Canadians more likely to think they will be worse than better off than last generation (Nanos Survey)

Some describe the younger generation as pessimistic, I can't agree. I think they are realistic. I think they have a more realistic view of the future. I also disagree with those who think seniors are much more better off that the rest of the population. I can only speak for myself. My fincncial situation is bad and getting worse and I suspect many more are in the same boat.
Young people observe that the direction we are headed in is the wrong one, Quebecers are more tuned in and are more willing to express their opposition. I applaud them.

I understand young peoples' ( those who are wroking) belief that their work-life balance is worse. Again I refer to my own situation. When I see the struggle my youngest son and his wife, too, has with paying off his tuition and raising two small children and the work required of him with his employer compared with my younger years and my employers, I realize how lucky I was. This younger generation don't have it as good.
Harper's policies are beneficial to corporations and harmful to workers. Good for the 1% , bad for the 99

[updated Thu May 31 16:30:12 -0400 2012]

It's Not As Simply As ABR.

Yes, a week is indeed a lifetime in politics -- but what's important is attempting to spot the political trends as they evolve. What can we reasonably conclude about recent polling results? For one thing, leadership matters. For another, flash in the pan political success can be sustained for some period of time -- even when you are hopelessly organized in one of your main regions of support.

As a Liberal, what most concerns me is the exact opposite: to that end, I would point to the impressive success that the NDP has achieved in Atlantic Canada -- they've built on the Dexter win in Nova Scotia and have an incredible support level of over 50% in that region. Put another way, the one-of may have evolved into the trend heading toward the next federal election.

What does that mean for Liberals? It suggests replacing an interim Bob Rae with just about anyone else as leader is an exercise bound to fail. Sure, we can't win with Rae but the same thing will apply to a lot of the names being bandied about as potential successors...

In short, you need someone who will be seen as equally credible as Thomas Mulcair. That eliminates many of the expected leadership candidates: I know who they are and so do you.

In politics, it isn't good enough to run only for the sake of running or future positioning. The VISION-thing really does matter. Love, hate or indifferent to Mulcair, all agree he knows where he's going and where he wants to take the country. Same thing for Harper.

Our so-called leadership aspirants need to have a conversation with the Canadian people and they should be having it now -- before the race actually begins. You need to do more than make a good first impression -- you must wage a political war to imprint on Liberals first, and then Canadians, where you're headed and what precisely you plan to do when you get there.

Silence is indeed golden but not in politics. In fact, its protracted presence is usually deadly for a party -- not to mention a political campaign. As Kinsella would say: define or be defined.

My message: you want to lead well then be a leader. Get off your duff, get out there and prove to Canadians why your message is worthy of our attention. Dazzle us not only with your oratory but also with your specifics. As the Clara Peller ad argued -- show us YOUR beef -- and perhaps you'll be well on the road to leadership and making the Liberal Party relevant again in federal politics.

[updated Sun Jun 03 20:34:29 -0400 2012]

Just Call Me Prime Minister *!

Political legacy is a funny thing. Often times it turns out not to be what you expected. There you are in contemplation preparing to move ahead with what you think is your legacy agenda and poof...something comes out of left field that defines your term in office for posterity, for better or worse.

That brings me to Stephen Harper -- the Free Trade and Monarchist Prime Minister. Six years into the job and surely the thought has already crossed his mind. This PM knows full well that if he wants to stand head and shoulders above most of her predecessors, those two themes simply won't do it.

Is there really anything that the man can pull out of the Conservative tool box that will put him into the history books? Haven't seen anything as yet.

Will this guy bring self-government to fruition for our aboriginal peoples? I doubt it. Is Harper prepared to spend some of his accumulated political capital to get the Quebec signature on the contested constitution? That would be too much to even hope for.

So tell me, where will Harper make history? Damned if I know. Well, he better come up with something if he wants to be known as anything other than -- another prime minister asterisk.

[updated Tue Jun 05 02:30:52 -0400 2012]

The Harper Dip: It May Not Be What You Thought.

The conventional wisdom has it that Thomas Muclair and the New Democrats are responible for the Conservative slide in the polls. Maybe.

But ask yourselves another interesting question: what two person might equally be responsible for the law of diminishing returns as far as the Harper government is concerned? -- in two names, think Joe Oliver and Peter Kent. Worth contemplating, in my book.

[updated Tue Jun 05 18:06:22 -0400 2012]

The Master Strategist Slips...Again.

It's really too bad that this Prime Minister is not as adapt when it comes to the Gateway pipeline as he is at ping pong. This pipeline is heading for an impasse as the federal government moves to limit environmental review -- not to mention which local stakeholders who will have a say in hearings on its proposed construction.

What Stephen Harper doesn't get is that there is no hope of agreement as long as a broad consensus has not been achieved with British Columbia residents, First Nations and the mainstream environmental community.

If you take it for a given that this project is vital to the future economic diversification of our raw bitumen exports, you know that some kind of a deal must be hammered out. There are no ifs, ands or buts.

We all know that interest groups will not sit idly by and let this project go ahead without putting up the best fight they can make. Gateway risks being bottled up in the courts for years -- a prospect that will make the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline delays look like a Sunday walk in the park.

Translation: it's time for the Harper government to put a bit of water in its wine. We need to look at building a deep water port where locals consent to receiving tanker traffic for oil sands embarkation.

And most ridiculous of all: the only guy who can make this happen with as little speed bumps as possible -- instead of being at the table on behalf of the federal government is off at the High Commission lighting torches. We need someone who will have instant credibility with and the respect of, from the get go, of the First Nations to get a deal. Too bad the PM hasn't yet figured that one out.

[updated Wed Jun 06 16:39:38 -0400 2012]

Justin: Keep Us In Suspense As Briefly As Possible.

Will he, or won't he? Who the hell really knows. The trial balloon air force is flying high and no one has any idea if the wave is actually coming from Justin Trudeau himself. Sure, he's appearing at party events in succession -- but that could be like Hillary, a "Listening Tour."

If he does do it, it will be nothing if not interesting -- take the best of the man and blend it with many of the same qualities his father possessed and you could have a credible, if not winning run. Is he ready? We won't know that until we see him in the thick of it. Let's see how he mixes it up and if he has as much talent for that as previously demonstrated in the boxing ring, we may indeed have a contender!

Like his dad, Justin is bound to be thoughtful. I expect to see substantial out-of-the-box policy coming our way if he's in. I doubt we'll see the rumoured race of ten if Trudeau makes it official.

Canadians are mixed at this point -- some enthusiastic, some giddy, some surprised but most of all, interested. Even his political opponents are anxious to see what Justin can do in a leadership race. Personally, I can't wait to see how this Prime Minister comments publicly if the guy does go to the red mountain.

Like many others, I wish Justin well. No one can win this thing for him, if he's so inclined. If he becomes party leader, it truly will be the house that Justin Trudeau built.

[updated Thu Jun 07 20:01:59 -0400 2012]