With all the crap going on around the world (Israel decimating Gaza; the ongoing insurrection in Syria; General Strikes across Southern Europe, turning violent when police intervene; Unions in Spain organizing raids on super markets and then distributing the food freely, etc. etc. etc...) it seems a bit surprising that nothing major (that people are noticing and talking about) is happening here in North America (the coming Black Friday events excepted). But then again, the majority of people in Canada and the United States are completely indoctrinated from birth to think that if it isn't affecting them then it doesn't matter. So because of this I end up thinking of the population that they are asleep, as they are not seeing what is going on in the world.
To use a favourite quote of mine: "The Sheep will be slaughtered, or turned to Wolves." Now at first glance it doesn't look good, but let me explain it. I'll break it down into two parts: 'the sheep will be slaughtered,' & 'or turn to wolves.' To understand the first part of the quote two things must be known: Who are the Sheep? & How will they be slaughtered?
As to who are the sheep? The sheep are the 'sleeping' population that doesn't realize where 'their' politicians are taking them, and doing in their collective name (destroying the ecosystem through allowing systematic exploitation of all our natural resources in the name of 'profit'). Now as to how will they be slaughtered? I just explained part of it.
What about the second part of the quote: 'or turn to wolves'? what does that mean? Who are wolves?
Wolves are the people in society who are informed on what is going on and can see what is happening as well. As compared to sheep being 'asleep' wolves are 'awake'. What kind of change can be made in society with people changing to 'wolves'? Any kind of world and society we as humanity want; a more humane society. Where instead of an economy with a focus on profits, we could have an economy where its main goals and focus is to provide for every person's needs.
--Ken
Sunday, November 18, 2012
People's Assembly demos, Nov 18, 2012
Check out some of the images and video from the coordinated demonstrations earlier today. Big thanks to all the people that came out and showed solidarity! Please send us your images/videos to post!
Here's a link to some great pictures from the Rally for Democracy in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador this afternoon, organized by Friends of the Grand River/Mistashipu and Grand Riverkeepers. Here's their rally handout.
There was coverage of the People's Assembly St. John's protests of the undemocractic handling of the proposed Muskrat Falls mega-project in the CBC, the Telegram, and even coverage in the Vancouver Sun!
Special report from Z News and NL's favorite tiny reporter, Zoe. (Thanks Gordon!)
UPDATED YET AGAIN... Photos coming in from friends we met at Confederation Building and another demonstration in solidarity, Boil Up For The Big Land! Solidarity across Newfoundland and Labrador. Keep the pics coming folks
Here's a link to some great pictures from the Rally for Democracy in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador this afternoon, organized by Friends of the Grand River/Mistashipu and Grand Riverkeepers. Here's their rally handout.
 |
| Solidarity with demonstrators in Labrador. More pics here. |
More video here.
There was coverage of the People's Assembly St. John's protests of the undemocractic handling of the proposed Muskrat Falls mega-project in the CBC, the Telegram, and even coverage in the Vancouver Sun!
 |
| Where's the power? People power! |
Special report from Z News and NL's favorite tiny reporter, Zoe. (Thanks Gordon!)
UPDATED YET AGAIN... Photos coming in from friends we met at Confederation Building and another demonstration in solidarity, Boil Up For The Big Land! Solidarity across Newfoundland and Labrador. Keep the pics coming folks
1 comment: 
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Political Contributions in Newfoundland and Labrador II
This is the second post in a series. The first can be found here.
Yesterday's post provoked an interesting question on Facebook. I presented a graph showing that corporate donations go mostly to the party in power and the major recipient party switched from Liberals to PCs when the government changed in 2003. But did the PCs win the 2003 election because they received more donations, or did they start receiving more donations because they won (or were expected to win)?
First observe that the PCs saw an uptick in donations in 2002, the year before the election. My guess is that businesses sensed which way the wind was blowing and began hedging their bets by donating to both parties. Unfortunately, I can't find good polling data from those days to determine at what point a PC victory became likely, so it is tough to make any inference based on expectations at the time.
