Alan Hunter RIP

On April 6, Canada lost a true champion of freedom.

That's the day Alan Hunter died.

You probably never heard of Alan, he wasn't a journalist or a TV personality or a politician.

He was a Calgary laywer -- and a darned good one. In fact, he was one of Canada's leading constitutional experts -- but more than that he was my friend.

Alan and I worked together during my days at the National Citizens Coalition, when the NCC actually mattered.

He was our lead lawyer in our never-ending legal battles against election gag laws, laws which denied every Canadian the right to free election speech.

For Alan, this wasn't just a legal job -- it was a crusade. He believed the protection of free expression was vitally important to any democratic society.

And for more than 20 years, he fought against gag laws with a ferocity that was a wonder to behold.

He was always confident of victory. He believed our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and our British legal tradition would never allow gag laws to stand.

He was right -- for the most part.

Alan won countless cases against gag laws. He successfully convinced the courts to overturn a Trudeau gag law in 1983, a Murloney gag law twice - in 1993 and in 1996 --and a Chretien gag law in 2001.

Ulimtately, however, even Alan, with all his logic and all his eloquence, could not convince the Liberal-packed Supreme Court of Canada to defend free speech and hence the undemocratic gag law survives.

But win or lose, Alan was a remarkable man.

I am lucky and honoured to have known and worked with such a noble and great Canadian.

Visiting the Green Monster

Recently had a chance to realize a dream: watched a game in Fenway Park.

It was raining and cold and the Red Sox lost (twice!) but it was a great experience.

They don't make ballparks like that anymore.

Next on my list: new Yankee Stadium.

Report Magazine RIP

I was saddened to learn Report Magazine is ceasing publication.

It was a great magazine that provided a strong voice for Canadian conservatism.

I was honoured to have a regular column in Report for the past several years and always found working with editor Rodney Dietzman a true joy.

Canada's conservative movement will miss Report Magazine.

Helena's lesson

Whenever I criticize the federal Conservatives for being “Liberal clones” the government’s defenders will inevitably remind me that the defining difference between Tories and Liberals is corruption.

“The Liberals are all crooks, whereas we Conservatives are all angels,” is usually the point of the argument.

Well now the sad saga of Helena Guergis has blown some rather gaping holes in that narrative.

Turns out the Tory hamper might contain its share of dirty laundry.

And that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

The fact is corruption is non-partisan.

To quote Benjamin Rogge, who was paraphrasing Hayek, “honesty and integrity in government are not a function of which party is in power but of the power over economic decisions possessed
by those in government.”

In other words the Liberals were corrupt while in power, not because they were Liberals but because they succumbed to the corrupting influence of government.

My point is, the real bad guy is government, or rather the power of government.

As long as the government has the power to influence and direct our economy, corruption will be inevitable.

It doesn’t matter who is in power.

That’s why if the Tories truly want to bring about cleaner government they should first seek to reduce its scope and its power.

The less influence government has over our lives, the less temptation there will be to do wrong.

Free Speech CD

Here's the opening of a speech I delivered in December at a liberty and free speech symposium organized by the Canadian Centre for Policy Studies.



I am posting this for two reasons. First, I think it's cool how I figured out how to post an audio file; second just to let you know the CCPS is now selling a CD featuring all the speakers at the conference.

And given all the news about free speech these days, it would be a timely purchase.

You can order it here.

New Hampshire Fact

The federal government recently announced it was adding a bunch more seats to the House of Commons.

This brought to mind an interesting New Hampshire fact.

Did you know New Hampshire's legislature has 424 members, making it the fourth-largest parliamentary body in the world, behind only the U.S. Congress and the Parliaments of Britain and India?

Told you it was interesting.

Frum, conservatives and free speech

I consider David Frum a friend, so I was saddened by the news that his relationship with the American Enterprise Institute had been abruptly terminated.

And even though David is not coming out and saying so directly, it seems his termination was politically motivated ---the AEI didn’t like his attacks on the Republican Party.

Certainly, I can identify with all this.

After all, I was fired from my job at the National Citizens Coalition a few weeks after I had criticized the Conservative Party.

So it seems that in both Canada and the United States speaking out against politicians can be a risky career move for conservatives.

What a sad state of affairs for our movement.

