Yearly Archives: 2007

Replacing Junkets with Junkets?

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In yesterday’s post I berated the Globe and Mail for slamming MPs over increasing their international travel budgets. I thought it would end there. But then yesterday’s Globe and Mail published this editorial arguing that MPs should retire their junkets.

Now in the editorial the “junkets” the G&M refers to are international trips paid for by third parties. The Globe argues that “If a trip is important, the Commons has a budget allocations for such ventures… senators and MPS recently added another $1.2 -million a year to their $3-million annual federal allotment.”

Interesting. So to prevent undue influence peddling the government should cover the costs of relevant and important trips. That sounds like a sensible solution.

However, last Thursday, when the $1.2-million increase was announced to enable MPs to attend interparliamentary association meetings, the Globe described this solutions as a “secretly approved… extra $1.2-million a year for junkets and other perks that come with their global network of interparliamentary committees.”

Yesterday’s scandal is today’s editorial solution. I love the consistency.

Isn’t the Globe and Mail interested in the world?

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Why is the Globe and Mail schizophrenic on international affairs? After conducting polls and focus groups it determined that what its readers cared about most was international news. This was part of its redesign and explains why it redeployed some of my favourite columnists (Ibbitson) abroad.

So… international issues and foreign affairs matter to Globe readers. Great. Got it.

Which means the Globe must have been excited that MPs decided to expand their international travel budgets to more effectively collaborate, exchange ideas and promote understanding with their legislative counterparts from key partners around the world.

Yes, they were so excited that in a Thursday article covering the decision the opening sentence read: “Canada’s MPs and senators have secretly approved for themselves an extra $1.2-million a year for junkets and other perks that come with their global network of interparliamentary committees, federal officials have told The Globe and Mail.”

Junkets? Ah yes, so at a time everyone is worried that American legislators don’t know or care about Canada the Globe focuses on tainting one of the few opportunity at our disposal to educate these legislators and forge relationships with them. Does the Globe feel the same way about such potential connections with Chinese legislators as well?

Clearly the Globe and its shareholders believe that sending their own correspondents abroad is not a waste of money. Nor should they. As they themselves discovered Canadians are concerned about the world and foreign policy. Heaven forbid our elected representatives act on those interests.

Everything Bad is good for me

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So after reading Steven Johnson’s Everything Bad is Good for You a few months ago I’ve been feeling less guilty about watching TV. Johnson, whose counterintuitive thesis argues that pop culture is making us smarter is a gem of a book – especially for those looking for some fun, but interesting, non-fiction summer reading. One example he uses in his chapter on Television is Lost, a show characterized by a complex network of relationships and an opaque narrative that dares viewers to try to guess the show’s premise by weaving together the nuggets of information it reveals to them. According to Johnson, the shows complexity makes it brain food.

Brain food or no, this is the first time I’ve found a television drama really engaging. Not bad for a medium getting its butt kicked by the internet… isn’t it great how competition creates better, and smarter, content.

Anyway, since we’re on the topic I can’t resist sharing some thoughts on the Lost Season Finale (spoilers included!)

  • I’m betting the boat Jack Shepard calls for a rescue via satellite phone is operated by the Dharma Initiative who’ve been busy scouring the ocean trying hard to locate island they lost contact with after Ben killed their team.
  • Colleen W. suggested that, after their rescue, the castaways start to die. This is why Ben yells at Jack to not “make the call and kill 40 people.” It also explains why Jack believes they weren’t supposed to leave the island, accounts for his suicidal behaviour and is an excuse for why no one attended the funeral.
  • People may note that Richard Alpert, one of Ben’s right hand men, has not aged a day since encountering the teenage Ben escaping from the Dharma Initiative camp. We’re all familiar with the island’s restorative powers, perhaps in addition to preventing illness it also stave’s off age? Also, in a move that would imply some nice kharmatic balance in the island universe, maybe if people can’t die they also can’t have babies? That would certainly eliminate any population problems an ageless island-bound might create.
  • As an aside, this season finale completely makes up for the show’s aimless and disastrous, mid-season.
  • More importantly, the deal struck by the producers with the network, to give the TV show a specific amount of time (3 years – 100 more episodes) with which to complete is story arc is a major turning point in North American television. As my friend Dawn R. noted, American television may finally be learning from British television, in which good stories are allowed to be told, but aren’t flogged to death or extended beyond the their natural narrative arc. An important part of a good story is knowing when to end it.

The Walking Strategy

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As my friends are all too aware, I’ve adopted the “walking strategy” in my life. My rule is that, whenever in Vancouver, I must walk at least one direction to any meeting. Why?

Well here are 3 few reasons:

  • Having spent a decade away from Vancouver, I thought walking the city would help me get reacquainted with it (it has!)
  • After learning that you essentially burn as many calories walking a specific distance as running it, I thought this might enable me to maintain my love affair chocolate chip cookies and brownies
  • My job – which has me on the road a lot – has few demands of me when I’m in Vancouver, so I have the time

However, two other technologies really clinched it for me.

The first was the discovery of books on CD, or, more precisely, books on MP3. The number of lectures (such as those by Larry Lessig) and books (such as the beautifully narrated A Short History of Nearly Everything) that I’ve been able to devour through my shuffle has been astounding.

The second has been the mapping software made possible by Web 2.0 technologies. I use GMaps Pedometer to map out my routes (in part because I’m A-type) but more because, by knowing the distance I can gauge how long it will take me to walk to my destination. This ensures that I arrive (mostly) on time. Also, I can plan out the quietest routes (away from traffic) to ensure I can hear my lecture or book.

