On Web Trends

Today I skated at Scooters. I did a little better than last time, each little improvement is a good thing so I will say I am happy, even though I spent much of the morning in the centre of the track trying to improve technique. I have learned something very useful, I need to concentrate very hard on keeping my knees pointed out so that my feet stay close together and I do not pronate. If I can get that act together I stand a good chance of making significant improvements over the season to come.

Anyway I went through the logs of where my site traffic is coming from, since Peter Doucet posted his little tidbit on Speed Skate World (see the blog roll on the right, the November 24 entry of Speed Skate World) I have had over 20 visitors from Speed Skate World. All Peter said was: "Why He Lied: Here's an interesting little entry from Skater Dreams called Why I lied." I guess I should write more "interesting little entries!"

Other interesting things I came across, Andrew Hegarty (see the Blog Roll on the right) posted a terrific video on November 21. Damn what a cyclist, I wish I could do that! Car drivers really ought to learn that they do not own exclusive right to the roads.



Now I would like to discuss some politics in Canada. I know, I know, I can hear some of you groaning, or more likely your already off googling some speed skater video or you are looking up how to fix an in-grown toe nail or something. But this is important, really, this matters.

For those of you who are still with me, thanks. I hope by now you have heard about the Federal Government's "Democratic Representation Bill". This bill will assign something in the neighbourhood of 5 new seats in the House of Commons in Ottawa to Alberta, 7 new seats to British Columbia and 10 new seats to Ontario. If this bill becomes law all provinces, except Ontario, will have no more than 101 thousand souls for every Member of Parliament they send to Ottawa. (Some provinces will be considerably better represented, for example Prince Edward Island has something in the neighbourhood of 35 thousand people for every MP.) Ontario on the other hand will have 107 thousand people per riding. It gets better, for every 100 thousand new people a province gains, it will get one riding, except (wait for it...) Ontario, we need 200 thousand new tax payers to get a new riding. (Now some of my numbers may be off, I was going from memory, but the fundamental fact is, Ontario is way under represented if this bill stands.)

I wrote a letter to the Globe and Mail today in response to a letter they published on Saturday, the 24'th. I would like to quote it, even if the letter does not get published because I believe it to be a good summary of the situation so far.

Government House Leader and Honourable representative of York-Simcoe PeterVan Loan writes that the "Democratic Representation Bill will result in...better representation for... Toronto and Vancouver." This after previously calling Premier of Ontario a small man because The Honourable representative of all Ontario wants equal representation for all Canadians.

Mr. Van Loan, rather than retort to you directly I will let Jonathan Meyhew answer, "No taxation without representation!" For as James Otis said"taxation without representation is tyranny."

Mr. Van Loan if the Honourable MPP of Ottawa South is a "small man" so is Tomas Jefferson, Tom Payne, Gen. George Washington, John Jay, & cetra. Fine company for Mr. McGuinty, but when will the Madness of King Stephen be playing in the theatres?

Now the letter that Mr. Van Loan wrote, I will reprint here so that everyone can see I edited only for brevity not to change the MP from York-Simcoe's meaning.

Re Bill C-22, Harper Writes Off Ontario (Nov. 22): The existing formula for distributing seats in the commons is designed to limit the size of the House. It does this solely at the expense of the provinces with the faster population growth, such as Ontario, and it will get worse over time.

The existing formula shortchanges the rapidly growing parts of Canada where immigrants settle.

Our Democratic Representation Bill will result in more seats and better representation for these areas, such as Toronto and Vancouver's suburbs, by correcting the current unfairness in the formula.

- Peter Van Loan,
Government House Leader, Ottawa (in the November 24'th letters to the editor of the Globe and Mail).

I would like to consider for a moment the American Revolution. In December 1773 wealthy smugglers boarded the East India tea ship Dartmouth and dumped some 342 boxes of tea worth 10 thousand pounds into Boston Harbour. The 'Boston Tea Party' was not a protest of excessive taxation, on the contrary, "the price of the tea in question was exceptionally low, since the British government had just given the East India Company a rebate on the much higher duty the tea had incurred on entering Britain. In effect the tea left Britain duty free..." [From Niall Ferguson in Empire The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power, copyright 2002.]

The American Revolution was not a war protesting a tax hike, rather the American Revolution was a war protesting a tax cut! The complaint the English Patriots in America had which instigated the entire war was the arbitrary nature of the British taxation system. Put plainly they fought because they were taxed without representation. Put even more susinctly the entire American Revolution was a protest over the lack of representation loyal subjects of the crown suffered under in the American colonies.

Now the Federal Government in Ottawa proposes that a new law be created which is to ensure better representation for most Canadians, but in Ontario we will be under represented. The old law was a sin of omission, the new law a sin of commission.

One day someone will have to explain to me why my vote counts for one quarter of a vote from some guy in Prince Edward Island. In the mean time, my wife is due to arrive home after a month in China, I better go to the airport and pick her up.