Luddites Unite!

Without wanting to (once again) sound like a stereotypical cranky old codger, it probably comes as no surprise that I don't like cell phones. In fact I would not have one if my daughter had not made me get one.

Once after one of my moves, I was negotiating with Bell or Telus about getting a landline. The charming young (I assumed) lady at the other end of the line was patiently trying to sell me a package deal. No, I told her, I didn't want to pay for the answering service - I already had an answering machine; no, I didn't need call display - I used my answering machine to screen my calls; no, I didn't need internet access - I was getting it through my landlord and no, I didn't want cable. I suspect she was somewhat frustrated with all of my no answers, but then she brightened up and asked if I wanted to join together my land line plan and my cell phone plan. It was obviously a good deal. I had to disappoint her and say that I didn't have a cell phone. Her response back was "everyone has a cell phone. How else can people find you?". I think my answer back shocked her as I said "I don't want to be found!". The fact is that I just don't think anything is so important that I need to be told immediately.

My daughter, who has been less than excited with my preferred method of getting out to the West Coast every summer, initially asked me to give her a call every few days while traveling. I have always been flattered that she cared enough and so I tried to do that. But as anyone who has driven across the Prairies or though Northern Ontario knows - there are not a lot of telephone booths along the Trans-Canada. There were a few times when, because I had not called in for more than a few days,  I think she at least thought about calling the police. So I bought a cell phone. Just a clam shell type pay-as-you-go phone. Very basic and except for using the alarm clock, I do not know what other features it had (although I did text once on it). I perhaps gave out the number to four or five people, I never left it on and there were months and months when I never even thought about it. It also never worked in Northern Ontario, parts of the Prairies or in the Rockies. Not very useful.

In talking to Telus about how useless of a telephone it was, it was suggested that if I updated the phone to one that had a SIM card that I would get much better coverage. So this week - in the interest of being a good dad - I bought a new phone. It cost twice as much as the first one, doesn't feel as sturdy and as far as I can figure out doesn't do anymore than the other one did. It took a number of hours of comparison shopping, a couple of calls to Telus and then a few hours of trying to read the microscopically printed instruction booklet to input the ten or so phone numbers. I realize that thousands if not millions of people buy a new phone every day and then do all that they need to do so that it works. I realize that none of them expect any sort of reward or recognition that they have done something especially onerous or worthy of praise. But from my perspective it seemed like a whole bunch of money and effort just so folks can find me..... if I ever think about turning it on.

Tired of Complaining #2

It has been four or five days since I decided that I needed to be more positive. Just under a week ago I wrote that I was going to stop ranting on about all of the stupidities of our social/political system. I have, I think done well. But, as I noted in the blog - such good intentions seemed to only last for a few days before the urge to vent (I would prefer to call it - critically analyzing the social, economic and political currents of our post-modernist world) overwhelms me. Sad to say, I already feel the desire to express my frustration bubbling to the surface. And there is so much to be concerned about:

                - Bill C-51 passed yesterday - in spite of all of the days of protest - it passed with a  

                   substantial majority - without so much as a whimper.

                - The multi-national companies and their hacks and spokespeople are already forecasting 

               doom in Alberta. For example Rob Anders, who was the Member of Parliament from 

               Calgary said "Right now I'm worried about rigs moving to Saskatchewan. I'm worried     

               about capital fleeing to the United States. I'm worried about retirees moving to British 

               Columbia," he said. "Hopefully the NDP doesn't do too much to scare business 

               away"(CBC).

                - Mr. Harper during a "surprise" trip to the Middle East released photographs of Canadian                soldiers - thereby potentially putting them at risk. People make mistakes, I get that, but the                Conservatives in their usual fashion first denied that there was any wrongdoing and then                tried to blame someone else for the error.

                - One of the ways that the government was able to post a balanced budget was by not 

               spending money ($98 million) on employment training for young people and on some  

                social service programs -specifically programs for those who have a developmental  

                challenge.

                - The government continues to fight Omar Khadr's bail citing in part that if he was let out it                  might offend the Americans! As if anything that we could do would truly offend the
                 Americans. Either Harper is far more insecure that he lets on or he is being disingenuous.

                - Evidence released in the Mike Duffy trial demonstrates very clearly that the PMO were                  involved in re-writing the initial Senate auditor's report so that it looked as if there was no                  wrong doing or at least the wrong doing was downplayed.

                -The Speaker of the House has decided that Peterborough does not need an elected                 representative and has therefore called the election to replace Dean Del Mastro for the same                 date as the general election in the fall. That means that the Peterborough area, by the fall
                will have been without a Member of Parliament for 344 days. That seems wrong.

But I am not going to write about any of that....... at least not right now.

Warning - Flying Pigs Seen in Alberta!

Thirty days ago any reasonable political pundit would have placed the odds of the Conservatives being defeated in the Alberta election as being about the same as pigs learning to fly. I suspect that the possibility that the N.D.P. could form a majority government was not even on the radar.  If I was living in Alberta  today - I might be looking up just a bit more than usual. Just in case there were still some pigs flying in the sky.

For many people in Alberta this morning, waking up after a month of growing anticipation and then last night's excitement, it must be still difficult to believe that not only is change possible but that it started to happen last night. I can remember that same sense of exhilaration when the NDP defeated the Ontario Liberals in 1990. We all thought it was going to be the coming of a new age. We were wrong.

Within days of the NDP forming the government in Ontario, various corporate groups, organizations  and supporters were publishing articles, newspaper columns and even putting up billboards expressing concern that Ontario was about to head down some dangerous socialist paths. That is already happening in Alberta. Those involved in the oil industries have been threatening for the last week what would happen if the NDP were elected. For example Rafi Tahmazian who is a portfolio manager with Canoe Financial in Calgary has said "As an investor in the oilpatch, you're going to get your teeth kicked in"(CBC). Threats of jobs loss, of companies moving out of the province, of greater unemployment and even fewer corporate donations to charities have all been thrown at the Albertan electorate. The new government in Alberta will need to hold to true to its values in what will be a rather bumpy and I suspect mean spirited ride. Conservatives and multinational corporations are not gracious losers.

The other similarity between Ontario and Alberta is that in 1990 Ontario was starting to experience an economic downturn. This made it difficult for the ruling party to implement some of the needed programs and policy changes that they had promised. Alberta is already in some financial difficulty. If people are hoping to see some quick fixes and some near miraculous changes to the economy - that is not going to happen in the near future. Again the party needs to keep focused on its long term vision and to ignore the short term naysayers.

No one should assume that a NDP win in Alberta means that there is a shift in how the country as a whole will vote in the fall. The election of a new government had far more to do with the public's dissatisfaction with the Conservatives and their attitude than it did with any attraction to a left leaning future. The Albertan NDP's platform is a far cry from the near socialist platforms of Tommy Douglas or David Lewis. In fact it resembles Peter Lougheed's (Premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985) far more than something from the CCF. However given the changing demographics in Alberta with an increasing number of immigrants and young people, it does suggest that these groups of people will vote when there is someone to vote for. Perhaps both the National Liberals and NDP parties should take note of that fact.

I am envious of Albertans this morning. There is the possibility that something neat will start to happen in that province. While oil, at least in the foreseeable future, will be important, perhaps it is finally time to determine how that resource can be used to benefit Albertans (and therefore all of Canada).

In the meantime, for all of those who are digging deep into the ground - please contact me if there are any signs that hell froze over - even if it was just for a day.