Bread and Circuses

Youth unemployment/under employment, student debt, the environment, the exportation of raw resources, the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor, euthanasia, the deterioration of our infrastructure, the lack of public transport , the scarcity of affordable housing, the total absence of a national day care policy, racism, homophobia, the extraordinary disconnect between what the First Nations of Canada need and deserve and are owed as compared to what they are offered and of course the senate- the list goes on and on. All are issues that that are complex in nature and that will require the intelligence and compassion of all Canadians to resolve.

According to CBC, in the throne speech tomorrow, the government will continue to be focused on the economy. That is - they will create legislation that enables their political agenda (code words for support their right wing political base) of sound economic policies. In other words they will continue to do what they have in the past - allow the land to be raped, permit large corporations to do what they want and maintain their personal vision of Canada that is at best out of date and in fact reflects a reality that never did exist.What they won't do is deal with any of the above issues in a meaningful fashion.

On a positive note they are going to suggest that they want the cable companies to "de-bundle" their services, that cell phone companies reduce cell phone costs and that Air Canada stop over-booking flights. All of which would require some regulations in those industries - something the Conservatives have been reluctant to do. So we can assume they will not do those things but will be able to gain some credibility amongst those Canadians who have lost the ability/desire to think critically. Hopefully for most of us, we will see these plans to act on behalf of Canadian consumers - exactly that. A calculated plan to blind us from looking at the more important issues.

The government is also going to announce more funding and plans for the continued celebration of the war of 1812-14. A war that is only marginally interesting to a handful of Canadians while being totally irrelevant for a large geographic proportion of Canada. In fact with the exception of teasing some American fellow travellers about why their White House is white - the war never enters my thoughts. I don't think I am alone. We are also going start the celebrations for Canada's 150 birthday - which is not until 2017. Nothing like a long build-up.

So the government is going offer us more parties celebrating an event that had little consequence and suggest that things will get better if we just trust them. Sorry Mr. Harper -potentially better access to some specialty cable stations is not enough to convince me that I should trust you.