A growing conservativism
Peter Robb, The Ottawa Citizen.
Published: Monday, May 15, 2006OTTAWA—When families had children in the 1950s, the first child was a gift for mother, the second was for father and the third and fourth were gifts for the world.
…Today, the birth rate in Canada and the United States is roughly at replacement level, about two children per family unit, whatever form that family takes.
…Socially conservative individuals, whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Sikh, tend to produce more children, who are also socially conservative. By the sheer weight of numbers, the end result is a more socially conservative society. Longman does not believe these children will rebel against their parents, as the 1960s generation did. The end result of this process, he suggests, is a return to a kind of benign patriarchal system, that Longman says rewards women and men for having more children.
…He does cite some rather interesting numbers. In the United States, Longman notes that “in Seattle (Washington), there are nearly 45 per cent more dogs than children. In Salt Lake City (Utah), there are nearly 19 per cent more kids than dogs.”
…And finally people who support gay marriage, euthanasia and legalized abortion tend to have one child.
…The end result of this for the liberal state could be dubbed the revenge of the empty cradle.
…Even if you eschew the day-care option, opportunities for maternity and paternity leave allow both parents the option of looking after the kids at home. Human creativity makes for a pretty solid immovable object against any unstoppable force. So does an economy that is more and more dependent on both sexes working.
Canadians don’t want gun registry scrapped: poll
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will have a tough time convincing Canadians it’s time to completely scrap the country’s expensive gun registry program, a new opinion poll suggests.
…The Ipsos Reid survey, conducted for CanWest News Service and Global National, indicates two out of three Canadians believe the government should revamp the gun registry system.
…There’s a majority, 67 per cent, that’s not a small majority, who believe that Stephen Harper shouldn’t be doing away with all gun registries.’‘
…The poll of 1,001 Canadians was conducted May 9 to May 11, with a 3.1 percentage point margin of error, 19 times out of 20.
…The survey comes on the eve of a report to be released Tuesday by Auditor General Sheila Fraser showing how the gun registry system created by the Liberal government was mismanaged.
Harper communications director defends Ottawa’s new relationship with media
HALIFAX (CP) – Speed dating – that’s how Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s director of communications is characterizing the media’s shaky new relationship with the Conservative government.
…“We really haven’t figured everybody out yet, but we’re starting to get a good idea of what we like and what we don’t like,” Sandra Buckler told the Canadian Association of Journalists on Sunday.
…Buckler was participating in a panel discussion featuring three journalists and a former communications director to Jean Chretien.
…“Stephen Harper is running a more focused, a disciplined government than prime minister (Jean) Chretien, and certainly more so than prime minister (Paul) Martin,” said Buckler in a sometimes confrontational discussion.
…“When we have something to say, Canadians are going to hear it, and they can take it to the bank.”
Canada should spare troops for Darfur: Dallaire
…Retired Canadian general Romeo Dallaire thinks Canada has the capability to send troops to the troubled Darfur region of Sudan despite concerns that the country does not have the manpower for another military mission.
…“I think it is almost reflective of a banana republic if we can’t, as a leading middle power, be able to move forces in those two mission and do it with the capabilities we have,” he said.
“In the current situation, after the last two years where the Canadian Forces have been pulling out of UN missions in order to lick their wounds, I believe we can go in as part of a developed world contingent to reinforce the African Union (peacekeepers) for a short period of time.”
Report from the Liberal Nanny State of Ontario
Ontario to fund testicle implants
Operation delisted by Harris Tories
$2,300 procedure for youths under 18(And yet)…Smitherman added the government — which like its predecessor is struggling to control health-care costs — has no plans to reverse its own 2004 decision to end OHIP coverage of chiropractic care, most physiotherapy services and most eye exams by optometrists.
Read The Rest HereProvince Targets Farmers’ Markets
…They contemplate, for example, lab tests for home-made jelly, that honey made by local bees contain no more than 17 per cent moisture, recommendations that every market have two bathrooms (one for staff, one for the public), sinks and hand-washing facilities, log books to record food thermometer temperatures during cooking and that farmers and merchants take courses to become certified food handlers.
…Conservative MPP Bob Runciman had this to say about the issue.
