Ecclectica: Letter from the Publisher

Contents

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Publisher's Note

Articles

Manitoba's Role in Federal-Provincial Relations

by

The Honourable Gary Doer

Energy & the Environment

by

The Right Honourable Edward R. Schreyer

Women & Politics

by

The Honourable Sharon Carstairs

My Political Philosophy

by

Dr. Jon Gerrard

The Olivieri Case

by

Dr. Jon Thompson
Dr. Patricia A. Baird
Dr. Jocelyn Downie

Public U to Private U (included with permission of the author) [PDF]

by

Dr. Kelvin K. Ogilvie

Manitoba Politics

by

Stuart Murray

Politics of the Margins

by

Dr. Scott Grills

Politics & Fundraising

by

Marc Desrosiers

The Future of the Federal Conservatives

by

Kerry Auriat

Politics of Medicine

by

Dr. Diarmuid (Derry) Decter

Liberal Success, Liberal Downfall?

by

Dr. Meir Serfaty

by

Vince Barletta

Ending the Interregnum Well

by

Dr. David McLeod

Politics in the University

by

L. P. Visentin

The Lighter Side

Political Haiku

by

L. P. Visentin

Pallister Poetry

by

Brian Pallister

The Way We Were

by

Tom Mitchell

Letter from the Publisher

There is an element of politics in every aspect of our lives. It permeates culture and operates for the good or bad in every niche. At the turn of the century universities began to define the study of politics as a science, and hence we got "Political Science". I remain skeptical of the latter and prefer Bismark's comment that "Politics is the art of the possible." While there are treatises and tomes written on the subject, Machiavelli's, The Prince, remains the definitive exploration of this "sweet science", at least for the serious practitioners. Dictionaries of quotations are filled with what past and present scholars and humorists think about the practice and the professional performers.

Unfortunately the profession has come into disrepute in recent times and we are sometimes faced with difficult choices in the public exercise of our democratic right to cast ballots. Nonetheless, politics is an important and integral part of our culture. A useful definition might be the often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society in order to gain control or power. The methods or tactics involved have been the subject of treatises, tomes and much debate. Simply, if Art is what artists do, then politics is what politicians do. For those with a serious interest please refer to the articles below. For those seeking more reading matter I have added a few references for the academics among you and those with a deeper curiosity. They are enlightening. The university of course, has its share of politics and politicians and I have added a short perspective on the subject that was not covered by Professor Thompson and his colleagues.

As a prelude to all that electioneering we'll be exposed to over the holidays, and maybe as a balm, we thought we'd expose you to a lot of different political questions from a variety of different sectors. Sure you are going to see some good articles by the professionals in the public arena, but you will also be able to read and peruse articles about politics in the "other worlds", and opinions, and humour...etc etc. I have edited very little. What you read comes right from the heart and pens (O.K. word processing programs) of the authors. We have been blessed by the number of contributors to this edition of Ecclectica and will be adding to the edition as some of the late contributors send their manuscripts. That is the beauty of electronic publishing. Let me thank all the individuals involved in putting this volume together. It has been enlightening and fun. We did edit when necessary and were selective in our choices. In recent weeks we’ve had many more authors asking for space. Many were called, some were selected, and several declined in deference to overwork!.........or some other weak excuse. Some of course, had nothing to say and we weren’t surprised.

Finally, let me end with a quote on leadership that is a follow-up to that old sixties saying, " Never trust anyone over thirty!" That was a view that was way over done in the sixties and is irrelevant today where many of our 20, 30, and 40 year old politicians are old before their time. If you want a rule of thumb for choosing it should be this: "Never trust anyone without a sense of humour". Vote! and please direct your criticisms and comments this way.

—L.P.V.

On Bullshit, Harry G. Frankfurt, Princeton University Press, ISBN: 0-691-12294-6, 2005.

Your Call Is Important to Us: The Truth About Bullshit, Crown, ISBN: 1-4000-8103-3, 2005.

The Prince, Nicolo Machiavelli, Copy right@1916 The Macmillan Company, Written c. 1505, Translated by W. K. Marriott.

On Democracy, Amartya Sen, http://www.aldaily.com/

The Political Classics, Edited by Murray Forsyth and Maurice Keens-Soper, 0192852825, Oxford University press. 1993

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