To sing or not to sing

Is singing of a national anthem on every school morning an act of true patriotism? Or is it a perfect example of sunshine patriotism? Does it make people more loyal to their countries? Does it make them more Canadian or American? Does an anthem stand for a country? Its people? Or political ideas and/or personal beliefs associated with them?

Most of Canadian kids, or kids in Canada, start they school day with the anthem. It’s not mandatory, but most schools stick to the daily ritual. But lo and behold, Belleisle Elementary in New Brunswick’s Springfield abolished the practice after some parents expressed their wishes that their children do not participate at singing. It triggered accusation of political correctness running wild (courtesy of Conservative MP Keith Ashfield) and another Tory MP, Mike Allen, said that there was nothing more inclusive than Oh Canada.

Oh really?

How inclusive is a national anthem that has two language versions with two very different meanings.

English (official)

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

French (official) – English translation

Ô Canada! – O Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux, – Land of our forefathers
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux! – Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.
Car ton bras sait porter l’épée, – As in thy arm ready to wield the sword,
Il sait porter la croix! – So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Ton histoire est une épopée – Thy history is an epic of the most brilliant exploits.
Des plus brillants exploits. – Thy valour steeped in faith
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée, – Will protect our homes and our rights
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits – Will protect our homes and our rights.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

One may question political correctness, patriotism of those who have issues with singing the anthem, their religious motifs and even reasons why they came to Canada in the first place. But if somebody feels the need to sing an anthem every morning, they may as well do it in the privacy of their own home. Forcing somebody to sing an anthem will not turn them into a patriot. Why not organize an anthem singing session every morning in the school gym and give kids and their parents freedom to participate or opt out?

But the real issue shouldn’t be whether to sing or not sing. Even if every single human being in Canada sang the national anthem every morning, it wouldn’t make the country more united. The anthem would be still sung in two languages, by two communities, each wowing to protect something else. But it’s easier to discuss a marginal issue than to deal with the real question.

Don’t panic. For now.

When IBM announced the deal about selling its PC division to the Chinese company Lenovo, few members of US Congress switched into a panic mode. IBM, computers, China … that sounds like US national security would be under threat any time soon. Sheer patriotism and national security concerns bordering on stupidity are never good advisors, but the Congressmen talked until somebody hushed them down arguing that IBM hadn’t made a PC on the US soil for ages.

Fast forward from 2005 to 2009. US stimulus bill worth $819 billion triggered alarms around the world because one of its stipulations (in the House of Representative’s version) forbids using non-US produced iron and steel. According to the Washington Post, Senate’s version allegedly requires the use of only US made goods and equipment, with only few exceptions.

Ottawa is very afraid, naturally. US is Canada’s largest trading partner, by a great margin, in other words, Canada’s economy depends on the American one. Canadian House of Commons’ question period was abuzz with phrases such as US protectionism and Canadian lobbying in Washington.

Yes, the situation is serious but it’s hard to imagine that the bill would be as restrictive. Apparently, US companies are worried too. US-made goods and equipment are very scarce now and, steel aside, it will be impossible to get anything started let alone done. Let’s hope that the US lawmakers on any level will act rationally and come to terms with reality. It’s 2009 and the US simply can’t exist without imports. Nobody can.

Striking Canada

France has the image of a country, where workers strike more than they actually work. Yes, they work less than their US counterparts, but, according to the OECD 2007 estimates, France GDP per hour worked as a % of USA’s was 100.6%. Not that this is in any way relevant… Unions go on strike everywhere, not just in France.

But who would have thought that a French way of striking can serve as a good example. Bringing Paris to a halt for a few days makes a point and both unions and the other party are usually smart enough to negotiate 24/7 and come up with a compromise. Alienating the public for too long would be counterproductive and would hardly win more support for the unions and the political party that’s in charge of the city or the country. Even the wide-spread November 2007 strike was over in 9 days. It was a strike against reforms that were supposed to change France’s work and pension systems in a very dramatic way.

