Owner: Prairie Fire URL:www.saskprairiefire.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:05:26 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A true Saskatchewan Grit. From the bright lights of Saskatoon’s synchrotron, to the intrigue and inspiration of Canada’s capital, to the political heart of the free world, and back again – commentary on real life, politics, and everything in-between Site statistics:Click here
The $100 Revolution 2007-07-22 22:48:00 Over the past few years I have followed with some interest the initiative underway to create a $100 laptop that would put the information age within reach of virtually every child on the planet. I have to say that I was quite excited to read today that after clearing a number of hurdles this dream is almost a reality and is about to hit production. For those interested in the technical specs of these little marvels there is a good backgrounder here.Based on my few years of experience working on international development policy, I find this project really quite awe inspiring. Unlike much development spending which may or may not make a real difference in the end and so often feels like trying to move a mountain with one's bare hands, this strikes me as being one of those real silver bullet ideas that can change the dynamics of the entire playing field.According to UNICEF there are approximately 1 billion poor children in the world. As a thought exercise, just imagine what would happen
Meet the New Boss...Same as the Old Boss (only kinda more super villain-esq) 2007-07-21 11:55:00 I woke this morning to find that Dick Cheney was the President of the United States. After confirming that I wasn't still asleep, I marvelled that the sun had actually still risen. Who'd of thunk it, eh?Jokes aside, I have a technical question about this temporary transfer of power. Given that Bush actually invoked section 3 of the 25th amendment to transfer power to Cheney, from a constitutional perspective should Cheney be recorded as the 44th President of the United States? Seems that the constitutional provision has only be used twice before, once by Regan to transfer power to Bush Sr. (which is a moot point for this debate since he became President afterwards the regular way), and in 2002 when Dubya had to undergo the same procedure as this morning.For supporting evidence I will refer you to Season 5, Episode 1 of the West Wing where President Bartlet invokes the 25th amendment after his daughter is kidnapped. At one point some White House staffers debate whether Acting Presiden
Some Non-Partisan Praise 2007-07-20 02:27:00 Was quite pleased to see this announcement on behalf of the current Minister of International Cooperation come across my inbox today.I had the opportunity to work with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank fairly extensively during my time at CIDA, particularly with respect to changing the Government of Canada's policy on tied food aid. They are a wonderful homegrown NGO (pardon the bad pun!) and a real example of how faith communities can work together and with government to serve the greater good.Congratulations and keep up the great work! Read more:Partisan
, Praise
308 seats and 8 random facts 2007-07-17 12:20:00 This past weekend I was able to spend some time at the annual Western Young Liberal Summer Caucus (a.k.a. Camp Wanna Be Free) which this year was hosted on the shores of Lake Diefenbaker (yes, the organizers were aware of the irony). They invited me to give the presentation I had first made at the Manitoba Liberal Party AGM back in March on creating a 308 Seat Strategy.There was some very positive responses from the group and Dan Arnold (a.k.a. Calgary Grit) has linked to the presentation on his blog to help keep the discussion going and expose a wider audience to it. It seems to me that this may be the only path to a real culture shift in the party - one conversation, one presentation, one blog posting at a time.Also it seems that over the weekend Pumpernickel has tagged me, thus compelling me to provide you all with 8 random facts
about myself. I gather that to not do so would be a heinous breech of cyber-etiquette, so here we go:1) I was born at 9 minutes to 5 in the afternoon. Coin
A little from column A, a little from column B 2007-07-11 01:40:00 This is one of the more innovative arguments I have seen to date in the climate change debate. It is worth watching if you haven't seen it already.Thoughts? Comments?The one thing that struck me is that in his reasoning he perhaps even downplayed some of the risks of inaction and some of the benefits of action. The big smiley face in the top right box implies that everything is hunky-dorey as it is, which I suspect many people would disagree with, thus making the two options in column B an even bleaker choice. And in the bottom left box it seems to me that he forgoes the possibility that action on climate change has the potential to not just prevent or reverse the damage to the environment caused by pollution but actually make quality of life higher for everyone through more efficient and effective technologies and social policies.The nub of what I am getting at in this post and in the past few posts is that being "green" doesn't need to imply sacrifice or a lower standard of living Read more:little
