Observation on Immigration

I’m always interested when newspapers print opinion columns by-lined by politicians. They provide a flood of information compared to the usually TV sound-bites. And I’m a political geek, so I like that.

Today’s Star has a column with Premier McGuinty’s name on it, about what the government is trying to accomplish on a trade mission to South-East Asia this winter. There’s the usual talk about jobs, dollars, our track-record, education, and so on.

The whole thing is closed with talk of “family.” Because there are so many people from East Asia in Toronto, we are family.

And a light-bulb went off.

I suddenly get all this talk about building connections through immigrants. Even more than building purely economic ties (You know, that commercial with the Indian woman moving seamlessly from talking to her contacts in Mumbai to talking to her Canadian co-workers in the boardroom?).

We could be building something special, like we already have with Great Britain and the United States. A connection of more than just traded goods, a bond made through shared family and history.

With Toronto as the second-most (some might argue first-most) diverse city on the planet, Ontario is well-poised to make these connections.

MPPs get richer

The Liberals and Conservatives at Queen’s Park are voting to give themselves a 25% raise today. This would bring the base salary of an MPP to about $110,000.

On one hand, there’s something distasteful about being able to give yourself a raise. Especially when MPPs already make way more than most Ontarians, and the less-than-rich are being squeezed on all sides by things like housing and energy costs.

Yet they still take home 25% less than federal MPs, and they have done some good work with raising the minimum wage since 2003. Bonus points for passing the legislation before an election, instead of waiting until after.

I think the pay hike will probably do more good than harm. In the grand scheme of things, it is a small cost for the government. And it will make provincial politics more attractive to “regular people” – rather than the already-wealthy lawyer/business stereotype who can afford to quit his or her job to run for a position that might go to someone else.

I would be happier if it weren’t such a shockingly huge amount (especially for cabinet ministers and the Premier) and if it didn’t go into effect until the next election, but I can live with these shortcomings. It feels a bit trite to say so, but I think this will be good for the state of democracy in Ontario.

Spying on Tommy, spying on me

The Canadian Press, through Freedom of Information laws, have recently been able to get their hands on the the RCMP’s massive file on Tommy Douglas. Information was collected on Douglas from 1939 through the late seventies.

Perhaps fittingly, the file contains articles noting Douglas’s concern about rumours of RCMP surveillance of Canadians, though there is no indication the politician suspected he was being watched.

“Setting people to spy on one another is not the way to protect freedom,” he wrote while NDP leader.

His concern remains germane today, when we are prepared to give up our freedom piecemeal for protection from a threat that essentially amount to the boogey man: anonymous terrorists who walk among us and could strike anywhere at any time.

According to CP, the RCMP kept files on 800,000 Canadians, including 650 politicians and beaurocrats. Spying on the people for their politics – or today, their ethnicity – is no way to run a free country.

Top Six (2006)

It’s that time of year again, when every blogger and their cat spews forth self-important lists of what they think defined the outgoing year. Personally, I like to think I’m above all that self-importance, but in the name of peace and goodwill on Earth this holiday season, I will stoop to the common blogger’s level and indulge my vanity with a couple “top-ten” lists of my own.

Blogsperiment 1

There were about 4000 stalkings in Canada in 1999, and that number can only be on the rise with the advent of Facebook.

Facebook is great fun for procrastinating. It’s also a handy tool if you happen to be stalking someone. It let’s people track your every social move.

“But,” you object, “if you simply don’t tell Facebook what you’re up to every minute of every day, Facebook can’t tell the world.”

True enough, but then how would I procrastinate? Rather than abstain from Facebook for the mere sake of personal safety, I have formulated a diabolical plan to flush out my stalker and continue procrastinating at the same time!