Gerard Kennedy Is My Kind Of Guy

One should always, ALWAYS, applaud honesty, integrity & coherence in politics. Or else it's all meaningless. And then, Harper is right, prorogation means nothing, overthrowing parliament means nothing, climate change doesn't exist, no-one cares, shut up, stay home, and have another beer while watching Cherry on TV...No! NON! Life does have meaning, politics are meaningful, & we can make the world a better place. If we want a better politics, a better Canada, a better world, it starts with us, the citizenry, and our willingness & responsibility to approve truth & goodness, & condemn lies, superficiality & evil. If we want a better politics, we must encourage our politicians to act like Kennedy, & be honest. This goes for people of all political persuasions, conservative, socialist, whatever, your representatives should be idealists who speak the truth as they they see it, you should require it of them, both their ideals & their honesty. Otherwise we will never have healthy mature debate, because cheating & lying makes it impossible, and just one cheater means everyone else has to as well, or abandon all hope of winning/policy change.

I completely agree with Kennedy's specific point, and a larger one can and should be made: what kind of Canada do we want? Therefore, what is the best way to pay for it? What mix of taxation, set at what rates, is fairest & most efficient to achieve our goals? I think no Canadian should ever live in fear for their material well-being. Anxiety, that is inevitable. But from birth till death, every Canadian should be given the opportunity to make the most of his life, and the courage to do so, knowing that there's a real, working safety net there to catch him if he fails, keep him in good shape, and help him get back up on his feet. This allows every Canadian to maximise their "value-added" in economic terms (no-one should feel they have to trade down because of fear of short-term, bad for them, bad for all of us: less happy, less productive, less revenue increasing situation)

"Danish Solution", though caricature, is right. The market is given all the freedom to follow its natural inclinations, and the State makes sure all are well and confident enough of material circumstances at all times to try to improve themselves and achieve their greatest happiness, at all times. Render unto the Market what is the Market's, and render unto the Public Sector what is Public.

But right now, maybe best to keep focus on democracy, eh? First things first. First, reestablish Democracy, pre-condition to all else, then fix Mixed Economy.