The Politics of Canada

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Originally posted by: beebs

That's probably the best thing Harper has done in his time as Prime Minister. quote>

Yeah, but imagine how stupid it sounded in the thrown speech.  Wonder why he needed a tempest in a teapot, eh?

[Nick9099 2]

I guess he thought it would make him look progressive, modern, etc. He must never have realised that adding dost and thou to a song, here in the 21st century, is not going to make him look modern, no matter what kind of sexist (or not) line is removed. There are many gender-neutral possibilities that don't belong in the 19th century.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Originally posted by: Nick9099

I guess he thought it would make him look progressive, modern, etc. He must never have realised that adding dost and thou to a song, here in the 21st century, is not going to make him look modern, no matter what kind of sexist (or not) line is removed. There are many gender-neutral possibilities that don't belong in the 19th century.

quote>

I thought the King James Bible was earlier than that.

[Nick9099 2]

Originally posted by: N_O_Body

Originally posted by: Nick9099

I guess he thought it would make him look progressive, modern, etc. He must never have realised that adding dost and thou to a song, here in the 21st century, is not going to make him look modern, no matter what kind of sexist (or not) line is removed. There are many gender-neutral possibilities that don't belong in the 19th century.

quote>

I thought the King James Bible was earlier than that.

quote>

Yeah, 16th century. 

[Patricius Maximus 236]

I never saw the need for a national anthem in the first place, but I was opposed to legally changing the lyrics to reflect modern sensibilities. Really, the song is from 1880, and the phrase "thou dost in us command" was changed for grammatical reasons . And in response to N_O_Body's comment, as a speaker of English, I would not want to have to sing O Canada in French .

I would like to close with the observation that adding "dost" to a song can hardly make Harper look like a progressive. This even goes beyond the misguided stance of conservatism. This goes to the insane relm of regressivism.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Patricius Maximus:  Notwithstanding your domicile, French is one of the official langauges.  This seems to have been largely forgotten by the VANOC people, and the poor showing by their boss at the Olympic Closing Ceremony was worse than no French at all.  I am an Anglophone but I speak better French than that, albeit a mix of Joual and Langue d'Oc.  He could at least have got some coaching from Jacques Rogge, even if he is Belgian.

As for the National Anthem, it didn't exist except as a nice song for many of my years.  It used to be God Save the Queen (or Heil Sei Die Gnaden Furstin).  When it comes to national anthems, I would rather clean up The Maple Leaf Forever by reducing the denigration of Quebec in the first verse.  After all, Wolfe, the dauntless hero, was also killed at Quebec, probably by a sniper.  If we must have O Canada, I like it the way it is now, and don't think anyone with any sense would really want to change it except for a few squeaky wheels who don't understand the maxim "If it aint busted, don't fix it.".

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Here is somethng to restart this debate.

[raja_indy14 8]

This seems to have been largely forgotten by the VANOC people, and the poor showing by their boss at the Olympic Closing Ceremony was worse than no French at all.quote>

As far as I'm concerned, the Olympics are awarded to a city, not a country. If they wanted to be representative, it would have made more sense to have Chinese elements than French-Canadian ones.  Presenting everything important in both French and English is all that is required to satisfy the official language problem.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Originally posted by: raja_indy14

As far as I'm concerned, the Olympics are awarded to a city, not a country. If they wanted to be representative, it would have made more sense to have Chinese elements than French-Canadian ones.  Presenting everything important in both French and English is all that is required to satisfy the official language problem.quote>

The so-called Official Language problem is due to the fact that it is embedded in the (new) constitution (Charter of Rights and Freedoms), but only for New Brunswick.  Except for that, bear in mind that newspapers are published in Canada's largest city in over 100 languages.  The whole idea of enshrining languages in the state papers is generally repugnant to me.  There was no problem with French (Joual) speaking in Quebec, nor in northern New Brunswick, nor parts of Manitoba and Ontario until we had all that agitation from the "quiet revolution" in Quebec caused by a few so-called intellectuals who wanted to make some headlines.  Ever since the French Revolution, Francophones of a certain stripe have felt that it would be nice to impose The Directory on everyone.  Next they'll want to re-introduce the Guillotine.

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Tuesday, March 30 2010 02:34 PM And now for something completely different.

Link

If you follow this link and read the comments on the article you'll eventually find my comment, but you'll have to wade through a land-fill of trashy comments.  The exercise will give you an idea of what the idle Canadians have to say on the refugee system.

I have been very much put off by our inability to handle this flood of people from abroad who "jump the immigration queue".  Some of them are legitimate, but many have abused us, and we are finally starting a snap-back.  So many of them arrive penniless, and we find housing and enough money for them to eke out an existence before their claims can be heard that it is annoying that many of them just "disappear" into  the general population.  I hope we can get our hands on these guys soon and can send them home with dispatch.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Lest we forget.

Well, our last WW I vet is gone.  We really need to keep this in front of us, especially on Remembrance Day.  (Nov. 11 in Canada).

[Nucks8 1]

People! "In all thy sons command" is not a sexist comment! I also agree with Nick9099. We should have a more balanced House of Commons. It would be a great start to the end of sexism in Canada. Not something in our anthem.

So our last WWI vet is dead. A huge piece of our history is gone now...

We should remember that on November 11th 

[Mootilda 76]

Originally posted by: Nucks8

People! "In all thy sons command" is not a sexist comment!quote>

That's only true if you believe that language cannot be sexist.

