Ontario Provincial Confederation of Regions Party

[bcholmes]

So I spent a bit of time poking around the Confederation of Regions party site. I'm against this party.

Do I Agree With Them?	CoR Platform
No	Direct Democracy -- CoR is against representational democracy, instead favouring referendums to decide matters of public policy. I am attracted to this attitude to a certain extent, but feel that there are a whole slew of complications that need to be thought through. Especially with regards to human rights and minorities. Additionally, CoR is against voting along party lines, and I support voting along party lines.
No.	Responsible fiscal management by government -- I am of the opinion that this is code for "we want to pay fewer taxes". I believe that the government should be financial responsible. But I don't think anyone wants otherwise, so I don't see why any party feels that this is a distinguisher. What I think CoR means is that they don't want money spent on things that they don't like. I support a lot of the things that they don't like. I also believe in taxes.
Yes and No	Health Care -- CoR believes in socialized health care (which I also believe in), in some form of user fees (which I don't believe in), and they are against two-tiered health care (which I am also against).
No	Single Publically-Funded School System -- CoR is basically saying that they oppose the Catholic School system. I do think that the Catholic School system is a historical oddity that doesn't really mean a whole lot in modern Canada. I also think that it's crazy to have a provincially-funded Catholic School system while at the same time refusing to fund other alternative religious school systems. But more importantly, I believe that CoR would be against other types of alternative schools
No	English Language as the official language of Ontario
No	We do not favour officially funded multiculturalism -- I think this platform item speaks volumes about CoR's attitudes
Yes	Protection of agricultural land -- I'm fairly wishy-washy about genetically modified food. I probably just don't know enough about the topic.
No	Finance -- I don't understand this section. They say that they're opposed to "takeovers by large international conglomerates, with out obligation to observe our laws". I'm just simply opposed to large international conglomerates, period. Then they say, "We are opposed to militant socialism in the form of undisciplined unions driving companies to upstakes and leave the country", which, y'know... speaks volumes. (Who are these "undisciplined unions"?)

Comments

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I've been becoming more and more interested in the GM food issues, as you may have seen in my journal of late.

Scope these:

Public Wants Biotech Food Tested (http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,60501,00.html)

Sour Grapes Over Milk Labeling (http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,60132,00.html)

Study Shows Consumers Watch Milk Labels Closely (http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.cfm?Id=1112&yr=2003)

Confusion, ignorance about biotech food (http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/agriculture/story/7436306p-8379246c.html)

(my favourite from this last one, said without irony by a pro-GM person: Kjelstrom said information from the industry appears to be helping reduce negative opinions about genetic engineering. "It takes people time to get used to new technology," she said, adding that Americans tend to worry about more pressing issues, such as war and the economy, while assuming trusted federal agencies will protect them from dangerous foods.

--which, if you read the other articles, the FDA will *not* be doing because Monsanto has already convinced them that 'it's just food', so they don't need to test it or prove it's safe or anything; there's a basic assumption that if it wasn't safe, they wouldn't release it, right?

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Farmer Ready for Final Court Battle Against Monsanto (http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=19834)

(this is the case I posted about the other day, trying to find info on.)

[thespian.livejournal.com]

blast. there was supposed to be a link to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (http://www.biodiv.org/biosafety/default.aspx).

sorry about that.