What Canada’s Prime Minister Has In Common with Rosanne Barr

Many years ago, comedian Rosanne Barr offended many with her rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. She sang the American national anthem to kick-off a San Diego Padres baseball game in 1990, in her typically loud and obnoxious character. Her performance was intentionally meant to be a humorous take on the song, but it turned out to be more a serious lapse in judgment.

There are some things in life you should never play around with – and a country’s national anthem is one of those things.

So why is the Canadian government looking into changing that country’s national anthem?

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged in his speech from the thrown – the traditional way a new session of the Canadian Parliament begins – that he would “examine the original gender-neutral English wording of the national anthem.”

Of all the words which express the patriotism and sense of national pride for a country, are the words within that country’s national anthem.

The Canadian anthem – Oh Canada – is based on a 1908 poem, so it is dated.
But so too are most national anthems – countries aren’t created in a single event. The root histories of a nation’s early beginnings are the basis for most national anthems around the world.

Canada’s Prime Minister is desecrating one of our national symbols – our national anthem – by even suggesting it needs to be made more politically correct – which is the underlying cause of his concern.

The third line of Oh Canada is: True patriot love in all thy sons command. Prime Minister Harper claims his office has received many complaints from women’s groups about the sexist nature of this line.

Most though – including some women rights advocacy groups – believe the national anthem is fine as is. They assert that the Conservative federal government led by Prime Minister Harper should be focusing on the issues which have a greater impact on both sexes in the county.

"REAL Women requests the Liberal government in Ottawa to address the real problems Canadians face, especially economic ones, instead of dancing to the tune of a handful of chronically dissatisfied feminists," the right-wing women's organization said in a 2003 news release. The debate whether or not to modernize Oh Canada has been one of those on again, off again debates since 1990.

However, given the prime minister’s recent actions, he may be re-starting the debate about the country’s national anthem for less noble reasons. Last year, Prime Minister Harper stalled Parliament until it re-started just this week, claiming this delay would give the government the time it needed to determine the direction to take the country.

The Conservative government has been – well conservative – in their approach to governing, not really tackling any of the major issues facing the country. They do enact policies and programs to assist with the economy, the jobless, education, healthcare, national security and other issues, but they really haven’t taken any dramatic steps to resolve anything directly. Most of the Harper regime’s rule has been nothing more than band-aid type solutions, which cover the cut, but fail to repair the wound.

It has been suggested that the Prime Minister mentioned revising the national anthem as a diversionary tactic, to take public attention off of the real issues which the government is failing to address.

Whatever Prime Minister Harper’s intent, amending our national anthem for political correctness is no different than asking Rosanne Barr to sing it at a baseball game – a poor lapse in judgment, and the desecration of an internationally recognized national symbol of Canada.

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Canadian Politics – Follow the Leader at Their Own Peril

Despite the negative public reaction to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to Prorogue Parliament, the country’s largest province is following his lead.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced his intentions to Prorogue the Ontario Legislature after the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, prior to his speech from the throne.

By law, there has to be a break prior to a new throne speech – however this break usually only last a day or two.

Political pundits say Premier McGuinty is taking the unusual step of Proroguing the Legislature to buy time for two new additions to his cabinet, due to recent by-elections. This extra time will allow the two new members of his political circle to catch up on the latest issues affecting their ministries.

The Ontario Premier wasn’t blind to the very public backlash against Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government, for their Proroguing of Parliament. He says he took that into account when making his decision, and as such, he won’t delay the legislature as long as the federal government delayed Parliament.

The news media was quick to jump all over the federal government’s Proroguing decision, and there have been numerous large public protests across the country.
Social networking sites on the Internet have also had quite the following, with thousands joining a Facebook site against the Prime Minister’s decision.

Regardless of the reasoning behind the Ontario Premier’s decision to halt the business of governing, the public perception of governance in this country continues to go south.

There have always been jokes about politicians and their credibility.

However, as politicians constantly find the quickest and easiest routes to achieve their agendas – some of which have more to do with staying ahead of the opposition parties instead of actually managing the affairs of the governing bodies which they run – the public support not just of the ruling party, but of politicians in general continues to fall.

How can you place your faith and trust in the hands of people you don’t respect?
Even at the municipal level politicians are doing things which clearly cost them and their profession much needed support.

Here in Canada’s largest city – Toronto – a local mayoral candidate has been caught in an affair similar to former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s “Monicagate.”

Toronto City Councilor Adam Giambrone admitted that he has had intimate relationships with women other than his long-time live-in partner over the course of his political career – there are even reports that he may have engaged in sexual activities on his couch in his office at Toronto City Hall.

Although the thought of a public official’s office being used in a sexual affair is gross at best, an individual’s personal affairs are just that – personal and not really a matter of public concern.

What is of public concern in “Giambronegate” is the honesty of Giambrone. When one of his former mistresses first made the sexual allegations, the mayoral candidate for Canada’s largest city intentionally mislead the public by denying the allegations. Giambrone has since withdrawn from the mayoral race.

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” are famous falsities from former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Although President Clinton’s well documented affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky actually helped propel his popularity, as it increased his image as a John F. Kennedy-like womanizer and sex symbol.