However here is another test. If businesses were simply supporting their preferred party in 2003, then you would expect some businesses to donate to the Liberals, some to the PCs, but not very many to support both. On the other hand, if businesses are trying to curry favour with government, then you would expect most businesses to donate to both parties in order to hedge their bets.
Here is the data. I've included all companies that donated $10K or more. Looks to me like most companies are hedging, consistent with the "pay-to-play" hypothesis.
Top Contributors to Provincial Parties in 2003:
Yesterday's post provoked an interesting question on Facebook. I presented a graph showing that corporate donations go mostly to the party in power and the major recipient party switched from Liberals to PCs when the government changed in 2003. But did the PCs win the 2003 election because they received more donations, or did they start receiving more donations because they won (or were expected to win)?
First observe that the PCs saw an uptick in donations in 2002, the year before the election. My guess is that businesses sensed which way the wind was blowing and began hedging their bets by donating to both parties. Unfortunately, I can't find good polling data from those days to determine at what point a PC victory became likely, so it is tough to make any inference based on expectations at the time.
However here is another test. If businesses were simply supporting their preferred party in 2003, then you would expect some businesses to donate to the Liberals, some to the PCs, but not very many to support both. On the other hand, if businesses are trying to curry favour with government, then you would expect most businesses to donate to both parties in order to hedge their bets.
Here is the data. I've included all companies that donated $10K or more. Looks to me like most companies are hedging, consistent with the "pay-to-play" hypothesis.
Top Contributors to Provincial Parties in 2003:
| PC |
Lib |
|
| Kruger Inc. | 10000 | 28000 |
| North Atlantic Refining Ltd | 9000 | 17000 |
| Inco | 11750 | 14000 |
| A Harvey & Co | 10000 | 12250 |
| Nfld Design Associates | 7000 | 15000 |
| Pennecon 2000 ltd | 11000 | 11000 |
| Aliant Inc. | 10000 | 11400 |
| Abitibi Consolidated | 1750 | 18500 |
| CIBC + CIBC Wood Gundy | 5000 | 15000 |
| BAE Newplan Group Inc. | 12000 | 5000 |
| Husky Energy +Husky Oil | 8000 | 9000 |
| SGE Acres Ltd | 10000 | 6000 |
| BMO bank and Nesbitt Burns | 5000 | 10000 |
| Hatch Associates Ltd. | 15000 | |
| Reid & Associates | 15000 | |
| AMEC | 9000 | 5000 |
| Labatt Breweries | 4000 | 10000 |
| Fortis | 9250 | 4400 |
| Island Waste Management | 5000 | 8000 |
| RBC bank + securities | 2500 | 10000 |
| Bristol Group | 2000 | 10000 |
| British Confectionary | 4000 | 8000 |
| Rogers Group | 11000 | 1000 |
| Archean Resources Ltd. | 11750 | |
| AE Consultants | 1500 | 10000 |
| Woodward's Oil Ltd. | 2000 | 9500 |
| Fishery Products Int. | 10000 | 1400 |
| CHC Helicopter Corp. | 10000 | 1000 |
| NL Consulting Engineers | 7000 | 4000 |
| Insurance Brokers Ass. | 10000 | 800 |
| Barry Group | 10000 | 500 |
| Myles Leger Ltd | 7400 | 3000 |
| Molson Canada | 4200 | 6000 |
| Becktel Canada Ltd | 10000 | |
| Cougar Engineering and Construction | 2000 | 8000 |
| Imperial Tobacco Canada | 5000 | 5000 |
| J-1 Contracting | 10000 | |
| Provincial Airlines | 10000 | |
| Rothmans' Benson & Hedges | 10000 | |
| Scotiabank | 2000 | 8000 |
No comments:
Friday, November 16, 2012
Political Contributions in Newfoundland and Labrador
I've added a followup to this post here.
The recent $500 a plate fundraiser for the provincial PC party got me wondering about who contributes money to the provincial political parties. Here is what I got from Elections NL.
Two things jump out right away: most donations go to the governing party and most donations come from businesses. The following chart presents total income of the provincial political parties over the last 8 even years (only `96 was an election year).
