tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post9153388825154352619..comments2024-03-29T06:46:56.337-04:00Comments on Half an Hour: A Vote for Layton, A Vote for CanadaStephen Downeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-64227630908534385382011-05-03T11:33:37.817-04:002011-05-03T11:33:37.817-04:00In light of last night's results, I think much...In light of last night's results, I think much of the nation agrees with you...31% of it, actually, as opposed to the 39% of the drones who voted conservative because they see themselves as conservative people. Someone in my riding said they were voting for Rhona Ambrose because she was a nice lady, and very pretty. I think Quebec spoke for Canada last night by electing our official opposition almost unanimously, despite the fact that many of the NDP candidates were young, green, and lacking in life experience (not to mention political experience). Maybe after four years of PC mis-management, you'll get your wish for Layton to become PM.Toddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10344351407685932690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-16792762520354746792011-05-02T18:13:39.002-04:002011-05-02T18:13:39.002-04:00Thanks for your responses Stephen.
> Should I ...Thanks for your responses Stephen.<br /><br />> Should I lose my position, it is my personal self-development, and not what I did on the job, that will ensure my continued employment elsewhere, <br /><br />A great argument for the PLE -- and nicely ties the knot on the personal AS the professional.<br /><br />Let's go Lay-ton! (chanted in hockey playoff style :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-39600869769076518942011-05-02T16:45:52.865-04:002011-05-02T16:45:52.865-04:00@Nadine, from my perspective both Martin and Harpe...@Nadine, from my perspective both Martin and Harper lead right wing pro-big-business parties (so does Ignatieff, for that matter).<br /><br />So it doesn't make sense to say that Layton somehow 'sold out to the right' by defeating Martin's Liberals. The NDP has long complained about Tweedledum-Tweedledee elections pitting the clone Liberals and Tories against each other.Stephen Downeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-86502212997026465302011-05-01T23:31:27.628-04:002011-05-01T23:31:27.628-04:00p.s. Finally - I am ALLOWED to do this, it is a ri...p.s. Finally - I am ALLOWED to do this, it is a right earned through some very difficult negotiations in the past, & to desist on some vague possibility of reprisal is a very poor way to treat the legacy of those before me who worked very hard to ensure I had this right.<br /><br />Those who do not exercise their rights, lose them.Stephen Downeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-26335265672485797972011-05-01T23:27:55.840-04:002011-05-01T23:27:55.840-04:00Well...
> 1) How much of your notoriety comes ...Well...<br /><br />> 1) How much of your notoriety comes from your work...<br /><br />I earned my current position because of my 'notoriety', and built on it not by doing what I was told but by doing what I believed was right. But that's beside the point...<br /><br />My employers contract for my work, not for my reputation. They own (a part of) what I produce, not the good name and whatever respect my work earns me.<br /><br /><br />> 2) Generally when a public servant draws negative attention for their personal political views...<br /><br />One person's 'negative' is another person's positive. I think it's to my employer's credit that they have a workplace where staff are free to express their own convictions, and would reflect very poorly on them if they could not operate in anything other than a totalitarian workplace.<br /><br />> it isn't articulated as such -- other reasons and means of making their work uncomfortable are found<br /><br />Agreed. Nobody said that what I do isn't without risk, nor reprisal. I am certain there have been reprisals, not just in my current position, but from my days as a student newspaper editor, my days as Graduate Student president, my days as a union representative at Athabasca, and so on. I choose not to let them matter.<br /><br />> 3) There is a lot of ambiguity within the system itself about worker bees blogging...<br /><br />Quite so.<br /><br />I consider it a major part of what I am doing to be setting an example to empower others. I reject outright the idea of work as servitude. I hope my example casts some light on the discussion being conducted in other quarters.<br /><br />> 4) ... social media are trolled for potential boat-rockers, and this happens within the PS itself.<br /><br />Agreed. But such conduct on the part of political leaders is to be resisted. It is not appropriate to bar someone from political discussion based on their Facebook page - and nor would it it be appropriate to troll social media to 'weed out' dissent within the public service. Such conduct is totally contrary to Canadian values and principles. <br /><br />That doesn't mean there's no risk. It means I accept the risk because the principle is more important. <br /><br />> The group of PS bloggers is small, strategic and occasionally harassed. The personal and the professional are hard to keep apart, both for the blogger and the PS. <br /><br />Part of what it is with me, I think, is that I've never tried to separate the two. What I am personally is what creates what it is that I sell professionally. This is probably true for most people.