Where the teeth are paved with gold: 2008 in review

With the U.S.A. mere days away from having a more progressive head of state than Canada for the first time since, um, Diefenbaker:Kennedy, are we going to start seeing Canadians start threatening to move south the way Americans threatened to move north in 2004?


Probably not. Especially since the Canadian economy is still just swirling in the bowl and not right down the crapper.



Besides, does anyone really think the Harper government will make it until the end of the year? Other than Harper, that is. He's gonna have to be one hell of a budget.

Since it's already the 15th of January, I might as well knock it off with my half-assed attempt at looking back on 2008. There's one last album I wanna call your attention to before we start talking about other things. Dallas/Fort Worth area group the Theater Fire released a frighteningly amazing album, Matter and Light, in the closing days of 2008.

It's a haunting and rollicking Tex-Mex jumble of jugband hollers and Calexico-ish ambience that's totally captivating. It's everything I love about Americana music and none of what drives me crazy. The front page of their website streams a generous sampling of songs from all three of their albums. You kinda owe it to yourself to check them out if you're into that kind of thing.

mp3: "Coyote" by the Theater Fire

(CanWest) Global un-Warming

CanWest Global announced Wednesday they'll be cutting 560 jobs, or 5% of their workforce. Some of the finest people I know work for CanWest, and I hope they're okay.
Further says the CP, "The company will also cut the physical size of some newspapers to reduce costs and focus efforts on expanding digital media operations."
That sounds dismal and calls to mind CanWest's failed Dose commuter tabloid, the horridness of commuter tabloids in general, and usually awful programming on so-called specialty cable.
Commuter tabloids are generally barely worth what you pay for them, unless it's raining and you need something to put between your dry pants and a wet bench on the bus. And don't get me started on their columnists--all of them--but, hey, I like to imagine that since they write for a publication that's handed out for free, the columnists are probably writing on a volunteer-basis, and so I try to cut them a bit of slack.
CanWest has never really had a good grasp on what makes a good newspaper, though the full blame for the National Post can't really be laid entirely at their feet. What people want in a local newspaper, meanwhile, seems so obvious: quality local content. And yet that's what always seems to go on the chopping block whenever convergence rears its head. There are hundreds of places to get national and international news, but there will always be demand for a good local daily newspaper--even in the digital age. With the whole planet at our fingertips online, communities need to know about and see themselves that much more.
Case in point: the two federal elections this fall. Okay, fair enough, the US election was genuinely exciting and historic on a number of levels. But I was appalled at how little heat the Canadian election generated (and obviously, that was part of Harper's gameplan in calling the vote amid the billion-dollar fervour of the US campaign) among Canadians. This shit matters. A lot more than Tina Fey in a bad blazer. But the media seemed just as disinterested in the Canadian election as, well, the nearly 41% of Canadians who didn't even bother voting.

mp3: "Folksong Oblivion" by the Phantom Band

Party in the hood tomorrow night!

Do you like barbecues, saving lives and free music? Get on down to 139 E. Hastings on Thurs., Oct 23 to eat some free burgers, check out Bedouin Soundclash, and show some love and support for InSite, Vancouver's Supervised Injection Site. With the Harper Conservatives returned to a minority gov't, it's more important than ever to let them know that Canadians will not abide their attempts to condemn drug addicts to "a short and miserable life" when we have the tools to provide dignity, survival, and hope for a better tomorrow. Party starts around 3:30 p.m., and Bedouin Soundclash goes on around 6:30 p.m. Word has it Bend Sinister will also be playing.

mp3: "Shelter" by Bedouin Soundclash

I was away for a week, did I miss anything?

