Does Canada Need a Royal?

There has been plenty of pomp over Canada’s official royal representative – the Governor General – of late
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Michaelle Jean’s five-year term is coming to a close, and the Prime Minister has already said he’s considering people to replace her, which has raised questions about the working relationship between the two, as many Governor Generals terms have been extended by their boss – the Prime Minister.

Even the opposing Liberal Party leader, Michael Ignatieff is urging the Conservative Prime Minister to extend Jean’s term – which is rare, because usually the Governor General is hand chosen by the ruling party to rubber stamp anything the Prime Minister wants.

Which is why we really need to take a look at whether or not the whole role of Governor General should even be.

Although Michael Jean has done a remarkable role representing Canada internationally, most of her job is – well – just a lot of pomp and ceremony.
Technically the governor general is the Queen’s representative in Canada, she’s our official head of state.

As such, she has the power to disband the current government, name a new one in its place, or even prorogue Parliament – which she did at Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s request.

That further begs the question about the existence of the role of the governor general, because she has the power to end, delay or replace our federal government – yet she answers to the person who appointed her into her job – her boss, the Prime Minister.

Though the Governor General’s website claims the role is non-partisan, how could anyone say no to a request from their boss?

And if the role of governor general really is non-political, how come the person in that role has such broad sweeping powers over a political entity?

Though here’s where the non-political involvement becomes political – Jean was appointed by former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin in 2005. Because her five-year term is ending, the now Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to appoint someone new, who will answer to him.

Several names have been floated as potential successors, including disabled-rights campaigner Rick Hansen; former defence chief John de Chastelain; Inuit leader Mary Simon and Reform party founder Preston Manning.

But for this Trekkie, I’ve got to put my support behind Montreal-born actor William Shatner, most known for his recurring role as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.

A Facebook site was put up for Shatner by a Canadian technology reporter, and it has grown into quite a large campaign, with thousands of people joining in.
That is of course if we still have a governor general.

For all intents and purposes, the role places too much political power into the hands of one person, who is largely more of a figure head.

What this country needs is real leaders, with real political power.

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When Religion and Politics Meet – WHAMO – Instant Controversy

Last week, the Canadian federal Liberal Party accused the ruling federal Conservative Party of distributing targeted pamphlets suggesting that the Liberal Party was anti-Semitic.

These pamphlets ask voters to choose which federal leader is “on the rig

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ht track to represent and defend the values of Canada’s Jewish community.” They were distributed in five Liberal-held ridings, with large Jewish populations, by the federal Conservative Party of Canada.

The pamphlets compare Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper against federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff’s support of Jewish political causes.
Naturally, these pamphlets were paid for in part by all Canadians, from taxpayer dollars – regardless of what religious beliefs you hold.

Look out – whenever politicians bring religious values to the debate, nothing good ever happens.

What the Conservative Party of Canada did wasn’t by accident, yet they have been asked to apologize by the Liberal Party of Canada.

Mailing out pamphlets specifically to Jewish-dominant areas, discussing the opposition party’s lack of Jewish-based political support didn’t just happen – it was obviously carefully planned.

One could argue that it is no different than a toy company mailing out pamp

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hlets to areas with lots of families with children – they are specifically targeting potential customers.

However, the difference here is, governments aren’t supposed to represent any one specific faith or religious group – they are supposed to be relatively neutral, looking out for all citizens best interests.

What’s next – will the Liberals fight back by targeting highly Muslim areas, and show how their leader was more pro-Muslim than the Conservative leader?

Canada is one of the most diverse nations on Earth – rightly or wrongly we let anyone into our country. Some known terrorists have got in, and there are always questions about how many cultures fail to accept Canadian values – which causes many problems here.

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Still, we have many pocket communities, each dominated by one specific cultural or religious group. Some areas are Muslim, some Jewish, some Chinese, some Greek, some . . . you get the idea.

This makes it very easy for governments to send out religious or cultural-based propaganda to specific areas, and raises the question – should governments be taking religious or cultural sides?

Not being Muslim, if I receive something clearly from my federal government in a Muslim language, with images and icons from that culture, I’d be offended as I’d feel like an outside in my own land.

Being Jewish, if I received the pamphlets that the Conservatives sent out, I’d naturally be curious – but then I’d also be somewhat suspicious – why are they ignoring the over 250 other nationalities in this once great land of ours?

Once great is right – with isolationistic cultures being allowed to live, work and play in this country, without accepting basic Canadian values, this country nose dives from its once great glory. Add to this, governments that send out cultural-specific mailings, in a sense encouraging this alienation and isolationistic mentality, and one day, Canada won’t be Canada any more.

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How Canadian Politics Is Done – Temper tantrums and Name Calling

Federal Canadian Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff is doing what he and the other opposition parties have been doing ever since the minority Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, took office – throw a temper tantrum.

Ingatieff isn’t kicking and screaming on all fours on the floor – but the rest of his – and that of the other opposition parties – is just like that of a spoiled child in need of a smack to the head.

Ignatieff claims he and his party are at odds with the Conservative led government, so much so, that Parliament has become unworkable, and he will be forcing Canadians back to the election polls to deal with the situation.

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What situation?

Ignatieff and the other political leaders can’t play nice-nice in the political sandbox, so they ask us to cleanup their mess? How grownup is that?

Ignatieff is playing old cards – the economy, unemployment and government spending. He says the current government hasn’t handled the economic slump well: "I think the economy is still struggling," he said. "A million and a half Canadians are looking for work, bankruptcies are up 50 per cent and we're staggering along with a $50 billion deficit."

He said this last week, just as figures were released saying the Canadian economy created more than 27,000 new jobs, which helped boost the Canadian dollar 1.38 cents to 92.02 cents US.

But Ignatieff questions who can lead Canada into the new economy, without many of the jobs lost and gone for good.

The election he wants to call would be about a government that will lead the country into full economic recovery – but he didn’t clarify exactly what he means by that, or how long or how much it will cost Canadian taxpayers to put his plans into action.

Ignatieff’s issues are personal not political. He’s been on this war path before – it seems all the opposition leaders are. The second they are odds with each other, instead of engaging in the debate and discussion which they are supposed to, as part of the political process, they throw their hands up in the air, call the other a bad name, claim the other is being unreasonable, and walk-off in disgust.

Canadians should be the ones walking away in disgust – that sort of childish behavior shouldn’t be tolerated by those footing the bill. Why should our taxes fund the salaries of spoiled children?

Yes, we need an election in this country, to clean out the rift-raft that have taken up residence in our political houses. But before that election is called, we need new names on the ballots. Those currently vying for office shouldn’t be allowed to run again – else we’ll just end up with the exact same mess we have now.

We need adults willing, ready and able to do the job we ask of them. And it isn’t as if we’re asking for anything out of the ordinary for our political leaders. All we ask is that they take on the role of governing our country with the seriousness and dedication it deserves.

Canada once was one of the greatest countries in the world to live. It still can be, if – and only if – we boot the children out of Parliament Hill, and bring in real leaders.

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