The Definition Of Insanity

I would like to begin with a factoid: 1.66% of all world industrial CO2 emissions come from Canada. Now, I wish you will imagine the following. What would be the impact if, at the snap of your fingers every Canadian no longer existed? What would be the significance of our total obliteration? Think carefully and look again at the number in the first sentence.

Ever since the issue of “global warming”, which then  morphed into “climate change” when the temperature records no longer could be massaged to to support the thesis, first came to the forefront of politics I have used every tool in my personal toolbox to evaluate if there was any validity. That was over 2 decades ago, and I have yet found a smoking gun that even comes close to making me believe that it is real. Call me what ever you want but one thing no one has ever been able to prove is that I am stupid.

I have spent my career collecting, compiling, analysing and evaluating data. It is what I do and those tools I apply to how I live my life. Sure, sometimes I draw wrong conclusions but that typically is due to poor data and not poor analysis. There are two areas of casual study though that I must honestly say, I just don’t understand; women and politics.

In the former case I have always treated women as equals in that they are just as capable as a group as men. Some women are smarter than me, and some not, some are more athletically endowed than me, and some are not. I could go on and on but the point where I am at a loss is in the work force. By training I am a geologist. I have met many women who are very capable geologists, and I have hired, or at least recommended that they be hired, women because from the pool being evaluated, they were the best of the lot. But what has puzzled me over the years is that with rare exception they are unwilling to “tough it out”. To illustrate what I mean. I worked in an exploration group that seldom had much turnover. When I retired the group was dominated by women. Several years later I was back, and all the women were gone yet the same men were still there. They worked in an environment where their thoughts and opinions were respected, and all had good work ethic yet they all voluntarily left for “greener pastures”. To this day I still don’t get it. Other than the obvious biology are psychologically men and women so different that it carries through to the workplace even though we are bombarded with the belief that is not the case?

Politics, to me, is just as much enigmatic, if not more so. I as raised on the belief that if you did not like how a political party was doing their job you would vote for another whose platform better aligned with your wants and needs and the wants and needs of your riding. In recent years especially I have given much effort in doing that evaluation. This is where the opening factoid comes in. Any party that proposes wholesale “change” whether be it extra taxes or other actions that would have little impact on CO2 emissions but would have very negative effects on our quality of life is not worthy of my vote. I had thought that a significant majority of people who live in this area that I live in would share that belief. But that is not the case.

First, I am very disappointed in that so many people, rather than debating the issues pipe up with “I don’t talk politics”. A case in point, I have a brother who occasionally makes a political statement. When I query him about it to try and understand why he said what he did the response is “I don’t talk politics”. All I can gather from that is that he is comfortable in his shell and doesn’t want his little world shattered by reality. But I am guessing because why else would you be unwilling to explore the validity of his beliefs? Is he afraid of being wrong? If he is right that will become obvious is we were able to explore the reasons why he holds the opinion he does. I for one have had my thoughts changed many a time because of flawed reasoning, primarily due to an incomplete data set. The best way to confirm your belief is to see other viewpoints and test it against the beliefs of others. Because politics has such wide-ranging impacts on our day to day lives it should be the source of much debate but isn’t.

So we have a Federal government that is continuing to actively promote “green” policies, such as the “Carbon Tax”. Note that this tax was not part of their previous platform but instead had been hidden and was then sprung upon we, the unsuspecting electorate. This tax now makes everything we consider necessities (food and energy in particular) more expensive with the promise to increase the tax burden sooner rather than later. In addition, they are killing projects that would employ fellow Canadians, fellow taxpayers. In doing so they are telling investors they are better off spending their money elsewhere.

We live in a part of the country that has minor agricultural abilities such that it is impossible for us to feed ourselves. So now the food we need costs more and a significant number of us voted to ensure that the risk of staving to death is now higher. We need to heat our homes, whether it be wood, oil or natural gas and all emit CO2 emissions. Because of who most votes went to (and I am not just counting Liberal votes) we are ensuring our heating costs will go up. Or how about our local industries, whether forestry, mining or other industrial activities? The same “green” policies promoted by most of the political parties have already killed jobs in our region and are working hard to kill more.

Only the Peoples Party of Canada had a platform that even came close to helping us. Sure, we could have tried to send a message like Albertan’s did a few years back by voting NDP (we all should remember how that turned out here in Ontario), not that we condone the NDP platform but to send a message (short term pain for long term gain?). Even many Quebeckers did that by ignoring the Liberals and the Conservatives and falling back on the BQ, not because they expect positive results but because they didn’t like the other options. Why is it that other parts of this country can get the message across by showing volatility? Or is it because we are like my brother; so immersed in our own little world that we ignore the real world outside to our own detriment? So unwilling to try something different? 

One definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This begs the question; why are there so many insane people in the Thunder Bay area? I for one just don’t know.

