i went home this weekend to find a gift from dalton & the gang in the amount of $150. it seems for reasons unknown to me the ontario government has decided to "make sure students like me have all the support they need to succeed." evidently, a grant of $150 is supposed to make all the difference throughout the school year. in a way, dalton is onto something; perhaps, now i can turn the thermostat up a few degrees and stay a little warmer knowing the ontario government is subsidizing my toasty toes in the bitterness that is kingston winters.

completely unknown to me as to what the governments wants me to use the money for (because they know what's best for me ); i did a little googling and so the ministry of colleges and universities feels this amount is sufficient towards my textbooks.

no doubt the obvious stink about the amount is that $150 unlikely covers the amount of books for one semester, let alone one class. and so, talking to any Ontarian student that received the cheque, all bemoan that the government is short changing us or in worst case, insulting students with such a petty amount. nonetheless, any money that wasn't in my bank a week ago is good money.

the issue i have with the cheque is not the meagreness of it but the fact the government really has no strategy when it comes to education. it's really akin to getting some cash from uncle because he didn't have a clue as to what to get you or put any sort of effect to give you something worthwhile. sure you take the money, but deep down you're hurt by the lack of effort and apathy.

in an era of economic decline and uncertainty of the future, you'd expect a little more from elected officials, especially when it comes to a policy as sensitive as education. human capital is increasingly the driving force of economic development and without strategic initiatives on the government's end, ontario's status of the 'heartland' will referred to when speaking of a bygone era.

their approach has been direct transfers into the hands of students. as a grad student, i find myself being showered with several generous grants, of which, are utmost appreciated but this policy of giving students money does little in the way of preparing students for the work force. in the case of my program, enrollments appears to be increasing at a steady pace each year as students try to jump on the gravy trains of graduate grants putting obvious strains on the actual program itself whose budgetary inflexibility does not bode well to accommodate that amount of students. in a sense, being in a graduate program one would expect the same trappings of ontario's undergraduate programs would no longer apply to its 'professional' education.

and yet, two months into the program, it is obvious the instructors are overwhelmed by the greater degree of students they deal with year by year. the massification of the education system is perpetuated if the government throws money/grants at students without making parallel commitments to the actual institutions.

so while students celebrate their 150$ as booze/food money for a week or two while others bemoan its meagerness, the underlying fault of the cheque is a government without any options and only doing something for the sake of doing it.

people's grievance with the government of ontario do make sense but without anything resembling an opposition to potentially unseat the liberals in this generation, dalton's 150$ is all that's necessary lock in another majority.

and let's face it, ontario's economy is heading down the shitter similar to a state under the NDP government of the 90s, but mr. mcquinty has little to worry about in the way of being re-elected. fact of the matter, ontarioans can label him anything under the moon but nothing stopping him for yet another majority.

and he knows it.

in early september, prime minister harper drove the canadians to the polls for the third time in four years. certainly, the environment was ripe for the results he was seeking. after incremental gains in the past elections--first reducing the liberal dynasty to a minority, then himself forming a minority--2008 was as good as a chance as harper had to grasp a conservative majority.

the main rivals, liberals, were in shambles. with no money, no leadership, and a platform that didn't make any tractions with canadians even before the conservatives dropped the writ, mr. harper was in good of a position as a leader would've been. certainly, political intuition suggests the state of the liberals these days makes their party unelectable and barring any major conservatives gaffs, their campaign should've been anything but a formality towards forming the first conservative government in 20 years.

so what went wrong? why is today's parliament similar--albeit a "bulkier" conservative caucus? who is the real loser of the elections; liberal's under dion troubled leadership or harper, who appears to have taken the conservative movement as far as possibly could.

the story of the election largely centres on the narrative that was created in the province of quebec. with the government's tame decision to cut $45 million in arts funding out of a $200 billion budget turned deathly costly as an attack on arts and culture funding. within no time, the strides made by harper over the last few years to get his foot in the province's door were shut and support flooded back to the bloc. certainly, harper's now infamous quote that working canadians do not want to turn on their television and see an arts gala for the rich subsidized by canadians' taxpayers.

