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There is something deeply wrong with Canadian diplomacy these days. Our Environment Minister in Durban (early December) made some deeply offensive remarks about countries including India, to which India had the audacity to respond. Should we be surprised at this? And yet our Minister immediately rebuked India in reply. We started the chain of insult. But Canada’s posture, even before the talks began, had been more truculent and negative than we’d expect. Perhaps amateurs have taken charge of a segment of Canada’s international presence. You can make a point in many ways, but courtesy is the lubricant best framed to gain us friends when we need them in the future. Antagonizing other countries is childish and counterproductive. But also note the repeated attacks launched by our Finance Minister recently against European nations. Does he really believe that those countries don’t understand the importance of a financial accord, an accord that works, in the short and long term, that voters will support, that markets will take in a positive light? Does he think that devising such an accord is easy, or that Europe needs Canada’s long-distance criticism? No. There has been a directive from a higher source, likely the PMO, that signals a new voice for Canada. Pity that it’s a savage simple-minded uncivilized voice. We deserve better.

I used to strongly support the Kyoto accords and similar efforts to reduce emissions. I still endorse the complex science that has uncovered our warming impact on the environment, and that considers recovery will grow more and more difficult as time passes. The loss of the ozone layer is another factor, which this science has uncovered. The trend seems clear; Canada borrows to improve its standard of living, and prays that its future citizens will become more sober-minded or realistic. At the same time, the developing world has to share the burden if it wants countries such as Canada to reduce emissions. It isn’t enough to argue that China must burn coal to catch up to Canada. Why should China suddenly reverse course once most of its population lives on a par with Canadians? That is a premise difficult to swallow; we’d be naive to believe it. Reluctantly, I adhere to a tough line on Kyoto and its sister endeavours.

Canada’s job market is shrinking, and the employed are working harder and harder for less pay. Attawapiskat received ten visits from federal civil servants over the last year, yet Ottawa claims the town’s terrible conditions are a complete surprise. Women in Afghanistan, where our soldiers have died to defend freedom, are forced to marry their rapists. Enough. We need the NDP to get its act together and become a respectable government in waiting. The opposition must create national policies that appeal to the majority of Canadians and lift us out of the circle of deceit and PR hacks that define or confine our federal leadership. That would be a great service to Canada. It doesn’t matter what the NDP was. Let the past rest in peace. The NDP must hammer the current government and offer us a real choice at the polls. That’s what we need most, a real choice.

Analysis of how the rich pay less tax is interesting, but becomes more sinister when linked to the failure of justice to tackle their misdeeds, in particular the misdeeds by way of fraud and deceit that caused the 2008 crisis. I’m thinking, for example, of mortgages granted on the basis of stated income without proof (also called liar loans) in exchange for a few percent higher interest. The analysis is needed, because it documents the impression held by so many that our political system fails to provide even-handed justice. In a nutshell, it’s corrupt. This isn’t an impartiality issue, but rather whether we should all be held to the same ethical standard. The awfulness of our system was shown when democratically elected leaders used the money of the majority to rescue the deceitful few. But the subtext of such analysis is even more trenchant, that nothing has been done – in either the regulatory or enforcement fields – to prevent similar frauds in the future. Neither Canada nor the US have set in place anything of the kind. And if that’s not bad enough, both governments currently criticize Europe, pretending that the 2008 crisis wasn’t caused by the financial sector in North America, and by deliberate decisions by consecutive governments in Canada and the US to ignore the problem, hoping the present financial disaster won’t endure. Wouldn’t it be entertaining to live an extra 50 years, and see the excuses our leaders will parade to excuse themselves from the next crisis? No wonder young people don’t vote.

We’re getting good at lying. When the roof of Vancouver’s stadium leaked before the Gray Cup game, the response from management was: the leak is good. Better now than during the game. Besides, it isn’t a serious leak. Presumably, a serious leak has a frown and lines across its forehead. Presumably also, it’s good that the economy is dreadful and young people can’t find jobs. A prerequisite to influence these days is the ability to tell lies with a straight face. Maybe it has always been thus, and we’ve just noticed. But one day we’ll grow tired of lies. How do the husbands and wives of these people live with them? Don’t they say, when their spouses come home at night, did you believe the trash that spilled from your lips on television today? A few angry wives and husbands might improve public life in this country.

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