The Rise of Fascism in Canada

Two recent events resulted in myself having an epiphany. Before I get into more detail, a little about myself. I am a geologist, one who uses science, primarily chemistry and physics, to study the earth and earth forming processes. I have specialised in mineral exploration involving observation, data acquisition, analysis and interpretation. I have been fortunate to have been on the leading edge of the integration of computers and related software in those activities. An integral part of the analysis portion is asking questions; being skeptical and not making assumptions.

I have applied these tools to many other aspects of my life including evaluation of politics. About a quarter century ago I observed that the Liberal Party of Canada, then under the leadership of Jean Chrétien, had in effect adopted a policy that I describe as “democratic dictatorship”. By that I mean that unlike the Parliamentary System of Great Britain that our system was modeled on no longer did the caucus (the elected representatives) select from amongst themselves a “leader” who, if the party had enough members to form a government would then have the title of “Prime Minister”. Instead general party members voted (the “democratic” part) for who would be leader and only when that person was willing to resign from that post could they be removed (the “dictatorship” part). That troubled me but like everyone else I did nothing about it other than name it for what it is.

Then, about 20 years ago I observed a change in our media in that for some reason they picked sides in that they applied one set of rules of reporting when dealing with conservative parties and another for all others. I don’t like hypocrisy and while this raised flags, I did nothing about it other than no longer paying attention to news sources that displayed openly this hypocrisy.

In more recent years there has been a dramatic increase in attacks on Free Speech with the most violent proponents calling themselves “Antifa”. It was at this time I started to pay more attention, especially since this “Antifa” movement was exhibiting characteristics of the very ideology they supposedly were fighting; fascism. So, I began researching the origin of fascism and quickly discovered that they indeed were exhibiting traits common with the Brown shirts of the National Socialist Party of Germany, also known by the moniker “Nazi’s”. While “fascism” is typically described as being “alt-right” or “extreme right” that makes no sense as the right is characterised by more personal freedom and less government and neither of those terms describe fascism. But “socialism” does share the same basic characteristics of less personal freedom, more government and, most importantly, much less freedom of speech and of the press. So, the reality is that “Fascism” is a variant of Socialism but with the support of industry.

Let us not forget that past fascist regimes were aided and abetted by industry which appears to be a strange bedfellow to socialism. Or is it? Right now, we have a handful of multi-billionaires who are working hard to suppress free speech. A free market does not condone monopolies whereas socialism does. The advantage of having a monopoly is that you no longer must work hard to maintain your wealth and thus people like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and, here in Canada, the Irving family, as just a few examples, support actively any political party that ensures they are able to maintain their wealth with minimal effort.

Now back to those two recent incidents. The first was a reminder of how Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna said, on video, that “If you repeat it, if you say it louder, if that’s your talking point, people will totally believe it!”. And that in turn reminded me of the quote from the infamous Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels: “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it”. This begs the question, why are two people so distant in time sharing the same view? What else do they share?

The second event was the announcement that the Canada Leaders Debate Commission, created by the Liberals in 2018 to regulate election debates, has decided to appeal a court ruling that allowed the Rebel Media to report on the only debates sanctioned by said commission. With a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that states quite clearly that “Everyone has the following fundamental” … “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication” how can we have a commission try and to take that freedom away? It was bad enough that this same Liberal Government enacted Bill 16, an act to amend the Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to compel citizens of this country to use only certain pronouns in certain situations. Why are they trying to regulate speech and the freedom of the press, something that is a basic right?

It has bothered me for some time that most of our media have abandoned the search for truth and the upholding of justice. Instead they pander to one party. And that one party has rewarded them with a bribe of $600 million of our tax dollars. On top of that the leader of the pack is our dear CBC, funded by us, the taxpayer, many of whom are not of the “Liberal” persuasion, or at least the current version. Soon after the debate one of the moderators, who works for the CBC, and her employer attempted to sue the Conservative Party of Canada over their use of some video clips that cast the Liberals, and specifically Trudeau, in a bad light. Something that clearly falls under the Fair Use doctrine of Copyright. Yet other parties in their political advertisements did the same yet were not subjected to the same interpretation of the rules. What is this country coming to where most of the parties gets a free pass yet the others, especially the Conservatives and the Peoples Party of Canada, are smeared and vilified?

Then the realisation hit me; we are seeing the rise of Fascism in Canada and at its forefront is the Liberal Party of Canada. I cannot accuse Trudeau of being the mastermind as it has become too obvious that beyond a pretty face and the actor’s ability to memorise lines, he is incapable of serious thought. 

Unlike Communism, Fascism relies on an elite class in government who control everything, including ensuring there is no dissent through the removal of basic freedoms such as Speech. And that is exactly what we are seeing; an erosion of our fundamental freedoms. But what good is Free Speech if there is no avenue to express that speech and thus why Freedom of the Press is also so important.

Another characteristic of Fascism is that they historically have been opportunists in that they use fear of something that encompasses much of the population, and thus attributed to “populism”. Back in the dirty thirties’ unemployment was rampant as was inflation. People were afraid of what the future held for them. Along came Mussolini and Hitler who both capitalised on that fear. They succeeded with the support of many in the bureaucracy who typically are isolated from reality and feel they are smarter than the rest of the population. 

