Law that strips certain Canadian expats of voting rights to be debated in court

2014/02/04 Leave a comment

One point the plaintiffs are silent on is that they do not pay taxes. Would they prefer the US system, with expatriates required to file tax returns (and get tied up with the IRS under the US FATCA revenue “grab” from expatriates)?

Yes, one can follow Canadian politics and life from afar, one can maintain family and friends, but I fail to see how voting is an absolute right applying to long-term expatriates. But we will see how the courts decide.  The below seems to be wanting to have your cake and eating it too:

“With globalization what we have is this increased movement. And a lot of the reason that Canadians move outside the country is for employment,” she said. “It’s not appropriate to say that in order to exercise your full fundamental democratic rights you have to curtail your employment.”

The case had led to a number of expatriate Canadians coming forward with concerns similar to Frank and Duong’s, said O’Brien.

“If people feel that strongly about Canada and wanting to vote…why would we not want to have their participation in the country,” she said. “Why would we want to limit such a fundamental democratic right that people hold so deeply.”

Law that strips certain Canadian expats of voting rights to be debated in court.

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Why we should listen to Elizabeth May – Paul Wells

2014/02/03 Leave a comment

Good commentary by Paul Wells on the shrinking role of government and the reduced capacity it implies:

In 2009, after the opposition forced him to run very large deficits as the price of Conservative political survival, Stephen Harper made a simple, crucial decision: He would eliminate the deficit over time, not by cutting transfers to the provinces for social programs, but by cutting direct spending on the things the government of Canada does. The government of Canada operates embassies, labs, libraries, lighthouses, benefits for veterans and Arctic research outposts. Or rather, it used to. These days, each day, it does a little less of all those things.

The sum of these cuts is a smaller role for the federal government in the life of the nation. Each of the steps toward that destination is trivial, easy to argue both ways (who needs fancy embassies?) and impossible to reverse (if a future government decides, “We need fancy embassies,” it can never get back the prime real estate this government is now selling).

In his long-delayed appearance before the cameras (sorry), Trudeau depicted the Harper government as devoid of ideas. “Its primary interest is the well-being of the Conservative Party of Canada and not of Canadians.” May, on the other hand, is sure the government has ideas; that it is pursuing them even when the rest of us are grandly bored with details; and that it is changing the country. She’s right.

This is not to say that period trimming of government is not needed – it is – but the stealth approach (i.e., the PBO should not have to submit ATIP requests for information on cuts), and limited public debate are worrisome.

Why we should listen to Elizabeth May – Inkless Wells, Opinion, Paul Wells – Macleans.ca.

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Sanctions Eased, Iran Gets Feelers From Old Trading Partners – NYTimes.com

2014/01/20 Leave a comment

Further to my piece in the Globe If Iran opens for business, Canada will need a new approach – and fast, a reminder that with the interim deal being implemented, business communities of other countries are starting to position themselves should the deal hold and continue to next stages. Of course, chances of medium-term success are small, given that the hard issues remain to be addressed (see the solid analysis in The Economist Some supporters of the Iran deal doubt there will be a long-term pact):

Many multinationals have long eyed what they view as the virgin Iranian market, where many highly educated consumers are thirsty for jobs and Western products. Iran’s infrastructure, including that of its oil industry, needs a complete overhaul.

“We need over $200 billion investment in our oil and gas sector alone,” said Saeed Laylaz, an economist close to Mr. Rouhani’s government. Iran needs multibillion-dollar injections in its heavy industries, its transportation sector and airlines, he said. “On top of that, we need to acquire new management skills and services. Basically, we need everything the other emerging nations needed a decade ago.”

Sanctions Eased, Iran Gets Feelers From Old Trading Partners – NYTimes.com.

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Tiger Mom’s claim that cultures blessed with ‘triple package’ get ahead in America sparks uproar | National Post

2014/01/09 4 Comments

Tiger Mom’s latest attempt to generate publicity and controversy, without a more sophisticated discussion of the factors that influence success. Clever packaging of  what she calls “the triple package” – superiority, insecurity and impulse control.

While it is no secret that different groups have overall different levels of economic success (see Table 5: Ethnic Community Specific Challenges and Table 6: Religious Group Specific Challenges), the explanations are more complex than a simple formula:

Asked about the controversy on Monday, sociologists and anthropologists said that despite its merits, the discussion of cultural difference inevitably becomes a minefield of assumptions, stereotypes and political correctness, especially when considered in the Western context.

“It should be possible to discuss cultural differences without evoking charges of racism,” said Morton Weinfeld, who holds the Chair in Canadian Ethnic Studies at McGill University.

“In my view, cultures are important and cultures can differ — otherwise, why are we discussing multiculturalism and reasonable accommodation?”

