The Emperors New Clothes

In the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Emperor’s New Clothes," the king is swindled to believe that two con-men sewed him a new royal cloak, only to gullibly parade himself nude in the streets before his subjects. Many see this story as a lesson to scrutinize all you are told. But the better lesson is revealed when a child points to the king and yells, "He’s naked!"

Out of the mouth of innocence comes the truth. But in the story those who witnessed the buffoon leader parading like a fool stood in fear unable to speak out the truth. The story, has become a lesson to imply that the motive and rationale for not seeing the obvious truth has become so ingrained that the majority do not even realize that they are perpetuating a falsehood. The king in this story is nothing but a politician and the people are the electorate.

In walks Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff speaking publicly on September 14th at the Canadian Club of Ottawa. The more I dwell on his speech titled, "Canada’s Place in a changing World" the more insulted I feel.

We have gotten used to the Liberals bad mouthing the governing Conservatives and visa-versa. It has become the ‘modus operandi’ of Canadian politics. For the most part, because many of us can see the whole picture from the side-lines, we can pick out the mouse crap in the wild rice, but to the uninformed, speeches like this do nothing but puff up a speaker and weaken the national pride that Canada has achieved over the years. You see, Ignatieff in his zeal to tear down Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, publicly told us all that we as Canadians should feel shame and that we as world citizens just don’t matter.

He claims in his speech that Canada will only matter if it is run by the Liberal party led by himself. Take a look at a few words from the mouth of the ‘natural ruling party leader’. "After the last four years, it’s hard to remember how much Canada once mattered." and "For the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, the international scene exists only to score points on the domestic scene. And our credibility on the international scene has suffered in consequence. The Conservatives are giving up Canada’s place in the world." And then out of the mouth of a man who has lived too long out-of-his country he said, "Under this government, Canada is becoming the country that dares not speak its name."

Words of shame. How can this man look into the eyes of a Canadian soldier’s widow and say, "It’s hard to remember how much Canada once mattered." How can one be so ignorant as to look in the eyes of China’s restricted souls and say that when Canada stood against China’s human rights abuses that it was only a ploy to win votes for the Conservative party. Ignatieff trivialized communist China’s abuse of their citizens. Where is Ignatieff on this issue?

And, how do you as a Canadian feel when this man tells you that you live in a country that dares not speak its name?! To speak in this context is the same as flying our flag on international waters or on a foreign soil at our embassies, or on the battlefield along side other nations making sacrifices daily.

Ignatieff even stated that we as a nation have become mute. "They note our silence in international councils and ask; Where is Canada?" Apparently he does not consider our closest neighbours, the USA, as important, because it is under our Conservative government that relations have improved because of Harper’s open arm policy, meeting former President Bush and now Barack Obama on important issues concerning not only the USA and Canada, but other countries. The fact that under our current leadership Obama’s first out-of-country visit was to Canada in order to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Do we as the electorate forget the insults hurled by the Liberals towards the USA, when in 2003 then Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish was heard saying on an open mike, "Damn Americans, I hate the bastards!" Only to follow up by stomping on replicas of the US President jeering that ‘he is a moron’ in an effort to denounce the war in Iraq. A war where Americans have lost their lives and spent billions to maintain. Is this the type of ‘national pride’ Ignatieff foresees for Canada? Do you think that if Obama’s rise to power would have occurred in 2003, he would have put Canada first?

This is a man not in touch with reality. He is parading in public in arrogant pride sporting a new wardrobe void of any real thread of credibility. He is a man who has stripped himself of the dignity of the clothed, and in this speech of September 14th revealed to Canadians what he thinks of our country, the men and women who serve our country and those who live here. In his own words, he said that we are people that dare not speak our names. I guess we just don’t matter.

Well, Mr. Ignatieff, I am a proud Canadian. When I shake the hand of a Canadian soldier, I do get a lump in my throat. A well of emotion builds up in me, those of gratefulness, pride and admiration. Grateful because of what our men and woman are doing for the people of Afghanistan. Grateful because I know that when the sole of a Canadian soldier steps off on foreign soil I know that Canada matters!

