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The perpetual campaign: Canada's deadlocked politics
From The Economist print edition
Forever on the brink of an election.
The members of Canada's Parliament returned from their summer break this month braced for a fourth general election in just over five years. Michael Ignatieff, who heads the Liberal Party, the main opposition, vowed to bring down the minority government of Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister, at the earliest opportunity.
In the event, Mr Harper, whose party holds 143 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, survived a confidence vote with the support of the two smaller opposition parties, the Bloc Québécois and the socialist New Democrats. But the reprieve is temporary. The Liberals plan to try again, perhaps as early as next month. Canada is in a permanent election campaign.
Yet polls suggest that Canadians, still grappling with the after-effects of recession, do not want another election. Worse, it would be unlikely to resolve much, since neither of the main parties commands enough support to be sure of winning a majority (see chart). But Canadians may be doomed to vote again, if not this autumn then next year. Mr Harper and Mr Ignatieff both seem to have given up on making an increasingly rancorous and unproductive parliament work, and have turned to brinkmanship. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
As Host of the Winter Olympics, Canada Acts More Like a Guard
By JOHN BRANCH | The New York Times
The sometimes conflicting notions of sportsmanship and gamesmanship require a delicate balance. Some say Canada may have tilted too far.
Count the American speedskater Catherine Raney among the athletes, coaches and officials of several sports surprised by Canada's approach to hosting the Winter Games in February. Raney, who spent more than seven years living in Canada and training with the Canadian national team, was told after the 2006 Olympics that the Canadians did not want foreign athletes training with them leading to the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
She and many other foreign athletes had expected to spend quite a bit of time practicing at the Olympic sites, but have been granted only minimal access. "They’re playing nasty," said Raney, now living and training in Utah. "I think every one of us would love to prove to them that what they did wasn't right, and we're ready to show it on the ice."
The way Raney and others see it, limiting access to the sites means the Canadians are more serious about mining medals than evincing Olympic spirit. Canadian officials said they were following rules of access to competition sites, as set by each sport's governing body. But they also intend to protect the Olympic host's home-field — or home-ice, home-snow or home-track — advantage.
Canada has made a public quest to win more medals than ever, and more than any other country. "By virtue of being at home, you have more access to venues," Cathy Priestner Allinger, the executive vice president for sports of the Vancouver Organizing Committee, said in her office this summer. "That's the nature of it. There's no country or organizing committee that would tell you otherwise, or that wouldn't try to take advantage of some of that." >>> Go to Full Story >>>
Calgary, a City Where Trout Fishing Does Not Go to Die
By CHRIS SANTELLA | The New York Times
In Calgary, it is not inconceivable to hook the trout of a lifetime during your lunch break and be back at the office in time to lead the 2 p.m. work-in-progress update meeting.
The Bow River in Alberta flows 387 miles in a southeasterly direction from its headwaters at Bow Glacier, north of Lake Louise in Banff National Park. In its upper reaches, the Bow has all the trappings of a classic alpine trout stream: conifer-lined banks, gravelly riffles, sweeping backdrops of vertiginous mountains and a slightly off-color tint that suggests cover for lunkers lurking just below the surface.
But appearances can be deceiving. While the upper Bow does hold trout, its icy, glacial-fed waters do not sustain fish in large numbers. As you drive east from Banff, the Canadian Rockies give way to rolling hills and then prairie. Not long after you leave the mountains, the western edges of Calgary begin to come into view. Once a quiet city on the edge of the plains with once-a-year-notoriety for the world's largest rodeo, Calgary has nearly tripled in size in the last 40 years to more than a million residents. The surge is due to an oil boom, a Winter Olympics (in 1988) and the increasing appeal of an outdoors-oriented lifestyle that a city like Calgary offers.
The Bow River bifurcates Calgary as it rolls toward its junction with the South Saskatchewan River, ultimately reaching Hudson Bay. Generally, the demands and detritus of a budding metropolis spell the death (or at least the considerable degradation) of a trout stream. But in the case of the Bow, Calgary's swelling population — and, more specifically, its wastewater treatment needs — have helped create a world-class fishery in the 30 or so miles of river from the city east to the rural town of Carseland. There, wild rainbow and brown trout average nearly 18 inches in length, and browns stretching more than 25 inches are encountered regularly.
The infusion of nutrients into the Bow's clean, cold water from Calgary's two wastewater treatment plants — Fish Creek and Bonnybrook — are most responsible for elevating the river to blue-ribbon status. The inflow, from car-wash leftovers to bathroom water, goes through a four-stage treatment process. The effluent that is released back into the river is quite clean, although it has just enough phosphorous and nitrogen to foster a rich aquatic ecosystem. Wastewater spurs on plant growth, which encourages insect growth, which in turn feeds trout. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
