Renovating the den, while the kitchen is on fire....

With summer upon us I find that I am not devoting much time to writing on this blog, it could be that not much in the news catches my attention, or just that I would rather spend my time outside. I think it is a safe bet to go with the latter.

However, while watching the late evening news last night something did catch my eye and get me to thinking.  To be honest I don't even remember what the actual issue was, however the train of thought it put me on is important.

Lately I have noticed that more than ever both in Canada and the United States that politicians as a group are focused on a myriad of issues, yet ignore the single biggest threat to the future of both our countries. The threat?

The massive crushing debt that has been taken on by all levels of government.

While there is some 'lip service" paid to addressing the debt, little if any serious action is undertaken to tackle it. I mean really, for example neither federal government has any form of repayment planned. Each year simply slips by and the debt grows, and a myriad of excuses are given, poor economy, unexpected expenses, lower revenues, etc, etc, etc. We all know the drill

Now, part of the problem is that the average citizen is oblivious to all of this, for the vast majority they are aware to some degree that there is government debt, but simply don't see it as something that affects their life or that they need to be concerned about. There lies the sad part and the reason that there is no urgency to tackle the problem. Unfortunately politicians, better than anyone understand the adage of  "The squeaky wheel gets the grease". So if no one is complaining, why tackle the issue, after all there are only two possible ways to solve the problem, cut spending or raise more revenue (taxes). Obviously neither method garners a lots of support from the average voter who is looking to the government for all the entitlement programs they have come to view as their birthright. The sad reality of our self entitled society is that spending garners votes, not austerity. I personally believe that politicians understand the severity of the issue better than many of us give them credit for, they also understand that no one government in a single term will resolve the issue, and that more than likely the government that has the fortitude to tackle the issue will only serve one term. So their response is simple, leave it for "the next guy", and in the meantime divert the peoples focus from the real problem  by throwing them shiny baubles and trinkets.

So where will all of this lead, the answer is already playing out in Europe, in countries such as Greece and Spain. Unfortunately it is only a matter of time before North America suffers the same fate.

War on Women? I do believe we have found the culprits...

If you follow politics south of our border (the good Old USA) you have almost certainly heard the phrase "War on Women" used by candidates, elected officials, political pundits, and the news media. Trust me, it is not exclusive to one side, Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican, both sides to some degree accuse the other of participating in some form of gender bias. Having said that, the accusations appear to come from the Left far more often than the Right. In fact the the term is used frequently by the more Left leaning, who carry it like a shield against the Right.

The heat on this issue has recently been turned up a few notches because several major events are taking place concurrently, how so?

No need for a red carpet this time around

So, it appears that today we Albertans will be graced with a visit from the leader of the Federal NDP party, Thomas Mulcair. Tom will start his visit in Edmonton where he will meet with Alberta Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk,  Alberta Premier Alison Redford is in Virginia to attend the Bilderberg conference. Now there has been some criticism that Premier Redford herself should have been here to meet Tom, however my thoughts on this are simple. Why?

After all, Mr Mulcair is not the leader of our country, he is the leader of the official opposition, a position he was granted by his party (not the electorate) after another individual had done all the work to get the party to official opposition status. Sorry to bring it up Tom, but so far you are simply riding on Jack Layton's coat tails. My belief is that Mr. Mulcair is fully aware of his precarious status within the party (and amongst it's supporters) and as such understands better than anyone how important it is that he make his presence known amongst voters before another federal election. Where Jack Layton took the NDP in federal politics was nothing short of a miracle, unfortunately Jack has passed on, and lightning rarely strikes in the same place twice. It would appear that Tom has his work cut out for him. So whats his plan?

Enough already, time to stop playing hookey and get back to class

As a Canadian I have been watching with interest (and horror) the ongoing protests by students in the Province of Quebec over a proposed hike in university tuition. The original cause given by student groups for all of this turmoil was a near doubling of tuition fees over the next five years. Now, on its surface that idea may seem unreasonable, however Quebec's average tuition is a little more than a third of the weighted average of tuition in Canada (without including Quebec), so needless to say most students in the other provinces view Quebec with great envy. Tuition in Quebec which currently sits at $2,168 (and has been frozen at that for some time) was scheduled to increase to $3,793 over a period of five years. 

The increase amounted to $325 per year, or an additional $27.00 dollars a month each year, or $0.89 per day. To put that in perspective, $27.00 will buy you a dozen beer, lunch for two, or a night out at a movie by yourself. However it seems that as far as Quebec students are concerned, any increase is too much. So their solution is to take to the streets and attempt to bring an entire province and its economy to a grinding halt.

Now at this point, it is important to remember that the Province of Quebec is carrying a debt load of close to $184 billion and a recent report by the Desjardins groups states Quebec’s gross public debt to GDP ratio is at a whopping 94% placing the province in a similar position to countries such as Greece and Italy. Recently, The Financial Post’s Jonathan Kay coined the term “souvlaki economics” to describe the current situation in Quebec. Unfortunately this is a situation that can not continue in the long run as it is simply unsustainable. In a rare show of agreement both the ruling party and the official opposition came to the mutual conclusion that the ongoing budget deficits and the overall debt must be priorities and brought under control for the sake of future generations.

However, at present they face a major obstacle in the form of protesting students. The protests have been ongoing for about three months now and have literally cost millions of dollars in economic damage to the city of Montreal. Students have already blocked bridges, disrupted shareholder meetings for Power Corp, the National Bank and entered workplaces where mining companies are located, lord only know what these businesses have to do with tuition fees. Add to this the additional police costs incurred . Montreal police have temporarily brought on 150 officers due to the protests with the police union stating that overtime costs were expected to be between $2 million and $3 million. The Quebec provincial police overtime bill was estimated at $1.5 million.

So where does it all end?