This latest insult by a Liberal leader only brings one image in my mind. It is the image of former Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau flipping British Columbians in Salmon Arm the ‘bird’. Only now the face has changed, and its not just a province this gesture is directed to.

Face to Face

Sitting on a public bus in Edmonton, around 10:00 PM, passing through Jasper Avenue and across the High Level bridge to finally encroach Whyte Avenue, one  sees many sights. I highly recommend anyone from the country and suburbs to take the journey. I’m not talking about the view of the North Saskatchewan River, or the bright lights of the city skyline at night. Yes, these sights are rather impressive. No, the view I speak of is the people that ride public transportation late at night, or the fellow on the street corner yelling at a sign post in a drunken stupor, or a stupor for which Prozac may provide relief from.

I need to say that I am a true believer that a divine creator brought life to the earth through intelligent design. But this journey exploring Edmonton streets tends to make one believe that perhaps we may have been evolved from some lower life form, and perhaps a few genetic throwbacks may have missed the ‘bus’ so-to-speak. Because the man standing on the street corner with a plumber crack breezing in the wind, or the ‘working-girls’ looking to ‘hook-up’ with the man named ‘John’ tend to shake my faith in ‘intelligent design’.

In this we can agree, that whether science has all the answers or people of faith know the truth, one thing holds true, and that is that the truth shall be revealed through observing nature as laid before us by the Great Architect.

Just last week, again scientific academia engaged in a debate amongst their peers regarding, what Darwin coined as "The Origin of a Species" .

Two scientists in particular, a Jeffery Schwartz and John Grehan, have postulated that humans most likely evolved from orangutans and not chimpanzees as once concluded by the smart folks that write our text books. "Scientists go out on a limb to say we're more like orangutans than chimps." Edmonton Journal Sept. 6, 2009. This revelation may have shook the foundation of the scientific faithful, because as we have all been told, it was the chimp that gave us the characteristics we see in others while riding a city bus.

According to science, DNA shows that humans have more in common with the chimp, then the gorilla followed by the orangutans. But it has been proven that the orangutans are the smartest apes on earth, next to the dude talking to the sign post.

Popular culture was way ahead of Schwartz and Grehan when in the 70’s the scifi movie, "The Planet of Apes" had portrayed the blonde haired orangutans as the scientific leaders in the community and the keepers of the faith.

Schwartz and Grehan argue that DNA is not the only indicator for evolution. They argue that the orangutan share more physical characteristics with humans than do the chimps. They said that, ‘DNA analysis is problematic and conventional chimpanzee theory is not backed up enough by fossil evidence.’

Did you catch that, two respected anthropologists in an effort to push through their scientific position, have admitted that evolution of man from chimps (apes) are not backed up by fossil evidence. This is something that many people who believe in intelligent design have been stating. The truth is that the evidence for the entire "Evolution of Man" charts proudly displayed in our public schools are based on a fossil collection that can barely cover the surface of a pool table. The amount of conjecture by science is as ‘wholly’ (pun intended) as that of Schwartz and Grehan. Sadly it is this ‘science’ that rewrites text books on a continual basis and no scholastic publisher ever prints a retraction, resulting in generations of children carry into adulthood the imaginations of mere men.

So we have scientists today disregarding DNA evidence and side with Hollywood by concluding that the orangutan ‘is our man.’

The reason for this conclusion, that the orangutan is the missing link, is based partly on scientific observation that they are the only members of great apes that build their homes above ground and they finish the job by adding a roof.

Hell, that’s enough evidence for me. Forget trying to find the transitional fossils. Roofs on huts, thats the key! Thanks for that Schwartz and Grehan, I think tonight I’ll find some mud and straw and grunt behind my wife’s back.

In light of these earth shattering observations which include my learned observations from a bus, I find it interesting that humans are so fascinated with the ape in the first place.

Do other animals gravitate to similar species in the same way. Perhaps horses congregating near the stables discuss their origins. Do they look at the mule or donkey while snorting and kicking signals back and forth arguing whether they came from the donkey? I would even suggest that the mere thought of it would be insulting to the ‘thinking horse’.