In Canada, they do things, obviously, differently. Ottawa’s transit strike entered its 44th day on Thursday. And apparently, even if the strike ended now, it would take two weeks to resume full service – on 70% of routes. Ottawanians had miserable Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, commuting, which is always a challenge in snow laden Ottawa at -20 degrees Celsius was hell. Taxi drivers, on the other hand, are having a party. Formal negotiations haven’t taken place since December 23. Informal talks are, apparently, way to go.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, University of York’s students had a great time. Union members of the staff went on strike on November 6, academic activities were suspended and 50 thousands students out of class, seriously jeopardizing not just their studies but also their prospective careers. Negotiations between university and the unions ended on January 9.

Both cases show that neither of the sides cares much about the consequences their respective actions have on the outside world, on those who depend on services they pay for, be it education or transport. A few day strike usually means that the public can blame either unions for raising unacceptable demands or the employer for making unacceptable proposals. There’s a winner and a looser. But in the cases of Ottawa transport and University of York strikes, the only losers are tens of thousands of innocent students and commuters.

There must be heads rolling. The question is, who has the authority and who has the will.

FIAT voluntas tua

Rover, now a defunct British car manufacturer, was known as an English patient. Chrysler is on its way to be come an American one. The smallest of the Detroit 3 was bailed out in 1979, tried an alliance with Mitsubishi, bought several small European manufacturers such as Rootes and Simca…. and sold them away. In 1998, Chrysler merged with Daimler, to be more precise, it was taken over by the German manufacturer. The marriage felt apart and Daimler sold 80% to Cerberus, a private equity group. The troubled manufacturer then entered into the partnership with Nissan in an attempt to gain access to small and fuel efficient vehicles. Sale of its Jeep division and even merger with General Motors were also on cards.

Finally, Fiat got the scoop. The Italian manufacturer will get a 35% stake in Chrysler and there’s an option for another 20. The deal, however, seems to be rather unbalanced in practical terms. Yes, Fiat will have a share in one of the Detroit 3, essentially for free, but given the fact that Chrysler has been in an automotive hospice for some time now, it doesn’t seem like much. Fiat’s Alfa Romeo has been contemplating return to the US but Alfa is a niche brand. Return of Fiat itself would make little sense given the huge slowdown of the US car market. Even if Fiat’s small cars could have appeal, Asian manufacturers and even Ford and GM are much better positioned as both can rely on its European operations. VW is bringing Polo stateside.

It’s Chrysler that’s apparently going to benefit – it will gain access to Fiat engines, it’s dealer networks and markets, although the question is is, who would be interested in Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep cars. Most crucially, Chrysler gains backing in its bid for the government bailout as it asked for $7 billion and got only $4, and Fiat’s support and expertise in restructuralization. There’s also a usual business of platform sharing too.

How will Fiat and Chrysler partnership work? For start, there are quality and reliability issues. In the German Auto Bildt TUV’s 2009 reliability report based on inspection of more than seven million cars (at least 10,000 of each model), in the 2-3 year-old category, the best Fiat car (Panda) ended up on 90th place, Chrysler PT Cruiser on 115th. And it’s not that the survey is biased to favour German manufacturers, the Top 11 features 7 Japanese cars, two are directly derived from a Japanese car and the other two are Porsches. At the moment, the deal makes more sense for Chrysler than Fiat. In the long term, it doesn’t make sense at all. Fiat voluntas tua. Thy will be done…

Is Flaherty doomed?

Canadian finance minister Jim Flaherty has been busy using the controversial parliamentary break to stitch together the federal budget and the stimulus package that are supposed to steer Canada away from recession. It will not work that way. Following pretty much every economist in the country (sans the Conservatives’ flock), Conference Board of Canada, an Ottawa based think-tank, released its own gloomy prediction for 2009.

The Board expects all major indicators to move significantly – in wrong directions. Unemployment rate is supposed to shoot over 8%, house prices will drop 10% in 2009. Low commodity prices and major slowdown of the US market will contribute to the expected shrinking of national economy. On the same day, Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page warned Canadians to expect at least five years of budget deficits.