If I didn't clearly remember voting (early), I might wonder if we even had an election this past week. Nothing seems to have changed and no one seems that interested in talking about it anymore.
While Harper's Tories have gained a substantial number of new seats, their gains in the popular vote were marginal. The difference between popular vote and seats won is pretty striking in general, especially comparing the numbers of both for the Bloc versus the Greens. No wonder the Greens are such big fans of proportional representation.
As I write, Dion is probably drafting his resignation speech. Which means that Harper--who has now failed to win a majority government twice in less than three years and faced zero public criticism from within his own party--will get a free ride in Parliament for at least another year as the Grits deal with their internal issues at the expense of the majority of Canadians. You know, the ones who didn't vote for Harper and do not want to him to have a de facto majority government, which is what he gets when the Liberals prop up his minority by abstaining from voting in Parliament because they're still unprepared to face the electorate.
The Liberals' bullshit head-in-the-sand technique not only makes them look ineffective and gives Harper the power to do as he pleases, it also gives the NDP room to posture and position themselves as English-speaking Canada's official opposition without fear that they'll trigger yet another election.
Can the federal Liberals even survive another two years in the wilderness? It will be next spring at the earliest before they elect a new leader. But will another struggle between Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff strengthen the beleaguered party, or will it just enflame the grudges between the various Liberal factions who did a terrible job of pretending to present a united front during this fall's campaign?
There will be much made of Stephane Dion's disgraceful position of being only the second leader of the federal Liberals in history not to wear the Right-Honourable title of Prime Minister (who was the other? who cares?), and Dion has earned that ignoble distinction for failing to galvanize his own party, never mind the Canadian people. But these fancy-pants Liberal Insiders we keep hearing about, who have been whispering off the record about their dislike for Dion for the last 24 months, surely must bear the weight of perpetuating the image of a party so smugly convinced it is "The Natural Ruling Party" of Canada that it ignores its Parliamentary duty, ignores the electorate who voted for it, and even ignore the basic political necessity of effectively criticizing the competition.
It's this last one that bothers me the most. Harper's first term in government was so obviously sleazy and contemptible that it should have been a slam-dunk to turf his daycare-killing, climate-change-denying ass. But nobody called him on it. He didn't have to run on his record, he didn't even have to run on a platform. The Liberals effectively handed Harper this election, and if they don't get their shit together and learn how to be the Official Opposition they were elected as, they certainly won't find their way back to Government in another two years, when Harper calls his next snap election.

mp3: "City of Electric Light" by Chad VanGaalen

Vote Your Own Country

Things to think about when you vote on Tuesday:

"Dead people don't detox." There are approximately 4,700 injection-drug users (PDF) in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Vancouver Coastal Health has 316 detox beds (PDF). So even if everybody woke up tomorrow morning ready to take that step toward recovery, the support isn't there for them all. In the meantime, we as a society can do something to reduce the harm (PDF) drug addiction creates for both addicts and the public. In Vancouver, we have a Supervised Injection Site that helps prevent overdose deaths, the transmission of HIV and Hep C, connects users with health care treatment and increases their chances of entering detox and recovery. Stephen Harper's Tories want to shut it down and send drug addicts to prison. Prison, it turns out, doesn't help addicts kick. Go figure.

Climate Change is gonna hurt. What's going on now with the economy is a lot like what's happening with the environment. We've been living beyond our means and the payment's coming due. Some things are still manageable, some are gone for good. It's time to grow the fuck up and deal with this.

Good luck, Canada. Hopefully Quebec will pull through for us. See you in ten days or so.

mp3: "Start Your Own Country" by the Parkas

For realz, ol' buddy, ol' Palliser?

The Leader-Post says the Conservative Party has the Regina riding of Palliser (where I grew up) all but locked. The poll results seem less of a feat for the Tories, with 43.3% of decided voters, when you look at a few things.

First of all, both the NDP and Liberals have very strong candidates running against the Tories' Ray Boughen. The NDP, with the support of 35.7% of decided voters are running Don Mitchell, who, like Boughen, is a former mayor of Moose Jaw. Mitchell's got a long history of political and social activism in the Em-Jay of Ess-Kay (he's also the brother of Ken Mitchell, who once wrote a rock opera with Humphrey and the Dumptrucks) going back to when political and social activism meant something. The Liberals, with the support of a disappointing 17.3%, have a star candidate in former Regina police chief Cal Johnston. I had hopes in the early days of this election of Johnston as Justice Minister, but it's sadly obvious that won't happening soon. Johnston surely has better ideas for improving the justice system than Harper's Fresh Meat approach.

At first it seems strange that a riding that includes my sentimental favourite part of Regina is being dominated by Moose Javians. But then, Regina has never really been much of a breeding ground for politicians who "matter". Provincially, most of our best pols have traditionally been either rural, or from Saskatoon. And federally, well, what can we say about Ralph Goodale anyway? Municipally, well, fuck, that's depressing.

What makes Boughen's not-quite-insurmountable lead--along with the likelihood of another near-sweep for the Tories in Saskatchewan--all the more depressing, though, is how shitty the Conservative Party presence has been in Saskatchewan lately. Mostly, the Saskatchewan Tory Candidates are doing their best to stay out of public view, as Murray Mandryk tells us. From Gerry Ritz to Tom Lukiwski to Michelle Hunter, Saskatchewan Conservative candidates have decided that their best strategy for election or re-election is to make themselves scarce.

