GLOBAL MONOPOLY GAME
RULE NUMBER ONE - ONLY ONE WINNER ALLOWED

I received a political questionnaire the other day asking me to help design Canada's future. The questions all took the same tired, "don't worry - be happy" path. I was prompted to write a letter and to send it along with the blank questionnaire. Since it is headed directly to a paper shredder somewhere, I decided to write here. You can chuckle as you tear it up.

The world business and government leaders are playing one immense game of Global Monopoly and yet no one seems to catch on. We all think they are playing Share The Wealth.

As all of the wealth is collected by a few, they become more and more aggressive in their desire to win this ruthless game. Interestingly, as the game progresses, and as players gain control, they change the rules. (At the moment they are adding another "Go to Jail - Go directly to Jail if you protest" square.)

We all know that Oil, Transportation, Chemicals, Automotive and other Conglomerates are some of the major squares on the board but most do not realize that Canada itself is one of the most treasured places on this board game. One half a continent waiting for the right roll of the dice.

As the game progresses, we give away our public voice of the CBC, and we give away our courts and laws to Corporate Trade Pacts and Corporate tribunals; we give our education away to corporate influence; we give away our talent to corporate greed; we allow our universities to become tools and pawns of corporate influence and lies; and we are now prepared to give away our currency, and our immigration policies and our borders; we gave away our newspapers and media to corporate control and propaganda (just like the Americans who have given total control to the Republican Party); we steal life forms from around the world and give them to Chemical companies to patent, and modify, and sell back to the people they stole them from; we give control of our food to the same people who gave us toxic sludge and breast implants.

In the process of this deadly monopoly game we have filled our fresh and salt waters, air, soil and food with hormone mimicking chemicals, heavy metals, poisons, toxins, pesticides, herbicides and 5000 other chemicals to make a deadly cocktail. All of this - a byproduct of the ruthless game.

We are giving away our sovereignty just because some business people want to stay in the global game for their short term personal gains.

Hummm -maybe I should throw my hat in the political ring, but --what political party would want me with my radical views (remembering that radical means to get to the root of a problem)? Many will say that I am a Pinko-Commie, but this is not true. I am your ideal Centrist.

Under Communism ideals, individuals will work to the lowest common denominator, e.g. "equal distribution of nothing" or "I can get away with doing less than you can." Under capitalism, individuals will work to their individual best but are exploited when they do, e.g. "divide them into classes" or "I will find a way to outdo you."

Somewhere between total socialism and total capitalism there is a place for humanity. E.g. "justice and harmony" or "I am as worthy as you, in every way."

So what would I stand for (or fall because of)? I would attempt to:

• Protect Health Care and Education from corporate pressure.
• Restrict the sell-off of Canada's resources to foreign powers which profits only a few.
• Protect Canada's CBC's voice of reason from degradation by corporate and US pressure.
• Promote Proportional Representative reform (like the NDP, and the Green Parties).
• Promote Parliamentary reform.
• Tell corporations that they have been granted Canadian Charters to profit under, and not to rule Canada under.
• Put the environment sustainability front and foremost in policies.
• Get out of Trade Pacts that restrict environmental considerations.
• Set new rules for Corporations now controlling most of the University research.
• Restrict corporate propaganda from educational programs and the media.
• Severely restrict drugs that are not metabolized in the digestive system.
• Allow workers to sit on Boards of companies, just as in Sweden.
• Promote conservation of Canada's gas and oil for our own and our descendants use.
• Promote fair wages and labour practices.
• Promote public transportation.

Do I consider myself to be an intellect and a politician? No way! - but I am at least as smart as some politicians that I see every day on TV. As an MP, or MPP, I could also get lots of free advice without paying millions of dollars to corporate advisors. For a start, I would have 100,000 Canadians from the non-partisan Council of Canadians, and Dr. Suzuki there to help me.

Not a bad team eh?