: the financial cost of billions of dollars with absolutely no return.

The federal government estimates the cost of the mission, from 2001 to the current withdrawal date of 2011, at $11.3 billion. That doesn’t include some figures such as equipment depreciation. Nor does it include the ongoing disability and health care costs for veterans.

The war there has helped push Canadian military spending to highs not seen since the Second World War, outstripping the Cold War era.

Internationally, Canada was the 13th highest military spender in the world last year, up from 16th. Within the 26-member NATO alliance, Canada has moved to sixth- from seventh-highest military spender, dollar for dollar.

Since September 11, 2001, Canada’s military spending has increased by 27 per cent, and after the next two years of planned increases, will be 37 per cent higher than 2000-01.
The Department of National Defence has been vocal of late in regards to the 2011 pullout. The government has been less decisive, leading to speculation it will again try to extend the mission – a poor decision, but that’s not enough to stop Harper from trying.

Some will argue he’s been practical: the U.S. is a major ally and trading partner, and we’re doing something to ingratiate ourselves to an administration that views anyone who’s not with them as in league with their enemies.

In opposing the war in Iraq, and U.S. domination elsewhere, Canadians are certainly in line with just about every other country – even the majority of Americans oppose the war.
If doing what’s right isn’t enough reason to get out of Afghanistan, then the bottom line certainly warrants consideration.

2015 games a debacle in the making

Politicians are increasingly seen as clueless when it comes to the priorities of their constituents. If you want to be more pointed in labeling their motives, they’re seen as working in their own interests and those of a handful of supporters.

For proof, look no further than the millions of dollars wasted – and the billions more to follow – in Toronto’s “winning” bid to host the Pan American Games in 2015 …Read more

Remember to avoid repeating history

Remembrance Day ceremonies will be held tomorrow (Sunday) in Elmira and Linwood, activities that prompt us to take heed of the sacrifices of war. Ideally, we’ll remember not to go down that road again.

Remembrance Day goes beyond recalling the valour of those who served – many of whom made the supreme sacrifice – in Canada’s wars. As well, the observance should make us think about the consequences …Read more

Park debate shape of things to come

A Woolwich staff report favouring development in Victoria Glen Park comes as no surprise: the township needs money to pay for its building blitz. Having crunched the numbers, staff sees cutting down part of the wooded area in favour of new homes as an easy way to come up with some $1.5 million …Read more

Coming down on the side of caution

With flu season bearing down on us, hype about the influenza A (H1N1) virus, the so-called swine flu, is building back up, though thankfully not at the levels we saw last spring when news of the virus first broke.

And now that there’s a vaccine available – Waterloo Region residents will be among the first to receive it – some of the hysteria should be dampened. It will be interesting, however, to see how the public responds to …Read more