An Italian Lesson for RIM

In the face of mounting and consistent pressures from the markets in the face of blunders, mistakes, bad luck, and ineptitude, there is something the Waterloo duo should learn from Italy's (but also Greece's) response to the debt crisis.

When the level of discredit comes to irremediably plaguethe leadership of an organization, there is little that can be done to correct perception. A negative cognitive frame prevails which brings out all sorts of negative images and connotations about that organization, which were previously silent.

This is what happened to Italy when former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi hit the bottom of his credibility in November 2011. Meanwhile, the entire country was ridiculed, lost prestige,

became a semi-pariah, and financial markets punished the economic management by driving the Bund/B.O.T. spread to unprecedented levels and the interest rates barely missed the 7% threshold, until Berluscon's overdue resignation came.

Now, a number of structural problems still bedevil the country, but the appointment of a new chief executive at the head of the Italian Government immediately eased the pressure, bringing those values back to normal measures, and restoring the country's image, thanks to his personal credibility.

This is the nature of the relationship between leaders and organizations.

Like Italy, RIM has collected a series of fiascoes over the past two years or more (playbook, technological upgrade, design upgrade, underestimation of competition,PR screw ups, servers breakdowns, lawsuits, among other things) and the astonishing drop in market shares. If the Waterloo duo were immune from the vanity, arrogance and entitlement they would have already passed on the helm.

This is often a problem with managers who are also founders and shareholders. They keep thinking they own the company even when it is publicly traded, employs thousands of people, and supplies governments, corporations and private customers.

However, examples of great founders-shareholders who have responsibly chosen to leave the management of their companies at some point includes Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs,among others.

If the pursuit of personal glory and social recognition did not drive the Waterloo duo they would have already done likewise.

This is the time when Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie should make the conscient and enlightened choice to step down and enjoy the perks of life as a billionaire, and perhaps endeavor in the pursuit of new challenges as they wish- something they both have already proven to be eager to do.

Refusing to do this would simply obfuscate the legacy of those who were once known as Canada's innovators.

Making Canada Ugly

After five years of Conservative government we can trace an interim balance of this party's use of power. So let us very briefly look at how they have put the office into practice:

• Militarism
• Cult of Personality
• Nationalistic rhetoric and jingoism
• Propaganda and Message control
• Submission of Parliament
• Delegitimation of the opposition
• antagonizing the media and other oversight mechanisms
• Intimidation of the Civil Service
• Unaccountability of the Executive
• Cronyism and corruption

Does this not sound incredibly like some Eurasian dictatorship ? At close inspection it does. Harper has succesfully introduced Putinism to Canada.

Question: Did 9/11 hit us or U.S.?

yo Harper, what's up with this brand new "National Day of Service" business???

9/11 was a tragic episode that affected the United States, not Canada. Do you really wanna be poodle-in-chief and make it a national celebration in Canada????? And, by god, let's just hope the justification for this silly move are not the 24 Canadians having lost their lives in the World Trade Center attacks- may they rest in peace.

Even pro-american has a limit! Especially in the face, lest we forget, of the cost we had to bear to appease american paranoias, and of accusations of laxitude in security and policing, with those unfounded allegations that the perpetrators of the attacks came from Canada.

Once again, Conservative ideological zeal makes Canada look petulant and grotesque.

Two Pellans for a Queen

Since, after all, this blog is also about trivia, why shouldn't we find some delight with some high-flying, jetsetting, classy gossip...?

If rumours that Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird has an inclination for same sex loving (xtra.ca, 2. o2. 2010; Montrealmirror, 29. 07. 2010; MediaStyle, 18. 09. 2010) are indeed veracious, it should come as no surprise that he decided to replace the two Alfred Pellan paintings in the MFA hall with a massive portrait of Her Majesty the.... QUEEN ! Pun intended, of course.

As Harper consolidates Majority, Militarization of Canadian Society becomes Grotesque

There is a single unifying theme underlying Harper's military jingoism: grotesque!

If the militarization of our society had been mostly creeping in the five years of minority government, it has achieved full-blown scale since the 2011 ushered in a majority.

While we all are true patriots respecting and celebrating the accomplishments and successes of our armed forces, the maniac overtones of the new twist imposed to the theme is becoming naively caricaturesque, if not simply grotesque.

This begun with the militarization of the Arctic and the cooption of inuit communities in this project. It continued with the launch of a massive modernization programme (much needed to be fair) of our military hardware.

But its social and ideological ambitions became clear when the Harper announced plans to lay accent on militaria in the new citizenship study guides released in 2009. It continued this year with the decision to field a soldier or two to be present to all new citizenship celebrations (perhaps as a new post-Afghanistan "expeditionary" role?)

More recently, the 2011 Canada Day celebrations were a whole glorification of our (military) role in Afghanistan.

And let's just pause a second to consider the schedule of the Dukes of Cambridge's 10 day visit. Has there even been one day not marked by a military reference, whether in speech or in deed? The answer: No...

