Last December, I wrote a blog post about my thoughts on how to prevent political scandals in 2013. Yet, I read the newspapers or online news in Canada...

Who is listening to the folks camping out in downtown Manhattan? President Obama should call out the root cause of his shortcomings at the polls, but is otherwise engaged in retaining Wall Street support for his re-election campaign. And what of us, informed and active, democracy-loving citizens?

It wasn't just a domestic credit crisis that brought that country to its knees -- it was a much more serious case of social corruption and mistrust, an ailment so deeply entrenched in their national psyche that it could only be wiped out with the help of a deep and painful crisis.

One answer is the seemingly insatiable greed of the super rich. It's time for not just union members but all Canadians to demand changes. If we don't start standing up for ourselves, we'll take an even bigger fall in the years ahead.