Future bomb

Future bomb

I drove into downtown Toronto Friday not long before cops shut half the city down to blow up some bombs they found in a loser’s car. Sadly, things were hardly so exciting in the cramped little CTV studio built into the ground floor of the Globe and Mail building.

I was there for what’s known in the trade as a double-ender. That means staring into a camera lens in a darkened room with a feed in your ear pretending you can see the host and the other guests who are hundreds of kilometres away. The tough thing about doing this is figuring out when it’s appropriate to speak, since you can’t see other people to gauge their body language or expressions. Occupational hazard.

The panel I was part of was all Libs - David McGuinty, the environment critic, Denis Coderre, the defense critic, and me. The topic was the recent caucus, a new poll showing a majorty of people like the way the country’s going, and the upcoming session of Parliament.

And how did it go? Well, that Coderre fella sure can talk a lot, so I probably did not make the point I intended. Fortunately, I have a narcisscistic blog, so I’ll do it here: The next election will not be fought on Afghanistan or even the environment, although both of those will cause much rolling thunder in the House of Commons. Instead, it will be the economy and the impact of events of the next year or so on Canadian families.

I have no doubt the US economy will cease growing and likely slide into recession as the Bush era comes to an end. The severity of the current situation was underscored Friday as the White House announced a package of new measures to keep Americans from walking away form their homes and mortgages. Such an action could not have been remotely contemplated two years ago. And there is more to come.

There will be implications for Canada. Even Alberta. And our current finance minister is quite unlikely to measure up to the challenge. Thus, when real estate equity starts to fade away, famly net worth declines and retirement plans are impacted, Canadian voters could be in an ugly mood. The political party with a realistic set of solutions will triumph. I have no doubt Mr. Harper will become an interesting Wikipedia entry.

CTV’s Question Period airs Sunday at noon.

The next election will not be fought on Afghanistan or even the environment, although both of those will cause much rolling thunder in the House of Commons. Instead, it will be the economy and the impact of events of the next year or so on Canadian families. ~ Garth

Oh, you are only TOO RIGHT. This is the issue that brings ALL Canadians together, which in my experience here shows me is no easy task.

IMHO, IF Canadian leadership could just get it together to see that people are tired of being torn apart while politicians waft around capitalizing on division and not bringing vision “to the table” then things here could be so much better.

It absolutelely saddens me (and angers me, too) to see that a country with this much resources (physical and human)go down the tube when it so easily could be The Leader in the world of How to Do Things in a visionary way.

It’s more than just do we have a nice banquet at the dinner table and do we have a non-rusty car (if we have one), it’s being able to point out to our kidz that they have so much to look forward to as examples of being decent Canadian human beings once again.

No one is reallly asking to be taken care of from cradle to grave, no one. They just want a chance to feel real pride in their accomplishments and work. And that sense of satisfaction has been lacking. I read the papers; tiime and time again, no matter where the quotes from citizens hail from (Finch/Jane, Oshawa, Forest Hill, the Lantic Provinces, Montreal, wherever!) the cry is the same: we want a fair break for our kids — which includes being able to show them we can all reach our potentials.

The first leader who grasps this will get overwhelming support across party lines.

People were truly horrified to see the $8 billion surplus paying down the debt; they wanted to see money spent on education, research & development, the social safety net - investment in Canada’s FUTURE. Nothing grows if you do not plant the seeds ….

C’mon, Garth, keep up the Good Focus . .and convince your new party that Canadian people are not sheeple, because they are not. It’s time for politicians (and one part of the common Canadian identity is that you NEVER trust a politician) to stop playing paternalistic with the reasonable citizens of this country and give everyone a chance to fulfil their potential ..

If only .. we could get politicians to see how much this matters to everyone.

There has to be a sense of common destiny created and there is no place better than to start than with the economy (scary things ahead!) and life’s effects on its citizens and future leaders. And my suggestion is to start with the most vulnerable first .. the First Nations peoples, the disabled, the recent immigrants, students and the unemployed. Nearly all of us has someone close to us in one of those groupings.

Rhetoric ain’t gonna cut it anymore.

Virginia