A very strategic leak: Iggy is the CPCs dream candidate

I was shocked to read that multiple bloggers actually bought the CPC leak (purposeful more so than sloppy) to the Toronto Star about them fearing Iggy. You could see that one coming a mile away.

Politics in general, and especially this race is about spinning, and Harper's gang knows full well that there are many Iggy supporters who would be all over this alleged leak, especially two days before super weekend. Some will buy it and some won't, however, the CPC might think they can influence our process to even a small extent by strategically putting forward their own self interested preferences and trusting that the Iggy spin doctors will do the rest.

An election campaign between Iggy as leader and Harper would be much like changing dirty underwear, and a great way for the incumbent Tories to minimize the differences between Liberal and Conservatives. Any student of Weber knows where the political advantages lie in such a situation, in spite of Iggy's claim to be "left of centre".

This is different information from the real leak that I heard in a roundabout way via some reliable CPC insiders in Ottawa in May about Rae being the CPC's choice at the time, because it represented to them an ability to govern with majorities for the next 20 years due to of Rae's unpopularity in Ontario and those vulnerable seats in Southern Ontario.

In contrast, the week after Ken Dryden declared to be in the leadership race, Harper came out with some spin on Hockey Night in Canada that he is one of Candada's most accomplished hockey scholars. At the time it seemed to me that he was trying to take away from Dryden's popular appeal by attempting to play in the same league. To me, this reveals in a subtle way the Liberal candidate Harper is most concerned about.

Be careful of what you buy into and why.

Tie hopes relationship with Belinda sticks: otherwise gender bias in Ontario will ruin him ...

If Tie Domi ends up with Belinda, few would argue he is more set financially for life than he is even after making millions in the NHL over a 1000+ game career. However, one week after announcing his retirement, it could all come unravelled because of the divorce application filed this week by his wife Leanne. Leanne is going after all the money the law will allow - hard - possibly because the law says she is entitled to it and possibly because she is looking for revenge following Tie's alleged affair. That is neither here nor there, but for men with an angry ex, the system can offer a harsh reality check.

The National Post reports that until child and spousal support is settled, Tie Domi is to pay for any costs related to the home, schooling and recreational activities; $25,000 for Leanne Domi’s legal fees; and $10,000 so his total worth can be calculated. She is seeking $15,246 in monthly child support, $30,000 in spousal support, and $250,000 to hire lawyers and experts for the divorce proceedings.

Unfortunately, this is a man who just retired and will experience a "huge" drop in income next year and will unlikely, unless he becomes CEO of Magna, make that much again.

Unfortunately for Tie, the system is not on his side because he is a man. Gender is still the most important factor in determining custody, in spite of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms adopted almost 25 years ago. The impact of gender preference in the awarding of custody creates other problems in family policy, affecting both child support and access, and often compromising the best interests of children of the marriage.

The principle of “best interests of the child” is important in awarding custody, but should always be applied in ways that give due recognition to the rights of both parents. Current family policy does not ensure that this happens. Non-custodial parents are often unfairly burdened with inequitable support responsibilities, supported by punitive enforcement regimes. As well, non-custodial parents are often left with hollow access rights, whose enforcement tools are as benign as support measures are punitive. This access imbalance can often prejudice the relationship the children have with the non-custodial parent. Because of systemic gender bias, in most cases this is the father

The Divorce Act is federal, but because justice is administered by the provinces changes in family policy can be difficult to achieve and implement without full federal-provincial cooperation. This can be a challenge, given inter-governmental relations and the constitutional implications that are associated with inter-jurisdictional issues. This is especially so with respect to the subtle, frequent and recurring gender imbalances in the awarding of custody in provincial courts. Furthermore, there are those, predominantly women, who benefit financially and otherwise from how the system works right now and there are strong lobby groups that support the status quo. As a result, there is both reluctance and resistance to making changes that would achieve more equity as between parents, and encourage more cooperative co-parenting relationships. The policy as it is now designed and implemented is failing society, and is failing the best interests of many of its children.

Under current policy, custody dictates who pays and who receives child support, as well as who is adversely affected on access issues – mostly non-residential parents and children of divorce. Gender preference in the awarding of custody causes related policies like child support and access to fail directly as a result. Gender preference is insidious, exacting a psychological toll on the excluded parent, exacerbating an already deteriorated relationship between the parents, exerting unneeded pressure and stress on children, kindling alienation of the excluded parent, and leaving vulnerable children to make loyalty choices, all of which eats away at the “best interests of the children.” Successful family policy will only be achieved if gender preference is removed from issues of custody and complimentary steps are taken to ensure fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of parenting (barring unusual or threatening circumstances).

Tie is about to be introduced to the realities that are known best of all by Canadian men affected by divorce. It is no accident that most applications for divorce are filed by women (75% in Canada), perhaps flippantly because some argue that all men are scum and deserve to be "taken for everything they are worth". Policy analysts might find otherwise that current family in policy in Canada creates a financial incentive for women to divorce, especially if their husband's income is about to drop, and that is the real reason for these lopsided statistics.

I wish Tie and his ex his family and all the best in resolving this issue fairly and equitably.

I'm back on line: Warning about Beta Blogger upgrade

After five weeks I am back on Liblogs with a new URL. I will try to integrate my previous blog into this one, however I am not optimistic that it is possible knowing the limitations assosiated with the "rocket scientists" who made Beta Blogger. That blog address is: http://edgewaterviews999.blogspot.com.