And yet that discussion quickly becomes “controversial” when groups as a whole are touted as successful, the way Ms. Chua and Mr. Rubenfeld present cultural groups in The Triple Package.

“The implication,” he said, “is that others aren’t.”

Kind of interesting that white Americans didn’t make the cut.

Tiger Mom’s claim that cultures blessed with ‘triple package’ get ahead in America sparks uproar | National Post.

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Pellerin and Robson: Stephen Harper vs. Canada’s intellectuals | National Post

2014/01/09 Leave a comment

A good insight into conservative thinking on intellectuals, but rather than looking at the substantive policy issues and the evidence vs anecdote debate, Pellerin and Robson take a more shallow approach, focusing more on the personalities and perceptions.

It would have been more interesting if they had articulated the conservative rationale (as the government largely did not) for specific policy decisions and choices. Some policy decisions have managed to secure the opposition of intellectuals across the political spectrum decisions (e.g., cancellation of the census, weakening of science capacity and institutions like the Archives and research libraries). While they are right that most public intellectuals are more on the centre to left side of the spectrum, there has also been the welcome growth of conservative intellectuals and capacity, making for a more lively debate.

As Pellerin and Robson note, in a comment that could also apply to them:

There is an obvious and sometimes painful dislike of Stephen Harper’s brand of politics among intellectuals in this country. It is of course their right to feel this way and express their views however they choose. Indeed, we find some of those criticisms legitimate in some instances. But if intellectuals want to be taken seriously in their denunciation of the prime minister’s decisions and behavior, they ought to focus on ideas more and emotions less.

Pellerin & Robson: Stephen Harper vs. Canada’s intellectuals | National Post.

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Kevin Page dismisses Privy Council’s Blueprint 2020 as ‘empty vessel’, other commentary

2014/01/08 Leave a comment

Hard to disagree with these comments by Kevin Page, former Parliamentary Budget Officer and currently attached to University of Ottawa, and Donald Savoie of Université de Moncton:

“I don’t see a vision and I have been very critical of the Blueprint 2020, but there is a context for change,” said Page.

“Where is the state of policy and financial analysis in government and its capacity to deliver services? We should be true to our values and no one can say we have been true to accountability and transparency in the past five years, moving on big initiatives with no supporting analysis.

“The public service is accountable to the executive but it is also accountable to Parliament and they have dropped the ball on that, and that comes with the price of lost public trust.”

Donald Savoie, the Canada Research chair in administration and governance at the Universite de Moncton, is also pushing for reform but argues the problem lies with the public service’s relationship with ministers, cabinet and Parliament….

He said all the chatter and discussions generated by Blueprint 2020 may be invigorating, especially for young public servants eager to harness technology and open up government, but it won’t work unless that relationship with politicians changes.

“I can’t figure out Blueprint 2020. It’s like grabbing smoke. I don’t understand where it is going. Maybe something fundamental or important is taking shape in the system and if that’s the case, good luck, but for someone from the outside looking in, there’s nothing there. It seems vapid … and until you deal with the role of ministers, Parliament and their relationship with public servants … the vision is only sentences in a report and will not have any legs.”

Kevin Page dismisses Privy Council’s Blueprint 2020 as ‘empty vessel’.

And the official government and bureaucratic view, predictably more rose-coloured:

Public servants waiting to see which vision for the bureaucracy will prevail in 2014

Lawrence Martin in the Globe takes a similarly hard-hitting approach, highlighting the relationship issue between the government and the public service. He goes too far in asserting the independence of the public service, given its role to serve the government of the day. Codifying a “moral contract” as suggested by Ralph Heintzman beyond the general understanding of “fearless advice and loyal implementation” is unlikely to happen, and would likely be too rigid. As always, finding the right balance is a challenge:

In the face of all the problems, top bureaucrat Wayne Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council, has unveiled Blueprint 2020, a vision for a reformed world-class public service. Many such reform and modernization schemes have been tried in the past with scant results. This one, which follows a commendable consultation process within the service, is full of fine-sounding stuff like citizen engagement, smart use of new technologies and a whole-of-government approach to improve service delivery and value for money…

But not much in Mr. Wouters’s plan appears aimed at restoring the degree of independence the public service has traditionally exercised. Its politicization, a most serious example being that of the Privy Council Office, must be stopped. The public service should be accountable not only to the executive branch but also to Parliament. On the latter, says Mr. Page, it has dropped the ball, at the price of a loss in public trust.

Meaningful reform would entail something like what’s been proposed by former Treasury Board executive Ralph Heintzman. What is needed, he says, is a “moral contract,” a charter that sets well-defined boundaries between ministers, public servants and Parliament.

