I am tired of the manipulation!

There is an old story about a woman who goes to see her son marching in a parade at the local airbase.  It was quite obvious that when they said right step, he put out his left.  The mother, proud of her son, turned to another mother and stated, "Seems that my son is the only one in step."

Well that is the way I am starting to feel.

Am I the only person who sees that the government of Canada has decided to play the divide and conquer card on old folks in this country?

I see this as the latest cynical ploy to take the heat of one issue by placing it on another issue.  The polarization of the debate results in Canadians losing sight of real problems for supposed ones. What am I talking about? Let me draw you a picture.

You do not have to remember too far back when PM Harper told Canadians that Canada's economy was strong and there was not chance of a recession in this fair country.  Shortly thereafter the shit hit the fan and Harper was forced to eat his words; which, of course, he could never do.  So rather than explaining his failure, he changed the discussion channel - he started to talk about stimulus programs... oops, I mean economic action plans.  As the action plans percolated across Canada, up went Canada's debt and deficit.  And it was just in time, because it took the heat of the fact that the government had already driven the country from surplus to deficit before the recession and now they has a bogey man to blame.  Classic misdirection.

But as the deficit grew, Harper needed a new bogey man, so up comes the F35 procurement plan.  We can not afford to maintain our infrastructure across Canada, so let's spend on bloody jets instead.  Then up pops McKay and the helicopter taxi service to take the heat off jets, and on it goes until now.  Now it is the turn for seniors to take the heat and get the attention.

Now I am going to tell you that some changes to the pension system are needed, but I will scream from the highest mountain that the Old Age Security is not the way to fix it.  Here is a few facts to bear in mind as we go through this diversion from reality.  The Baby-Boom generation, of which I am one, is said to cover the period from 1945 to 1957 or so.  A quick calculation tells us that every Boomer will be 65 or over by 2022.  Another quick calculation suggests that 13 years thereafter (average age for Boomers is 78), the majority of them will be dead. The crisis will be over.

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I focus on the consequences of action, not just the action.

Unless the government finds a way to fight rampant age discrimination that exists in the work force in Canada, there is no way that a 60+ year old can find a meaningful job in Canada.  By 60 you are either too old, too frail, over-qualified or not youthful looking enough for most companies.  They don't want to hire and train someone that they know will either retire soon or fall over dead on the assembly line.  They want the young guns who have the dedication of a tsetse fly to their employers.

This whole degenerative piece-of-crap policy frosts my balls!

Having it both ways!

I was astounded this morning when I read an article about our prison system.  Seems that all the hulla-baloo surrounding the new and expanded jail facilities and tough-on-crime justice system might have been a bit of overblown BS.  Just when the feds are building new warehouses for hard-core criminals, the crime rate has dropped... yet again.

Seems to me that was what the critics were telling the government a couple of years ago.  The crime rate is dropping in Canada so new prisons are a waste of money.  The government told the critics that statistics were misleading and that Canada had entered a new crime-ridden period akin the the Wild West.  Seems that the government might have been wrong?

So let's hear from the Vic Toews.  According to Postmedia, "Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said he never believed predictions that the prison population would grow significantly when the government passed legislation that increased mandatory minimum sentences and repealed the two-for-one time-served provisions."

So why, then Vic, did you build more prison space?

However, Corrections Canada Commissioner Don Head, had this to say:  "If you look back over the last 24 months, the federal inmate population has grown by about 1,500.  That is the equivalent of about three large, medium-security institutions."

Let's make sure we understand this statistic.  In January 2010 there were about 13,300 federal cons.  24 months later there were 14,800.  That is a 10% increase.  Is that insignificant, Vic?

Correctional Investigator of Canada, Howard Sapers, said "It is difficult to determine why the inmate population has not grown as much as expected, but suggested the provincial inmate populations may be growing, or there could simply be fewer crimes occurring. In any case, he said, the growth is less than most experts had feared."

Fewer crimes might be occurring?  Isn't that what Vic poo-pooed not so long ago?

Sapers comment also gives more credence to the Provinces who claim that the tough-on-crime policy of the feds would come at their expense.


So what is the bottom line?  Once again, Canadian taxes are being used to fund the far-out orthodoxy of the Conservative government.  And the silent masses just go on being silent!

Next up is the Old Age Security, wherein the government will probably raise the age for OAS from 65 to 67.  And this at a time when jobs are scarce and age discrimination in the workplace is rampant.  I wonder if that will wake up Canadians?