The Line starts year three. The limits of apologies. The weirdification of Alberta, and conservatives generally. A task force on task forces. Fertilizer, Ukraine, and more.
Great weekly summary, I especially enjoyed the dissection of the Ukrainian Embassy story. It is quite remarkable how the Liberal marketing department can burn the jet fuel and tie up the Prime Minister and two senior cabinet ministers for a few photos taken thousands of miles away in a war zone.
On to fertilizer:
Regardless of where urbanites stand on climate change/climate action, understand the dynamics of fertilizer usage on a modern farm operation. Fertilizers are needed to make budgets work and also to make the production aspects function. Lenders want to see a business case that points to profits. The profits provide the ability for farmers to upgrade to the newest technologies for fuel efficiency and fertilizer applications. On the production side, reducing fertilizer needs by 1/3 is like running power tools starved for electricity or baking bread with less yeast.
I agree with the Line, that the Liberals ARE HOPING that another round of hillbillies take to the streets across Canada and inconvenience and anger urban people who are happily riding the climate action bandwagon because they have little skin in the game.
“Investments in soil testing could go a long way to helping farmers apply nitrogen more efficiently, which could help them increase yields while maintaining profits.”
Good lord, do you not think farmers have been doing soil testing for like decades? If you can’t comment intelligently on a subject don’t bleeping bother. It’s literally insulting to the agricultural industry. Extremely disappointed as a subscriber.
I guess this is the quality of government senior leadership you get when you are more focused on English/French proficiency and optics than experience and skill. (The bilingual requirement being an effective affirmative action program ensuring that old Ottawa Valley families are well represented in the senior civil service while immigrants are kept out.)
It's all reflective of what the Canadian chattering classes, and those who want to be them, find important. They value process and optics rather than results and effectiveness. This is who we are, and they wonder why Populism, a movement rejecting their mediocre leadership, is growing in Canada.
I think your assessment of the present malaise in Ottawa sounds about right.
Much that happens (or, perhaps more appropriately, doesn't happen) in the federal government boils down to a failure to understand the challenges we face (or, even worse, paralysis in the face of what are paradigm shifts in the world and the enormity of those challenges).
Committees are struck, meetings are called, rounds of self-congratulatory applause are indulged in. But actual work to correct long-standing problems? Nada.
Why is that?
In my view, there are three reasons:
1) No one wants to impose real accountability (like firing incompetent or mediocre senior officials) on either the public service or among elected officials;
2) Officials have perhaps forgotten that diversity in the federal public service should not only be about recruiting First Nations, Inuit and visible minorities employees, but about encouraging real debate and diversity of ideas amongst those employees (and rewarding out-of-the-box thinking, instead of condemning it); and
3) Our apparent loss, as a country, of our sense of who we are and what we (collectively) aspire to.
We could blame politicians for all this, but in all fairness, are not the politicians we support/elect a reflection of our own failure of imagination?
More to the point, too many Canadians seem not to understand what the federal government is supposed to do (because they do not understand the finer points of the distinctions between different orders of government in this country).
For my part, I will continue to respectfully engage elected federal, provincial and regional officials to offer my views and suggestions... but perhaps this is not enough. Perhaps more fundamental reforms (of the political parties and of the parliamentary process in Canada, both federally and in the provinces) is necessary...?
Happy Birthday Oracles of Calgary/Toronto! How is it possible for The Line to be so consistently on point, especially about our federal government?
When Trudeau defeated Harper, I was clicking my ruby red heels, in assless chaps, thrilled to hear, "Canada's back!" -- surely so very, very, very different than the racist "Take back Canada." But now, I'm willfully ready to ignore Cryptogate, Convoygate, and every other flashing red light that should make PP unelectable, for the chance to see this endlessly embarrassing government kicked to the curb. Yes, I know I'm taking a hedge clipper to my nose to spite my face, but that's where I'm at.
I do think you missed two categories on the subject of forgiveness. As someone who believes that forgiveness requires an apology, there are those of us who say, "F*ck 'em, they're not going to take up any more space in my brain," and move on without either apology or forgiveness. And then there are also those like the UCP voters who forget they're about to vote for the person who so royally screwed them the first time around. (Perhaps people like me, now prepared to vote Conservative?)
Anyway, happy birthday again. And thanks for being so funny. Your rants are every bit as spectacular as Rick Mercer's.
how to have a thoughtful perspective on the papal visit?
