Intelligent Politics

In reality, the title is probably an oxymoron. No matter where you turn, whether or not it's civic or provincial or federal... politicians have sealed their own fate. The public simply does not trust them anymore. They lie to get elected, they seldom keep their promises, and they suck up to corporate greed because the corporations have the power. And what do you do about it? Nothing. You keep your head in the sand because it hurts too much to think about changing it. Ignorance IS bliss after all. So what is it going to take for you to stand up?  I don't have that answer for you. But I can guarantee you that life for you... your kids... and your kids kids, is going to turn into hell in a hand basket. The world events now happening should be your wake up call.

IF I WERE...

Prime Minister of Canada

- Revamp the CRTC so that rules would be created that would prevent telephone scammers from even accessing Canadian phone lines. Many of these calls come in "via the Internet" and come from places where the services being offered (such as extending your vehicle warranty) couldn't even be possible. Seniors get target scammed all the time, and these are illegal. But we turn a blind eye and don't protect our own people.

- Encourage the G7 and G20 nations to restrict or eliminate the "investing" in commodities that we need in life (such as oil) from being of the "profiteering" aspects. Clearly the price of oil going up is driven by the rich folks who want to get richer. The cost of taking that oil out of the ground sure as hell hasn't gone up...

- Bring back Justice, so that it means something. Enough of the 'letter of the law' being the rule. We have law courts in Canada and we need Justice Courts instead. Yes, people need to have their rights preserved, no illegal search and seizures etc. But criminals get away with way too much, and the sentences given are usually not within the rhymes or reasons of what is right. Criminals are getting more rights than the people they commit crimes against.

- Eliminate the BQ as a Federal Party. As it stands now, the Canadian people in Quebec get (essentially) two votes compared to the rest of Canada. This is not fair, and it's time that we stop trying to politically pander by buying the people of Quebec. If this thought is too distasteful for you, then maybe each Province should be allowed to do what Quebec has been given. (Oh, would the cost of the political system ever go through the roof for that eh?)

- Restructure the tax system, so that folks who are into "excess profits" get their houses in order. For example, the 4 major Canadian banks continuously post profits of $32 billion dollars a year. Banks could easily eliminate service fees, which make up about 15% of their profits, and still make more than adequate dollars.

- Re-think the "percentage" rule. Dealing in percentages is getting more and more misleading every day. "Oh, Joe only made 5% more this year. But 5% of what? There is a huge difference between 5% of $10,000 and 5% of $100 million dollars.

- Eliminate the extravagant wages and severance packages of MP's. Fair wages yes. Fair severance yes. It's almost to the point now where you can be an MP for 4 years, and dang near retire in the lap of luxury.

- Eliminate the taxes on essentials like heat, electrical, water... and even basic phone.

- Institute a national "recall" legislation for all politicians at all levels in civic, provincial and federal areas.

- Reform "election promises" to ensure what you promise, you keep. And if your 'promise' was one of those impossible to do things, you get criminally charged with fraud, and removed from your job. Applies to all levels of Canadian politics.


Premier of Alberta

- Perform a complete inquiry and overhaul of the Ministries. Get rid of the waste factors, tune up the "red tape" areas, and be honest within the dealings of those Ministries.

- Make sure our resources are properly protected, and a fair value is gained from those using them.

- Create accountability for the medical and "family care" professions. This would include things like bringing the WCB out of the "oh you cost us too much for insurance factors" and back into protecting the rights and health of the workers, not just the employers. And of course, the rights of the medical profession to bring forth errors and faults within the system, by using a private and protected reporting system. Complaints in these areas would be immediately investigated for a 'truth factor', and those results brought forward for the government to bring to the "public attention".

- Work with the Fed's, to bring about required legal changes for justice, rather than law.

- Require the City of Edmonton to re-open the closed runway at the City Center Airport, so that medevac services are not hampered as they are now. Also to launch a full investigation into how improvements could be made, and if these services can realistically be handled in another manner. Only when a complete and proper un-biased conclusion has been come to, would the City of Edmonton then be allowed to continue on with their plans (should the outcome say it would be ok to do so).

- Return the control of computer IT services back to provincial employees and encourage more in-house development of the programs needed. Farming out this type of service opens up the potential for abuse of data, at a minimum...


Mayor of Edmonton

- Place an immediate stop to urban sprawl. No additional development would be allowed to happen.

- Order a complete review of traffic light timings. The huge environmental footprint from driving a block or two and stopping again negates all other perceived values of Edmonton being an environmentally friendly city.

- Stop asking for, and accepting "consultant reports" that are clearly biased towards the point of view that the City is trying to use as a basis for moving forward on a project.

- Bring back integrity within the City departments by reducing red tape and demanding more accountability.

- Recognize that times are tough, and the pockets of tax payers are not deep. Concentrate on essentials, not the 'nice to have' things.

- Rethink transit plans so transit remains affordable as an option. This could include putting a hold on expensive LRT styles and using more eco-friendly bus choices to provide the same level of service at a reduced cost.

- Remove pay reviews from being an internal process.

- Demand competency from city planners. Projects laid out in a fashion similar to South Edmonton Common should never have been allowed to happen using the 'road design'. A true traffic nightmare.


And with all of that said, there could easily be hundreds more points that should be mentioned. I offer these as suggestions only, for your local discussions. Some of these items mentioned could easily be put in place and some would need much more consideration. And some are probably just plain stupid. I am not a politically correct person, and I'm not an economist. But I do see the way that things are going, and as a world, we can no longer afford to work against each other and just do things "for us". The disparity between the rich and poor is growing, with more and more of the middle class sifting down into the poor bracket.

Is this what you want for your kids kids futures?