Prairie Fire 1, Green Party E-Newsletter 0 2007-07-10 12:12:00 Thanks to the hot tip by Saskboy in the comments section of my last posting, I double-checked my link to the GreenParty
article. To my surprise, it was no longer working. After spending a few minutes scouring the Green Party
's website I did manage to find the July edition of their newsletter which had moved to a different page.Well that is all fine and well, but then I looked a little closer. Interestingly the offending article about wind farms seems to have suddenly disappeared. Consider the following evidence:Exhibit #1 - The July 2007 Green Party E-Newsletter as per their websiteExhibit #2 - The original E-Newsletter as e-mailed to me on Friday (pasted below):-------------A new voice hits the airwaves The downside of wind farms EDAs challenged to grow their membership lists Quebec organizer now a candidate Young Greens organize for Fall campus campaign Green Party Radio is on the AirOn May 21, an Internet radio station went on the air to promote the Green Party and several other g
The Real Green Agenda 2007-07-08 21:24:00 A quote from the Green
Party's July 2007 e-newsletter:Wind farm projects are being announced every month in Quebec and are growing like mushrooms, but the air is turbulent in the wind industry. The promoters tell us that wind farms will reduce greenhouse gas emissions...don’t be fooled, the money they are investing in wind energy has nothing to do with the environment. Promoters build wind farms because there is a lot of money to make.It is exactly this kind of backwards, anti-capitalistic thinking that holds the environmental movement back. What is wrong with making money by being green? In fact one could argue that significant progress isn't going to be made on the green agenda until it is viewed as both good for the environment and good for the bottom line.That is exactly why eco-entrepreneurs are starting to become so successful. Thanks to some progressive thinking governments both in Canada and elsewhere, free markets are starting to adjust for their traditional environmental
Duck and Cover 2007-07-06 13:03:00 Much as it seems that Harper and Calvert have become arch-enemies of convenience as of late, the last 24 hours would show that they have at least one attribute in common - they are both chicken.Early yesterday afternoon I glanced out the window by my desk to see Stephen Harper's motorcade moseying on down the Idylwyld freeway in Saskatoon. Seems he was in the area to re-announce a re-announcement of his on biofules (a file on which he has little to be proud of), and then off to a beef-on-a-bun fundraiser in Kenaston. It was at that later event that he called the government of Saskatchewan "ungrateful" for his bountiful generosity.What is somewhat remarkable about this is both the sheer arrogance and complete insecurity of Harper. It is quite clear that he timed his visit to Saskatchewan to coincide with Calvert being in Nunavut for the Western Premiers conference so there would be no uncomfortable situations with the excitable Premier. Yet instead of trying to put out the fire he has Read more:Cover
Speed Demon 2007-07-04 12:22:00 I've flirted with the idea of upgrading my Toyota Matrix to a Prius at some point in the next year or so, but have wondered what kind of oomph the hybrid engine has. Thanks to the freeway shenanigans of Al Gore's son, I now know that in real world testing the Prius can hit 160 kph. Sweet.P.S. Is his name really Al Gore III? That sounds like a crappy action movie sequel. Talk about giving your kid an identity crisis. Read more:Speed
Dialling for Dollars 2007-07-03 20:06:00 Two news items today from the world of telemarketing.You may have caught this story about the long promised Canadian "Do Not Call Registry”. Back in 2005 one of the most potentially popular, yet strangely under-promoted, bits of business that the Martin government got done was the passage of legislation to set-up a system where one can sign-up to a list which would prevent telemarketers from calling you. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me, and a fairly simple idea to implement.Well you may have noticed that telemarketers continue to call you. Seems our friends at the CRTC took the passage of this law by Parliament as more of a "helpful suggestion" than, for example, a legally binding piece of legislation that they should "do something about". So in between their busy work of trying to decided how to best regulate what you read, watch, and listen to (I suspect to avoid Canadians getting over-stimulated or something...) and trying to wrap their heads around this new-fangled internet-
I ain't saying she's a golddigger.... 2007-07-01 15:00:00 Watching a few minutes of the tribute concert to Princess Diana on CTV. I am forced to ask, did Kanye West really think opening his set with "Golddigger" was the most appropriate selection given the venue?Awkward.....Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network Read more:saying
