If I became Prime Minister of Canada
Asking someone what they would do as Prime Minister is a pretty good clarifying question. It reveals the respondent’s basic mentality. It shows the actual knowledge level, capacity to think, and focus on reality, not what is acceptable.
I would quickly start doing things most people would not like because they would not understand.
I do not know how many people will remember in high school when the teachers were interested in what you thought you would do if you became Prime Minister. Sometimes they held essay contests with small prizes. Sometimes they would just hand it out as a writing assignment. I recall having to do that.
In those days I was very paranoid about teachers and school authorities. A lot of them had decided I must be crazy. In those days that could be dangerous.
If I had written out what I really thought about the topic at that time I definitely would have had another of these talks with the strange individual with the smelly pipe and bad toupe. So, I just wrote some nonsense which sounded even to me to be completely stupid. It was safer to appear dumb than to be smart.
I do not know what kind of mark I got for it, if anything. I do not know if they still ask high school students this type of question. I think it still is somewhat dangerous to have the “behavioral” card run on you.
A life time later and I am now in a position where I do not have to care much how I come across in my writing. Maybe if I started demanding that the Prime Minister be hanged, drawn, and quartered, it might attract some official notice. Perhaps I would get some of my internet accounts zapped.
However, asking someone what they would do as Prime Minister is a pretty good clarifying question. It reveals the respondent’s basic mentality. It shows the actual knowledge level, capacity to think, and to focus on reality, not on what is acceptable.
Canada is about to change Prime Ministers. We will likely have three of them in the space of a year. The only thing certain about it is that whoever becomes Prime Minister will be totally useless at the job.
That is intended. The real powers who run the shadow governments do not want a competent Prime Minister. Of course, a Prime Minister who works within the established rules can be expected to be gradually chewed up and spit out, and the next caretaker moved into place.
The only Prime Minister who could do any good for the country would have to be able to break out of the box and lead a revolution. He or she will then have assassinations, coups, or destabilization directed to his or her government. Thus, in these times, “what I would do as Prime Minister” becomes a very complicated question.
It is, however, a good framework for defining in a concise way what needs to be done to get the country out of the disaster it is headed for. This old high school question should be put to anyone criticizing present day political leaders. So, I will ask myself to have another try at answering it.
So, I was born twenty years later than I was. All the infirmities which wrecked me at the start of my life never happened. I was able to obtain a brilliant education. I then began a career as a political activist.
I helped organize the machine which could win power in Canada, despite all the measures taken to insure such a thing never happens. At the center of this movement was a foundation which could securely raise and distribute the funds for all the other activities.
Directing this foundation was a leadership group which was clear and unanimous about what they were doing. They understood the reality they were within and the difficulties they faced. They could not be cracked by the intelligence services and subjected to “divert, deter, disrupt” games.
They developed their own media. From this media network, they gradually developed secure communications infrastructure, and finally even secure money transfer systems. They could communicate directly with the public, without their message filtered through the establishment medias.
They developed their own research institute. This gave them a ‘brain tank’ which could develop a program for reconstruction of the country. It also gave them a training ground for people who could build institutions supporting the movement, and eventually form the core staff of a transformative government.
Very importantly, they developed their own security service. This had two elements; a highly professional core, and large, well trained, volunteer groups. The former was based on a network of semi private security guard, paralegal, and private investigation firms.
This security service insured that the movement’s cadres could go about their work of building the movement without being harassed by public police, secret police, or privately funded vigilantes. Those who think this idea is particularly radical should not be involved in political activism. They would impede people from effectively protecting themselves, and in the end, probably get themselves into big trouble.
This is the path followed by most revolutionary movements which were able to come into office, and have some effect, through electoral processes. If you cannot beat the elites on the street, you will never beat them at the ballot box. Or, as several political philosophers put it, armed prophets succeed, unarmed prophets are soon dead prophets.
Recent political movements with these experiences are mostly in Latin America. In Canada, people have the idea that overt political intimidation does not occur here. The elites have not had to use it much in recent times, but have in the past and the capacity is still there.
But, this fantastic movement for serious socialization of Canada studied closely the real socialist movements of places like Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. It was able to become organized, resourced, and capable. It was able to build a base of public support.
The last step was to launch a political party. With all the groundwork laid, this party was able to defeat all the establishment vote rigging and smoke blowing, get its message through to a critical mass of the population, and win office.
In this magical election, happening sometime after 2024, the Magic party did not win a majority of the popular vote. It split the vote of the right wing formations in enough seats so as to win a parliamentary majority. Part of this was because people who do not normally vote saw something to vote for this time.
Also, many former supporters of old line parties had become disgusted and disillusioned with their inability to offer any solutions that solved the growing crisis. They may also have been influenced by establishment propaganda about how Magic party was going to end ‘democracy’. Yet they still just stayed home on voting day.
My brilliant other self had been chosen to be the party leader. I became the Prime Minister. In the system we have, federally and provincially, this could enable me to act as an elected dictator, carrying out policy on the fly to benefit myself and whatever crooked networks put me into office.