"I am not evolved from that Ass!" would be the quip from Seabiscuit.

But I should be fair to these two learned fellows. It was not just the above ground dwelling topped with a roof observation that made them think that the orangutan is our close relative. No, they say that they have other very important identical human developments. The nuts on the topping was their observation of the apes mating practices. You see, they concluded that the Orangutan mate longer, and they mate "face to face".

“Face to Face” these fellows really need to get out more. I’ll stick with Intelligent Design.

Defenestration: A Voters Choice

Dressed in her business best last week, our Minister of Finance, Iris Evans walked up to the podium to announce to her people that all was good, except a slight miscalculation of $6.9 billion dollars. The same government that appointed Evans to probably the most sensitive post in public service, will run a budget deficit the like of which has not been seen since the Getty years.

The government propaganda machine was hard at work to soften the blow to Albertans. Some news agencies printed stories that pointed to other provinces as being in worse shape, in an effort to make us all feel 'Alberta Superior.' The Edmonton Journal ran a column from Gary Lamphier titled, “Alberta's financial troubles would be the envy of other provinces” stating “unlike most other provinces, states and countries, for that matter – will remain debt-free and cash rich, even after this year's fiscal carnage is over.” Pheew, why didn't you say so in the first place. I feel so much better.

I smell smoke mixed with cotton here folks! I believe its about time we called a spade a spade. By all appearances, its looks like our government is running our cash register with the 'no sale' function stuck.

In the last twelve months Iris Evan's budget projections have gone from a $8.5 billion dollar surplus to a $6.9 billion dollar deficit. That's a spread of a mere $15.4 billion dollars. In case you missed it, our Finance Minister’s projections were off by $15.4 billion dollars.

The reasons cited for the budget over-run was offered in two forms. The first culprit was the recession, and the second was a direct result of the first, the drop in the price of natural gas. Interesting how these causes chosen to justify the failure of the government are those problems outside their control. They would rather have Albertans believe that a reduction in Natural Gas prices, that being the cost going from $5.5 per gigajoule to $3.75. That represents a $1.75 reduction behind the cause of our situation. Admittingly, this drop would account for a reduction in resource revenue, but when it comes to governance, income is only one side of the equation.

To the public, Evans squarely blames the recession for the budget overrun even to the point of demonizing the economy, “We haven’t seen the last of that scoundrel, that recession. We haven’t seen the last of it, but in Alberta we’re on the right track to be stronger than ever as this recession is over.” She said during her April 7th budget delivery.

By July, Evans began to hint that her projections may be a bit off. With news showing that the overall Canadian economy was showing life she is quoted as saying, “It’s going to be a little longer for Alberta to feel that bounce…. I will be much more satisfied that we’re on the way to recovery when I see higher gas prices.” And, there it is… once again she is hedging her bets on higher gas prices.

By all accounts, the Alberta government have been making one bad decision after the other, during a time when the public purse should be tightened. Take for example the decision to crumble under popular pressure to introduce a $4 billion dollar carbon capture program, only to revise that plan to only a mere $2 billion dollars. Or the illusion of free health care for Albertans. A plan that in the end will only see more medical treatments de-listed to meet the reduction in revenue.

I could go on, but the end result would see me, a life long conservative, suffer through a rapid case of cognitive dissident.

But the real problem is not one of revenue. It is a problem of spending. Overruns are just that, the result of spending more than you have, and our government must be spending the tax dollars like a drunken sailor. In our case, our government have spent $6.9 billion more than we had.

What needs to really happen is our government moving away from being revenue dependant when the commodity prices and surpluses are too high to a deficit position when prices are low, causing the government to dip into the sustainability fund.

Although our government have promised Albertan’s no new taxes, and have come out with statements that suggest that no employee layoffs are considered. It is hard to believe that in light of the extreme shortfall, the old certainties in life do not hold true in this province. That being death and taxes. Maybe one should consider defenestration when casting your next vote.

