Response to the 2nd Abe Debate podcast since the comments box lost the other one...

So guys. Well done. I must say three people seems like a lot for a discussion. Inevitably one person sounds more excluded, which is unfortunate.

Um, so to start with U of C stuff, Kees, it is strange to debate open people for the first time, me and Anne were destroyed by Amy Robichaud on bilingualism and that was tragic. It will in theory help you kick it up a bit, but I don't think you should or your head would explode and that'd be hard to clean up after. Are you thinking about bilinguals/regionals yet?

Anyways, flipfloppers are always fun politically. If nothing it gives the talking heads something to disagree on and Jon Stewart and other media to point out comically. I remember hearing a while ago that Hillary Rodham Clinton was starting to lean towards the right to improve her appeal, pity really. I guess it's easy for us to criticise the politicians who change their opinions to keep their constituents and party happy but I find I have more respect the people who stand up for what they believe in and what their constituents believe in despite the urgings of their parties. Jim Prentice for example. On the other hand, they need to keep their jobs so occasional deathbed conversions can be understandable...occasionally.

Moving on. Guys, we need to remember that foreign aid and military intervention and working on problems here at home are NOT mutually exclusive. I'm not saying that we've necessarily been doing a good job with balancing that lately but there's a reason Foreign Affairs and Defense are different departments from Health and Transport. They handle different issues and need to be recognized as such but we need to understand that we don't have to use the Green Party's ideas about filching money from the military to help solve poverty. I don't know where they would find the money but I'm sure that with our institutionalized surpluses we could find enough to forgive certain foreign debts to aid those countries' development. I think it is a government's responsibility to satisfy the basic needs of the people and as Rousseau wrote the government has to promote and protect the common good of its citizens. Hobbes wrote that when the government no longer guarentees the security of the population (from foreign threats mainly but I'll expand his definition and forgive me if this doesn't sound right, blame Moquin for my social notes) it deserves to be overthrown.

So, with my social notes in mind, let's look at The Honourable Ken Dryden, as Minister of Social Development. One million children are living in poverty in this country and this government needed the NDP to press for money for social housing in their budget. Interesting isn't it? Sounds like they are having their basic needs fulfilled, doesn't it? Revolution anyone? Along Hobbes' lines, sounds like it, eh?

A little rant now.
It's disgraceful that in a city with oil barons and big business and such plenty (land of wine and honey anyone?) we had approximately 109 000 Calgarians living below the 1992 Low-Income Cutoff in 2000 according to The City of Calgary. Obviously many people are moving to this city for jobs but there simply isn't nearly enough social housing units to help the people we already have let alone the thousands that come every year. As well many people come here looking for a house and are shocked by the prices they face. According to the Government of Manitoba (through the Royal LePage Survey of Canadian House Prices, First Quarter of 2003 http://www.gov.mb.ca/iedm/invest/relocate/housing.html), the average price for a detatched bungalow is 211 900$. From another source (senior marketing analyst Richard Corriveau of the Canada Morgage and Housing Corp. as quoted in "Crowding in Calgary" Allan Connery for the Western Investor in the January 2005 edition) "The average new house in Calgary sold for about $281000 in 2004." The Globe and Mail reported in last Tuesday's edition that Calgary house prices have gone up 59% since 1997.

Anyways, I need to go and do housework and studying now but good on Devon and Kees and Sean for the latest podcast. Way to be Bono and plug Maude Barlow Devon.