Category: Other

Next steps

The conservative movement is cautiously optimistic. Many had been holding their fire, guarding their words on a sincerely conservative agenda for Canada. For the movement, the minority Conservative government was an unhatched egg: great potential but ready to be scrambled by the opposition parties, useful idiots, and the media. Now that the egg has hatched, it’s time to teach this Conservative majority government bird how to fly. Parliamentary survival is no longer on the minds of movement conservatives, good policy is, at this time, the only concern.

Now that a plurality of Canadians has granted this government a majority mandate, we have an opportunity to show Canadians the maturity of the conservative movement and show that our ideas are actually quite common among the Canadian electorate. Lower taxes, deficit and debt elimination, and large moves to end the entitlement culture of Canada should be the primary objectives of and truly Conservative government. And for the conservative movement, our job is now two-fold: encouraging and scolding good and bad behavior respectively of this government, and ensuring an environment where future generations of Conservative governments can hatch.

The conservative movement should be a greater influence on the agenda of this government than the NDP in opposition. The conservative movement should also aim its efforts on encouraging Canadians to be more demanding of conservative ideas. If we are vocal and active, we should be able to accomplish much in the next four years and see the re-election of a sincerely Conservative government.

Why any of this matters

Today, when I woke up for an early flight this morning it was raining.  A grey morning with a crisp fresh air that has already briskly permeated a few days in our nation’s capital, these days bring renewal of a long anticipated spring ahead.

Indeed, it is easy to take such days for granted; life comes easy for most in our country, but today though we are blessed to live unburdened, we should not forget how we got to this May 2nd.

It was another day, nearly ten years ago that my generation reached its definitive moment; on a sunny and clear day in September four planes cut through the sky and into steel, glass and soil scarring the American and global psyche and challenging the very nature of the ideals we always strive to live but until that day had long since appreciated in full.

Last night at 11:35 pm in the East Wing of the White House, President Obama announced what many Americans thought they’d never hear.  The monster that masterminded the attacks of September 2001 had finally been brought to justice.  This century’s greatest coward met his end in a hail of bullets delivered by US Navy SEALs yesterday in a city 30 miles North of Islamabad.

I’m thinking of Captain Nichola Goodard this morning.  Nichola was an ordinary Canadian girl like any other; she was an outdoor enthusiast, a kind mother to her cats and dogs and sweetheart to her husband Jason.  Affectionately known as “Carebear” to her friends at home, this hometown all-Canadian girl was revered as a warrior to her brothers and sisters in the Canadian Forces.  Her LAV took gunfire in the Panjwaye District of Afghanistan in a pitched battle. Capt Goddard was fatally wounded and was Canada’s first female combat fatality.  Today, Capt Goddard’s sacrifice weighs heavily on my mind.

I am also thinking of Fawzia Koofi, Afghanistan’s most popular female Member of Parliament. While Capt. Goddard and Koofi had likely never met, these two have worked together to advance the liberty and hope of countless women in that Central Asian oft-forgotten country.  At great personal risk, Koofi stresses social and political change in a nation that is shamed by its history of brutal neglect and abuse that has high rates of infant and maternal mortality exacerbated by malnutrition and girls married off before they have reached their teenage years.  Now, while progress is slow, it is taking root; millions of girls are going to school.  Koofi’s has two daughters that reflect a changing mood; one wants to go into science and the other politics like her mom.  Koofi’s own ambitions may see her in a bid for the Presidency in 2014.

Today is election day in Canada.  Millions will vote and millions will wonder why they should be bothered. While take our spring days for granted, lest we forget the fall.  We are blessed with liberty and as a consequence, granted an easy path to let it drift into neglect.  There is no more poignant a reminder of our base responsibility as citizens than the violent exit of a sadist that brought ordinary people to accomplish the selflessly extraordinary.

Osama bin Laden is dead

Reaction from world leaders:

Barack Obama (United States):

Stephen Harper (Canada):

Julia Gillard (Australia):

I welcome the death of Osama bin Laden, I welcome this news, and I thank President Obama and the US forces who have made this possible

David Cameron (United Kingdom):

The news that Osama bin Laden is dead will bring great relief to people across the world. Osama bin Laden was responsible for the worst terrorist atrocities the world has seen – for 9/11 and for so many attacks, which have cost thousands of lives, many of them British. It is a great success that he has been found and will no longer be able to pursue his campaign of global terror. This is a time to remember all those murdered by Osama bin Laden, and all those who lost loved ones. It is also a time too to thank all those who work round the clock to keep us safe from terrorism. Their work will continue. I congratulate President Obama and those responsible for carrying out this operation.

Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel):

This is a resounding triumph for justice, freedom and the values shared by all democratic nations fighting shoulder to shoulder in determination against terrorism.

John Key (New Zealand):

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