The Rumour Mill, a Menacing Web

As rumours goes this was a doozy! But before we dwell on it, let me say that what is buzzing about social circles, and the internet is just that, an unsubstantiated rumour based on a projection from one man. It was a rumour that was started by an American online newsletter and picked up several other bloggers. The rumour is that one of Canada's largest banks is close to financial collapse. The interesting part of all this was that it spread throughout the world, and when I got wind of it, it morphed into word of mouth.

It is important for all involved to note that the source of such an alarming rumour originated on the internet, and “as of our press run,” no reputable journalist print source had broke out with the story. Sadly, this is truly the acid test when sifting through the chaff. Because, this type of rumour mongering has the effect of becoming a self fulfilled prophecy and can affect stock trading, which in turn can cause a loss of income for those people investing in the markets.

The source of this is a Mr. Dan Amoss, a Chartered Financial Analyst® and managing editor of the online Strategic Short Report. In a four page blog titled, “The Next Major Stock Set to Crash,” the blogger Stock Gumshoe reports that Amoss will expose this Canadian bank as using shady accounting tricks to hide losses and lying about being able to pay a massive $1.5 billion dividend scheduled for 2009. Amoss teases the internet community by stating that this bank is 192 years old and employs over 37,000 people. The conclusion was from Amoss that, “The news of this bank dropping like a stone would hit the financial markets so hard — creating a tsunami of fear in a previously thought “safe” banking niche — that it’d make the panic of 2008 look like a cake walk…”

The internet community was quick to research the clues on such 'reputable' sources as Wikipedia. In very short order readers began to comment on these blogs putting their two-cents worth into the discussion. Such as “The bank never goes 'broke'. If the bank runs out of money, it can issue as much as needed by writing it on an ordinary piece of paper. In Canada, the banks can print as much as they need,” and “He did not say what his source was. The bank was described to him and the one that fit closest was BMO,” and my favourite, “Stop this, my mom works for the BMO, your scaring the hell out of me!”

This type of news is somewhat easy to believe in light of the current economic environment we find ourselves. Bloomberg News on the same day this rumour was milling about reported “Profits Decline at Two Canadians Banks.” stating that both the Bank of Montreal (BMO) and the Bank of Nova Scotia reported third-quarter earnings decline on rising loan costs. According to these reports the BMO's net income for the period fell 21 percent in it's fifth straight profit decline. In the same report the ScotiaBank reported a 1.9 percent decline in profits.

In the USA, where our banking institutions would enjoy some foreign investors stock trading, the banking story is extremely bleak, so much so that in contrast to the American experience just last February, Barron's, the online journal from The Wall Street Journal, reported “A Canadian Bank Plays It Safe…and Smart,” which painted the Canadian banking experience as strong in light of the global economic crash, and singled out the Scotiabank as “tight-fisted and old-fashioned, and has boosted its earnings and dividends consistently for more than a decade.”

But let us consider the source. When Amoss came out with his projection, he did not name the bank under scrutiny. In fact, he announced that at noon on August 24th he would come out and expose the Canadian Bank that was going to crash. Interesting that he picked a time and day of his release, after giving the world a clue to which institution this was. In fact, his report was scathing in accusations, so much so, that if he was only using conjecture he was opening himself up to legal scrutiny. Amoss is a financial analyst, and like many of those who believe to be connected, or in the know, may use their sources to their financial advantage.

Noon came on the 24th, and what was discovered was interesting. By the time his deadline was met, the internet community had already come to the conclusion that the bank in dire straights was the BMO. Now the interesting facts. At the open of the trading day, the Toronto Stock Exchange was trading BMO stock at $51.20. By 1:30 PM the same day the stocks fell to $49.13 and closed the day out at $49.10. This from a stock that held its trading between 51-52 dollars.

Whether the $1.85 day drop in trading was influenced by the rumour mill surrounding the BMO is really not the question. It would be fair to say that those trading knew of Dan Amoss’s report and could very well have been caused the selling of the shares that lowered their value.

Whether the BMO is in for a financial beating we still do not know, however by the end of the day, the BMO had cuts its dividend. One thing for sure, in today’s unstable economic outlook, rumours of financial collapse in any sector cannot help the situation. In the world of the internet, the rumour mill has become a menacing web.