[Wrightguy0 40]

speaking of remeberance and WWI, today marks the 93rd anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge, i feel that today is as good a day as any to remember him, and all his comrades who didn't survive that battle. To the Honorable Dead, your sacrifices were not in vain.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

And to make the cheese more binding, it was announced today that Helen Geurgis (pronounced Georges) has been chucked out of both cabinet and the Conservative caucus.  She has been rather unstable for a while, but something bad must be going on as the PMO has called  in the Mounties.

When I lived in Grey-Simcoe Riding, I helped get her elected for the first time.  She is a scion of a respected family, so go figure.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Link.

Thank heavens this is an appointed job.  If the peepul's choice went to Rideau Hall I think we would become the International Laughing Stock of all time.  I can't imagine Bill Shatner as the Queen's representative.  Second star to the right and straight on 'till morning.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

New Topic:  Freedom of the Press.

Supreme Court of Canada sets the rules for Journalism's vaunted source protection.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Big cuts in the Navy.  CBC story.

Thank heavens that the ice breaker service in the arctic is run by the Canadian Coast Guard.  Laying up old mine sweepers in the days of boomers is not such a bad thing as long as the personnel get new postings and the ship building promised is done.  When the Northwest Passage opens, we will need more hardware and people to keep order up there and, gasp, maybe collect tolls.

Once the NWP is really open and viable, what use will the Panama Canal be?

[Nucks8 1]

I can't believe it!!!!

One BILLION dollars for security during the G20 and G8 summit!

I hope harper is shot out of a cannon into the arctic! 

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Originally posted by: Nucks8

I can't believe it!!!!

One BILLION dollars for security during the G20 and G8 summit!

I hope harper is shot out of a cannon into the arctic! quote>

Mr. Harper deserves his majescule letter on his name.  It's the highest thing he gets these days.

You don't think the mayor knows what the town clowns are up to do you?  This budget came partially from the RCMP, CSIS, and other security outfits whose budget is overseen by some hush hush Parliamentary committee.

If you think Harper is a problem, look at the record of the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin and his predecessor, the Rt. Hon. Jean Cretin er Cretien.

Frankly, I think that budget is overkill, and the Auditor General should have a look at it after the fact.  I'll be interested to see if the Commissioner of the RCMP got a new pair of custom riding boots by Gucci and other interesting expense items.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Governor General Michaele Jean is retiring at the end of her term and has taken a post with UNESC as their ambassador to Haitian Recovery.

A new appointment for GG has not yet been announced.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

David Johnston, Vice-chancellor and president of the University of Waterloo will take office as governor general October 1st.

Story straight from the horse's ...

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Watch out for dem beevers!

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Just a note on the Conrad Black affair.

1. The U.S. prosecutors in Chicago were overzealous, and now have exposed themselves and the United States to wrongful prosecution suits that will clog up the courts for the next two decades.  Mr. Black has the resources to pursue these guys even after death (his or theirs) and he will.
2. Mr. Black (Lord Black) is not a Canadian citizen, thanks to the recalcitrance of Jean Cretien, then Prime Minister, who would not countenance dual citizenship if the person were to become a British Peer.  As long has his conviction is registered in the U.S. he is not eligible to even visit Canada.
3. His British passport has expired, so, in effect he is now a stateless person unless the British Embassy (High Commission) in the U.S. acts to renew it.
4. Mr. Black has paid a high price for a cheap bit of weasel fur.

[jayman68 1]

Hello. I don't often find myself posting, but I would like to throw a spin in here if I may.

The Governor General of CANADA is the DE FACTO (as admitted publicly on the Governor General's website) Head of State of the bankrupt corporation in receivership called the Government of CANADA. In law the debtor defines the contract, and the bankrupt corporation in receivership called the government of CANADA is creditor to the debtor corporation the WORLD BANK, which, in the WORLD BANK OPERATIONAL MANUAL, states that "A DE FACTO government comes into, or remains in, power by means not provided for in the country's constitution, such as a coup d'

[Wrightguy0 40]

I'd like to ask you to clarify that, because last time i looked we as Canadians are subjects of a Constitutional Monarchy, and last time i looked Canada was one of the top performers in the G20.

and i'm afraid you have been misinformed sir, our Government is headed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Governor General is only her Representative

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

jayman68:  Canada is a sovereign state.  The head of state is the Queen.  The GG is only a representative when she is absent.

Now, where did you get all that guff about the World Bank?

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Shutting down the revolving door on "minor" crimes.  Changing the criminal code definition of Murder 1 to include gang baners killing each other and other gang-related stuff.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

This is a step towards legalizing prostitution in Canada. 

news.nationalpost.com/2010/09/28/a-closer-look-at-the-prostitution-laws-found-to-be-unconstitutional/

This is interesting because it can help eliminate the criminal element associated with the sex trade.  Three sections of the Criminal Code have been found unconstitutional.

[spa 970]

You can bet the Tories will be appealing that! Will be interesting to see where the Supreme Court goes (I assume that would be the next step) as they have ruled differently then the Ontario Court on prostitution related elements in the past. At the end of the day, I believe it makes sense to legalize it to better protect vulnerable women and rob organized crime of a lucrative income stream. If prostitution becomes legal and they ever decriminalize pot, we'll really be Amsterdam North.... Could encourage Americans to get passports and start visiting again

[Wrightguy0 40]

it's been a subject of review since the case of Robert Pickton, women who have to work in that trade are quite vulnerable, opening of legal brothels and government regulation of the trade would take a lot of money out of the hands of criminals, which i hear is becoming dangerous gang related violence.