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I’m not sure if this is a nation wide project, or even if its province wide, but the MP’s from Edmonton and the surrounding area have been periodically sending out mail to all of their constituents. This piece of mail consists of a single sheet of paper with some Conservative Party message on it as well as a piece you can rip off and mail back to the MP with your response to the aforementioned message. I despise them.
I am actually in favor of governments letting the people know what its doing and why, but this is not what we’re talking about here. These “political messages” are merely propaganda tools. Further (and I find this insulting) they aren’t very good ones. The message I get from the Conservatives is “We don’t have to try that hard to brainwash such a simple minded public, this should suffice.”
Attacks on other parties either focus on especially weak straw men versions of the target party’s policy or they resort to slander and ad hominem attacks, which never present a political reason why they might be a poor choice for voters. Most of these messages could be replaced by the words “People who are not us are bad,” without losing an ounce of actual content.
The letters used to promote themselves are no better. Most are void of any actual policy and only vaguely refer to some ideal that Conservatives like to attach their policies to. No understanding of Conservative policy would be lost if, instead, they just sent out letters that said, “We are good, believe it!” repeatedly.
These propaganda leaflets have bothered me for some time (especially the “free” return postage, as if it is to be paid out of Conservative pockets instead of by our tax dollars, yeah right) but something odd happened that finally convinced me to write on one of these letters. I received one that actually had a piece of specific information regarding the Conservative plan for Canada: they want to repeal the faint hope clause so those who have received a life sentence will not be eligible for parole for at least 25 years. This, they say, will make Canada safer.
Newsflash: Deregulation does nothing except help the energy suppliers. Consumers are generally out of luck and almost always get the short end of the stick.
The Conservatives in Alberta have deregulated the power distribution system. Has the market pushed down prices? NO. Alberta energy prices are some of the highest in the country. I am not sure how many times this has been said, then patently ignored by the alberta tories. Deregulation hurts consumers.
The Edmonton Journal occasionally squeaks its disapprobation at the most ludicrous government policy. For once they got it right…read the whole article below the fold. I’d link the article itself, but the Journal insists on some digital PDF nonsense.
Former chief consumer advocate
speaks out
Energy contracts shopped doorto-door in Alberta are a “ripoff” because consumers are being charged too much for electricity and natural gas, and have to spend hundreds of dollars to get out of them, a former official with the Utilities Consumer Advocate says.
David Gray, who last month stepped down from his post as the agency’s executive director, said Monday only 30 per cent of the province’s one million retail electricity consumers have switched to contracts.
“The biggest number of complaints we had at the Utilities Consumer Advocate were from people pressured into a contract at their door … and realizing after they got their bill what happened to them. Instead of saving money, their bills went up considerably, and if they wanted to cancel their contracts, they faced enormous penalties.”
I’m with Mr.Broadbent on this one. Forget about changing the name. Spend the time and the effort to reach more Canadians with the NDP’s message. Let us focus on getting Harper out of power and a NDP/Liberal coalition in. The conservatives actively destroy Canada’s social programs, while the Liberals tend to do it piecemeal and quietly. We need to reestablish the idea that the government works for the People of Canada as a opposed to the just the corporate elite of Canada.
Surprisingly I found this on the global website. The full article is behind the link.
Ed Broadbent fires up NDP convention
Richard Foot, Canwest News Service: Friday, August 14, 2009
Former NDP Leader Ed Broadbent in a file picture.
Photo Credit: Brent Foster, Windsor Star
HALIFAX — Twenty years after he left the helm of the federal NDP, a greyer, more stooped, but no less feisty Ed Broadbent was back in front of his party on Friday, unleashing an angry attack on the Liberals and Conservatives and blaming them squarely for the current recession.
In an opening speech at the NDP’s national convention in Halifax, Broadbent said “the disastrous consequences” of two decades of budget cutting, tax cutting and of slashing social programs in Ottawa — accompanied by similar policies in other western countries — led directly to “last fall’s economic crisis.”
He also said Canadians should not delude themselves in perceiving a difference between the economic stewardship of recent Liberal or Conservative governments.
“I had so much hope of what was promised…but nothing has happened yet.”
“Where is the change?”
These and similar statements are filtering through the liberal blogosphere. What happened to the lovely luster of Obama circa ’08? Some would say that he is reneging on his promises, ignoring the people that brought him into office.
I think Obama is still coming to terms with the reality of the political machinations he needs to wrestle with and the weight of established opinion he is trying to change. It will not be easy.
I am very happy that McCain did not get in, I think that would have been much worse an outcome for Canada. At least with Obama in our PM cannot so unabashedly embrace the neo-conservative ideology which he seems to be in love with.
Obama raised the bar very high during his election campaign. Many people were expecting many great things from his presidency from the beginning. I think that view is unrealistic given the political reality of the situation. Change, especially progressive change is going to happen in very small increments in US politics. The administration has changed, but the ruling elite, the people who have power and influence in America, have not.
I think I am going to get this book. This review makes me think this work is along the same lines as much of Noam Chomsky’s work.
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I would feel better if this was not really the par for the course from Alberta politicians. I would think by now that they would have taken a page from Harper’s federal playbook and kept the loons muzzled and in the background. The recent kerfuffle with Bill 44 (and the mess it is going to cause) coupled with statements like this:
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“Men are attracted to smiles, so smile, don’t give me that ‘treated equal’ stuff. If you want Equal, it comes in little packages at Starbucks.”
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I’ve just posted the highlights of the train-wreck from CBC. For a detailed analysis please see The Intransigent One’s comments. Insightful and well worth the read.
Well on the bright side, aside from social conservatism, Alberta tories do a wonderful job of mismanaging our natural resources. It is comforting to know our beloved conservative party possesses a solid, fail enhanced position on resource management, once they are finished mucking about with social issues.
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Edmonton-Calder MLA Doug Elniski, seen in a photo posted on Facebook, took down his blog on Monday. 
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
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