Missing the Mark 2007-06-27 00:31:00 I like Chantal Hébert - I really do. She is smart, articulate, and often serves up a unique analysis of the political climate in Canada (particularly in Quebec) that is markedly different than most of the chatter from the media and pundits. That said, she seems to be having some fact-checking problems the past week or so when it comes to Western Canada.Last night I stumbled upon this post by Colby Cash pointing out a gross error Hébert made in discussing the implications of the recent Alberta by-elections when she noted that it had been 36 years since a Liberal was elected in Calgary. Actually there were already three Calgary seats held by the Liberals before the by-elections.Then tonight I was reading the Hill Times and came across her column where she stated, without any apparent sense of hyperbole, that all 12 Conservative seats in Saskatchewan were now in play because of the equalization deal.Seriously? Does that even seem like a reasonable thing for a person to say?Trust me, no Read more:Missing
Guess who's coming to dinner! 2007-06-22 11:31:00 Because I am always on the look-out for new ideas for political marketing and campaigning, I try keep tabs on what other parties do, and particularly what is happening in the US Presidential Primary campaigns as they are really on the cutting edge.Recently I got a few e-mails from the Obama campaign about an innovating fundraising idea. Anyone who gave a donation over a certain amount (it was something low, like $20) during a certain period of time (a few weeks) would be entered into a draw to have a private dinner with Obama along with three other winners. Cool idea.Yesterday I got an e-mail announcing Obama's dinner guests. They appear to come directly out of central casting. A black woman from the South (Edward's power base). A Hispanic man from NY (Clinton's power base). A white woman from Florida (swing state). A white man from Nevada (swing state). Random selection my ass!In the hierarchy of political sins, fixing your own fundraising draw probably isn't THAT big of a deal. B Read more:Guess
Karwacki's Big Idea on Urban Reserves 2007-06-17 23:46:00 For those who missed it (i.e. anyone outside of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix distribution radius), below is an editorial from Saturday's paper supporting Saskatchewan Liberal Leader David Karwacki's call for a re-look at the emerging urban reserve system in Saskatchewan:Karwacki's idea for urban reserves worth consideringThe concept of using urban reserves as an economic development model for First Nations people isn't new, with the Muskeg Lake band's operations in Sutherland in Saskatoon providing a great example.However, provincial Liberal Leader David Karwacki's call to "open a principled discussion" about taking that further to make urban reserves into enterprise zones and eventually to introduce a First Nations-run progressive taxation system for on-reserve earnings is a bold idea that's worth a closer look.Given Saskatchewan's demographic and economic realities, what Karwacki proposes makes eminent sense, especially in an era when the federal government's eagerness to proce Read more:Urban
We need your voice! (updated) 2007-06-14 12:51:00 Update at bottom of postThat was the rallying cry last night during the annual provincial Liberal Leader's Dinner at the Delta Hotel in Regina. Nearly 300 people (which I am told is a record attendance for the Regina leader's dinner in recent memory) sat in rapt attention during the opening address by special guest Gerard Kennedy and the keynote address by David Karwacki.I have to say that Kennedy's speech was probably one of the best I have seen from him - he has come a long way in the last year thanks to his practice on the national trail during the leadership and now in his renewal chair role. Though there was nothing groundbreaking in terms of substance, as far political meat and potatoes go it was solid. He hit all the right notes and had an impressive grasp of the political dynamics at play provincially in Saskatchewan.When I am back at home tonight I will post the full text of Karwacki's speech, but the highlights are as follows:- There has been a failure of imagination in S
On the Road Again... 2007-06-13 10:35:00 Heading down shortly to Regina for the Provincial Liberal Leader's Dinner this evening. Expect a full report on Karwacki's speech tomorrow (and special guest Gerard Kennedy too if he says anything interesting).And I think I speak for all Prairie Liberals when I say that we have a little extra spring to our step today thanks to the fantastic result of the Calgary-Elbow by-election last night! Read more:Again
Spirit Wrestling 2007-06-10 17:47:00 As Sunday is traditionally a day for spiritual reflection, I thought I would post about something I haven't often discussed on these pages - my faith. Those who know me personally will know that I am a proud Doukhobor. If you don't know what a Doukhobor is, that's okay, there aren't that many of us - only about 30,000 in Canada as of last count, and few of those are what could be considered "active" Doukhobors.If you are interested, there are some good resources about the Doukhobors here, here and here.I was recently asked by the Canadian Doukhobor Society to write an article for their quarterly newsletter about my experiences at the Liberal leadership convention. It will be coming out later this week, but as one of the benefits of being an on-line reader of mine I'm giving you a sneak peek below (yeah, that's right, you get what you pay for!).Spirit Wrestling on the Convention Floor: Tales of a Liberal DoukhoborRyan Androsoff, Saskatoon, SKWhen the editors of the Sheaf asked me