Now don’t get me wrong. I vehemently disagree with many of David’s contentions concerning the Republican Party and conservatism.

In my view, he concedes far too much to the left and promotes a wishy-washy, watered down ideology that as a conservative I find completely unappealing and ultimately self-defeating.

But at the same time, I respect the intellectual power of his arguments.

And more than that, by raising legitimate and thoughtful questions, David forces us as conservatives to look in the mirror and to defend our beliefs and our tactics.

This makes our movement stronger.

Indeed, as conservatives we must and should welcome the ideological combat that takes place in a free market place of ideas.

It keeps us vibrant, it keeps us growing intellectually.

That’s why organizations like the AEI and the NCC should allow and even encourage criticism of the political powers that be.

Yes, standing up to a political party can take a little courage, but at the end of the day aren’t these groups supposed to be about ideas?

And one idea conservatives must always embrace is the importance of free speech.

The Final straw

Anybody out there still believe Prime Minister Stephen Harper is actually a conservative?

If so, check out this news report.

It says the Prime Minister slammed a Fraser Institute report, which suggested the Conservative government's recent spending binge had not really created much in the way of economic growth or jobs.

And in doing so Stephen Harper -- former president of the National Citizens Coalition -- uttered these words:

"Economic theory and history is clear, governments must … make sure [funds] are put to productive use in the economy to create jobs."

For him to say something so absurd, has got to be the final straw for anyone still harboring illusions that the Prime Minister has one conservative fibre left in his body.

I mean could you imagine Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher or Mike Harris making such a statement?

But then again they were conservatives and conservatives believe only the free market can create real economic growth and real jobs.

For conservatives, the government is just an anchor to economic productivity. It's part of the problem not part of the solution.

Stephen used to believe that too. In fact, back in his NCC days, Stephen was a disciple of Hayek; today it seems he is a disciple of Jack Layton.

Anyway, I suppose we can expect the sharks in the PMO to go into full attack mode against the Fraser Institute.

Hope nobody loses their job.

Flatten that tax

I don't like taxes of any sort, but if we can't slash them the next best thing to do is flatten them.

That's my clever way of introducing this column I wrote on the idea of a Flat Tax. It's posted over at Libertas Post.

NCC Creates Worst Video of all time

Sometimes I am critical of my old friends at the National Citizens Coalition, mainly because since I left the group it has done nothing but go down hill.

But I have to admit they recently accomplished something quite spectacular: they have managed to produce the worst political video of all time.

I mean it. This video is the Plan 9 from Outer Space of political videos.

It's so bad, it's hard to single out its worst feature.

Is it NCC president Peter Coleman's hilariously speedy yet monotone delivery; is it the odd edits; is it the "man on the street" interview with a lunatic; is it the completely fake interaction between the "anchor" and the "street reporter," is it the letters from "Doug", "John" and "Dave", or is it the fact that the video starts out talking about the Alberta budget but ends up interviewing people in downtown Toronto?

You decide.

Loyal to the Core among Best Books of 2009

This just in ... OK it may have been in for a while, but I just found about it.

The Hill Times has listed my book, Loyal to the Core, as one of the Best Books of 2009.

So if you have been putting off purchasing my masterpiece, now is the time to buy!!

The problem with the NCC

Watching my old employer the National Citizens Coalition from afar I have reached two conclusions.

First, they try too hard to curry favour with the Conservative government.

Second, even when they do criticize the government they sometimes do so for the wrong ideological reasons.

Author and blogger, Paul Tuns recently picked up on this. Here's what Paul wrote about the NCC's response to the federal budget:

I couldn't help but notice the similarity between the National Citizen's Coalition and the Canadian Auto Workers:

CAW: "This budget does little to help Canadian workers secure their footing during a period of severe economic instability..."

NCC: "Instead of fixing the job crisis as it promised in yesterday’s Throne Speech, the Harper government appears to be coasting on last year’s stimulus budget, offering no meaningful new initiatives to get Canadians working again."

To be fair, the CAW veers further left and the NCC then goes to contradict themselves by calling for less government spending after indicating its displeasure that the government faltered in some way by "coasting" off last year's stimulus.

I'm just saying that the messaging from the NCC would have been clearer five or ten years ago; the NCC isn't supposed to be worried about job creation except as a talking point about lower taxes and less government.