This added an insult to the Flaherty’s injuries, such as his pathetic deficit u-turn, subsequent denial and the legendary explosive economic update. Judging by his election and post-election record, Flaherty is either incompetently out of touch with the real world or he let his boss, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to use him for rather questionable political objectives. Canadian political commentators discussed the possibility of Flaherty’s voluntary or involuntary departure from the government at the beginning of parliamentary dispute. The same question should be on cards today. Flaherty’s reluctance to go and Stephen Harper’s unwillingness to sack him only reinforce the impression that hangs above the Conservative party from the days of election campaign – they have no idea how to deal with economic crises. Sure, sacking Flaherty will not save Canadian economy from recession but at least it would save Harper’s face. But does he care?

Canadian president

On the night of Barack Obama’s election victory, thousands of people flooded streets across the United States. The morning after, it was impossible to book a room for the inauguration weekend in Washington and its very broad neighbouring area. Everybody wants to be a part of history and, apparently, people are willing to shell out 5-figure sums to get the ticket, CNN reported a $20,095 price tag. Busloads of people from all over the United States are expected in Washington.

Interestingly, many of them will come from Canada. Yes, Washington is close, or at least closer than from the rest of the world. But Canadians’ interest in inauguration also reflects their pre-election behavior. Many chose to watch the US vice-presidential debate and ignored Canadian election debate taking place in Ottawa. Election turnout fell to a historic low. Canadians couldn’t be more uninterested in what happens in their own country.

Do they feel that the US election have more influence on Canada than the domestic vote? Or do they miss a fatherly figure of US presidents on the Canadian political scene? Harper may be charismatic and populist enough to attract Western Canada but that’s about it. He’s not Obama. In spite of that, as shown by the parliamentary dispute and the following political crisis triggered by Harper himself, even opposition supporters lined behind Harper ready to defend his perceived right to govern. That was totally irrational since this public outrage was based on a severely distorted view on how a multi-party parliamentary democracies tend to work. And, more shockingly, how their own political system works.

Canadians simply projected the values and principles of the US political and election systems onto the Canadian politics. False expectation led them to forget that a US president, as the most powerful part of a government, is balanced by Congress. Sure, most Canadians would like to see an Obama clone in charge. But to achieve that, they ought to spend more time paying attention to their own country. Or have they already gave up?

Detroit Electric City

Detroit is interesting in many ways. For a start, the city has kept it’s French name, although the pronunciation was heavily anglicized. Playing on the mythology of the French-US antagonism, it’s ironic that symbol of American automotive industry, famous for it’s huge, sometimes innovative and not very reliable cars was, sports a bit of Frenchness, bit of a country famous for it’s small, sometimes innovative and not very reliable cars.

Detroit, the motor town, was home of Motown Records, which was a company that, in the 60s and the 70s, mainstreamed what was traditionally a black music, soul, funk, rhythm and blues. These genres relied heavily on electric bass lines and later reinvented themselves in forms of disco, rap and hip hop, that relied on heavy use of electronic instruments.

It worked.

Motoring Detroit is trying to reinvent itself in a similar fashion. I’m using the word ‘fashion’ on purpose because what is going on in Detroit is a desperate damage-limitation exercise both public relation- and production-wise.

Detroit motor show is full of electric this and electric that. The atmosphere of impending doom is charged with electric concepts that are supposed to be a green alternative to gas-powered cars. The alternative that is, at best, greenish. Not so long ago, ethanol was hailed as the green fuel but the only green thing about it was what it was made from – crops. The problem with electric powered cars is that they’re not really green. Yes, plugging it in and recharging overnight sounds great and there’s no CO2 emissions coming out from the exhaust pipe. But the electricity needs to be produced first and burning coal and natural gas isn’t really emission-free. And the batteries used in hybrids aren’t cheap to make either.

Most of the concepts are exactly that, concepts, not expected to hit showrooms any time soon. Their only purpose is to show that the Detroit Three are doing something to justify the bailout. In this way, no matter how subdued, low profile or electric Detroit 2009 is, it’s the same old Detroit of the yesteryear. Showing off without much substance and no real plan. Just hastily trying to patch things up.