I’d also talk about the benefits of keeping one’s carbon emissions low, but with the amount of air travel I engage in, I cannot , at the moment, even begin to go down that road.

So, in short: It’s summer, and you have to try it.

All you nee is an ishuffle. Some books on MP3 and access to Gmaps.

Birthday

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So, as apparently even the Facebook corporation knows, today’s my birthday – indeed it is my Champagne Birthday (I’ve only recently heard the term, but hey, if it is in Wikipedia, it must be true!).

To reward myself for surviving this long I’ve purchased myself a Wii. Yes, with all the free time I have, I thought I’d buy a product that was bound to help me be still more productive.

I blame Beltzner for planting the seed and getting me hooked. Damn those Alpha geeks!

Sadly, I will not getting my Wii fix today as I’ll be spending the day at 30,000 feet enroute to Toronto.

I’m not holding my breath, but I’m going to ask for an upgrade. :)

Aerial bombing and Afgan Poppies

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If you didn’t catch Taylor’s piece first time around in the Walrus – his article on the US bombing of Cambodia has been reprinted in Japan Focus and is picking up some serious press. This piece has obvious implications for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Indeed speaking of Afghanistan, the Senlis Council has opened an office in Ottawa. For those not familiar with Senlis they are a think tank that is very active in Afghanistan, especially around the issue of narcotics. They (like me) are deeply concerned about the American desire to spray Afghanistan in order to kill the poppy crop – a move that will very likely drive most locals into the hands of the Taliban. They’d proposed a licensing system for Afghan poppies so that they could used to manufacture medicines – it was an idea that virtually every liberal leadership candidate (at least those that spoke about foreign policy) latched onto.

Will be curious to see if Senlis has an impact on Canadian policy in Afghanistan – particularly under this government. All that said, be for good or bad reasons, the one interesting thing about Senlis setting up an office in Ottawa is that they clearly think Canada matter in Afghanistan. Now isn’t that interesting…?

Vision Vancouver Policy Conference

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For those living in Vancouver and interested in progressive politics at the municipal level, Vision Vancouver is hosting a day long policy conference on Saturday June 9th at BCIT’s downtown campus.

The plan is to have three panels, one on “A Liveable City,” one on “Housing Affordability,” and one on “Cultural Communities.” Vision councilors will be on hand through out the day and available for some formal Q&A at the end of the day. In addition, I will be giving a short lunchtime talk on the challenges of progressive politics in the 21st century.

If you are interested in reserve a spot (and free lunch) RSVP at conference@votevision.ca

Conservatives, Facebook and the Culture of Paranoia

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So the Ontario and Federal Public service banned facebook because it thought it was eating into work time. Fair enough.

The Canadian Conservative Party however, has taken it a step further. Not only are they banning their staffers from accessing facebook from work, they are prohibiting them from possessing a facebook profile (even on their own time, accessed through their own computer). As this Calgary Herald editorial points out – this sort of restriction and censorship is reasonable:

“There seems to be a palpable fear that something which might embarrass a cabinet minister might find its way into a staff member’s profile and thus fall into the hands of some gleeful journalist. Just for the optics, it’s probably a good idea to try to prevent that from happening.”

I love that the Conservatives have so little trust in their staff they feel it necessary to prevent them from showing their faces or sharing their interests in a public space – even a virtual one.

Just ‘for optics’ maybe ministers and the party should control every aspect of their staffers lives? One wonders what other public spaces the Conservative party should ban their staffers from being seen in? Online dating must be no-no (too much like facebook). What about job searches – posting one’s resume and profile sounds pretty risky. But why stop online? What about parties and bars? Staffer could engage in some activity that might embarrass their minister in these public spaces too. Following this logic, maybe Harper should ban staffer from attending parties?

I love the paranoia of this Prime Minister’s Office.

Also, a H/T to Taylor Owen for drawing my attention to the Calgary Herald editorial.

Public Service Reform: Starting at the Apex

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So I’ve just sent APEX a copy of my speech – I actually never write out my speeches so I literally had to go back through it in my head – anyway I will post here soon as well.

For me, one of my favourite parts revolved around the APEX logo (APEX is the organization that represents all the executives of the Canadian Federal Public Service). I asked the conference attendees to take off their name badges, look at them, and tell me what they saw. Most saw it right away. The Apex logo.

Symbols matter. So, when you look at this symbol what do you see?

After a day and a half of hearing speaker after speaker talk about creating a public service that was more open, more innovative and less hierarchical, I wanted to draw their attention to the symbol the Public Service Executives use to portray themselves to the world.

Could one imagine a symbol that conveys hierarchy, control, and dominance more effectively? (I love that it is not just a pyramid, but that its angled so you have to look up at it). “Were on top! Guess where you are?”

Do we want a different public service? It will take a lot of work and changing symbols won’t get us there. But it is a start.

At this point I like to briefly say thank you to Michel Smith for inviting me to talk – he invited me to come and speak and I thanked him by dismantling his organizations logo… he deserves better.

So, in that spirit, I’d like to propose an idea based on something the president of Scandinavian Airlines once talked about in an article he wrote (where, I don’t remember). After much reflection he flipped his organizational chart upside down so as to place him at the bottom, understanding that his role was to support everybody above him, so they could, in turn, support the front-line workers who actually touch the customers. Maybe we could flip the APEX logo on its head? Can we imagine a public service executive that thinks the same way?

Now, if only we could come up with a better acronym… Any suggestions? (Remember it has to work in French and English).