Carol Goar is excited to finally see the electronic revolution come to health care in Ontario.
Kelly McParland: What's a great way to hurt democracy? Make it riding challenged illegal, thus removing the public from yet another democratic decision. It's not surprising the the Liberals and Cons love this idea:
Of all the dopey ideas to come rolling uninvited down Parliament Hill, the notion of protecting MPs from the danger of riding challenges is one of the dopiest.
Unfair. Anti-democratic. Ill-timed. Prejudicial to the public interest. Painfully self-interested. Take your pick.
Perhaps it’s to be expected that with everyone scrambling to protect their own interests -- unions, civil servants, bank executives -- federal MPs would want to elbow their way to the front of the trough. Members of Parliament have worked ceaselessly over the years to improve their pay levels and cement access to the public purse long after they retire, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they’d react to a jobs crisis by seeking to guarantee their own.
Still, for sheer shameless grubbery, the move to ensure that MPs, once elected, are set for life, sets a new standard.
Kerry Diotte:
My first impressions of life under the Alberta legislature Dome?
Well, many politicians here aren't any smarter or sophisticated than your garden-variety city councillor.
I know that might be a bit alarming to many Albertans, but in my view, it's true.
If you think about it, it adds up. Many of the politicians elected to govern the province previously sat on smallish county councils or regional school boards.
A plan being discussed by the Conservative caucus would ensure MPs seeking re-nomination wouldn’t have to worry about challenges from other party members in their riding.
John Ibbitson:
Barack Obama proposed revolutionary reforms in Canadian education yesterday. Actually, he laid out a plan to transform America's beleaguered public education system. But in education, as in so much else, ideas flow south to north. Mr. Obama's plans for his schools will come to Canada one day. If we're lucky.
Mr. Obama wants pay for teachers to be based on merit, not seniority. Teachers who excel should receive raises; those who fail their students should be fired. "Let me be clear," he declared in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "If a teacher is given a chance but still does not improve, there is no excuse for that person to continue teaching. I reject a system that rewards failure and protects a person from its consequences. The stakes are too high."
John Ivison:
While his government has targeted the Tim Hortons crowd, it has shown less sympathy for those panhandling outside for the price of a cup of coffee. In fact, his Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, once proposed making homeless-ness illegal while in provincial politics.
Still, Mr. Harper has often proven his pragmatic nature when it promises political gain.
He would not be the first politician to profit by trying to solve the problems normally associated with his rivals. Bill Clinton famously declared "the era of Big Government is over," as he attempted to be "more Republican than the Republicans" by introducing welfare reform, middle-class tax cuts and balanced budgets.
It's hard to imagine Mr. Harper being more liberal than the Liberals, but then who would have thought the party of Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit would advocate tax hikes?
Thomas Walkom:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered two messages about the economic crisis yesterday in Brampton. The first was that it's not that bad. The second was that it's so bad that his government needs to be freed from the normal rules of parliamentary oversight in order to deal with it.
If this sounds contradictory, that's because it is.
David Suzuki:
We humans have upset the balance of nature in more ways than we understand. The scientists haven’t figured out why the tropical trees are growing big enough to absorb more carbon than they release. One theory is that global warming and the extra carbon in the atmosphere are actually fertilizing the trees.
One thing we do know is that we cannot rely on tropical forests to prevent dangerous levels of climate change. But the amount of carbon they store gives us another compelling argument for protecting forests, as they may at least provide a buffer while we work on other solutions, such as reducing our energy consumption and switching to renewable sources of energy.
Benoît Aubin:
Les déboires du Canadien, et la crise économique courante ont au moins une cause en commun : voilà ce qui se passe quand on perd de vue le lien qui doit exister entre l'effort et la récompense. Un lien qu'il nous faut tous repenser maintenant.
...
Ce qui nous amène au coeur du problème: de jeunes athlètes payés très cher - qui savent qu'ils ne seront pas payés moins cher s'ils travaillent - ou s'investissent - moins.
Le pouvoir n'est pas une réalité hiérarchique; c'est une relation d'insécurité - et de respect - réciproque. Quand des joueurs perdent le goût de se défoncer pour gagner, il n'y a rien que l'entraîneur puisse faire. Carbonneau l'a lui-même admis - avant de se faire virer.