Political Troika

The politics (from poly-'many' and tics-'small, loathsome insects') have just been a-scuttling along lately, haven't they? The 'bin's been crammed full of life, lately, so it's been an effort to dip my nose into the river of prattling discourse emanating out of Ottawa, Queen's Park, and my own municipality.
Speaking of my own municipality, we recently had municipal elections...and I was firmly in the majority of residents who did not vote. I haven't missed a provincial or federal election since I came of age, but I've never bestirred myself to vote for anything local. I realize this is shameful behaviour, but I have my excuses. Some of them I've almost succeeded in elevating to the level of reasons.
For one thing, nobody was running on a platform I could support. That's not surprising, since the only municipal platform I could support involves the dissolution of several local governments. We here in Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, in the heart of the Region of Waterloo, are perhaps the most overgoverned sad sacks in the country. There are three local governments for what is one city in all but name...plus a regional government to govern anything the three local governments forgot to govern. It's sheer insanity...and yet every time somebody dares raise a voice for amalgamation, they're drowned out in a chorus of shocked and appalled. "Look at Toronto", the naysayers shout, as if that dysfunctional, near-bankrupt cesspool had anything at all to teach about good governance.
Another reason I can't bring myself to vote municipally is that it just doesn't make a difference. Oh, come on, Ken, I hear the voices calling, you know that's bull. Local governments are the ones closest to the people, the ones that blah, blah, blabbledyblah.
I'll admit it: I have absurdly low hopes and expectations of any city council...especially ours. The water here's all but undrinkable; the winter maintenance of roads and sidewalks can charitably called a joke, and our taxes continue to go up, every year. None of these things seem to register with any local candidate, so I've come to the conclusion I shouldn't care about them either. So long as my garbage is picked up, the transit system--one of this city's rare triumphs--is maintained, and the roads around here don't go completely to ruin, well, I'm happy. Or at least indifferent.
The other stuff local government's supposedly good for, like urban development--or, more fashionably of late, the lack thereof? Stuff gets built anyway, usually exactly where the developer wants it. Money talks, baby.
I don't have a school-age child, or indeed any child, and if I did, I still wouldn't vote for the school board...unless it was to disband it, that is. I'm firmly convinced that school boards are irrelevant, money-guzzling, union-infested self-perpetuating whineries. Quebec, otherwise a bastion of superfluous government, seems to function well without them. I say we can too.

Did somebody mention Quebec?

Stephen Harper pulled a fast one on Gilles Duceppe yesterday, introducing a motion that recognizes Quebec as a "nation within a united Canada". This is one of those self-evident things that's not supposed to be said aloud in this country. Everybody who's ever looked at a national poll--any national poll--broken down by province knows perfectly well that Quebec is a nation unto itself. You can say a lot about Stephen Harper, some of it uncomplimentary, but don't ever think the man lacks balls. The motion left Duceppe sputtering and the rest of the House, Liberals and New Democrats included, giving Harper a standing ovation. Duceppe's still trying to regain the upper hand. For now, he's lost it.

My question, as a staunch federalist Canadian, is simple. Now what?

Harper must realize the last thing Canadians, including those from Quebec, want to get into now is another constitutional crevasse. And yet that motion just begs for further clarification...about five years and a couple of Clarity Acts worth. I'm pretty sure Harper's got a strategy (the word is he's been waiting months for an opportune moment to hatch that particular egg on Duceppe's face)...but what is it? Should be interesting to see.

In other news, got twenty billion dollars? That's how much Ottawa will have to spend on 'carbon credits' if it wants to meet our Kyoto obligations, according to the chief economist for Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. Alternatively, we could choose to lose one third of our economy. Think of yourself and two people you know: chances are one of you'd be out of a job under Kyoto. But not to worry, you'd be living out in the nice clean air...oh, wait a second, Kyoto has nothing to do with clean air. Or water. Or desertification, soil erosion, or almost any other environmental problem you can name.
But it'd sure fix that global warming! We contribute a whopping two percent of greenhouse gas emissions, after all...