Can you tell in what year the PCs were elected? It is the year where the blue and red lines cross. In 2010, the PC party received income of $820,000 compared to $101,000 for the Liberals. In 1998, the Liberals received $975,000 compared to $67,000 for the PCs. The NDP has been stuck around $75,000 the entire time.
Where is the money coming from? In 2010, over 80% was from corporate donations. I've classified corporate donors giving more than $2000 according to industry and listed them below in rounded figures. The first column is donations to the PC party and the second is donations the Liberal party (there are none to the NDP). The discrepancy is hard to miss.
Construction and Contracting:
Total $107K $1K
Architecture:
Total $63K $0.1K
Engineering:
Total $47K $1K
Telecomm:
Total $26K $10K
Mining/Oil:
Total $30K $1.5K
Financial:
Total $19K $5K
Retail:
Total $29K
Beverage Manufacturers:
Total $23K $1K
Marketing/Public Relations:
Total $16K
Shipping:
Total $15K
Law firms:
Total $15K
Fisheries:
Total $8K $1K
Pulp and Paper:
Total $7K
There are a handful of donations that didn't fit into these categories. Provincial Airlines, who are currently implicated in the Penashue scandal, gave $17.5K to the PCs and five hundred to the Liberals. Labrador Marine Inc., who operate ferry service in Labrador, gave $10K to the PCs. A Harvey & Company, a diversified group of companies, gave $10K to the PCs. There are single donations from a hotel, an aquaculture company, a sheet metal manufacturer, and a real estate company. A marketing firm called Bristol Group Inc. gave a huge donation of $38K to the Liberals right before getting taken over by a competitor, which seems pretty weird so I didn't include it in the table above.
In addition to corporate donations, there were a couple individual donations to the PCs and the United Steel Workers of America gave $20K to the NDP. The second biggest donation to the NDP? Lorraine Michael, who contributed $1200.
So what is behind all this generosity? The biggest donors are competing for construction contracts: construction, architecture and engineering. The natural resource companies are always dealing with government. Law and PR get government business. I'm not sure about retail, finance, telecoms, and beer; I guess they just have a lot of money to splash around.
The fact that corporate contributions are going overwhelmingly to the governing party strongly suggests a "pay to play" culture: businesses feel they need to pay up in order to win government contracts and other favours. Politicians will deny that they are affected by donations, but reciprocity is such a fundamental part of human nature that all this money must be distorting their behaviour. Corporate political contributions are bad for democracy and we should fight to put an end to them.
*********
PS: If you like this kind of stuff you should check out Labradore which has several recent posts on this subject, including an analysis of election year donations to individual candidates.
The recent $500 a plate fundraiser for the provincial PC party got me wondering about who contributes money to the provincial political parties. Here is what I got from Elections NL.
Two things jump out right away: most donations go to the governing party and most donations come from businesses. The following chart presents total income of the provincial political parties over the last 8 even years (only `96 was an election year).
Where is the money coming from? In 2010, over 80% was from corporate donations. I've classified corporate donors giving more than $2000 according to industry and listed them below in rounded figures. The first column is donations to the PC party and the second is donations the Liberal party (there are none to the NDP). The discrepancy is hard to miss.