the funding and comment took a life on its own in quebec as the province's artistic community felt harper's quote was directly aimed at them. they took their message to the media and proved successful in their campaign of culture in danger . the tone of the debate was no longer about $45 million cutbacks to the arts community but quebec versus ottawa as a direct attack on the province's cultural uniqueness. the comment resonate beyond the borders of quebec and knowing people working in the arts community here in ontario, harper's words were seen as mean, derogatory. harper, being so persistent, in keeping his party's caucus muzzled from any potentially hazardous commentary himself threw this year's words to weaken conservative support. over the weekend, jeffrey simpson of the globe & mail offered a wonderful essay on Quebec's mental block and struggles felt by anyone trying to woo quebec onside of a federalist party.

for all of the conservatives ability to run a tight ship and stay on the message, it too proved costly. in mid campaign, as the financial meltdown was felt in every part of the world, including canada, harper felt this is a good time for canadians to buy. no campaign manager wants to run an election just as the stock markets are losing nearly 1 000 points on a daily basis, but that too proved the thorn in the side of the conservatives, in their inability to adapt to any sudden changes. his comments bordered on insane or just frustration he lost his ability to control the message as in the prior stages of the campaign. he proved himself to be cranky and unwillingly to face the fact issues arise regardless of whether the government frame them or not. no surprise, conservative support started dipping and there was the slight potential liberals may actually come out with the slightest minority with day of the tanking stock markets.

with three cracks at a majority government and the latest as good as a chance as he'll get, there is potential at grumbling within the conservative party for new leadership atop. the coming times are likely to prove difficult for harper. governing in times of economic growth versus the looming contraction and struggles to balance the budget, the conservatives will be tested. they of course have the advantage of an opposition in shambles and unlikely to force canadians back to the polls.

as commonly quoted, harper broke his own law by calling this election, that piece of legislation too can come in handy and his government several years to govern while the opposition get their organizations in order.

though the elections did not prove much and canadians are faced with the same fractured parliament, harper avoids the potential election early next year when the economic mess is likely to intensify. a calculated risk that didn't produce a majority but bought time. also, an ample opportunity to judge his ability to economically manage the nation.

if given a fourth chance and able to cushion canada's economic downturn, harper just might get what he seeks so much.

since moving to kingston, there's been a string of mishaps. first, the electronic device i was so affectionately refer to as "carPod" went bust taking 12 gigs of music with it. remarkably, the fm transmitter works pretty well in the car as the frequency band in this town isn't cluttered with hundreds of terrible radio stations (only a few)

the old clunker iPod was about to be referred to the junk bin but managed to make a remarkable recovery last night restoring my faith that apple's products CAN be fixed. while this appears to be temporary solution as the hard drive seems to "wheezing" when changing songs, it'll provide some tension-easing times this friday when i have to drive four others in the tiny acura of mine. i mean, we aren't actually going to converse for 3-4 hours on the way home?

but as one electronic device pulls a jesus, another one decides to be judas. the other morning i was cleaning the keyboard and one of the keys pops out. usually, this isn't a big deal until i realized the tooth that holds the key in place popped out with it and snapped in half. thankfully, it was only a the "x" key making typing just slightly annoying and such stupidness is covered under warranty. writing a paper last night prior to getting a sentence that would use words like expenditure, the mind is already scanning alternatives to avoid pressing that nipple sticking out where the X used to be. sexy, ain't it?

the decision that needs to be made is whether i want to be out of a computer for two weeks now or put up with a ugly keyboard until the semester ends second week of december?

the dependency of such devices is almost sickening and yet, a reality of the modern times that a plight of an ipod breaking down or a laptop with a missing button causes such greif and anxiety.