Canadian are morons? Please say it ain’t so

I find it appalling how little Canadians truly understand their own political system. While media outlets such as CBC, CityTV and the Globe and Mail beam with pride because they are getting so many comments on the current debacle in Ottawa via e-mail, online comments and posts, the fact is most of said input is nonsense.

Even if it’s not partisan, it is generally ignorant of how our government works and almost always full of typos.

Even CBC Norman Spector doesn’t seem to get it, and thank God at least one or two people who took time to comment seem to know it.

We did not elect a minority government; we elected members of parliament and the result was Conservative minority government.

Under Canadian constitutional law, Mr. Harper can only govern under a minority government with the confidence of parliament, which he had, even after a very vague throne speech.

His inadequate economic update combined with a partisan poison pill aimed at opposition parties destroyed that confidence. Under Canadian constitutional law, other parties have the legal and ‘democratic’ right to demonstrate that they can govern with the confidence of parliament.

Kudos to Susan Ormiston explaining how things work on The National last night.

Bring Back The Rhino Party

I normally don’t get political, but as a former journalist and someone who’s incited to yell at the TV whenever he watches the evening news, I must post something in response to the shenanigans in Ottawa.

First off, Stephen Harper started it. As a standalone issue, I would like to phase out government support for political parties, but now was not the time to do it.

Second, I applaud the Harper government for trying to reign in spending in certain areas. That makes sense, even in the good times. I do not want tax dollars wasted.

However, the second half of the economic statement should have outlined new spending on infrastructure and innovative ideas to stimulate the economy with a modest deficit as a result.

Stephen Harper seems completely out of touch with the fears of Canadians about the state of the economy. The fears are valid. Two cousins of mine just lost their jobs. One has a baby on the way and her husband just lost his job too. The economic slowdown, recession or whatever you want to call it, is real.

Harper also seems to be unaware that he is leading a minority government and despite pledging to work with others in parliament to address the challenges of this country, he has gone back to being the close-minded bully he’s always been.

In the meantime, that Dion and the Liberals are so willing to topple the government now after not challenging the last minority government is irritating. In addition, since all of the soundbites post-economic statement were with regard to the cut in funding of political parties, all opposition MPs come off sounding like children who found out their parents were reducing their allowance during tough times.

Their objection to the economic statement as a whole is valid. There should have been a stimulus plan of some sort. Harper, who denied Canada was in recession and later admitted this is the worst period since the depression, can not put yhis off until the spring or even January. Even president-elect Obama is getting his ducks in a row before taking office and every Western country is making moves to stimulate their economies through some sort of infrastructure spending. Does Harper know something they don’t? I doubt it.

Now, for the people who say this coalition initiative is undemocratic, you’re wrong. It’s a valid response to this minority government’s recent economic statement. It’s opportunistic, not treason.

Hopefully our Governor General will knock some sense into everyone. But while I think Harper shot himself in the foot and would love to see him gone because of who he is, not because he’s a Tory, the Coalition-Made-Up-Of-Those-Who-Didn’t-Win-The-Last Election doesn’t inspire me with confidence either.