The Realm of Sean

I read a comment on Youtube saying, “If Jon Steward becomes president, I want Stephen Colbert to be VICE president”. I was going to say that a comedian would never be taken seriously as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States.

Then I remembered a Hollywood actor was elected President in the 1980’s. 

“Force the strikers back to work!” That’s the mantra of the Conservative Party of Canada as they prepare to vote on legislation to send striking Canada Post employees back to their jobs as the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement so far. Heck, why would Canada Post even bother negotiating with the workers if they knew all along that the government would eventually force the union members back to work?

This legislative push ties in with the typical Conservative ideology of diminishing the power of unions as much as possible. This is not just an attack on Canada Post, but on all unions, on collective bargaining rights in general. Unions are seen by many Conservatives as money grabbing powerhouses that are in place to stall economic growth. Others see the unions as being as bad as the corporations that they fight.

In some circumstances, sure, this can be the case. The most recent example that I can think of is the teachers union in Washington D.C. While watching the documentary, ‘Waiting for Superman’, I learned of how one woman and her staff were trying to change the education system to better benefit the students by bringing in a wage system that rewards those teachers who are good at what they do. This was a policy solution to try and incentivize being a good teacher, as the district had a problem with poor quality teachers plaguing their schools. Unfortunately for the system, the union would not even allow this new incentivized wage system to go to a vote.

This is one example of stubborn unions who are unwilling to accept change, but we must not discount the benefits that unions in North America have brought to all of us. Unions are one of the primary reasons that the general public has sick pay, minimum wage, and vacation pay. As well, an increase in union wages helps to increase the wages of other sectors which are not unionized. Unions were also strong advocates for workplace safety measures, helping to create a safer workplace for all employees through legislation.

Apparently, those on the Conservative-right are successfully dividing the middle-class into pro-union, anti-union camps as I’ve increasingly heard many speak out against the unions in both the Canada Post situation, as well as Air Canada.

For example, here is a comment posted by “Marie” on a CTV news article with regards to the strike:

“Perhaps the striking postal workers need a little check on reality. They have big paycheques, banked sick days and you name. Most people don’t get that. I’m waiting for a cheque to come to me that I truly need, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the striking people. We need our income too.”

Marie takes on this situation with the “I don’t have it, so neither should they” approach. It’s actually sad how bitter she seems over the fact that these employees are trying to fight for their benefits, and how she is taking the side of the corporation over the people who work for it. Instead of shaking her finger at the people working for Canada Post, maybe she should look at why “most people don’t get that”. It’s not necessarily because its unreasonable, but more so that CEOs and those in upper management like to collect as much money as possible to put into their own pockets, instead of distributing it amongst the workers.

So in closing I would like to point out two facts.

1. Canada post has netted profits for 15-years in a row. They’re not on the verge of an collapse.

2. I’m waiting for some sunglasses to arrive in the mail, but I’m willing to wait indefinitely if it means men and women across the country are able to keep their collective bargaining rights.

Apparently New Brunswick Labour Minister Martine Coulombe is considering some rather poor policy decision that will negatively affect the majority of service sector employees in the province.

According to a CBC article, the Minister is considering a “two-tier system that would pay workers younger than 18 or trainees a lower wage”. Now, most people may initially think, “Who cares?”, but this is likely to have a negative effect on those over 18 working in the service sector.

Assuming that there are plenty of under-18 workers in the province (which I think is a safe bet) the result will be employers hiring these young employees into positions where they are directly substitutable for older workers.

For example, grocery stores like ‘Superstore’ will be more inclined to hire young workers as they, for the most part, can do just as good a job ringing through food as a 35 year old employee. The result will be not only a younger workforce being hired for these types of jobs, but some employers may be biased to give these cheaper employees more hours, pushing out the older workforce. 

This could result in the older workforce heading to school to receive more training, finding jobs that better utilize their skills, or increased poverty as they can produce no greater benefit to a company than a sub-18 worker, making them unattractive to employers. As those under 18 would tend to live at home, whereas those above that age are more likely to live independently, poverty would rise. An unemployed, uneducated workforce is also much more likely to turn to crime than otherwise.

While this policy is likely meant to appease small business, its effects will likely have a negative net effect if implemented. 

Layton really reminds me of Buzz Lightyear in this commercial

I’ve been rather quiet on the federal election of 2011 so far. I suppose the main reason is that intially, I didn’t know where the campaign would end up. I didn’t know if Harper would surge thanks to a Dion-style blunder by Ignatieff, or would Harper’s track record since the last election end up turning the electorate against him. 

What I didn’t expect at all was a surge by the NDP. Yet here we are, one day before the election, and the results are still difficult to predict

Going through the leaders, Stephen Harper and his Conservatives have become the most unattractive choice in my opinion. I’m not a hyper-partistan person; I used to support the Conservative Party, specifically Stephen Harper. Alas since 2008 he has lost my confidence. No longer do his actions show that he is guided by reason and transparency. What completely lost my support was his destruction of the long-form census. This highlights that Harper is no longer interested being guided by reason and empirical evidence, but by that “gut feeling”. Similarly is his views on what Canada’s justice system should be shaped into. 