I had been wondering for some time how the people of Germany allowed the rise of Fascism and the promotion of discrimination that culminated in the holocaust. Now I see what is currently going on and better understand how that travesty of justice came about. The fear that currently is being fanned in order to convince us, the people that we are in a crisis situation is “Climate Change”. And upon the back of that fear the Liberals are trying to put in place a Fascist regime supported by the current bureaucracy that are willing and able to restrict, if not curtail, our basic rights so they can take us down what they consider the correct path. 

What too is obvious is that neither our political elites not the bureaucracy that supports them believe we have a crisis. How can we tell? Look at how they ignore the remedies they say are required. We had over 300 people in the Canadian delegation to the Paris Climate summit in 2017. Do as I say and not as I do. Review the dire warnings in Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and how many of the predictions came true? None. The movie should have been titled “Convenient Lies”.

Based on pure logic, Proportional Representation is not a good means of democracy, yet it is a good means of protecting the abuse of democracy. Note how three countries that have the closest connection to fascism and the atrocities of the Second World War, specifically the Holocaust; Germany, Italy and Israel, all have Proportional Representation or a close variant there of. Note too that due to that general system it is extremely difficult for one party to have a strangle hold on the control of the country. They have made a major sacrifice to prevent a repeat of the past horrors.

Now I don’t hold much faith that some form of Proportional Representation will arise here in Canada as two things need to happen. First, the rising Fascist Liberal party needs to be defeated. And second, any successor must recognise, like I have, that while not perfect, if we wish to preserve our freedom, such a system is necessary. If you don’t believe me remember how fast the Liberals walked away from that party platform position of “electoral reform” of 2015 once they realised, they were now in the drivers seat and their Fascist dream was now much closer to being a reality, and still is. Mark my words, the worst is yet to come if we let this continue.

This is the last submittal I sent to the Chronicle Journal, prior to the election. I honestly don't know if it was published (I believe the previous two were) as I really don't care for that newspaper as it regurgitates a lot of Toronto Star OpEds as well as some from the Washington Post. Neither, in my opinion, give balanced reliable commentary. Note that unfortunately in the riding I live in they did not "choose wisely" but instead re-elected Patty Hadju, the cabinet minister who right after making it to cabinet approved over a million dollars in OFFICE RENOVATIONS!

Choose Wisely

The Federal election will soon be on us and at that time you will have the ability to cast your ballot for the candidate or party of your choice. As the person elected from your riding will be representing hopefully your best interests and of everyone else in the riding one needs to choose wisely. 

 Unfortunately to get good unbiased information with which to make an informed decision can be a daunting task, helped in no part by traditional media sources doing their best to show their biases rather than exposing the strengths and weaknesses of each party and their respective candidates.

So, what can a person do to be better informed? The obvious one is to try different sources. For a national perspective read also the Globe and Mail and the National Post. On line check out the Post Millennial, Rebel Media and C2C Journal as several examples. Go to YouTube to track down videos of actual events so that you can see for yourself what actually happened. 

A powerful tool available to you is to think through what the potential consequences are. Each party and their respective candidates are trying to paint themselves in the best light possible but not all facades are true. Be critical and skeptical and evaluate policy statements. 

For example, the subject of man-made climate change/global warming. Currently most of the parties are promoting some form of “transitioning from fossil fuels”. Consider how we keep our homes warm in the cold Canadian winter; primarily with natural gas, propane and fuel oil, all fossil fuels. Also keep in mind that affordable food at the grocery store is thanks to cheap transportation from countries where growing conditions are much better than ours, all powered by fossil fuels. Think about how life as we know it would be without fossil fuels by considering how they have given us everything we hold dear; warmth, abundance of affordable food, clothing, etcetera. Now consider the impacts so far of the “green economy”. There is a reason why the “road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

Another related example is the mantra “we are for jobs”. Killing the fossil fuel industry and making every other industry that uses fossil fuels to be less competitive on the world stage is job killing. Why do we need to curtail our fossil fuel industry for environmental and ethical reasons while we import from other countries with far poorer standards than ours unimpeded, again killing local jobs? Here in Northwestern Ontario our economy is dominated by resource industries that are barely economic and are made even more marginal with every tax increase. The “green economy” is a false one and no where has it ever delivered the benefits those who promote it have said it would. Instead more and more foreign-owned companies have closed their Canadian subsidiaries and moved elsewhere.

Oh, but the rich will pay! Put yourself in their shoes. Would you stay in a country that treats you unfairly just because you have more money than others? Would you not just leave that country and go somewhere else, one where you are welcomed as any money you spend there will be in support of the local economy? You see, it really isn’t that hard to evaluate what is best for our country and ultimately ourselves. Being able to vote gives you great power but that comes with great responsibility. Choose wisely.