What does it take to get fired by Stephen Harper?

Yesterday, the CBC and other Canadian media outlets reported that Minister of State for the Status of Women Helena Guergis behaved inappropriately while undergoing security screening at the Charlottetown Airport on February 19th, 2010. Further details of this inappropriate behaviour can be found at the following links:

http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/02/helena-guergiss-adventures-in-prince-edward-island.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/airport-worker-says-guergis-meltdown-among-worst-hes-seen/article1482043/

In light of the lack of response from our Prime Minister, I am wondering exactly what does it take to get fired from the Harper cabinet?

Harper defended Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry "...death by a thousand cold cuts..." Ritz during the listeriosis scare that killed more than 20 Canadians. He refused the resignation letter of former Natural Resources Minister Lisa "shortage of medical isotopes is sexy" Raitt after it was discovered that she left sensitive documents behind at an Ottawa television studio and was recorded criticizing her fellow cabinet minister Leona Aglukkaq, the Minister of Health.

Is Harper's defence of his so obviously underqualified and insensitive Ministers just part of the "corporate culture" that now exists in Ottawa under his leadership?

Oh that the rest of us would be so lucky to have high paying jobs where we could be totally incompetent and still be employed no matter how poorly we performed!

"10 percenter" Junk Mail

Those of us that live in Liberal or NDP ridings have become familiar with a new form of junk mail propaganda. Every two weeks or thereabouts, we are privileged to receive an 8 1/2 by 11 inch folded sheet of paper along with our mail with a Conservative MP as the return addressee. These folded sheets are known in political circles as "10 percenters". For the very few of us that take the time to look through our junk mail, we find that these sheets are actually political propaganda published by the Conservative government. While it is annoying to get repeated deliveries of any type of junk mail, it is REALLY annoying to get junk mail that is being paid for with our tax dollars, especially in light of this fiscal year's estimated $56 billion deficit.

If you are not familiar with "10 percenters", please refer to the following links:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/357002

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/08/25/ten-percenters.html

"10 percenters" were originally used by Canadian politicians to contact constituents in various ridings to inform them of Government of Canada programs which may be of interest to them. Since the Harper government has come into power, they have been increasingly using "10 percenters" as a partisan campaign tool. It is estimated that, in 2008 alone, between 30 and 50 million "10 percenters" were sent out in 2008 at a cost to taxpayers of over $10 million. The Conservative and Liberal parties both use "10 percenters", however, the greatest users by far are Conservative MPs

My suggestion is that Canadians save up the "10 percenters" they receive, stick them in an envelope and return them en masse to the Prime Minister's Office. Please remember that you do not have to pay postage when sending mail to the PMO or your (or any) MP.

Our Prime Minister's mailing address is:

Office of the Prime Minister

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa

K1A 0A2

I would also encourage you to contact your MP (and any other MP that cares to respond) and ask that Parliament change the legislation that allows the use of "10 percenters" in any form. I send emails to all MPs that send "10 percenters" to my home asking them questions about the program since they are obviously anxious to communicate with me! In future postings, I will be naming those who have not responded to my email inquiries.

Let's put a quick end to this waste of money and paper!

The Canadian Political and Economic Scene

Over the past 20 years, I have been growing increasingly frustrated with politics and politicians in Canada. We seem to be living in what could be termed "a benevolent dictatorship". While I am not a Libertarian (either upper or lower case "l"), I believe that we are overly regulated and that there is far too much secrecy in our governments at all levels.

Our politicians may start out with great intentions when they are first elected, unfortunately, they are quickly assimilated into the "system" (think of the Borg - resistance is futile, you will be assimilated!). They soon forget that they are responsive and responsible to those who elected them and that they serve at our whim not the other way around.

I'm will be using this blog to vent my frustrations and to point the finger at specific Canadian politicians and particular incidences that the Canadian public needs to take into account the next time we step into the polling booth. I'll also be discussing pertinent economic issues that are critical to our collective futures.