That's Hot: Hysterically Crying Edition 2007-06-08 17:05:00 So two days after the L.A County Sheriff inexplicably let Paris Hilton out of jail (barely 3 days into her 45 day sentence) due to "unspecified medical reasons", Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer sent her ass back to the slammer this morning.Now I am not one to take joy in the suffering of others. Far from it. In fact I consider myself to be a fairly compassionate and understanding person in most situations. But seriously, this is a pretty tough one. Hilton makes a career out of being famous for merely the very fact that she is famous...a Hollywood version of the Chicken and Egg riddle. And that's fine, I have no problem with her career choice of being a pampered, pin-up, pin-headed, party girl. She seems to be able to make some good coin with that gig, so good for her.But I just don't get how a person like Hilton:a) gets her license suspended for drinking and driving, and thenb) proceeds to violate her probation not once but twiceFor instance, were she a single mother who had ma Read more:Edition
That's Hot: Jail Edition 2007-06-05 16:07:00 For those who missed it, Paris Hilton went to jail yesterday. Being a regular reader of Scott Feschuk's blog, I was hoping he would have some witty and cutting commentary on this latest development given his knack for sticking to da man (or woman, as the case might be). Unfortunately he seems a little caught up in the Playoffs these days. Still, funny stuff.So here is my semi-serious question: With this recent rash of celebrities, and mega celebrities getting busted for driving under the influence, I can't help but wonder why these people don't just get a driver? Clearly they can afford one and clearly they need one.I have no problem if stars and starlets want to go paint the town red; in fact some might argue that is what we pay them to do - entertain us. But seriously, when did driving drunk become cool and interesting? Because it's not. Read more:Edition
Diplomacy 2.0 2007-06-02 20:00:00 I haven't yet decided if this is brilliant or just the craziest damned thing I have ever seen. I am leaning towards brilliant.H/T to Paul Wells
Prairie Fire 1, Prohibitionists 0 2007-06-02 16:50:00 The StarPhoenix did in fact run my editorial today. Yay.I patiently await hate mail from the staff at Louis'.P.S. Fact correction. I have been told that last call at Louis' was in fact was at 11:05 p.m., not before 11:00 p.m. as incorrectly reported. My apologies.
Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink! 2007-06-01 12:30:00 For your reading enjoyment, a somewhat light-hearted (and somewhat serious) editorial I submitted to the StarPhoenix yesterday:Many of the 5,500 delegates attending Congress are PhD students who are actively looking at employment opportunities with Canadian universities. Given the need for the UofS to attract the best and the brightest in their faculty recruitment efforts, and indeed the long-term economic benefits these recruitment efforts promise for our city, one would think that this week would be a full-court press on the recruitment front. Yet a number of friends of mine from across Canada who are in town for Congress have reported that in at least one important aspect these efforts have fallen short – the shocking inability to get a drink.Why is Louis’ having last call before 11 p.m. during the largest conference the UofS has ever seen? Where is the GW beer tent on campus? Are we forgetting that these are Grad students, who are just as likely to be debating the finer points Read more:everywhere
What IS Stephen Harper Reading? 2007-05-29 10:18:00 Just got back from a remarkable breakfast lecture by Yann Martel of "Life of Pi" fame. As some of you may know, the UofS is currently hosting the "Congress", which is the annual gathering of the Canadian social sciences and humanities academic community – the largest annual academic conference in North America in fact. Long story short, as part of the Congress there are a number of special lecture series open to the public, and this morning Martel spoke.His speech was probably the most effective attack on StephenHarper
I have witnessed. As you might know, a couple months ago he started a personal campaign to help Stephen Harper learn to appreciate the arts and is sending him a book once every two weeks to build his literary foundations. As Martel put it, he wants to impact Harper's "stillness". You can check out Martel's website at: www.whatisstephenharperreading.caIt was a brilliant presentation and attack on Harper by Martel, precisely because his self-confident, well articulate Read more:Reading
A Few Thoughts on Manitoba 2007-05-23 02:34:00 Thanks to the magic of time-shifting digital cable, I was able to catch Winnipeg news this evening for a recap of the results of today's provincial election. For those who missed it, you didn't miss much. For all intents and purposes, nothing changed.
From the time I have spent in Manitoba
over the past few years, and conversations with friends of mine there both involved in politics and not, I don't find this terriably surprising. In general, there seemed to be a general satisfaction with the direction the province is headed. Sure there are always things that people would like to see done differently with any government, and partisans will always have their spin, but I never sensed a "kick the bums out" mentality like I did during the 2006 federal election. The same can not be said for Saskatchewan these days, and it would seem increasingly Alberta as well (or Calgary at least).
