Some recent commentary,
please see the original posts for the full text.
Showing utter contempt
The Conservatives’
contempt for Parliament apparently knows no bounds as they are
expected to deliver their
fall economic update today, in Mississauga of all places. No, you’re
not mistaken – the House isn’t sitting this week. For
them to deliver it outside of the House shows contempt in and of
itself, but to deliver it on a week where it’s not even sitting
is just rubbing it in. It shows that the government doesn’t
care what the House thinks, because there is no speech to MPs, and no
chance for the other parties to respond to its deliver at that time.
Oh, and in these times of “fiscal restraint,” the
government could have delivered it in the House for no cost, or they
could deliver it outside, in a ridiculously controlled environment
with a ridiculous backdrop for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But
hey, contempt of Parliament costs money, and they apparently are
going to make us pay for it.
Jim Flaherty's annual fall update was in fact delivered Tuesday not in Parliament but at a business lunch in Mississauga and was full of self-congratulatory rhetoric ...
Jim Flaherty's annual fall update was in fact delivered Tuesday not in Parliament but at a business lunch in Mississauga and was full of self-congratulatory rhetoric ...
Democratic Deficit Disorder
Symptoms
Domestic relations
characterized by chronic wedge politics, partisan bickering, and
character assassinations
An overworked PMO as a
result of downgraded functioning within the government’s
executive
Shutdown of civic
participation described by low voter-turnout and heightened political
apathy
an electoral system
that no longer meets the demands of the country’s democratic
life source, Canadians.
Denial.
A “Wizard of Oz”
style politics that uses tactics such as prorogation to mitigate
transparency and accountability
And finally, an
overwhelming tendency to play “the blame game.”
Canadians need to start
demanding a better democracy, or else Canada is going to have some
serious leadership issue for years to come — regardless of what
side of the political spectrum you support.
How you know a government is broken
(The G & M) ran an
excellent piece about how the government's promise
to strengthen Canada’s access-to-information laws is now five
years old.
It is of course all so
laughable it is sad. Here we have an issue that the public is
universally supportive of - making government more transparent and
accountable - and yet the government contends the issue requires
extensive consultation. And so... no action.
Meanwhile, on issues to
which the public is almost universally opposed - for example the long
form census - the government acts without consultation, without
evidence and in the dead of night, hoping that no one will notice.
Again, it would be laughable if the implications weren't so serious.
It's also a big reversal of what should have been and maybe the
clearest sign yet this government is broken.
And it didn't have to
be this way. Looking back at the Conservative's
2006 election platform under the header "Strengthen
Access to Information legislation"
How many of these
promises have been implemented? To date, only one
As an aside, take a
look at that platform. Guess what isn't mentioned once: The long form
census.
One of the great
pledges of the Conservative government was that they were going to
make government more accountable and more transparent. So far, when
it comes to managing information - the collective documents our tax
dollars paid to create - today our government is more opaque, more
dumb and less inspiring to Canadians than it has ever
been. For a government that was supposed to restore Canadians
confidence in their country, it has been a sad decline to observe.
Not Enough Maple Syrup
It was reported on CBC
this morning that in a last ditch effort to win over votes for a seat
on the U.N. Security Council, Canadian diplomats were giving out
maple-leaf shaped bottles of maple syrup.
Maybe our government’s grasp of the concerns of the world’s nations is a bit lacking in substance.………..
……….
no matter how much we give out last minute bottles of maple syrup,
and no matter how sincere the pitch for membership from the PM to the
General Assembly seemed two months ago, actions speak louder than
words. The actions of the Harper government led to this
outcome -- not their words, nor the words of Michael
Ignatieff in saying what everyone knew, that our reputation in the
world was tarnished after four and a half years of Harper government
policies.Maybe our government’s grasp of the concerns of the world’s nations is a bit lacking in substance.………..
You reap what you sow. Let us hope that this is the nadir in Canada’s world reputation. Let us commit to be the country we once were, with a Prime Minister and a House of Commons that understands what it takes to be a constructive member of the family of nations.
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