Sadly, it seems like a winning strategy. It seems like only Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is the only person on the federal scene willing to call the Harper government on their broken deals with Saskatchewan.

Maybe the drubbing Potash Corp. has taken on the markets this week will give my dear Saskatchewan second thoughts about the blank cheque they're about to write Harper.

mp3: "Summertime" by Feuermusik

The Revolution Will Not Be Twittered

(via Signalresponse)

highlights from pmharper:

• Tonight I attended my high school reunion in Toronto. It was great to see old friends. 06:44 PM September 27, 2008
• Great rally in Rockland, Ontario. Photos at http://tinyurl.com/4q9ne5 05:29 PM September 19, 2008
• Attended a campaign rally in Chicoutimi, Québec. 04:29 PM September 17, 2008

highlights from jacklayton:

• FACTCHECK: Oil companies did benefit from Harper's economic policies: http://www.ndp.ca/page/7113 about 2 hours ago
• getting ready for tonight's debate in french, tomorrow's in english... about 14 hours ago
• Getting ready for the debates... French language debate’s tomorrow night. 02:26 PM September 30, 2008

highlights from liberaltour:

• Stéphane Dion won decisively! He clearly demonstrated that he is the only leader with a credible plan for Canada's economy! about 1 hour ago
• Dion does what Harper refuses: to talk with ordinary Canadians. Today, Stéphane went to Algonquin College and met with students and staff. 11:17 AM September 29, 2008
• "Nervous energy gets my adrenaline flowing" was how Stéphane answered a question about the debates next week. More Dion unplugged to come. 12:24 PM September 27, 2008

I can't help but believe that Harper feeds his own Twitter. It has that terse, unreflective tone of a guy who can't hug his kids in public. The whole Politics 2.0 remains kinda forced and more than a little skeevy. It's a Catch-22. If you're running for Parliament, and you don't have Facebook profile, people will think you're a hopelessly out-of-touch fuddy-duddy. If you do have a Facebook profile, they'll know that you are.

mp3: "Cheap Wine Time" by RTX (courtesy Drag City, get it while it's up)

"We had to endure it and want our revenge."

Ebert again. On the role of The Critic. Right now The New is more in need of discovery and defence than ever before, as our politicians try to score points by railing against imaginary elites they fear secretly rule the world.

And there's no bigger secret elite the rockers of Saskatoon. They're so secret, hardly anyone's ever even of heard of them, let alone heard 'em. So consider yourself priveliged. You're about to get Saved By Saskatoon, which is the name of a brand new compilation from Saved By Radio/Saved By Vinyl, a Calgary record label that puts out some of the finest CanRock this side of the Canadian Sheild.

mp3: "Class Action Lawsuit" by Junior Pantherz
mp3: "My Ghost Your Ghost" by Pearson

I think the Invisible Hand that guides the Economy just touched me under my bathing suit...

But seriously, folks... I guess this the kind of intervention that results from economic policy that doesn't believe in government intervention. Strangely, Stephen Harper doesn't want to influence any elections, not the one down there, and especially not the one up here, by giving his opinion. Probably because in the past he's supported and promoted the same kind of laissez-faire approach to the economy that led what looks to be of the biggest corporate welfare grabs in history. As the NY Times puts it, "It is the financial equivalent of the Patriot Act."

The Rock & Roll equivalent of the Patriot Act, an album called Going Steady, meanwhile, was released in Regina over the weekend. The mighty Rah Rah, a conglomerate of kids born in an era when jowled titans like John Crosbie and Joe Clark roamed the earth. They write beautiful songs about the ugly things, and they live in Regina--where there's a lot of ugly things to write about. I'm still waiting for a song about the old Superstore building where Downtown meets North Central, where the city shrugs its shoulders and claims no responsibility. While I wait, though, here's a song that mentions good ol' Dave Batters, the beleagured outgoing Tory MP for Palliser. Immortalized in song! That oughtta raise his spirits.