I saw a bit of the archbishop of Canterbury visit earlier this spring. I'd like to contrast the two visits.
What really struck me was Justin Welby's rhetorical skills. I am so used to hearing sound bites. Justin Welby spoke for 30 minutes. His words were like honey. Do we have any great orators today in Canada? (And this ain't a rhetorial question).
The press coverage for Justin Welby's visit was generous if not limited. In fact the odd article and column were critical of the low key quality of the visit. Nobody had heard about a world religious leader of 80 million coming to Canada; thus residential school survivors were not able attend the apology. I don't think the critics quite recognized how much the Anglican church has decreased in importance, which to me explains the lack of attention.
In the end, Justin Welby gave a sincere apology for the role of the Church England with regards to residential schools. This was a specific apology; what else could he say? Well, he made a promise to do whatever he could within his power to help the reconciliation process; acknowledging that as a leader in England there wasn't much he could for us in Canada. The reporters at the scrum wanted to know if he would give money. Maybe he will find small ways to help, within his role.
Meanwhile the Pope's visit was at an altogether different scale. The Catholic church is huge, and he is a major leader, of course the amount of attention was amazing. The CBC did a live broadcast. The Governor-General and Prime Minister welcomed and hosted the pope. The pope is afterall a sovereign.
But the apology wasn't that different from Justin Welby's. It was very specific. For example, the pope's initial apology didn't include comments on genocide or the doctrine of discovery. But certainly the press really wanted the pope to say something on these other matters of importance. Justin Welby did not have the same scrutiny or pressure to expand his apologies.
Also both apologies were theological. Easy to understand, but they reflected a Christian understanding of reconciliation. The Christian understanding of reconciliation is different than the Canadian political understanding of reconciliation. I think. I am not sure about this. There definitely is some lack of understanding when it comes to covering someone begging for forgiveness.
And this is where Matt and Jen's commentary hits home; they understand the difficulty of forgiveness.
I was raised Catholic (and chose to be agnostic) and would point out the atonement -- apologies and forgiveness -- are the very core of the faith. Yet, when the representatives of the church do harm, they seem to start acting like any other large, rich organization looking to protect their reputation and limit legal liability. Glad this Pope is making any kind of apology, and hope it suffices for those harmed, but an apology at this point it literally the least they can do.
Happy Birthday! I love your work. Has anyone connected the fact that the federal government unions are saying it is not “safe” for their workers to return to their offices…and the fact that work is not getting done? On a recent trip to Ottawa I couldn’t help but notice that the federal office buildings are pretty quiet…
`... that a necessary precursor to getting our various levels of federal public-service bureaucracy functioning better is an additional level of federal public-service bureaucracy. '
You have been in the journalism business a decent amount of time. You must have had an opportunity to see the government bureaucracy world, up close. It's trapped in tradition. And yes, you do need to do the dance because the territory fights can be bloody.
The territory/silo model should be filed under `redundant' but good luck with that. Everyone has a stake, including the lowest staff who can throw a wrench into the works whenever they get bored. It looks nuts because it is and it's why the British very old comedy 'Yes, Minister' can still amuse. Bureaucrats are called `mandarins' for a reason.
Apologies, however welcome, never solved a boil-water advisory. Noble ideals never solved a boil-water advisory. Boris Johnson was a clown, albeit an intelligent, well-educated, and well-read clown who could quote Homer in the original Greek. On this side of the pond, we only got a clown.
This is why people like Poilievre and Danielle Smith don't worry me so much, at least at the moment. Trudeau and his gov has been an ineffectual Instagram-addled turd from day one; none of this is new. If PP sits in the PM chair, I'll happily rail on him for being a batty conservative weirdo. But he's not in the drivers seat; Trudeau is.
One problem with the public service is that some do know how to put forward solutions but they are stopped by politicians or senior admins. It becomes a viscous cycle of scared bureaucrats who don't say the truth, senior admin who want to look good, and know-it-all ideologues who keep to their bubbles and only tweet to please their followers rather than work to solve problems. Something has change.
The GWB gif was absolutely wonderful and appropriate for just about every essay....keep up the excellent writing...their ain't nowhere else to find it in Canada
Great weekly summary, I especially enjoyed the dissection of the Ukrainian Embassy story. It is quite remarkable how the Liberal marketing department can burn the jet fuel and tie up the Prime Minister and two senior cabinet ministers for a few photos taken thousands of miles away in a war zone.
