What we can and should learn from Conservative Tom Flanagan

Tom Flanagan, U of C Political Science professor, and former Harper campaign manager has put together a top 10 list of sorts. It is his list of the 10 things the Conservative party must keep in mind and/or focus on in order to supplant the Liberals as Canada's 'natural governing party'. The article can be found here: globeandmail.com: Thou shalt not lean too far to the right

We, as Liberals need to learn from this too. Our biggest failures in my humble opinion are in (Tom's list numbers) #1 Unity, #7 Toughness and #8 Grassroots Organization.

If you don't think Unity is a problem, just check out all the coverage before and after the by-election in Outremont, where everyone and their dog was going after Dion (and Kyoton).

We fail on Toughness because the Conservative party will always out-mean us. By this I mean the evil/dirty trick and good attack ads. We need to be tough and not be afraid to point out the major flaws in Conservative ideology.

We fail miserably and are playing a giant game of catch-up when it comes to Grassroots Poitics. Just as Prof. Flanagan says, the Liberal party also must be "a party that is easy for individuals to join, encourages donation and volunteerism and is committed to winning elections one voter at a time." If we fail in the ground game, we're sunk.

We've got the best brand and the best policies, but that will mean nothing if we have the worst organization and the fewest donations.

We need to do this. Who's in?

A.L.

Strong loonie... Hey STEVE!!

Consumers not benefiting from strong loonie

This article makes a very important point. Canadian consumers should be benefiting from the strong showing by the loonie, but instead we continue to pay 30% more for cars, magazines, books, and all sorts of consumer goods.

So what's a government to do?

Well, they could take the route of penalizing retailers who fail to pass on savings.... that would be the NDP point of view.

They could do nothing and just let the market reign... that would be the Conservatory approach.

Or the government could make a huge difference with one small stroke of the pen and a quick regulation change (which likely wouldn't even need a vote in the House) and raise the day-trip personal exemption, remove duties on anything under $200 and let Canadians purchase more goods online duty-free from the United States with a monthly maximum exemption.

The problem is lack of competition. This is a pragmatic approach and it balances the market interests with those of the Canadian consumer.

A.L.

Do religious schools really want to become CHARTER school$??

globeandmail.com: McGuinty touts public education

Here's my 2 cents on this issue.

If I were the administrator of a religious school (other than a Catholic one) I would not want tax money in support. Because I would be afraid the money would come with a string, a Charter string.

Because as I understand it, when an entity is supported by tax dollars, it becomes subject to the rules imposed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So, the religious schools would be subject to Charter scrutiny if their teachings, the school environment or the personnel were discriminatory in any way.

So, do these private schools really want to become Charter schools?

I would think not!

John Tory... better luck next time.

A.L.