mp3: "The Innocent One" by Rah Rah

Hmmm, doesn't quite carry the weight you'd think

From CBC, 4 former PMs join call for climate change action. Thing is, the former Prime Ministers are Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, John Turner and Paul Martin. Not exactly an all-star line-up. An only slightly more noteworthy bunch than the current cast of This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Meanwhile, we do have some cool news from some actual heavyhitters. Regina's Sylvie have got artwork, tracklisting and a release date (Oct 21)--along with the all-important pre-ordering info--for their new album Trees and Shade Are Our Only Fences on their label's website. No actual tracks yet, but one or two teasers should be forthcoming. In the meantime, here's a number from their last alb, An Electric Trace. And what the hell, how about the video?

mp3: "Rise and Fall" by Sylvie

The Door I Came Through Has Been Closed

Stephen Harper's reasons for calling an election one full year before the date he himself chose to fix in Parliament will likely remain his own, at least during the course of the campaign.
Perhaps he hoped to send us to the polls before we follow the US economy too far into the toilet. Or maybe he's afraid of what might be revealed in the coming inquiries into the many Tory scandals that have yet to go before full public scrutiny. Or maybe there's something even worse right around the corner.
Whatever his reasons, the move is typical of a PM obsessed with excercising absolute control since the day he took office. From neutering the national press corps to muzzling Environment Canada's scientists, Harper has done everything within his power (and then some) to silence his critics--except, of course, conducted himself as if the title "Right Honourable" was something other than a nicety that came with his current job.
One of Harper's biggest tentpoles in the 2006 campaign was his US-style War on Daycare, the result of which has been that Canadian working families now have a better chance of having hip surgery before they get their kids into daycare. And when the leader of our nation displays such gross indifference toward Canadian children, how surprised were we that he and his government have no love for an initiative that has been shown to improve drug addicts' likelihood of entering treatment--let alone of living long enough to enter rehab, reduce the spread of Hep C and HIV, and save the health care system some money.
And if Harper's craven disregard (to put it charitably) for the lowest end of the socio-economic spectrum doesn't faze you, how about the fact that while Prime Minister, he continued to debate the existence of climate change even as the polar ice caps receded a little further into oblivion. Not only was he unwilling to do anything about it, he was unwilling to even entertain the thought of doing anything about.
Global Warming just might be the greatest challenge Canadian society has ever faced, and Prime Minister Harper has spent much of his first term in office with his fingers in his ears, singing "La la la, if I can't hear you you're not there! La la la!"
Even when Liberal Leader Stephane Dion drafted his Green Shift policy--which, at best, will slow the accelleration of Canada's contribution to the damage being done by carbon dioxide emissions--Harper chose to attack it on a purely economic level. As if anyone will give a shit about the TSX when the oceans boil, if you'll excuse the hyperbole.

And that's why it's good to know Portland OR's Old Time Relijun will be making their first BC appearance in five years this Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Biltmore.

mp3: "The Door I Came Through Has Been Closed" by Old Time Relijun
mp3: "Sabretooth Tyger" by Old Time Religion
mp3: "Everything Is Broken" by Old Time Religion

Wait, issuing a news release is brave now?

While my sympathy goes out to Regina Tory MP Dave Batters as he deals with his mental health and drug addiction issues, is what he did really worthy of the praise being heaped upon him by the mental health community?
Okay, sure, as a public figure, he deserves some credit for bringing mental health issues to public eye. But as an elected member of Parliament, a member of the ruling government even, isn't a press release really the least he could have done for mental health?

Dear Regina: Don't Eff This Up

Some good news to share:

-Former Regina Police Service Chief Calvin Johnston (not to be confused with Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening and Dub Narcotic Sound System) is running for the Liberals in Regina Palliser. During his service as Regina's top cop, Johnston repeatedly proved himself to be a stand-up-guy with a keen understanding of a broad array of justice-related issues. He should have a decent shot, especially since the incumbent MP, Conservative Dave Batters, is stepping down to deal with a benzo addiction. Those conservatives...the rhetoric sure falls short of, y'know, real life. Dave, you have my sympathy. If I had to work for a boss whose only consistency was general incompetence, I'd suffer "anxiety and depression" too. Said Batters in his press release, "There is still a stigma attached to such illnesses and I want to make sure people realize these are conditions that can strike anyone and need to be treated." I'm not sure which "conditions" he's talking about, but if he means drug addiction, then he's off the party line, according to Harper's promise of "a short and miserable life" for drug addicts.

-Frances Bula is back! The former Vancouver Sun civic affairs reporter and blogger now has a blog under her very own name that is every bit as essential to unpacking life in Vancouver as her old Sun blog was.

mp3: "Monkey Hips and Rice" by Dub Narcotic Sound System