Looks like Michael Ignatieff has put the welfare of Canada before his own career aspirations by agreeing to conditionally support the budget announced by the Tories on Tuesday. I think the Liberals are to be commended for this move; the last thing Canada needs right now is an aggressive coalition takeover. Jack Layton and Giles Duseppe are already frothing at the mouth about getting oh soooooo close to defeating their arch enemy. Imagine what they would have been like if Ignatieff had sided with them and the coalition actually assumed power. You would have had to use a cattle-prod to calm Jack down.
So now the NDP is on the attack against the Liberals. Wow, the whole Obama message of cooperation and transparency really didn't get down to Jack's height or translate into French for Giles, did it? It's all about getting Stephen Harper out, at any cost. Well, that's really the job of the Canadian people. Maybe they'll do a better job at the next election.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
A Man's a Man...
Happy Burns Day (yesterday). To commemorate the birth of The Bard, here's the last verse of "A Man's A Man For A' That". Seems as apt today as ever:
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Yes, We Canada
You know, I had this great Star Wars parody post all lined up when it was all kicking off between Stephen Harper and every other party in Canada last year. I chose Star Wars because the events in Ottawa were fast becoming as bizarre as a George Lucas plot. The rebel Prorogue Squadron, the Separatist Duseppe Army, Jack the Jawa and little Yoda May. Then it all fell apart when Dion the Hutt (so called because no one could understand anything he said) did the right thing and stood down.
Then, family birthdays and work and Christmas kind of got the better of me and, before you can spell Ignatieff, (the extra 'f' is just for Stephen Harper) it's Barack Obama's inauguration and I suddenly remember that I have a blog to write!
I must admit to getting as caught up in the whole Obamania thing as anyone else. It's hard not to, given the level of coverage here in Canada. I watched the CTV stream on the web and it almost made me feel a bit sorry for Canada when I heard the commentators focus on how the American politicians from opposing sides were able to come together for the occasion. And this on top of the fact that Obama is pushing for cooperation between the parties and has put his money where his mouth is by consulting with John McCain on defense issues this week.
Compare that to the Muppet Show that is Canadian politics at the moment and Canadians must feel like they've just spent the day with a sibling listening to stories of how their neice or nephew has been accepted to an Ivy League school or been drafted by the Flames or become an astronaut, only to return to their own home filled with kids who can't last 5 minutes without kicking each other's heads in.
As I watch Barack and Michelle walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, I'm reminded of Labour's election win in the UK in 1996 after 17 years of Tory rule and Tony and Cherie Blair shaking hands with almost everyone in a packed, clamorous Downing Street . The same sense of optimism, the same feeling, that Tony Blair was someone who could actually change the system and make a difference. And, to some extent, he did before the political machine absorbed him.
So, on a day like this, with so much optimism south of the border, it's easy to wish that Canada had it's very own Barack Obama. But lets not forget that the reaction to Barack Obama owes as much to the previous incumbent and the present economic and foreign policy crisis as it does to the significance of America's first black president.
Canada, for all that it's parliament seems to be held together with pieces of duct tape, still has good reason to hold its head high on the world stage.
This country is still one of the most diverse and inclusive in the world and it has acted with pragmatism in its foreign policy and its response to American financial greed.
We are feeling the effects of the global economic downturn, just like everyone else, but our banks appear to be solid (and I stress the "appear"). I've been watching, with dismay, the looming collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a organisation that was, only 4 years ago, quoted as being worth more than Ford, General Motors, Nike and MacDonalds combined. Now, it will be lucky if its market capitalisation is worth more than a Big Mac, with the share price dropping from a 2007 high of six pounds to just 10pence today. The UK, it would appear, is in even bigger trouble than the US and the financial projections of a 5% decline for Ireland puts it within spitting distance of a depression.
So Canada, with all it's political squabbling, seems to be holding on in there. Now we need to see what the Tories come up with in next week's budget. That should be ffun...
Then, family birthdays and work and Christmas kind of got the better of me and, before you can spell Ignatieff, (the extra 'f' is just for Stephen Harper) it's Barack Obama's inauguration and I suddenly remember that I have a blog to write!
I must admit to getting as caught up in the whole Obamania thing as anyone else. It's hard not to, given the level of coverage here in Canada. I watched the CTV stream on the web and it almost made me feel a bit sorry for Canada when I heard the commentators focus on how the American politicians from opposing sides were able to come together for the occasion. And this on top of the fact that Obama is pushing for cooperation between the parties and has put his money where his mouth is by consulting with John McCain on defense issues this week.
Compare that to the Muppet Show that is Canadian politics at the moment and Canadians must feel like they've just spent the day with a sibling listening to stories of how their neice or nephew has been accepted to an Ivy League school or been drafted by the Flames or become an astronaut, only to return to their own home filled with kids who can't last 5 minutes without kicking each other's heads in.
As I watch Barack and Michelle walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, I'm reminded of Labour's election win in the UK in 1996 after 17 years of Tory rule and Tony and Cherie Blair shaking hands with almost everyone in a packed, clamorous Downing Street . The same sense of optimism, the same feeling, that Tony Blair was someone who could actually change the system and make a difference. And, to some extent, he did before the political machine absorbed him.
So, on a day like this, with so much optimism south of the border, it's easy to wish that Canada had it's very own Barack Obama. But lets not forget that the reaction to Barack Obama owes as much to the previous incumbent and the present economic and foreign policy crisis as it does to the significance of America's first black president.
Canada, for all that it's parliament seems to be held together with pieces of duct tape, still has good reason to hold its head high on the world stage.
This country is still one of the most diverse and inclusive in the world and it has acted with pragmatism in its foreign policy and its response to American financial greed.
We are feeling the effects of the global economic downturn, just like everyone else, but our banks appear to be solid (and I stress the "appear"). I've been watching, with dismay, the looming collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a organisation that was, only 4 years ago, quoted as being worth more than Ford, General Motors, Nike and MacDonalds combined. Now, it will be lucky if its market capitalisation is worth more than a Big Mac, with the share price dropping from a 2007 high of six pounds to just 10pence today. The UK, it would appear, is in even bigger trouble than the US and the financial projections of a 5% decline for Ireland puts it within spitting distance of a depression.
So Canada, with all it's political squabbling, seems to be holding on in there. Now we need to see what the Tories come up with in next week's budget. That should be ffun...
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