Paul's comment reflects the weakness with the current NCC leadership. They have no clear understanding of true conservatism.

Sure they know that deficits are bad and that taxes are too high, but beyond that basic knowledge their grasp of ideology is weak.

Hence they often make statements which contradict conservative values (and sometimes long-held NCC positions).

Too bad.

Canada's conservative movement needs all the strong voices it can get.

In Praise of Maxime

I usually find it hard to praise politicians but in former Conservative Cabinet Minister Maxime Bernier's case I will make an exception.

What's to praise?

Well first, there's that excellent speech he made recently in Calgary where he put forward a case for fiscal conservatism as opposed to big spending Harper conservatism.

Second, a few days ago Bernier publicly expressed skepticism regarding aspects of global warming hysteria -- the first federal politician in Canada to do so.

And lastly and not leastly, when I met Bernier a couple of months ago in Ottawa, he bought a copy of my book, Loyal to the Core!

Of course, none of the above will make Maxime Bernier any friends in the PMO, but it does give a little hope to those Canadians who believe in more freedom and less government.

American Political History

History from New Hampshire.

This building in Exeter is the site where the Republican Party was founded in 1853.

Here's me in the Exeter Town Hall, where Abraham Lincoln once gave a speech.

Pretty cool eh?

Visiting the Bush estate

Did a little sight-seeing in Maine recently and paid a visit to the Bush family's Kennebunkport retreat.

Unfortunately, no one was home.

NCC Endorses Unelected Senate

Once upon a time the National Citizens Coalition stood for Senate reform.

Those were the days when it was an independent truly conservative voice.

No more.

Now it's impossible to figure out where the Conservative Party spin machine ends and the NCC begins.

Sad.

Americana

Things I have had a hard time adjusting to in the United States:

* Round-abouts.

* Paying for gasoline before you put it in your car.

* Getting used to Fahrenheit temperatures again.

* Remembering to ask people where the "bathroom" is instead of "washroom."

Political GPS

I just bought one of those GPS car navigation systems to keep me from getting lost as I travel through the wilds of America. (I often get lost even in the wilds of Oakville.)

And I got to say it's a pretty cool device. It not only shows me which way to go, but it actually speaks to me.

"Turn here," says a robotic voice.

Plus you can apparently change the voice to suit your fancy.

This got me wondering what these GPS devices would sound like if you could program them to sound like our political leaders.

They might sound a little like this:

Stephen Harper GPS voice: "This car won't move until I say it can move. Now prorogue this vehicle immediately."

Michael Ignatieff GPS voice: "You are travelling along Highway 401 ... at least I think it's Highway 401 ... I don't know this country all that well."

Jack Layton GPS voice: "Turn left .... turn left .... turn left."

Gilles Duceppe GPS voice: "Sorry I only give directions inside Quebec."

I'm off to America!

Canada’s conservative movement will somehow have to get along without me for the next little while.

That’s because I have just signed a deal to work for an American political consulting firm, meaning I will be temporarily relocating to the United States.

I will be attached to a Senate campaign down there which will keep me pretty busy for the next few months.

Consequently, I expect my blogging activities will be greatly reduced for the foreseeable future.

But fear not, when I return from my American tour of political combat duty, I plan to resume blogging at full steam.

In the meantime, wish me luck.

Facebook Fury

It seems "grassroots" Canadians are in a fury over Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament.

Or so says the Toronto Star.

And what's the Star's evidence of this fury?

Well, it seems more than 28,000 people have joined an anti-prorogation Facebook page.

OK that's impressive.

It certainly shows that lots of people on Facebook disagree with the prorogation.

But clicking a link on Facebook is no measure of emotional intensity.

And it's emotional intensity which fuels "grassroots fury."

You need such intensity to pick up the phone and complain to your MP or to a radio talk show host, you need such intensity to get citizens marching on Parliament Hill or to attend rallies. You need such intensity, in short, to mobilize the grassroots.

So far I don't see any evidence of such emotional intensity among Canadians when it comes to shutting down Parliament.

And that's not surprising. The fact is, people rarely get all that worked up about process or procedural issues.

It's the kind of thing which excites constitutional scholars, political columnists and partisans, but nobody else.

Anyway, if you want to have a say on this issue, you can vote on the latest Libertas Post survey.