I like Michael Ignatieff, even more so when contrasted to Stephen Harper. He’s an academic, something which I have much respect for, and seems to be guided by reason more than than blind ideological drive. Unfortunately he seems to be unable to translate his wisdom into votes. I was talking to someone who said, “I don’t know why, but I just don’t like Ignatieff”. This is something I’ve heard from many people with regards to the Liberal leader. When this is the stance that one seems to generate on default, then there is an obvious problem. 

Elizabeth May seems to be most concerned with winning her seat in British Columbia. This is a smart move politically, as she needs to get the Green Party’s foot in the door, and then focus on expanding afterwards. To many, the party is still seen as a fringe party, partially due to its lack of representation in Parliament. I think that May will have beneficial effects on parliament as she helps to change the current political culture in place in Ottawa.

Jack Layton is- well- Jack Layton. The guy has been around for 10 years now and is now front and center in this election. No longer is the NDP a small, hopeless third-party on the national scale. Now there is a possibility that the man with the ‘stache could actually become the Prime Minister of Canada. Layton has less for other parties to attack as he both has not been in power, so does not have a history of governing to attack, nor does he seem to have any skeletons in his closet. 

Ever since Barack Obama began his race for the presidency of the United States, Canadians have begun looking for their own ‘Obama’ character. They seem to want a character who will speak of change, one who is a bit of a celebrity and charismatic, and one who can motivate the country and possesses a vision. Michael Ignatieff lacks these characteristics, so Stephen Harper is the ‘safe’ choice, as he has proven to govern while not destroying the Canadian economy. Now Jack Layton has come forward with an ‘orange wave’ of support across the country. While he is not young, nor is he as charismatic as Obama, the man represents a fresh change from the Red/Blue domination of the Canadian government.

May 2nd will be an interesting day as regardless of the outcome, the repercussions of the election are sure to have significant effects on all the parties, as well as Canada.

Want to ruin my morning?

Aside from running out of milk for my Cheerios, the most effective way to make me sour at the start of the day is to make me stop off at the Dartmouth Sportsplex bus terminal. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, count yourself lucky.

I generally like the idea of public transportation. It’s like being having a chauffeur, except he is always late, and scared of parking lots as well as dropping you off at your doorstep. Oh, and you’re being driven around in the company of 30+ strangers. While I generally have no problem with this, some individuals can make it rather unpleasant. I’ve discovered throughout my public-transport ventures that the Sportsplex bus stop tends to attract the most unpleasant individuals is the Sportsplex terminal. This bus hub is like the ‘Bowser’ of bus stations; it’s big, bad, and rather smelly. This place is apparently so prone to incidents that it requires security personel in the evenings to deter brawls (I’m sure ineffectively). 

The small island of cement contains a couple of small covered shelters which put you in close contact with everyone else waiting for their bus. These people tend to consist of 3 majorities: People with imaginary friends, assholes who will blow smoke in your face, and ‘ganstas’. Often individuals will fall under two such categories. All of whom are perfectly willing to throw their coffee cups, cigarettes, pop cans, receipts and candy wrappers all over the place. 

This general lack of regard for others, the lack of lucidity, and mischievous youth makes the Sportsplex have a similar effect on me as the Dementors of the Harry Potter realm; it sucks the joy out of me. It’s incredibly depressing to be in such a miserable environment. 

While there are certainly worse places to be on earth, this is one of the worst in HRM. If you can avoid making a transfer at the Sportsplex bus terminal - do so.

Facebook recently implemented its own native ‘polling system’, allowing users to ask and answer questions from both their friends as well as the larger Facebook community. When I logged on and saw my Facebook wall cluttered with questions such as, “Which is better? Coke or Pepsi?”, I quickly realized the genius behind this for Facebook. By adding this new feature, the website further cemented itself as the single greatest source of consumer information on the web and allows corporations to further manipulate social media to their benefit.

Quite simply, these sorts of questions act as a free, viral means of data collection on the general Facebook user-base. Facebook’s 500 million users increasingly represent a broad range of the developed world’s population giving those seeking data a wide array of users to gather information on. For example, going back to the ‘Coke vs. Pepsi’ question; looking at the data from this, companies are able to determine (depending on privacy settings) the sex, age, approximate location, as well as networks of those who voted on the question. While the ‘Coke vs. Pepsi’ question that popped up on my feed was likely asked by some person who wanted to know the opinions of his/her friends, it will be very easy for corporations to ask similar questions and distribute them on a grand scale. 

Most likely, this new feature is a precursor for a new means of revenue for the website down the road. I would not be surprised to see corporately sponsored ‘questions’ on my Facebook feed by the end of the year seeking my opinions on various products and world events, all of which will be used by corporations to better market or distribute products. 

Facebook needs to make money, and the site may be looking to make its books look better before a possible public offering next year. Alas, this question system, as harnessed by advertisers, will be an incredible source of information and could also spark a significant outlash from the Facebook community. 

Although, due to the network effect that social-media websites suffer from (one’s utility only increases if others use the service) its unlikely that even a huge breach of privacy would demolish the giant that is Facebook anytime soon.