Here's an interesting article on the current financial crisis:
here
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Looming election issues
A federal election is happening again here in Canada. I think this is the third in the last decade. Personally, I think it's a sign of a great political divide here in Canada as a whole and an indication of the quality of leadership that we have on the political level. No one leader has emerged to rally the country around a solid vision and goals to achieve as a people.
The Stephen Harper party seem like the default choice because they control their optics very well and seem like the most organized compared to the other parties. Although recent political gaffes highlight their behavioural issues and
The green party has more visibility these days with Elizabeth May as their leader, but they're a long ways from making a significant impact in parliament.
The NDP seems more ballsy this campaign, but I still think they're a little too socialist for my liking. I think they're really good at complaining about the status quo, but I don't have confidence in them to run the country. All talk, no walk. But that's just my impression.
The Bloc Quebecois are irrelevant at the federal level since they're only concerned with what happens in Quebec and will never form a government. They have less punch these days since the separation movement has pretty much died in recent years. They do take away votes from other left parties, especially the liberal party.
The liberal party seem to have a good team, but they're running a weak campaign so far and I don't think Stephane Dion has a strong enough personality to get people over the negative ads by the conservative party. Their initial attempt to focus the election around the environment has not worked and they're shifting their campaign focus to the strength of their team. They should have worked it the other way round.
On leadership
Personally, I think leadership is such a subjective thing that everyone has a different impression of what a good leader is supposed to be. Harper is a strong man that runs a tight ship. However, a leader also has to be measured by the people that follow him, and in that his followers are poor. Putting together a manual on how to obstruct parliament committees isn't displaying leadership at all, rather it shows strength as a political tactician. It seems selfish to me and doesn't have the good of the country at heart. I don't know why the other parties aren't hammering him on that. Tasteless jokes, puffin poo, and poor class also speak to this.
Dion has an impeccable record as a public servant with a great deal of integrity. His seemingly weak persona throws people off and is easy to dismiss. I'm sure he'll be a great prime minister for the country, but I don't think he'll get a chance. The conservative media blitz on him will be too hard to overcome.
Layton...I have a hard time taking him seriously. Likes to hear himself talk too much.
On the environment
Byrne Purchase spoke to us during our course on corporate social responsibility. He's had various positions in government including a stint as an energy minister for the government of Ontario. He shared his candid views on the environmental issue and his prognosis is pretty bleak. It's not something that any one country can fix alone. It's a global phenomenon and it needs a global collaboration to do something about it. Of all the plans that are in place, he favours the Carbon Tax system because the tax revenue infrastructure already exists. The Cap and Trade system may work also, but governments would have to build the system first and that will take a long time. I tend to agree with him. So with that, the liberal green shift plan makes the most sense to me, but again, I don't think the majority of the country will agree. All Harper needs to do, and has been doing, is to scare people into believing that it will be bad for the economy. The liberals also have a hard time breaking the plan into simple bite-sized concepts that average people can absorb.
I know the NDP favours a cap and trade system. The green party has it's own carbon tax system but it's too extreme for people to accept.
It'll be interesting to see what plays out over the coming weeks.
The Stephen Harper party seem like the default choice because they control their optics very well and seem like the most organized compared to the other parties. Although recent political gaffes highlight their behavioural issues and
The green party has more visibility these days with Elizabeth May as their leader, but they're a long ways from making a significant impact in parliament.
The NDP seems more ballsy this campaign, but I still think they're a little too socialist for my liking. I think they're really good at complaining about the status quo, but I don't have confidence in them to run the country. All talk, no walk. But that's just my impression.
The Bloc Quebecois are irrelevant at the federal level since they're only concerned with what happens in Quebec and will never form a government. They have less punch these days since the separation movement has pretty much died in recent years. They do take away votes from other left parties, especially the liberal party.
The liberal party seem to have a good team, but they're running a weak campaign so far and I don't think Stephane Dion has a strong enough personality to get people over the negative ads by the conservative party. Their initial attempt to focus the election around the environment has not worked and they're shifting their campaign focus to the strength of their team. They should have worked it the other way round.
On leadership
Personally, I think leadership is such a subjective thing that everyone has a different impression of what a good leader is supposed to be. Harper is a strong man that runs a tight ship. However, a leader also has to be measured by the people that follow him, and in that his followers are poor. Putting together a manual on how to obstruct parliament committees isn't displaying leadership at all, rather it shows strength as a political tactician. It seems selfish to me and doesn't have the good of the country at heart. I don't know why the other parties aren't hammering him on that. Tasteless jokes, puffin poo, and poor class also speak to this.
