Quebec: graft, theft, and misdemeanours.

So, a few points: First, sovereignty in Quebec is on the downswing since Trump discussed the possibility of tariffs, and second, Quebec is fuming about the way it seems to be removed, largely from discussions of national importance. Quebec is the second most populous province in Confederation yet, it continues to have one of the smaller impacts in elections and the like. So, what is happening with Quebec? Why is it on the downswing?

There are two reasons, the first is political, and the second is largely financial. Quebec decided a while ago to try to go its own way. It pushed the sovereignty question in the hopes it would then leave. It was defeated then and it will be continually defeated. The party Bloc Quebecois was the driver of that question and the sharp point of the spear in that debate. The Bloc Quebecois essentially removed Quebec from the national discussion. It became focused on the separation question and hamstrung its ability to compete in the national discussion, ironically. Ironic that once they pushed for greater national recognition, they became less relevant. Now they are arguing that they should be considered increasingly relevant, but they aren’t and won’t be, thank goodness.

The second reason is that Quebec became less relevant in the national discussion as it hindered national infrastructure projects, specifically, the national East-West pipeline. It argued against it on the national climate change platform, but it was mostly disingenuous. Quebec acted as a hindrance to that pipeline. Now, since Trump has come aboard, the liberals in Ottawa realize that they need to be able to get their product (crude oil) to global markets and Quebec is a hindrance. Intentionally being a hindrance. Quebec will have to adjust itself if it wants to be a loved partner in Confederation. It is a part of Confederation but is it loved as such. Sadly, no.

The next question is how do we remove it? How do we correct it? I would never support becoming the American 51^st state, but it may be an option, a kill switch, sure, but it would work. 

DEI and You. 

 “Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment, And cause it to give off a foul odour”

                                                                                Ecclesiastes 10:1 NKJV

What does a fly in the ointment have to do with anything? This article will be about the LA fires. The conditions and circumstances which contributed to it and the results.

I’m sure by now if you follow the news remotely, you know about the LA fires. I’m going to look closely at the problem, which precipitated the cause of the fire. That is DEI, or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  The problem which led to the conditions and circumstances of the fires is the focus and preoccupation with DEI initiatives. The goals of DEI may seem nice to some, but they aim at the heart of meritocracy. They do not consider the job's actual requirements and may not seek to cause chaos or harm, but they do most effectively. I find it interesting that the Fire Chief and her few deputies are lesbian. This is obviously the result of the Chief wanting to have people around her who affirm her biases and judgement, which is what DEI purported to correct, and of course, it does not. It merely amplifies faulty values, values which have no place in the workplace. There is no contradictory position or cause heard among her senior staff who reflect a different set of values or goals. The other part of this issue is that it’s surprising to me how little DEI needs to be considered before it causes failure in the entire system. Three lesbians at the top of the chain and the entire system collapses. The lack of effectiveness, capability, and redundancy or available backup causes the system to collapse. The failure to provide water promptly and accurately on target and the entire system loses. Now, I understand that budgeting matters and that there were decisions made that weren’t the purview of the Fire Chief, but obviously, the Fire Chief was not able to communicate her needs and have them reflected in the city’s budget tells me that either the system is broken or harmed in some manner. The mayor thought that a fire wouldn’t break out and no one would know, but we all know now.

So, what? What can we do about it? Well, for one, we can learn why this is dangerous and broken. We can prevent these behaviours from being present in our communities. We can ensure that training standards are clear and universal as much as is feasible. When training standards are reduced for a segment of the population, we can be sure that some degree of failure will eventually happen, and we make sure that we are witnesses to it. Any reduction in merit ruins whatever it touches, we can be assured of that. It would be nice, perhaps, if it wasn’t so, but it is so. It is definitely and always so.

I hope that everyone will learn this lesson. I hope that this won’t happen again, but I believe it will happen again, and again more severely. Why? Because as people we want to believe what we believe, and we want to have our values reflected in the world around us. The only questions are whether or not our values are reflected around us and whether they contribute positively to taking action and correcting the faults we work to correct, whatever that might be. In LA, those values did not.