<br /><br />If I weren't committed, passionate, etc., about my work, I would never have developed the expertise that makes me valuable to my employer. <br /><br />What I give to my employer - the work that I do, the products that I create - are the *result* of my personal life (after all, it was I, not they, that paid form, and went through, my education & personal life leading up to my employment).<br /><br />It is in the face of harassment that it is even more important to maintain the integrity of my personal interests. Should I lose my position, it is my personal self-development, and not what I did on the job, that will ensure my continued employment elsewhere,Stephen Downeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-87765897484660720422011-05-01T20:23:22.000-04:002011-05-01T20:23:22.000-04:00Agreed in theory, but in practice I see some gray ...Agreed in theory, but in practice I see some gray areas.<br /><br />If I could be a fly in the ointment:<br /><br />1) How much of your notoriety comes from your work -- and how many readers of Half an Hour found themselves there because of that?<br /><br />2) Generally when a public servant draws negative attention for their personal political views, it isn't articulated as such -- other reasons and means of making their work uncomfortable are found.<br /><br />3) There is a lot of ambiguity within the system itself about worker bees blogging about issues that may be construed as even tangentially reflecting negatively on the way the system operates -- this despite the current push for a tech-savvy workforce.<br /><br />4) Not quite in the realm of PS, but I'm sure you came across the recent story about a student weeded out of a Harper rally because of a seemingly pro-Ignatieff image on her facebook page -- social media are trolled for potential boat-rockers, and this happens within the PS itself. <br /><br />The group of PS bloggers is small, strategic and occasionally harassed. The personal and the professional are hard to keep apart, both for the blogger and the PS.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-88223045827743889182011-05-01T14:37:26.747-04:002011-05-01T14:37:26.747-04:00Well in the case of Canada's civil service, th...Well in the case of Canada's civil service, there are very clear conflict-of-interest regulations, especially (and unsurprisingly) when it comes to politics.<br /><br />The rule is basically this: we cannot use our office, government supplies and services, or government influence in general, in support of a political candidate or party.<br /><br />That's why I posted in Half an Hour - which is very clearly labeled as a blog 'just for me'. And why, generally, I pay for my own online activities, even my OLDaily website. <br /><br />Personally, I have always taken the attitude that when I'm employed, I have contracted with my employer for certain services. My employer does not own me, does not own my political (or other) views, does not override my rights and freedoms.<br /><br />I think most people in Canada have similar attitudes, and it's this approach to things that allows people of very different politics (and faiths, and cultures, etc) to work together. I don't have to give up who I am in order to work for the government, and the government doesn't need to indoctrinate me in order to get useful work out of me.Stephen Downeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-53425308653817237592011-05-01T11:50:42.289-04:002011-05-01T11:50:42.289-04:00Nice post Stephen -- with you all the way.
Also w...Nice post Stephen -- with you all the way.<br /><br />Also would like to raise a side point -- the rarity with which those of us who blog professionally (in this case on approaches to ed/learning technologies) feel comfortable about blogging openly on our personal politics (when the post does not relate directly to our professional fields) -- particularly those who may work for governmental institutions.<br /><br />Another sign of the (self) imposed split between the personal and the professional in the era of social media? <br /><br />Thanks for being a model by crossing these boundaries.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-38466239265884881202011-04-30T18:38:03.956-04:002011-04-30T18:38:03.956-04:00The "party that founded healthcare in Canada&...The "party that founded healthcare in Canada"? As in the federal NDP? Oh, please. You need to spend some time exploring the complicated history of social medicine in Canada.<br /><br />Layton, like Ignatieff and Harper, is a farce. He's as firmly in the brace of corporatism as the others and his environmental proposals are laughable to all but the hopelessly naive.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.com