However, I was the leader of this Magical New Canadian party. The party had taken measures to insure that their elected representatives remained in line with the party’s aims, and would execute the program set for them by the party’s policy apparatus. This is the reverse of the usual practice in Canada, where the party is like the personal vehicle of the Prime Minister, whose authority is based on the sanction of the party’s shadow controllers, not on having the support of the party caucus or membership.
It is unclear why that situation developed in Canada. There is nothing to stop members of a caucus from simply refusing to abide a leader who has gone off the program. As leader of the Magic party, if I got into office and announced that the election campaign was for show, and I had no intention of challenging the establishment agenda, I would be unable to do anything. The rest of the government would probably just work around me until I decided to leave.
So, what we see here is that the real answer to the question of what one would do as Prime Minister, is to explain how you would get to be Prime Minister in the first place. You would have to do so as the head of a political party. So, the question is what kind of person you are, to become the head of different kinds of political party.
To be head of an establishment political party is to be either a crook or a a sock puppet. If the former, you would as Prime Minister carry out the racket which you, and the “twenty crooked business people” who got you into office, had planned. Otherwise, you would carry out the instructions of the network which put you into office, transmitted to you by their handlers or “lobbyists”.
If by some amazing turn of events, you were an honest person who became Prime Minister as head of such a party, the only thing you could do was to quit immediately. Otherwise, you would be thrown out in some humiliating way. If you tried to remain, you would be in danger of assassination.
You could become PM as head of an outright fascistic group.This is a very dangerous situation to be in. The dynamics of such groups are much like a Mafia group; if you show any weakness you get quickly bumped off by whoever wants to move up.
Instead, I become Prime Minister as the head of a serious, movement based party, with the aim of carrying out a reconstruction of government and economy in the public’s interest. I am first among equals of a competent group of people who have a common understanding of why they are in their positions. This is the kind of person I would much rather be.
Of course, Magic Party of Canada made clear during the campaign what it would do in office. This produced hysterical opposition. It still got enough votes to get a majority.
The platform of Magic party had three basic themes.
First; suspend the constitution and place the country under a trusteeship for ten years. Establish a council of trustees. Systematically eliminate the systems of oligarchy. Create conditions where an actual democracy would be possible. Begin to build an actual democracy in a logical way, from the ground up. Toward the end of the transitional period, conduct a series of consultations and referenda to ratify the fundamental laws of an actual democracy in Canada.
Second; firewall the country against the instability and collapse coming from the United States and rest of the western world. Remove avenues for penetration and destabilization by hostile intelligence services. Withdraw from NATO and NORAD. Rapidly rearm the Canadian forces, and reorient it strictly to territorial defense. Establish economic, political, and defense relationships with countries outside the western sphere.
Third; begin a rapid reconstruction of the economy to facilitate production to meet human needs. Abolish the Bank of Canada. Begin issuing money according to Chartelist principles. Create a Public banking system, issuing loans only to fund industrial expansion. Sharply restrict private banking, banning loans for speculation. Establish a Universal Basic Income. Begin a crash affordable house building program. Establish deflationary tribunals as a substitute for bankruptcy courts, allowing “overhang” debts to be written down all the way up the line.
I already have enough here to write a very long essay, or maybe ten. The teacher would probably hand it back and tell me to shorten it. Or, try again to book me in with the school shrink.
A new, transformational government would be very busy. It would have to go into office with a well developed plan. It would have to decide on what to do immediately, medium term, and long term.
In the short term, it would have to secure itself from some form of coup. To have gotten into office, it would already have had some form of security service. This would have to be expanded into a special police, to protect against coups and assassinations, and to insure the transformation government’s orders are carried out.
The first thing the Magic government would have to do is to remove the Governor General and replace him or her with its own person. That might take some persuading. We might try talking with King Charlie about it.
The special police would have to take a long look at the army. It would have to temporarily take control of all arsenals. All commissioned officers would have to be interviewed. Those who cannot accept the aims of Magic party would be asked to resign. Some may be allowed to take a long, paid vacation until the situation stabilizes.
Canadian Security and Intelligence (CSIS) would have to be abolished immediately, and all its records seized. A commission would be set up to examine these records, which would be voluminous. The Magical special police would take over all internal security functions.
CSIS officers would be interviewed. They would get a generous severance, but be advised to find new employment outside the police or intelligence field. They would especially be advised to stay out of politics or journalism.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police would be examined. A system of monitoring some of its units would be put in place. Senior people must be interviewed. It must be made clear to them that if they cannot serve the new system, they need to find new careers.
Finally, the consular and external affairs bureaucracies must be examined and interviewed. Those members who cannot accept the idea of the country transforming into a socialist system cannot continue to represent the Canadian government.
The Senate and House of Commons will continue to sit. It must be made clear to all opposition members that their powers will be restricted. They will have only a consultative role. Inflammatory rhetoric will result in them being suspended and likely interned.