Dion has an impeccable record as a public servant with a great deal of integrity. His seemingly weak persona throws people off and is easy to dismiss. I'm sure he'll be a great prime minister for the country, but I don't think he'll get a chance. The conservative media blitz on him will be too hard to overcome.
Layton...I have a hard time taking him seriously. Likes to hear himself talk too much.
On the environment
Byrne Purchase spoke to us during our course on corporate social responsibility. He's had various positions in government including a stint as an energy minister for the government of Ontario. He shared his candid views on the environmental issue and his prognosis is pretty bleak. It's not something that any one country can fix alone. It's a global phenomenon and it needs a global collaboration to do something about it. Of all the plans that are in place, he favours the Carbon Tax system because the tax revenue infrastructure already exists. The Cap and Trade system may work also, but governments would have to build the system first and that will take a long time. I tend to agree with him. So with that, the liberal green shift plan makes the most sense to me, but again, I don't think the majority of the country will agree. All Harper needs to do, and has been doing, is to scare people into believing that it will be bad for the economy. The liberals also have a hard time breaking the plan into simple bite-sized concepts that average people can absorb.
I know the NDP favours a cap and trade system. The green party has it's own carbon tax system but it's too extreme for people to accept.
It'll be interesting to see what plays out over the coming weeks.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Kingston population boom
Wow! Kingston just exploded after labour day weekend. The Queen's campus got overrun with a ton of students returning to school. There's a lot more excitement around campus and the business school is a lot busier and noisier.
I keep walking around campus and wishing I was an undergrad again. It's a vastly different atmosphere than the one I experience at Waterloo. Lots more girls...I mean lots !
That also makes me feel a bit old. I know I'm over ten years older than the majority of the kids on campus.
The house I'm living in is also full now. We went from four people to seven...4 girls and 3 guys. The new people seem nice. I'm hardly ever there so I only run into them every now and then. We only have one laundry machine in the house so managing that might be a little tricky.
I keep walking around campus and wishing I was an undergrad again. It's a vastly different atmosphere than the one I experience at Waterloo. Lots more girls...I mean lots !
That also makes me feel a bit old. I know I'm over ten years older than the majority of the kids on campus.
The house I'm living in is also full now. We went from four people to seven...4 girls and 3 guys. The new people seem nice. I'm hardly ever there so I only run into them every now and then. We only have one laundry machine in the house so managing that might be a little tricky.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Whitewater Rafting
I organized a trip for the class to go white water rafting about an hour east of Ottawa with River Run Rafting. Organizing the trip was a little bit of a hassle but the service from River Run was excellent...night and day compared to what we received from the skydiving place.
We had to get there a couple of hours before we were scheduled to go on the river. Lunch was included with the ticket price...I guess they want to make sure people had enough energy before the trip. They had a volleyball net, basketball net, horseshoe pit, and a ping pong table setup so people can entertain themselves while waiting for the safety briefing.
Organizing a caravan of MBA students is a bit like herding cats, but we managed to get there with plenty of time to spare. The rafting itself took about 6-7 hours...it was great! We decided to go with the 6-man sport boats because we thought it would be more exciting that way. I'm glad we went that way. There were some other outfits on the river that had 12-man boats (some even more) and it didn't look like it would be all that much fun. They packed us on a bus to get us to the beginning of the rapids and we had a little safety pep talk before launching.
There were a couple of other boats in our group of 5 boats...don't know much about them since we didn't really interact with them other than splashing them as we paddled by. The video's pretty neat...only $30 and well done.
I might have to plan another smaller trip for next May when the rapids are supposed to be crazy...
Here's the video in any case. I had to split it up into two parts because of the Youtube time restriction...
We had to get there a couple of hours before we were scheduled to go on the river. Lunch was included with the ticket price...I guess they want to make sure people had enough energy before the trip. They had a volleyball net, basketball net, horseshoe pit, and a ping pong table setup so people can entertain themselves while waiting for the safety briefing.
Organizing a caravan of MBA students is a bit like herding cats, but we managed to get there with plenty of time to spare. The rafting itself took about 6-7 hours...it was great! We decided to go with the 6-man sport boats because we thought it would be more exciting that way. I'm glad we went that way. There were some other outfits on the river that had 12-man boats (some even more) and it didn't look like it would be all that much fun. They packed us on a bus to get us to the beginning of the rapids and we had a little safety pep talk before launching.
There were a couple of other boats in our group of 5 boats...don't know much about them since we didn't really interact with them other than splashing them as we paddled by. The video's pretty neat...only $30 and well done.
I might have to plan another smaller trip for next May when the rapids are supposed to be crazy...
Here's the video in any case. I had to split it up into two parts because of the Youtube time restriction...
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