Sunday saw elections take place in Ukraine, everywhere but Crimea and the parts around Donetsk & Luhansk. The CBC reports that some 35 million Ukrainians were registered to vote. Exit polls predicted pro-European parties will win. With initial counting supporting current President and Prime Minister (who have different parties), leaving pro-Russian votes coming in around 10%. Interestingly, Russia is saying they will respect the vote, but want Ukraine to focus on it’s economic crisis. Sad. Without Russian there would not have been an economic crisis. Russia raising gas prices, and their intervention causing deaths and destruction, have not helped.
Meanwhile, here in Ontario we go to vote. Vote well. And FOLLOW UP. If you read “Why Nations Fail” by Acemoglu&Robinson, you will see that an honest system helps everyone. But as the situation in Ukraine shows, nothing stays honest without effort from all of us.
And how is Canada doing on the honesty front?
- Sending some non-lethal support to Ukraine, whilst bombing the Middle-East, again. Even CSIS states there is no credible threat from ISIS/ISIL
- We get to watch government ads on TV urging us to remember the veterans. Meanwhile, the Federal government cuts funding to veterans.
Remember that, come Federal election time.
NOTE: If Harper wants to declare war on something, or you need something to worry about, choose something that kills over 2,000 Canadians each year, and injures over 170,000 each year. What does that? The automobile.