"Canada’s appetite for political change was demonstrated by the surprising win of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in Alberta’s elections, which ended 44 years of the same government... The election reflects the choice by Albertans (and Canadians more broadly) to reject what they have been told about their economy’s dependence on oil and gas..."
"The future of the licence fee is in doubt after David Cameron appointed
one of the BBC's biggest critics as Culture Secretary in a move that will be seen as an effective declaration of war on the corporation."
I don't have a knowledge base that would allow me to comment on either of these apparently momentous election results. Instead I'll open up the comment thread for this post to those readers directly impacted, and ask for insight (and polite debate) over the implications of both election outcomes.
I hope the comment about Alberta is correct. Somehow, I can't see this country ever getting past the dependence on oil, or at least not as long as the oil industry buys so many Congress people.
ReplyDeleteThe Tories hate the BBC, as do the right wing papers. Mind you the Left has also had a go at the BBC, as have the SNP. All signs of it general impartiality and the lack of integrity of the Parties.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that a lot of people in the UK and the rest of the world do not realise is that Channel 4 is also state owned.
Channel 4 would have the US Christian right calling for air strikes on it. You get an idea from http://www.channel4.com/ you can either frig your IP or use http://www.my-expat-telly.com/uk/
As a person who lives in Alberta, I wouldn't say that Albertan's voted for the NDP to end the economy's reliance on oil and gas but rather in the hopes that the way the government collects royalties and taxes from oil would change. Most of the population saw the previous government as mismanaging the oil and gas revenue, and so voted for the NDP in the hopes that the wealth that is available would be better distributed to infrastructure and social programs rather than going corporate tax breaks. How different things will actually be is yet to be seen but at least the stagnation that had been occurring due to a non changing political landscape should improve.
ReplyDeleteThanks, anon.
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