Construction and Contracting:
| Pennecon Ltd | 14000 | 1000 |
| BAE - Newplan Grounp Ltd. | 14500 | |
| DF Barnes Ltd | 14000 | |
| NL Design Associates Ltd | 12000 | 250 |
| AMEC Americas Ltd. | 9500 | |
| Provincial Paving Ltd | 7500 | |
| J-1 Contracting Ltd | 5000 | |
| Municipal Construction Ltd | 5000 | |
| Fortis | 4500 | |
| ND Dobbin Ltd | 3900 | |
| Nortech Construction Ltd | 3900 | |
| Ellsworth Estates Inc | 3800 | |
| Crosbie Group Ltd | 3400 | |
| Marco Services Ltd | 2500 | |
| Eastern Contracting Ltd | 3600 |
Total $107K $1K
Architecture:
| PHB Group Inc. | 13000 | |
| Gibbon Snow Architects Inc | 11000 | |
| Sheppard Case Architects Inc. | 10000 | |
| Hearn Fougere Architects Inc | 8200 | |
| Frank Stanley & Associates, Architect | 6450 | |
| John Hearn Architect Inc | 5000 | |
| Ron Fougerie Associates Ltd | 5000 | |
| Hampton Architects Inc | 4000 | 100 |
Total $63K $0.1K
Engineering:
| Hatch Mott MacDonald Ltd | 8000 | |
| NL Consulting Engineers Ltd | 7500 | |
| GJ Cahill & Co | 5700 | |
| Core Engineering Inc. | 4800 | 500 |
| Quadratec Inc. | 5000 | |
| Design Management Group Ltd | 3800 | |
| AMEC Earth & Enviro | 3500 | |
| CBCL Ltd | 2300 | 500 |
| NewLab Engineering Ltd | 2300 | 450 |
| Exploits Engineering Consultants Ltd | 2400 | |
| Crosbie Engineering | 2100 |
Total $47K $1K
Telecomm:
| Bell Aliant Inc. | 16000 | 5500 |
| Rogers Comm. Inc. | 9500 | 4500 |
Total $26K $10K
Mining/Oil:
| Vale/ Vale Inco | 9000 | |
| Coordinates Capital Corp | 5000 | |
| Aurora Energy | 3400 | 1500 |
| Fugro Jacques GeoSurveys Inc. | 5350 | |
| North Atlantic Refining Ltd | 4500 | |
| Imperial Oil Ltd | 2400 |
Total $30K $1.5K
Financial:
| Citicorp Finance | 5100 | |
| Bank of Nova Scotia | 5000 | |
| TD Financial Group | 4500 | |
| Royal Bank of Canada | 2800 | |
| CIBC Wood Gundy | 6500 |
Total $19K $5K
Retail:
| Shoppers Drug Mart | 8500 | |
| British Confectionary Company Ltd | 8000 | |
| Coleman Management Services Ltd. | 5000 | |
| JB Hand & Sons Ltd | 3000 | |
| Chester Dawe Ltd. | 2500 | |
| Canadian Tire | 2250 |
Total $29K
Beverage Manufacturers:
| Labatt Brewing Company | 9000 | |
| Browning Harvey Ltd | 6500 | 700 |
| Molson Coors Brewing Company | 7000 |
Total $23K $1K
Marketing/Public Relations:
| The Idea Factory | 4500 |
| M5 Marketing Communications Inc. | 4300 |
| Pilot Communications Inc | 2800 |
| Market InsightsInc | 2500 |
| Promoworks Inc. | 2500 |
Total $16K
Shipping:
| PF Collins Customs Broker Ltd | 7000 | |
| Oceanex Inc | 5500 | |
| Puddister Shipping Ltd | 2300 |
Total $15K
Law firms:
| Fasken Martineau Duomulin SEN | 9500 |
| Benson Myles PLC Inc. | 5150 |
Total $15K
Fisheries:
| Ocean Choice Int Inc | 6500 | |
| Labrador Fisherman's Union Shrimp Company | 1000 | 1200 |
Total $8K $1K
Pulp and Paper:
| Kruger Inc | 4500 | |
| Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Inc | 2000 |
Total $7K
There are a handful of donations that didn't fit into these categories. Provincial Airlines, who are currently implicated in the Penashue scandal, gave $17.5K to the PCs and five hundred to the Liberals. Labrador Marine Inc., who operate ferry service in Labrador, gave $10K to the PCs. A Harvey & Company, a diversified group of companies, gave $10K to the PCs. There are single donations from a hotel, an aquaculture company, a sheet metal manufacturer, and a real estate company. A marketing firm called Bristol Group Inc. gave a huge donation of $38K to the Liberals right before getting taken over by a competitor, which seems pretty weird so I didn't include it in the table above.
In addition to corporate donations, there were a couple individual donations to the PCs and the United Steel Workers of America gave $20K to the NDP. The second biggest donation to the NDP? Lorraine Michael, who contributed $1200.