Curiosity and a written sales pitch promoting all the great features available through Beta Blogger led me to attempt an upgrade of my blog. Big mistake!

Once I went part way, there was no turning back and no evident atom/rss link for Jason to link to. So in spite of a couple attemts (thanks Jason) my posts still did not appear on the blog roll. Frankly, the reasons they suggest for upgrading to Beta.Blogger contain about as much spin as I have been reading about the Liberal leadership contest and the 'self-appointed' frontrunners. It seems like it is pretty much the same thing, though one needs a Google account to activate. I am sure it is all about Google acquiring more members more so than added features yet.

Please beware, this upgrade is not worth the hassle. In the meantine I have had plenty of time to look out over the water and to reflect on the Liberal leadership contest. Things are heating up for the home stretch... the vulnerabilities of the various candidates are emerging as expected and in a way that could have a large impact on the final results. There will be some surprises.

Powercorp and today's Ekos poll: a vested interest in Rae?

While the sun sets on the delegate selection meetings, there will other days between October and December to consider who should be leading the Liberal party.

Powercorperation who is behind Bob Rae in this race owns Gesca Ltée, which holds a 100 per cent interest in the Montréal daily newspaper La Presse (which co-sponsored today’s poll along with the Star) and six other daily newspapers in the provinces of Québec and Ontario. To what extent do we trust the media and their polls when some have a vested interest in showing trends in a certain way at a crucial time? What will they want from a Bob Rae led Liberal party?

I think I am going to pull out a copy of C. Wright Mills' The Power Elites tonight in order to try to understand all of this better and I will get back to you. I recommend the same for those interested in having a better understanding of what information should be trusted and what information should not in this race where some have profit and influence as their vested interest.

All of this is in spite external mechanisms of accountability, such as the Lobbyist Registration Act and newly adopted campaign-financing rules. Is it that hard to shake the influence of the large corporation?

More Iggy Spin: two thumbs up makes him "Frontrunner"

I have been wondering for months how anyone, including the media, could speculatively appoint Iggy the 'frontrunner'. I started looking for evidence and could not find any, except for signs that a number of campaigns including Iggy's were being run by the same 'machines' that had assisted out previous Liberal leaders win their leadership processes.

In some ways it is these 'power organisations' that taint the party still amongst Canadians. Issues of party integrity have been ignored or swept under the rug in spite of a renewal and/or Leadership process that has the potential to fix many things if allowed to be accepted, grieved and rebuilt organically. These big organisations fielding slates driven by the head start naturally afforded to opportunistic party executives is a bit like "exchanging dirty underwear" with what made the party previously sick and contributed to its defeat the last election.

Without containing if not eliminating what is 'tainted' about these machines, the Liberal party will not heal, the next Leader will feel the effects and the Liberal party may not have a chance to overtake Harper in one election. Even though no one is talking about the corruption in the past, it is bound to resurface later if it is not dealt with through renewal and/or Liberal leadership. Should Liberals in the for the long run not be trying to distance themselves from
these types of political organisations?

To me, who has the biggest machine and/or the most money is not necessarily congruent with who is the 'frontrunner' from a popularity perspective. After all, what are we really measuring here.

More evidence of just how deep these machines go are has surfaced in recent days with the questionable "Gandalf Poll", which has been a "hot topic" also with bloggers. The poll that put Dryden as a frontrunner amongst Canadians and amongst Liberals is being discounted by many bloggers who support candidates who have those 'machines' working on their behalf. This makes me wonder where lay the priorities of many Liberals.

Maybe I am just a romantic but my fantasy would be for there to be a rebirth of the Liberal party via organic healing, without taint for the past. That organisation would emerge to be victorious because it is "good" and because the merits, appeal and integrity of the candidate would supersede "the big money machines" against all odds. Would a candidate who wins because of the dedication of its people, their belief in that candidate and their ability to show that to others not be a better ending to this story than Iggy winning because he gets out 40% of the delegates in round one or losing because he was only able to pull off 35%.

I don't see Iggy as having any chance for growth, so round one will be the peak and it will not be enough. I just hope the Liberal who can best win nationally and reunite the party come up the middle.

A Big Canada - A big day in Quebec ... leadership debate later today from Quebec City

Will there be some surprises at the Liberal leaders' debate later today in Quebec City? Will the winds will shift in a direction few would have anticipated? Why is the question for Liberals not about who can really win nationally and/or who can beat Harper in one election?

Isn't this what collectively interested Liberals should be voting for? The scrutiny Liberals are using to endorse their preferred candidates often seems similar to how one would act upon a stock tip - don't buy the stock because of how it will perform but buy it because of how others anticipate it will perform. Such decision making, which is present in this leadership campaign is not much better than owning a crystal ball or having a friend who reads tea leaves.

Most Liberals seems to want to be supporting the winner at convention. In many cases this is out of self-interest more so than who will with the most integrity lead the party. What about carefully considering who is best for the Liberal party at this point in time given the questions Canadians have about trust? If the Leader is decided because too many self-interested Liberals think they can guess a winner, and blindly follow the trail of "spin", the opportunity for the Liberal party to renew itself this time around will be lost. This what CPC hopes will happen.

Is this more important than the number of "trigger happy" party executives and ambitious caucus members who on Week One of the campaign last spring felt like they had to anticipate with very limited information guess "who would be the (wo)man"?

This is a bit like ordering Dim Sum - you never know what (or who) is going to show up next and with what.