 Time to renew Canada’s cowed, bloated bureaucracy 

In fairness to all, the challenge in any such PS renewal initiative is high, there are no formal evaluations of previous efforts at PS renewal that I am aware (some informal reflections, however),  the fundamental limits of what can be done given bureaucratic and political heirarchies (government works top down, not bottom up), not to mention the particular context of the current government-public service relations.

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Shopping for Votes by Susan Delacourt

2014/01/07 Leave a comment

Shopping for Votes provides a good overview of how politics has become more sophisticated in marketing approaches, and how this sophistication has increased over time. Some observations:

  • A large part of her thesis concerns the shift from viewing voters as citizens to viewing them as consumers, and the implications this has for policy (more “what’s in it for me” than what was viewed to be in the national interest, e.g., Mulroney govt initiatives like the FTA or GST). In one sense, this intrinsically plays into a more conservative agenda, as consumer/taxpayers will prefer lower taxes and be more critical of government services. It is harder to develop equally sharp messaging on the value of government services than more money in people’s pockets.
  • Political parties are more sophisticated in their understanding of voters than is the public service, given their incredibly developed polling and social science understanding of what motivates people. This knowledge is centralized, as is party messaging, and further contributes to a reduced role for MPs given that the parties have more knowledge about voters than local MPs. As public service polling and other research spending has decreased, and is largely at the macro big picture level, political parties have a more granular and targeted understanding. Public service advice has to consider all Canadians; increasingly political parties are focused on their base and potential growth of their base.
  • Highly ironic that the Conservative Party, justifiably criticized for their rejection of social science and other evidence-based policy making, has the most sophisticated social policy, behavioural research and polling to further their electoral objectives. What is effectively used  in the pursuit of power, is often rejected  in the exercise of power.

Well worth reading.

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Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias – Update

2014/01/06 Leave a comment

For those interested, the chart below provides a breakdown by sales by channel. Interestingly, the paper version is favoured by two-thirds, with close to half of total sales coming from private or direct sales. The electronic versions seem to sell equally well, whether through Amazon, iTunes, or Kobo.

By Sales Channel

By Sales Channel

Sold over 200 copies, less than I had hoped, but distributed close to an additional 100 copies for review and other purposes, generating good media coverage and interest, and generating some conversation on the relationship between the government and the public service. Given that direct or private sales seem to be the most effective, will be focussing on opportunities (e.g., speaking engagements, op-eds and the like) to increase interest.

In terms of blog stats, the top 10 posts (apart from Home Page and About) are focussed on my book and secondarily, on the Quebec Values Charter:

  1. Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism (book splash page)
  2. News Release – Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism
  3. Former CIC mandarin says several public policies came from minister’s anecdotes | hilltimes.com
  4. ATIP Documents
  5. Gilles Paquet’s Critique of Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias
  6. Case study highlights conflict between bureaucrats, Minister Kenney on direction of multiculturalism programs – The Globe and Mail
  7. The citizenship review: what to watch for | iPolitics
  8. Charte des valeurs québécoises: Articles
  9. Quebec’s “war” on religion – Charter Round-Up
  10. Abuse of language that keeps going forward – FT.com

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Canadian authors on why people should read their books – Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias Makes the Hill Times Top 100 List

2013/12/21 Leave a comment

A nice way to end the year, being one of the 11 authors quoted in the top 100 list:

Andrew Griffith, author of Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resettling Citizenship and Multiculturalism. “We’re human beings. We’re a combination of our background, our training, our professional experience, so we actually have a fair number of built-in biases and views that we don’t normally think about. So it’s almost for the public servant at the individual level and the public service at the collective level, to know thyself and to know the limits of what just saying you’re part of the impartial neutral public service doesn’t make you automatically impartial and neutral. You actually do have your biases and you have to find ways to be more open with yourself in terms of when you’re providing advice or when you’re thinking through an issue, okay, am I being objective here, or is my objective analysis being coloured by some of the biases that are part of me. It’s a hard process to do.”

via Canadian authors on why people should read their books | hilltimes.com.

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The Thought Leader

2013/12/18 Leave a comment

A somewhat weird column by David Brooks of the NY Times, a mix of a wonderful takedown of “thought leaders” (and pundits), while trying, not completely successfully, to work this into a life journey format. But for those of us who have been seduced, either with the thought of becoming a thought leader or following thought leaders (e.g., LinkedIn suggestions), a good read and worthy of reflection:

The Thought Leader is sort of a highflying, good-doing yacht-to-yacht concept peddler. Each year, he gets to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative, where successful people gather to express compassion for those not invited. Month after month, he gets to be a discussion facilitator at think tank dinners where guests talk about what it’s like to live in poverty while the wait staff glides through the room thinking bitter thoughts.

The Thought Leader – NYTimes.com.

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