So what is behind all this generosity? The biggest donors are competing for construction contracts: construction, architecture and engineering. The natural resource companies are always dealing with government. Law and PR get government business. I'm not sure about retail, finance, telecoms, and beer; I guess they just have a lot of money to splash around.
The fact that corporate contributions are going overwhelmingly to the governing party strongly suggests a "pay to play" culture: businesses feel they need to pay up in order to win government contracts and other favours. Politicians will deny that they are affected by donations, but reciprocity is such a fundamental part of human nature that all this money must be distorting their behaviour. Corporate political contributions are bad for democracy and we should fight to put an end to them.
*********
PS: If you like this kind of stuff you should check out Labradore which has several recent posts on this subject, including an analysis of election year donations to individual candidates.
4 comments:
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
NL Mulls BYOB Policy for Restaurants
Diners in this province might soon be able to bring their own bottle of wine to restaurants. The Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC) has put forward a recommendation to change the liquor laws. Now it is up to the Department of Finance to make the final decision.
Doesn’t this seem like a no-brainer? Surely, more choice for patrons is a good thing. Not according to the Restaurant Association. Here’s what they claim:
- BYOB is bad for business because profit margins are tight (3 per cent), especially at high end restaurants.
- If BYOB was an option 80 per cent of restaurants would offer it and the other 20 per cent would suffer.
Read more »
No comments:
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Time for the People to get involved.
The Muskrat falls process so far has been anything but satisfactory to most people. Undemocratic, to say the least—the latest coming yesterday, when the government announced that there wouldn't even be a debate in the House of Assembly on Muskrat Falls. Reclaim the political process by joining the newest initiative for direct democracy in this province.
The People’s Assembly is a grassroots forum for direct democracy. It is an alternative to an unresponsive system of top-down party politics. The People of Newfoundland and Labrador have the right to actively participate in the political process and the civic responsibility to ensure this happens.
To this end, the People’s Assembly is holding a weeklong Referendum on Muskrat Falls, running November 18th through 25th. On Sunday, November 18th there will be a public demonstration to kick off the referendum, meeting at Harbourside Park in downtown St. John's at 12:00 noon and marching to Colonial Building for a rally. Throughout the week there will also be daily marches and other actions in order to bring the political process back to the People. Regardless of differences on the merits of the Muskrat Falls project, few can be satisfied with the process as it has unfolded. Participating in the referendum is a way to take part in this political decision, but also to show your dissatisfaction with a broken political system. This "do-it-ourselves" approach demonstrates a new set of expectations to a government that will not simply change on its own.
Check out the pa-nl.ca website for updates. Let the people be heard. Get involved!
 |
| Attend the People's Assembly Undemocracy Tour Nov 19th 1 PM on the steps of Confederation Building! |
To this end, the People’s Assembly is holding a weeklong Referendum on Muskrat Falls, running November 18th through 25th. On Sunday, November 18th there will be a public demonstration to kick off the referendum, meeting at Harbourside Park in downtown St. John's at 12:00 noon and marching to Colonial Building for a rally. Throughout the week there will also be daily marches and other actions in order to bring the political process back to the People. Regardless of differences on the merits of the Muskrat Falls project, few can be satisfied with the process as it has unfolded. Participating in the referendum is a way to take part in this political decision, but also to show your dissatisfaction with a broken political system. This "do-it-ourselves" approach demonstrates a new set of expectations to a government that will not simply change on its own.
Check out the pa-nl.ca website for updates. Let the people be heard. Get involved!
No comments:
Monday, November 5, 2012
Rethink Muskrat Falls protest — Nov 5, 2012
Concerned citizens gathered at Confederation Building this morning to urge people to rethink the Muskrat Falls project. Members of the group Friends of the Grand River/Mistashipu, along with supporters from various parts of the province, came out to make their voices heard! This is only the beginning. Solidarity!
Check out blogposts on other recent protests in Labrador here and here.
Check out blogposts on other recent protests in Labrador here and here.
 |
|||
| Note the upside down flags indicating distress |
 |
| Protesters took their message to the roadside. Lots of cars honked to show their support! |
 |
| A small but lively group – sure to grow. |
 |
| Solidarity. |
No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)