On to fertilizer:
Regardless of where urbanites stand on climate change/climate action, understand the dynamics of fertilizer usage on a modern farm operation. Fertilizers are needed to make budgets work and also to make the production aspects function. Lenders want to see a business case that points to profits. The profits provide the ability for farmers to upgrade to the newest technologies for fuel efficiency and fertilizer applications. On the production side, reducing fertilizer needs by 1/3 is like running power tools starved for electricity or baking bread with less yeast.
I agree with the Line, that the Liberals ARE HOPING that another round of hillbillies take to the streets across Canada and inconvenience and anger urban people who are happily riding the climate action bandwagon because they have little skin in the game.
“Investments in soil testing could go a long way to helping farmers apply nitrogen more efficiently, which could help them increase yields while maintaining profits.”
Good lord, do you not think farmers have been doing soil testing for like decades? If you can’t comment intelligently on a subject don’t bleeping bother. It’s literally insulting to the agricultural industry. Extremely disappointed as a subscriber.
I guess this is the quality of government senior leadership you get when you are more focused on English/French proficiency and optics than experience and skill. (The bilingual requirement being an effective affirmative action program ensuring that old Ottawa Valley families are well represented in the senior civil service while immigrants are kept out.)
It's all reflective of what the Canadian chattering classes, and those who want to be them, find important. They value process and optics rather than results and effectiveness. This is who we are, and they wonder why Populism, a movement rejecting their mediocre leadership, is growing in Canada.
Ah, if only Canadians had elected a prime minister instead of a mascot.
Thank you for this.
I think your assessment of the present malaise in Ottawa sounds about right.
Much that happens (or, perhaps more appropriately, doesn't happen) in the federal government boils down to a failure to understand the challenges we face (or, even worse, paralysis in the face of what are paradigm shifts in the world and the enormity of those challenges).
Committees are struck, meetings are called, rounds of self-congratulatory applause are indulged in. But actual work to correct long-standing problems? Nada.
Why is that?
In my view, there are three reasons:
1) No one wants to impose real accountability (like firing incompetent or mediocre senior officials) on either the public service or among elected officials;
2) Officials have perhaps forgotten that diversity in the federal public service should not only be about recruiting First Nations, Inuit and visible minorities employees, but about encouraging real debate and diversity of ideas amongst those employees (and rewarding out-of-the-box thinking, instead of condemning it); and
3) Our apparent loss, as a country, of our sense of who we are and what we (collectively) aspire to.
We could blame politicians for all this, but in all fairness, are not the politicians we support/elect a reflection of our own failure of imagination?
More to the point, too many Canadians seem not to understand what the federal government is supposed to do (because they do not understand the finer points of the distinctions between different orders of government in this country).
For my part, I will continue to respectfully engage elected federal, provincial and regional officials to offer my views and suggestions... but perhaps this is not enough. Perhaps more fundamental reforms (of the political parties and of the parliamentary process in Canada, both federally and in the provinces) is necessary...?
Happy Birthday Oracles of Calgary/Toronto! How is it possible for The Line to be so consistently on point, especially about our federal government?
When Trudeau defeated Harper, I was clicking my ruby red heels, in assless chaps, thrilled to hear, "Canada's back!" -- surely so very, very, very different than the racist "Take back Canada." But now, I'm willfully ready to ignore Cryptogate, Convoygate, and every other flashing red light that should make PP unelectable, for the chance to see this endlessly embarrassing government kicked to the curb. Yes, I know I'm taking a hedge clipper to my nose to spite my face, but that's where I'm at.
I do think you missed two categories on the subject of forgiveness. As someone who believes that forgiveness requires an apology, there are those of us who say, "F*ck 'em, they're not going to take up any more space in my brain," and move on without either apology or forgiveness. And then there are also those like the UCP voters who forget they're about to vote for the person who so royally screwed them the first time around. (Perhaps people like me, now prepared to vote Conservative?)
Anyway, happy birthday again. And thanks for being so funny. Your rants are every bit as spectacular as Rick Mercer's.
Happy birthday guys—you give me hope!
how to have a thoughtful perspective on the papal visit?
