Michaëlle Jean Moves On.

I am not what you would call a monarchist so I  have never been a huge fan having the  post of Governor General here in Canada but, I accept the fact that the position exists. I my lifetime Prime Ministers have for the most part appointed stuffy old white guys to the post, a tradition Stephen Harper has returned to with the appointment of the new guy, 69 year old David Johnston.

Harper owes Johnston big time for basically saving Brian Mulroney's ass when wrote the terms of reference which restricted the jurisdiction of the Oliphant inquiry, that probed the business transactions between former prime minister Brian Mulroney and German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber. Surely a good bottle of single malt would have been enough. Lets just say Johnston and Harper have a special relationship and leave it at that. 


To be honest I am sorry to see Michaëlle Jean leave. I thought she brought a touch of class to the position and she   overflowed with real human warmth. My only real problem with her was her decision which allowed Harper to prorogue parliament when there was a workable coalition waiting in the wings, capable and willing to form government. I think that was a huge error which will forever temper my feelings about her.


It was a low point in Canada's history which plagues us still. One which illustrates how little most Canadians actually know about how our country works. Harper and his gang of thugs still go on and on ad nauseam about coalitions as if they are some how illegitimate. 


So, I was surprised to read this morning in the Globe & Mail that in his new book  Harperland,  columnist Lawrence Martin claims that if he was turned down by the G.G., evidentially Harper, never one to take no for an answer, was prepared to try to go over Jean's head and talk directly to the Queen, asking her to do the dirty deed.


Now that would have been an interesting political drama.

Speak up about Prorogation

On December 30th, 2009, for the second time in as many years, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has asked the Governor General to prorogue parliament.

In doing so, Harper has avoided taking responsibility for the treatment of Afghan detainees. He has also stopped in their tracks 37 pieces of legislation that impact regular Canadians like you and I.

Saturday, January 23, 2010 please join your fellow citizens in sending a strong message to the Prime Minister that we will not stand idly by while he suspends democracy in Canada!

We need electoral reform in Canada. It is time we did away with our first past the post system and caught up with the vast majority of the western world and brought in proportional representation.

In Regina the rally is at 1:00 on the Scarth Street Mall, near the Buffalo

See you there

If you live in Saskatoon the time is the same and will be held at City Hall Square on the south side of City Hall, 222 - 3rd Avenue North.

In Prince Albert the rally will be held at the Union Centre.

What Happens When Politicians Go-rogue

When all this prorogue business started I speculated that Canadians might not really care and, lulled into complacency by the idiot box, would probably just yawn. Much to my pleasant surprise, I think I was wrong. Our strange and awkward Prime Minister just may have over reached.

The Liberals and the gang in power, are neck and neck in the polls. A couple of weeks ago that didn't seem possible. Even the NDP who have been all but invisible, are up a few points.

You know Harper, who has a well earned reputation for running a one man show, is in trouble when he has to call out the likes of Tony Clement to fend off criticism. We all remember Tony Clement who was only saved from being completely discredited for his mismanagement of things during the listeria crisis by the bumbling Gerry "cracker" Ritz who only took his foot out of his mouth long enough to change feet.

Responding to one letter written by Fair Vote Canada and signed by leading Canadian political scientists and another by a group of academics from universities across Canada, Steve's friend Tony said that ordinary Canadians don’t consider prorogation to be a big issue.”I know it’s a big issue with the Ottawa media elite and some of the elites in our country" ...ordinary Canadians don't care.

But, hang on. Tony got it wrong. Demonstrations against the prorogation of parliament are planned in over 30 cities from coast to coast and to date over 180,000 Canadians have signed on to a Facebook site called Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament The number is growing so quickly that it is most likely already out of date.

Canadians are waking up to the fact that this government just isn't working and dispute their complacency about government in the past, they are pissed at Harper's manipulation of the parliamentary system to hide from tough questions about a long list of things.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page says, parliament may be prorogued but that doesn't that stop him from doing his work. Page plans to release three substantive reports in the run-up to the March budget.

The first suggests that the government is ignoring the change in demographics which is nipping at the government's heels. As baby boomers retire there will be hundreds of thousands of Canadians paying less income tax. That simply flies in the face of the government's plan to reduce corporate taxes and the GST combined with all their new spending announcements.

Stephen Harper can recalibrate all he wants but he doesn't seem to be in a position to actually fix anything. Remember how he ridiculed the Liberals for saying that tax increases were probable inevitable. Stand by for a change in plan on that front.

Stay tuned and see you at the demo on January 23rd.