Okay, today I’ve decided to break my blogging absentia. Two news stories provoked this post, one boiling my blood and the other less vexing. The source of these stories was CBC Newsworld1, as I decided on this lazy day to watch that channel.
The first is that Greyhound will cancel transit service to Manitoba and Northern Ontario. This threat has come as a result of being “crippled” by “overregulation”. At the time I watched this story on CBC Newsworld the company had not specified which “regulations” it was talking of.
But Greyhound released this threat with advisement from “Squeaky Wheel Communications Incorporated”. It’s evident that this is a threat to the lifeblood of rural communities which would wither without public transit. Greyhound’s strategy is thus:
Deny Transit to Manitoba/Northern Ontario --> Rural residents get mad/ask Governments for deregulation --> Governments cave in
What types of regulations Greyhound wants removed has yet to be specified. Likely candidates would be are
• Workers’ rights 2
• Environmental regulations
• Financial restrictions
So the extra-parliamentary side of neoliberal politics is thus demonstrated. Business community gets mad and threatens to cut of essential services. This horrifies the public who then publicly pressure the government to cave into business demands, which the government proceeds to do.
Greyhound’s Board of Directors must be sitting around with smiles on their face this instance, thinking of how they’ve just squeezed the life of regulators and made the “plutocratic” element of “plutocratic polyarchy” more prominent when describing Canada’s political system.
Gary Doer’s Premiership is nearly over. He’s sustained quite a folksy cult of personality and introduced countless minor reforms. I’ll suggest ending his Premiership with a bang and providing a fine legacy that Manitobans will enjoy for decades. This requires something bold: undercutting Greyhound.
How? Assert provincial control over the essential service of transit in Manitoba; create a Crown Transit Corporation. “Manitoba Transit” or something like that would be a proud Manitoban legacy. Just imagine the look on the Board’s face! Squeaky Wheel Communications Incorporated would have an awful tarnish on its record, warning all that messing with essential services can backfire spectacularly.
The other story was Harper giving a speech in Niagara on the economy and a specific bridge project. Amidst this CBC Newsworld also noted that the Conservatives and Liberals were tied exactly, at 36.2% in polling numbers. My thought upon hearing this was “that’s not a big deal, polls usually have a ±3% margin of error”.
Those are my thoughts. Take what you like of them.
ENDNOTES
1. Ironically enough, as I was watching this channel “The Friends of Public Broadcasting” called me asking for a donation. It’s a decision I’m currently mulling over.
2. This isn't unlikely as Squeaky Wheel Communications Incorporated offers many labour dispute services
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