I saw a bit of the archbishop of Canterbury visit earlier this spring. I'd like to contrast the two visits.
What really struck me was Justin Welby's rhetorical skills. I am so used to hearing sound bites. Justin Welby spoke for 30 minutes. His words were like honey. Do we have any great orators today in Canada? (And this ain't a rhetorial question).
The press coverage for Justin Welby's visit was generous if not limited. In fact the odd article and column were critical of the low key quality of the visit. Nobody had heard about a world religious leader of 80 million coming to Canada; thus residential school survivors were not able attend the apology. I don't think the critics quite recognized how much the Anglican church has decreased in importance, which to me explains the lack of attention.
In the end, Justin Welby gave a sincere apology for the role of the Church England with regards to residential schools. This was a specific apology; what else could he say? Well, he made a promise to do whatever he could within his power to help the reconciliation process; acknowledging that as a leader in England there wasn't much he could for us in Canada. The reporters at the scrum wanted to know if he would give money. Maybe he will find small ways to help, within his role.
Meanwhile the Pope's visit was at an altogether different scale. The Catholic church is huge, and he is a major leader, of course the amount of attention was amazing. The CBC did a live broadcast. The Governor-General and Prime Minister welcomed and hosted the pope. The pope is afterall a sovereign.
But the apology wasn't that different from Justin Welby's. It was very specific. For example, the pope's initial apology didn't include comments on genocide or the doctrine of discovery. But certainly the press really wanted the pope to say something on these other matters of importance. Justin Welby did not have the same scrutiny or pressure to expand his apologies.
Also both apologies were theological. Easy to understand, but they reflected a Christian understanding of reconciliation. The Christian understanding of reconciliation is different than the Canadian political understanding of reconciliation. I think. I am not sure about this. There definitely is some lack of understanding when it comes to covering someone begging for forgiveness.
And this is where Matt and Jen's commentary hits home; they understand the difficulty of forgiveness.
happy anniversary. I hope you have many more.
I was raised Catholic (and chose to be agnostic) and would point out the atonement -- apologies and forgiveness -- are the very core of the faith. Yet, when the representatives of the church do harm, they seem to start acting like any other large, rich organization looking to protect their reputation and limit legal liability. Glad this Pope is making any kind of apology, and hope it suffices for those harmed, but an apology at this point it literally the least they can do.
Happy Birthday! I love your work. Has anyone connected the fact that the federal government unions are saying it is not “safe” for their workers to return to their offices…and the fact that work is not getting done? On a recent trip to Ottawa I couldn’t help but notice that the federal office buildings are pretty quiet…
`... that a necessary precursor to getting our various levels of federal public-service bureaucracy functioning better is an additional level of federal public-service bureaucracy. '
You have been in the journalism business a decent amount of time. You must have had an opportunity to see the government bureaucracy world, up close. It's trapped in tradition. And yes, you do need to do the dance because the territory fights can be bloody.
The territory/silo model should be filed under `redundant' but good luck with that. Everyone has a stake, including the lowest staff who can throw a wrench into the works whenever they get bored. It looks nuts because it is and it's why the British very old comedy 'Yes, Minister' can still amuse. Bureaucrats are called `mandarins' for a reason.
Apologies, however welcome, never solved a boil-water advisory. Noble ideals never solved a boil-water advisory. Boris Johnson was a clown, albeit an intelligent, well-educated, and well-read clown who could quote Homer in the original Greek. On this side of the pond, we only got a clown.
This is why people like Poilievre and Danielle Smith don't worry me so much, at least at the moment. Trudeau and his gov has been an ineffectual Instagram-addled turd from day one; none of this is new. If PP sits in the PM chair, I'll happily rail on him for being a batty conservative weirdo. But he's not in the drivers seat; Trudeau is.
Congrats on kicking off year 3, Jen and Matt. Looking forward to seeing the Line grow. Keep up the great work and terrific writing.
One problem with the public service is that some do know how to put forward solutions but they are stopped by politicians or senior admins. It becomes a viscous cycle of scared bureaucrats who don't say the truth, senior admin who want to look good, and know-it-all ideologues who keep to their bubbles and only tweet to please their followers rather than work to solve problems. Something has change.
The GWB gif was absolutely wonderful and appropriate for just about every essay....keep up the excellent writing...their ain't nowhere else to find it in Canada
Robert Purves
Brackenrig , Muskoka