Archive for Politics

Prime Minister Harper Plans To Live Tweet Cabinet Shuffle

Posted in Commentary with tags , on July 15, 2013 by itnerd

Here’s something that I don’t see every day. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is apparently going to shuffle his cabinet. Meaning that new faces will enter, some familiar faces will exit and some people will change positions. Politicians do this to put a fresh face on cabinet ahead of an election or to “reboot” things in the minds of the electorate if there have been issues with the government. In the case of this one, there’s an election coming in 2015 and the last few months have been filled with lots of scandals that have hurt their image.

Usually Canadians will read about this online or watch the evening news. But this got my attention as to a means to communicate this shuffle:

That’s right. The shuffle will be live Tweeted. This is the first time I’ve seen this in any government anywhere on Earth. Now according to The Globe And Mail, he’s bringing in new and younger faces along with more women into the cabinet:

The new cabinet, scheduled to be unveiled at 11 a.m. Monday at Rideau Hall, will also include “new faces and younger members, along with experienced hands,” one senior Conservative source said, with more female cabinet ministers in particular. 

So, if you accept the above to be the case (other than the fact that they got the time wrong), the fact that it will be live Tweeted may be an attempt to grab the youth vote. After all, engaging youth via social media worked for President Barack Obama twice. Plus the Liberal Party and their new leader Justin Trudeau who aspires to replace Harper are using this strategy as well. Now to be fair, the Prime Minister is not new to the social medial arena having had his own Facebook and Twitter accounts for some time, but I think he’s starting to use them in new ways to keep him electable in 2015.

This should be interesting to watch.

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Canadians Go To The Polls…. Tech Issues Must Be Front And Center

Posted in Commentary with tags , on March 27, 2011 by itnerd

For the fourth time in seven years, Canada is going to have an election thanks to the Liberal, Bloc Quebecois, and NDP political parties passing a non-confidence motion in the House Of Commons which held the ruling Conservative Party in contempt of Parliament because due to a variety of issues. It’s the first time that any government in any Parliamentary democracy anywhere on the planet has ever been found in contempt of Parliament. That’s says something about the ruling party and it should prove to be one of the talking points of this election.

However, there should be some other talking points that should be raised in this election. Take for example the copyright bill. In the past I’ve talked about how this bill isn’t good for Canadians. Fortunately it died when the government died. But now is the time to make sure that the issues that made this bill bad are communicated to every candidate that Canadians come across between now and election day. The same goes for usage based billing. The need for the “big three” telcos in Canada to make as much money as possible should not override the fact that it pretty much kill choice and innovation in the Canadian Internet space. Industry Minister Tony Clement of the Conservatives understood that. Now it’s time to make sure that every other politician gets that too.

While we’re at it, Canadians should also let their politicians know that Canada needs a much more competitive landscape when it comes to telco services. Even if it means that Canada opens up the playing field to foreign players. Contrary to what the “big three” telcos would say, that would be a good thing as it would give consumers more choice at lower prices. Finally, politicians need to hear that the CRTC needs to die a quick death as it no longer protects the interests of Canadians. Unfortunately, petitions like this one won’t get the job done.

So Canada when those politicians come knocking on your door looking for your vote, make sure that you tell them that these issues matter to you. Thus if they are willing to support choice, innovation and a competitive landscape for telco services, Government bodies that look out for Canadians rather than thumb their noses at them, and a better approach to Internet access in Canada, then they’re likely to get your vote. Because if you care about these issues, now is the best time to make sure that they get addressed.

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Nancy Pelosi Rickrolls U.S. Taxpayers… It Shows Their Tax Dollars Are Well Spent

Posted in Commentary with tags , on January 14, 2009 by itnerd

Apparently Rickrolling is something that all the cool people are doing. So it doesn’t surprise me that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) is getting in on the act. Apparently the House of Representatives now has a YouTube channel, and Pelosi posted this clip in a vain attempt to appear relevant to net savvy 18 – 35 year olds.

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Technology Issues Appear In The Dying Days Of The Canadian Election

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on October 12, 2008 by itnerd

In the dying days of the Canadian election, there’s news from the copyright reform front as well on the net neutrality front. I’ll start with copyright reform. The Conservatives have served notice via a platform document that they will reintroduce their copyright reform bill if re-elected:

“A re-elected Conservative government led by Stephen Harper will reintroduce federal copyright legislation that strikes the appropriate balance among the rights of musicians, artists, programmers and other creators and brings Canada’s intellectual property protection in line with that of other industrialized countries, but also protects consumers who want to access copyright works for their personal use,” the platform document says.