Unfortunately for Giambrone, Canadian politicians rarely make the leap to celebrity sex symbol. The only Canadian politician who was able to really successfully pull that off was former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau during what became known as Trudeaumania back in the late 1960’s with numerous relationships with celebrities and starlets. Trudeaumania actually started its decline shortly after Prime Minister Trudeau got married in 1971, clearly showing the link between the famed Prime Minister’s single-status sex appeal, which ended when he was no longer “on the market.”

If Giambrone’s self-confessed “lapse in judgment” does anything, is further degrade the public’s trust in our public officials. How can you respect someone who publicly denies something which they were clearly did? How can you respect someone who backtracks on their public statements – essentially admitting their initial deception – once the facts begin to surface.

I ask again, how can you place your faith and trust in the hands of people you don’t respect?

Following the leader is no way to lead, yet that is what these politicians are doing in a manner of speaking.

Real leadership is just that – leadership. You can’t be a follower and a leader at the same time.

Until we have real leadership in this country – at all levels of government – the public’s perception of politicians will be nothing more, than follow the leader.

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Canadian Government Reeling with Proroguing

Want a cushy job? Just become a federal Member of Parliament in Canada.

Oh you get hounded by the media, and when you tell people at dinner parties what you do for a living you’re bound to get grilled with jokes about “honest politicians” that aren’t honest at all, but you get lots of time off.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament, essentially shutting down the wheels of government because he and his Conservative party couldn’t deal with the opposition parties in any other adult way. So the Prime Minister gets a fresh start – all proposed motions, bills and anything else that was unresolved prior to the proroguing becomes null and void, they must go through the entire legislative process all over again.

But within a mere matter of days after returning from weeks of time off – thanks to this prorogued Parliament – the government gets to take a vacation.

The week-long March Break begins on March 15, just a handful of days after Parliament’s return from the proroguing. After that week’s vacation, they’d only have to work another nine days, and then – get this – they’d have two-weeks off in April, including the Easter weekend.

For many of us, just taking a day off involves begging and pleading with our employers. Upon our return we usually have a stack of work overflowing from that one day of rest and relaxation. Not so if you work for the federal government.

Though the federal ruling Conservative Party is trying to minimize the flack from all this time off, by taking it away. Wednesday, Conservative whip Gordon O’Connor sent a memo to his party’s MPs and Senators advising them to cancel their March and April breaks.

This is a public relations maneuver as the ruling minority Conservative Party already is taking the heat from the media and concerned citizens over their decision to prorogue Parliament. Whether it works remains to be seen – in order to cancel the traditional March and April breaks all parties must unanimously approve the decision.

And getting anything done unanimously is what caused this whole fiasco in the first place. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn’t getting the support from the other political parties he wanted, so instead of working things out, he used a rare law to stop the whole process of governing, without calling an election, so that he, his party and the other political parties could start all over again.

Since Prime Minister Harper prorogued Parliament on December 30 of last year, the government has been in a state of limbo, allowing federal politicians more time off, while the Prime Minister and his closest advisors figure out how to proceed.

One of the signs of a great leader is someone capable of making important and critical decisions on the fly. Someone not afraid to take the risks necessary to manage, lead and where necessary – take action to resolve conflicts so that the business of governing continues.

Whatever one thinks of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s management and leadership skills, he has taken action to resolve the conflicts inevitable within the Canadian House of Commons. Only his actions are questionable at best, because instead of resolving the issues, he just delayed them.

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Just Another Day in the Sandbox for Canada’s Parliament

Managing a country isn’t easy, which is why we hope those we elect into our governments are more than capable of doing the job.

Though if you’ve been watching Canada’s federal government the past few years, you might be shaking your head in disgust.

For the past few years, federal politicians in Canada have tried to resolve their differences by shutting down Parliament and calling snap elections. When elections weren’t called, the threats of them were held over our heads, as one political party claimed they just couldn’t work with the other.

The latest childish-acting out by Canada’s ruling party hasn’t forced an election, but might as well have, because it has a similar effect.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party has prorogued Parliament. This is what usually happens after an election, essentially wiping clean all un-passed bills or motions, allowing the politicians to start with a clean slate. Any bills or motions which weren’t voted on prior to the proroguing must be re-presented and voted on.

As proroguing usually happens after an election, we think nothing of it, because it allows the newly elected or re-elected government a chance to start the business of governing.

But when it is called in the middle of a government’s rule, there is reason to be concerned.

In this case, Prime Minister Harper’s government called the prorogue of Parliament because an economic statement they made alienated the opposition.
So, rather than trying to explain themselves, their actions and taking the enormous responsibility of governing seriously, they threw their hands up in the air, and decided to erase their controversial economic statement, so that they could start from scratch.

Just when you think the federal Canadian government has done the most childish thing unbecoming a group of professional politicians, there they go doing something completely different, but even more childish than before.

Makes you wonder just how far will these adults go, in their childish ways?

Far worse than embarrassing Canada on the world stage – which has already happened as we have seen by the reaction of many world leaders to Prime Minister Harper’s lateness for a photo opportunity during the last meeting of the G-20 – the other world leaders just laughed it off, in a “oh that’s just the bumbling Prime Minister Harper for you,” way – far worse than that, the business of governing constantly falls by the wayside. Things just don’t get done, because our federal politicians are too wrapped-up in their own childish antics, constantly trying to one-up the other, rather than doing the right thing.

And the right thing for any politician, municipal, provincial, state or federal, is to ensure the business of the government gets done.

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We're Back!

Welcome to 2010!

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