The Phrase that Shames

What do you say to the mother you witness yelling, while pulling on their child’s arm in anger only to notice the mother immediately breaks down in penitent tears as the child says, "That’s OK mommy, I'll be a good girl."? Do you think maybe there is a history of abuse and the child has accepted her fate? Would the mother in this illustration feel shame that her child takes blame for her own behaviour or maybe existence in spite of her mother's shortcomings. Would it be fair to say that at that moment 'our' mother feels humiliation, shame and a sense of disappointment in her role as care giver, protector and mentor.

I think at some point we have all felt a sense of disappointment in ourselves in some shape or form. It may come at something we said, or how we behaved in a group. It may have come later in life when we are having that "Remember when...." conversation with our now grown up son or daughter and discover that their perception of us was different than what we thought it should be. Those are the moments when we feel shame and disappointment in ourselves.

Last week, I felt something similar when I had a conversation with a good friend. Strange as it may seem, it was not my lack of inner monologue that made me take a 'gut shot'. It was my perception of myself as a proud, enlightened, tolerant citizen of Canada that took the hit.

Just so you understand, my friend was born in Toronto, the son of immigrant parents from Uganda. Suffice it to say, my friend is in his early 20's, dark skin, black hair, clean cut, university educated, and yes, an observant Muslim. Having roots in Ontario he travels often from Edmonton to Toronto by air, and last week when I asked him how his flight went, he began to tell me how he was selected and subjected to what he felt was an unreasonable search and examination.

My first thought was, 'OK, it must be the new airport screening procedures.' But my friend did not stop there. He told me that on numerous flights within Canada, he has been singled out and physically frisked and questioned about his comings and goings. At one point he was surrounded by security, taken to a room and closely examined, only to be told that he was on a no-fly list. It was discovered that another man with the same 'Muslim' sounding name was on the no-fly list. But this fellow was forty years older. When asked what he could do about being detained in airports, security just said, "change your name."

At one point, in an effort to give security no reason to single him out, on another flight when he came to the airport he made sure he had no metal in his pockets or clothing. As he walked through the security gate, amazingly it went off. He was then pulled aside again. After the humiliation of being singled out and placed back amongst the passengers, is it reasonable to assume that other passengers were nervous at his presence during the flight?

That was when it happened, after what was a 'matter of fact' conversation, he said, "Ya, but I'm getting used to it." This from a person who was born in Canada, who's only 'offense' is to be born brown and into a Muslim family. Me, as a Canadian who bought into 'we live in the best and most accepting and enlightened country' I felt sorry for my fellow Canadians, and shame at the fact that we as a nation have come to the point where people like my friend are getting "used to it." Should anyone just 'get used to' being profiled, scrutinized and examined in their own country?

The 49th Imam of the Ismaili Muslims, Aga Khan said, "Canada is the most successful pluralist society on the face of our globe," and "a model for the world." This perception of Canada is not isolated to Aga Khan. In the past eight years Muslims from around the world have seen Canada as the preferable nation to immigrate to, fearing profiling, anger and hatred from other possible homes like the USA as a result of 9/11.

The tone for multiculturalism was set in 1935 when our then Governor General of Canada The Lord Tweedsmuir stated that immigrants "should retain their individuality and each make its contribution to the national character," he further stated, "the strongest nations are those that are made up of different racial elements."

Canada is a pluralistic nation where multiculturalism is viewed that each culture or subculture contributes uniquely and brings valuable cultural aspects to the whole. This spirit of Canada as a cohesive culture was formalized in 1971 and in 1988 the Canadian Multiculturalism Act received Royal Assent.

This targeting of Muslims for the sake of airport security should not be casually accepted by Canadians. One should not stand by as a fellow Canadian is subjected to unreasonable detention and search, something that is forbidden by our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the post 9/11 world, we can accept increased security in the form of metal detectors, discrete x-ray screening and air marshals on-board, but to accept the sole discretion of fearful airport security officers who are profiling by skin colour or how a person is dressed in traditional or religious garb is unacceptable.

Cultural profiling is a faulty policy and is motivated by fear which is not the best security counsel because as best selling author Meg Cabot once said, "Courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all. For now you are traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be."