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One secret of conventional commerce(1) is to play with everybody else's money and make money at the expense of others. And in so doing, conventional commerce emphasizes the economic gimmicks of property rights, free contracts and market prices to circumvent the breaking of people's rights(2).

And to day, we discover how our Stockwell Day, leader of the Canadian Alliance, has been greasing his political support by taking money away from Albertan taxpayers and increase the GDP in the process. We recall that Stockwell Day settled his bigoted defamation litigation with Red Deer lawyer Lorne Goddard at a total cost of taxpayer money of about $800,000 including a payment of $500,000 to Stockwell Day's lawyers(3). And today, we understand that six days after Mr. Day settled this litigation, the Canadian Alliance received a $70,000 donation from the same lawyers who received the $500,000 compensation for defending Mr. Day(4). And this is the measure of smartness of our leadership, making money out of somebody else's money and break our people's rights. Do we need this kind of leadership across the political and business spectrum? I hope not, and it is time for change.

References/endnotes

Relevant political and economics articles http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign

1. A Reflection on Conventional Commerce and Tough Leadership, by Mario deSantis, February 16, 2001 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2001_300/desantis326/conventionalcommerce.html

2. The Implausibility of Professor Tom Flanagan, by Mario deSantis, February 11, 2001 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2001_300/desantis323/flanagan.html

3. Stockwell Day's settlement increases the GDP, by Mario deSantis, January 17, 2001 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2001_300/desantis309/DaysSettlement.html

4. Klein slams Day donations, By JIM MACDONALD-- The Canadian Press, February 18, 2001 http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSPolitics0102/18_day-cp.html