Fixed Election Dates.

With all that needs to be worked on in Canada, this is one of the least important, but it is a Conservative Party election promise. So the, still awkard, Prime Minster is learning how to govern. This idea of Fixed Election Dates is one that really has no downside, so it'll probably pass. I think that's too bad because it seems to give the advantage to the government, but not as much as you'd think. It has entrapped a few governments(ie Mulroney's PCs and Dosanjh's BC NDP). I didn't like it when Chretien called the 1997, 2000, 2003 elections, but those really don't happen that often. The Axiom says: To protect their legacy, leaders like to stay elected as long as possible with the minimal amount of elections. Hint, Hint, China et al - they're called "elections", but I digress. The Canadian Parliamentary Election system was also, to me, a Tradition that worked well for over 138 years. Fixed Election Dates do hang like a Sword of Damacles, er... sort of, so in a way it is a mild form of accountability. Mr. Harper is trying to seperate himself from the stench of the Liberal Party Sponsorship Scandal and look like a lawful and ethical government but for every step forward he takes two steps back. Oh well he's still learning, right?

Iran.

This is a very complicated case. It will take subtle and not-so subtle diplomacy by the International community to make sure the Iranians do not devlop nukes. I've expressed views since the "Liberation" of Afghanistan and Iraq that its always been about Iran. Both countries border Iran and there could be a two pronged invasion. The Shah was so awful that the Ayatollah looked good but a generation on it seems to me that the fundamentalist weaknesses are becoming fairly obvious. So they create an enemy to distract the populace from their mistakes and with a modern infrastucture they can support just about any kind of research including the weaponization of Nuclear energy. The leader of the UN atomic watch dog likens atomic weapons to slavery. That a time needs to come where we are embarassed that they were invented and used. We don't need them, we need to get rid of them and the so-called superpowers were working on getting rid of theirs when the ol' USSR imploded. Right now I consider Iran a rogue nation and they certainly might reap what they sow. . . but'll probably start with economic sanctions.