The Supreme Court will continue to sit as usual. It must be made clear to all courts that there can be no legal challenges to the transformational government. If any court allows them, the special police will come in and remove the documents. These judges may be removed.
As soon as the transformational government is secured from a coup, it moves on to the next step. That is to protect against destabilization attempts and give itself the power to govern and carry out its program. Toward that, a transformation council is established to advise and direct the government.
All the Lieutenant Governors must be replaced by people chosen by the transitional council. These will be provided with a sufficient staff to be able to closely supervise the operation of each provincial government. It must be made clear to each government that much of its power is being removed.
The biggest mess made by the framers of the Canadian constitution is to give the provinces too much power. The worst consequence of this has been the stifling of municipal government. The Transformation government will make clear that, from now on, cities are an order of government on a par with the provinces. However, the Federal government is supreme and modifies subordinate governments as needed, in the interest of the nation.
Any provincial government which fights back about this will be removed. The governing party, its ministers, and its membership will be banned from elections for the term of the transition. The opposition leader becomes Premier and new elections are called.
It must be made clear that no province can secede from Canada. Separatist movements must be outlawed. However, it must be made clear that Canada is a land of three founding peoples; English, French, and Aboriginal. All these cultures and languages must be protected through out the entire country.
To protect the country from invasion, a real defence policy must be quickly devised. There is only one country which could endanger Canada, and that is the United States. Only a total fool can be unaware of what the USA is in the world.
The Canadian army must be reorganized and built up to defend the territory of Canada. The arctic, and coastal waters, must be off limits to foreign forces. The aim is to make any American intervention onto Canadian territory as costly as possible.
Canada must quickly develop capacity to deal with destabilization and the possibility of a “color revolution”. This will require a system of media censorship. More importantly, it will require the rapid development of a separate Canadian internet. This will enable policing of anti democratic political agitation and disinformation.
We mad totalitarians will require a system of internments of people who want to destabilize Canadian society and Government. If people do not agree to stop such behavior, they stay in internment camps until the end of the transformation period.
How strict government will have to be in responding to destabilization, depends on how aggressive the destabilization is. The special police must quickly build up a strong ‘riot police’ force, and a counterintelligence service.
A ministry of emergency situations must be brought into being. Right now the country is highly vulnerable to all kinds of shocks. World wide supply disruptions will become more common over the next decade. As happens to governments which start doing what Magic Party will do, there will be a lot of deliberate economic disruptions and even out right sabotage.
A proper civil defense force must be created. A stockpile of basic foods, medicines, and other supplies, enough to sustain the population for at least a year, must be built up. Someone has to start thinking through what would happen if, for example, the gas supply were cut off to southern Ontario.
In the longer term, a transforming government may have to deal with economic blockades and sanctions. However, these may not last overly long. The Atlantic empire, based in the USA, is failing and becoming unstable.
These would be good times for Canada to start cutting ties with the USA, and developing them with the non hegemonic countries. As Uncle Sam rapidly declines, it is becoming increasingly possible, and advisable, to do this. If the American economy and state totally collapses, it could drag Canada down with it.
Provincial governments have proven incapable of managing natural resources. First, all these must be put back under federal management. The export of resources must be put under management boards. Nothing must leave the country except at the world price. Nothing can leave unless there is enough for Canada first.
Our Health system was once a source of pride in Canada. Our failure to deal with efforts of right wing extremists to destroy it, mostly just because of what it symbolizes, is a national shame. Its weakness was always that it was left to the provinces, with no national standards.
The health care system must be nationalized. Profiteering must once again be banned from the system. More importantly, primary care must be based on community clinics, staffed by doctors on salaries. The dental and pharmacare additions to the system must be completed.
Canada must regain the ability to manufacture all its own medical supplies, including all vaccines and pharmaceuticals. Further to this, we must gain the ability to control and eliminate infectious diseases. Masks must be mandated during epidemics. A national vaccine passport system must be created over the shrieks of libertarians.
Regarding transportation, a national high speed rail system must be built out within five years. A system of bus services to small communities must be created. Urban transit must be overseen so as to discourage cars and quickly build out transit systems.
Education would need to be at least partially nationalized. It would be between the federal government and local school boards, with provinces out of the loop. We need a universal core curriculum to create national unity and a generation of graduates who know how to be citizens of a real democracy. That entails teaching comprehensive thinking skills based on modern cognitive science, way beyond this silly ‘critical thinking skills’ which now passes for education.
Speaking of democracy, the purpose of this government is not to ‘suspend’ democracy. Canada is an oligarchy, not a democracy. The purpose is to create conditions in which a democracy could be possible. That requires a transformative dictatorship.
This leads to me the final topic. Since we are establishing this ‘communist’ dictatorship, we will need a ministry of truth. That means we will have to dismantle the previous ministry of truth.
Some ‘ministries of truth’ are actually in the business of telling the truth. All the screeching racket from the competing propaganda networks must be shut down. A single honest information service must be created which can communicate truth clearly and credibly.
So that is what I would do if I became Prime Minister of Canada. Can I go home early, now?
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