As for the Liberal perspective, obviously good news that they managed to hang on to
The World Bank Mole emerges from his hole 2007-05-17 18:11:00 Consider the following:- The week after I leave the World
Bank, the long simmering internal rumours about Paul Wolfowitz giving his girlfriend a plum promotion at the World Bank breaks publicly- My blog goes silent soon thereafter- The day I resume blogging, word comes from Washington that Wolfowitz is resigning as President of the World BankCoincidence? I let you be the judge...Update for Mr. Wolfowitz's legal team: Yes, it is just coincidence!No, the real reason I've pulled an Andrew Coyne for the past month has been the need for a blogging vacation while I settled back in Saskatchewan, nursed a back injury, and managed a few busy weeks of travel back and forth out East. So to my legions of loyal readers who have sent me literally hundreds of emails (and by literally hundreds, I mean actually three) expressing longing for my writings and concern about my well being (generally expressed by some variation on the phrase "WTF - you still alive?") I am in fact alive and well and back on
Is The Free Market of Ideas Closing Its Doors? 2007-07-29 11:25:00 Though I suspect that the limits and accepted boundaries of freedom of expression will continue to be a major topic of societal debate long into the future, I can't help but sense that with the "Web 2.0" hitting mainstream it is becoming a larger issue than at perhaps anytime in my lifetime.In recent weeks everywhere I look this issue seems to be coming up, be it lawsuits, blogger controversies, and even legislation on the subject - all seeming to point towards a trend of restricting what is considered acceptable speech and methods of communication in the on-line domain.My position on the matter is that short of endangering the physical security of others, we should not just tolerate but encourage the whole spectrum of opinion. Vigorous debate and the harnessing of the collective wisdom of the masses will inevitably allow the better ideas and more lucid opinions to rise to the top, which will provide a net benefit to society. This means, however, that we must endure the proliferation Read more:Market
, Doors
Developers, Chocolates, and Polls (updated) 2007-07-31 18:54:00 This situation, and the potential class action lawsuit against the Government of Saskatchewan that could result from it, was brought to my attention courtesy of Saskboy.The tricky thing with a situation like this is in not knowing all the details and context it is difficult to really know what happened and why decisions were made or not made. I encourage you to read the original documents and Saskboy's analysis and come to your own conclusion.In other Saskatchewan political news, I thought the results of this poll that John Murney has been running on his blog are quite interesting. Though it is obviously a highly unscientific poll, John tends to have a fairly broad-based readership and my experience on the ground and at the doorstep tells me that the actual situation right now in Saskatchewan is a roughly similar scenario: The Sask Party way out in front, and the NDP and Liberals battling for second place.UPDATE:Talk about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in action. It would seem Read more:Developers
, Chocolates
, Polls
Hope vs. Fear – Why MMP is Good Enough for Me! 2007-08-09 23:35:00 An interesting debate has started in earnest this past week in Ontario in the lead up to their provincial election over the referendum question that will be on the October 10th ballot, namely to switch their voting system from the current First-Past-The-Post (winner takes all) system, to a Mixed Member Proportional system (split ballot with a vote for the party and a vote for the local candidate). This is an issue that is of obvious interest to me, even from afar, because of my active involvement in politics (actually it has been an interest of mine for some time – I wrote my honours thesis at Carleton University on the topic of Parliamentary and electoral reform). But it is an issue that should be of interest to anyone who has ever complained about politics being too cynical, too negative, or felt like they were wasting their vote at the ballot box.I would encourage you to go check out the arguments on both sides of the issue – the Yes side here, and the No side here. To learn mor Read more:Enough
, Good Enough
Out of the Frying Pan, and Into the Fire 2007-08-07 18:19:00 Today I have taken the first step in what is going to be without doubt one of the most interesting adventures of my life to date – I have announced my intention to be the Saskatchewan Liberal Party candidate for the constituency of Saskatoon Northwest in the upcoming provincial election.RyanAndrosoff.ca will be the on-line hub for our campaign in Saskatoon Northwest where you will be able to follow developments over the coming weeks and months. And as I note in my welcome message, I fully intend for the website to be more than just a “pamphlet on a computer screen” but a place for people to take part in an interactive conversation on how we can start building a province for tomorrow. Thankfully I have the support of a fantastic “new media” guru (who is no stranger to those involved in the Canadian political blogosphere) to help me put the tools in place to make that vision a reality.It has been almost exactly a year since I started blogging and though this blog will predictab Read more:Frying
More on Threats to The Free Market of Ideas 2007-08-18 18:11:00 A little while ago I wrote about what I see as a growing threat to freedom of expression in the realm of the "Web 2.0". Earlier this week CBC's "The National" ran the following story about how libel lawsuits are starting to put a freeze on on-line freedom of expression:As the power of user-generated content on the Internet increasingly becomes mainstream, the perhaps predictable backlash is being felt from those who prefer a more centralized and controlled form of mass media and public debate. This is certainly going to be one of the big issues surrounding this new frontier of public discourse in our society and an issue that should be of concern to everyone who values having a full opportunity to participate in our democracy. Read more:Market
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