What is alarming is that it is starting to rub off. Have you all seen how inappropriately militaresque is the new Winnipeg Jets logo and theme??

Recall President Eisenhower's (a Republican, incidentally!) words:

"we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." (1961)

Adapting them and paraphrasing them to the Canadian context, we can say:

we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-cultural complex.

We should put an end to this ridiculous tendency, before some crazy thinks they can grab a machine gun and start walking down our cities.

The Cornwall Border Crossing Controversy: Killing Three Birds with One Stone

Can you believe the conservative government's latest screw up?
Tensions between the Canadian Borders Services Agency (CBSA) and representatives of the Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve on Cornwall Island, had been growing since the GoC's announcement on May 1, 2009, that CBSA officials would start carrying duty firearms starting June 1st.

Mohawk leaders pleaded for an exception given that the border lies on Mohawk land, and feared the symbolic implications of seeing armed Canadian officials manning the border crossing. Protests had also been held.

According news reports, in the face of the ongoing spat, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan has recently ordered the Border post be moved inland in the form of a "makeshift checkpoint," from where they have been operating since July 12, under RCMP protection.

What a great idea! The Conservatives have effectively managed to kill two (perhaps three) birds with one stone...

First, they have unilaterally retracted the reach of Canadian sovereignty- the principal meaning of which, Max Weber reminds us, is the monopoly over the use of legitimate violence within a bounded territory. The move, as a matter of fact affects both elements of sovereignty contained in this textbook definition: Firstly, in the face of the well known and public revendications of the Mohawk community to establish a Mohawk sovereign state, the territorial integrity of Canada has been somehow undermined, if not jeopardised, and potentially, a precedent lain. And God forbid, Quebec separatists should hear about this story... Secondly, the monopoly of legitimate violence over the area has been relinquished. Perhaps not the domestic policing side of it- reports are not specific enough on this matter- but certainly the defense from external threats.

Second, they have created one of those dreaded no-man's lands outside of any control that punctuate the world -with due distinctions, but similar to Transnistria, the South American Tri-border area, or the Ferghana Valley- at the heart of North America. Fears have been expressed that this will curtail attempts to control drug and Tobacco smuggling, and bolster organized crime groups. To this should be added the more serious security threats that a patch of anarchy within Canadian territory could generate, should the situation extend itself, for both Canada and the United States.

This latter point leads us to the third bird of the potential repercussions on bilateral relations with the United States, who remain highly focused on the countering of asymmetric threats and the protection of the continent from potential attacks. This could spur renewed distrust in a Northern neighbour that simply does not do enough for the Security of North America. For a government broaching itself as a champion of law and order, and the first Executive taking security seriously, the handling of the border crossing issue grazes on ridicule.

The Western Foreign Policy Bandwagon

Fourty-five Days into the Obama presidency, the US is undergoing a major, overdue, foreign policy repositioning. While this is a welcome development, it baffles to observe the zeal with wihich all of the Western allies of the US, which until two months ago were staunchly and convincedly supporting the albinistic policies of the Bush administration, are rushing to shift gears and signal as well as put into practice similar policy turnabouts.

There is something grotesque in the way such leaders strive to impress the new strong-man in Washington to secure a little place in the sun. In spite of arguments about the declining hegemony of the US, this is a clear indication of the power relations still prevailing within the Western coalition, where client leaders scuffle to become the new Poodle-in-Charge.

This shows that the ideal of an independent and self reliant foreign policy is nothing more than an ideal, and so much for national sovereignty. It also shows the importance of ideology to international politics, this truly the neglected variable in the scientific study of international relations. If state behaviour can change so dramaticaly from night to day, there must be factors other than rationality and material interests animating the actions of states.

Therefore, when the US calls, the poodles bark! Look at Iran: we can now talk to the ayatollahs; look at Iraq: we are pulling out; look at Afghanistan: we need to talk to the neighbours; look at China: we can work with them. And all of the conservative poodles go along wagging their tails. For example, consider:

Italy: after announcing a visit to Iran, to facilitate a rapprochement between the West and that country, in the hope of gaining new credit in Washington after the memorable gaffe of wise-man Silvio Berlusconi, the foreign ministry rushed to cancel a visit of Minister Frattini to Iran. This came as a 'mindful' response to Hillary Clinton's blasting on Iran (La Repubbica, 06. 03. 2009). The irony is that the next day Clinton reinstated the Administration's policy of engagement.
Canada: Whereas PM Stephen Harper has so far pointedly refused to appoint a Special Envoy for Afghanistan, after a meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Mr. Cannon said he will raise the issue with the PM, to bring Canada in line with the coalition's preferences as initiated by the US wit their own appontment of Richard Holbrooke (Globe & Mail, 06. 03. 2009).

The UK, at least, preserved the elegance of the form: you must lead! Gordon Brown pronounced to a joint session of the US Congress (CBC, 05. 03. 2009).

But a little coherence would avoid the need for such embarassing somersaults.