Well that sucks. Their last attempt at this was an American inspired bill that was dead on arrival in the view of many Canadians. The Conseratives have just given many Canadians one more reason not to vote for them.

Next there’s NDP leader Jack Layton who thanks Internet users for bringing issues like Net Neutrality and copyright reform to the table during this election. Take a look here:

So if you’re Canadian, take a look at both these items before you visit your local polling station on Tuesday. They may help you decide whom to vote for.

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How The Internet Has Influenced The US Presidential Election

Posted in Commentary with tags , on October 11, 2008 by itnerd

Clearly the US Presidential election is a different sort of election. The Internet has played a major role this time around. You have Barack Obama who has used the Internet to out fund raise his opponent John McCain. It’s a strategy that is sure to used in future elections as it’s allowed Obama to have a 24 hour channel. That must help him gain a 9 point lead in the polls.

Also, you have a group who calls themselves The Wasilla Project who’s goal is simple:

The purpose of the project is to produce a series of short (2-3 minute), video portraits of Sarah Palin and her hometown of Wasilla that can be a valuable addition to the prevailing impressions of her. As time and resources allow, we may do a longer edit as well, one which goes into depth on broader topics raised by Palin and her political career.

Now, I’ve watched the two videos that they’ve produced and they have a anti-Palin bent to them. But something that is adding to the debate and getting people talking.

Question: Are the Republicans doing anything like this? If so, can anybody point me to any examples?

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Canadian Conservatives Run Into Problems With New Media [UPDATED]

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on September 22, 2008 by itnerd

The election campaign in Canada is getting interesting with technology taking a leading role in the proceedings. Most of it centered around the ruling Conservative party use of “new media” to shoot themselves in the foot.

The most famous example of this is an online ad showing a Puffin pooping on Liberal party leader Stephane Dion’s shoulder. It was quickly pulled after a public outcry.

Then there’s Conservative Chris Reid had to pull the plug on his campaign after he posted some really offensive comments on his blog:

Recommendations posted on this blog under the title “Political Thoughts by a Gay Conservative” include: closing the CBC; ending Human Rights Commissions and hate speech laws; ending abortion; allowing “qualified and trained” citizens to carry concealed handguns; and ending the Indian Act and the reservation system.

“These policies just keep Indians and their corrupt leaders dependent on the state and unable to ever have the freedom to succeed,” the blogger wrote under the name Chris Reid.

As for his recommendation that Canadians be allowed to carry concealed handguns, the blogger wrote: “It’s the only proven way to reduce violent crime and murder. If women and gays really wanted to stop being victims of hate crimes, they’d be in support of this, but judging from discussions, they’d rather be helpless and rely on government.”

In case you’re wondering, Reid is openly gay. Which makes his comments even more puzzling.

Finally the Globe And Mail is reporting that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s e-mail address was spoofed and two messages were sent out in his name:

“One of the messages suggests Mr. Harper’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence could lead to Quebec sovereignty.

The other begins with the greeting, “Hi The Average Canadian, Stephen Harper wanted to tell you” that he intends to destroy health care, make Canada the 51st U.S. state, is beholden to the Alberta tar sands, and dislikes all things green except for the almighty American dollar.”

The CSE has been called into investigate. I suppose it could have been worse. They could have had a Sarah Palin moment.

I find it intersting that the Conservatives seem to the ones who have problems with new media. Perhaps they need to hire some teenagers to tell them how to use and secure this stuff? But it does explain why they are clueless when it comes to net neutrality, the state of Internet access in Canada, copyright reform among other issues.

UPDATE: The PMO e-mail hack is being reported by Macleans.ca with a rather technical description of how it was done. The author is shocked that this didn’t happen sooner.

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Aide Says John McCain Created The BlackBerry….. WTF?

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on September 16, 2008 by itnerd

The US Presidential race took a detour into the twilight zone today when an aide of Senator John McCain suggested that he was partially responsible for the creation of the BlackBerry:

Waving his BlackBerry personal digital assistant and citing McCain’s work as a senator, he told reporters Tuesday, “You’re looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create.”

One should keep in mind that McCain can’t use e-mail and has really never used a PC.

Another clearly smarter aide later said that it was “a boneheaded joke by a staffer.” I’m sure Al Gore (who once implied that he created the Internet) was laughing his head off someplace. Oddly, this didn’t have any effect on RIM stock today.

Now back to your regularly scheduled computer news and views.

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