In light of this wonderful governmental crisis we have been having in Canada, the Harper government has decided to take their ball and go home. This has absolutely obliterated any democratic regulations that have been in place since the 1200s. They have just put themselves on pace to do 'whatever they want, and no one can stop them.'

So, if any of you other countries ever wanted to invade Canada, now is the time.
Fuck this country.

Edit: A good related article (and site with other related articles) is http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/548083 . Read that and try to learn something.

I'm pissed that nothing will be done for one entire month...It's our general governor's fault.

Once more, all I'm seeing is carebears, rainbow beams and "Your mom is a classy lady".

Aardvark, that's the nature of Canadian politics in general.

Sort of like "You're a SISSY PANTS!" or something.

Anyway, I think the GG is waiting to see what general public opinion on the matter is. So... if you care, one way or another, write the lady instead of complaining.

I should hope something gets done quickly, and that thing not being another election. All the conservatives are doing is gearing up for another campaign, instead of releasing what should have been released already, our economic plan in total.

This stupid country. I'm sick of every single political party. I'm not planning on moving out of the country (is there anywhere better? New Zealand?), but I've lost faith in our democratic process.

Radical restructuring would be cool, if messy. Get rid of the royalty and the senate, mix up how the house of commons runs...

If things go really badly I don't think it would be too out there to have a few provinces break off. Its almost happened a few times before, and Canada is a pretty damn fractured country.

Also Prorogue is the most awesome word ever, it is my new favorite word.

Found this, not quite sure as to its credibility but it might be worth a read, especially if you read the link provided by the OP:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081203.WBWdouglasbell090920081203102220/WBStory/WBWdouglasbell0909

Personally, I think that disbanding parliament so they wouldn't get a non-confidence vote is total bullshit. It just leaves me with the impression of: "What the hell do we need the queen's representative as the head of state for anymore if she just cow tows to the Prime Minister, even when he is being anti-parliamentary?"

So much about Canada's political system needs to change for it to be more democratic and the over reaching, propaganda spouting Harper Conservatives highlight that all too well. To think I used to vote Reform because the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives were corrupt as all get out, fucking bunch of hypocrites.

Who is up for a little revolution?

CanadianWolverine:
Found this, not quite sure as to its credibility but it might be worth a read, especially if you read the link provided by the OP:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081203.WBWdouglasbell090920081203102220/WBStory/WBWdouglasbell0909

Personally, I think that disbanding parliament so they wouldn't get a non-confidence vote is total bullshit. It just leaves me with the impression of: "What the hell do we need the queen's representative as the head of state for anymore if she just cow tows to the Prime Minister, even when he is being anti-parliamentary?"

So much about Canada's political system needs to change for it to be more democratic and the over reaching, propaganda spouting Harper Conservatives highlight that all too well. To think I used to vote Reform because the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives were corrupt as all get out, fucking bunch of hypocrites.

EXACTLY. Thank you.

Raregolddragon:
Who is up for a little revolution?

I'll get some torches.

But in all seriousness, what the fuck was everyone thinking when they did this? Well, we know Harper is a selfish fuck who only wants power for himself, but how could the GG let this happen? Someone needs to smack that bitch, she doesn't even understand her own job.

I very much want to know the GG's reasoning behind this decision. I don't think it was an easy one... note that the PM was in her office for three hours, so whatever did happen didn't happen in a snap. I also deeply respect Jean's intellect and sobriety, so I don't think it happened out of flim-flammery.

But I am very worried about the precedent this sets, and I want to know why it was set before I go on a harang-outang attack.

-- Steve

PedroSteckecilo:

Anyway, I think the GG is waiting to see what general public opinion on the matter is. So... if you care, one way or another, write the lady instead of complaining.

And then what? parliment is out for over a month, she can't do jack all about it because she ignored what was so clearly right. This is so wrong, in a time of economical crisis the harper government deceided to run like pussies and the Governor General let them, the coalition was going to call non-confidence to actually do something productive after this last election which wasted our time and money and Harper does everything in his power, no matter how un-constitutional it may be, to stop them.

Anton P. Nym:
I very much want to know the GG's reasoning behind this decision. I don't think it was an easy one... note that the PM was in her office for three hours, so whatever did happen didn't happen in a snap. I also deeply respect Jean's intellect and sobriety, so I don't think it happened out of flim-flammery.

But I am very worried about the precedent this sets, and I want to know why it was set before I go on a harang-outang attack.

-- Steve

threat?, bribery?, blackmail?

If you do not want to live in this beautiful country, I will gladly get you a one way ticket to Siberia

While I am very angry about the "uncanadian/undemocratic" Vote was stopped for a month. In case your wondering if there was to be a natural disaster in lets say umm..... Orilla, the government can still spend to get rescue crews and all that like despite the prorogue they will just have to put it before parliament when it gets back.

The worst part about this is how little most Canadians understand about our parliament. People always saying 'this country elected Harper, so he is our leader.'

NEWSFLASH: You elected a member from your area, who you just assumed would elect the dude for PM. NO ONE WHO IS NOT A PART OF THE HOUSE VOTES FOR A PRIME MINISTER. NONE OF YOU VOTED FOR HARPER. Besides, he won a minority, and from the people I've talked to, people didn't vote for other parties cause they liked them better, they voted for other parties to try to prevent Harper from winning.

This is fucking ridiculous that a country I was once so proud of is letting itself be a total smear on the face of the planet. This could very possibly be the worst thing to ever happen to Canadian politics.

CoziestPigeon:
NO ONE WHO IS NOT A PART OF THE HOUSE VOTES FOR A PRIME MINISTER. NONE OF YOU VOTED FOR HARPER.

The people from the Calgary south-west riding did.

shatnershaman:

CoziestPigeon:
NO ONE WHO IS NOT A PART OF THE HOUSE VOTES FOR A PRIME MINISTER. NONE OF YOU VOTED FOR HARPER.

The people from the Calgary south-west riding did.

Care to explain how they are different than everyone else in the country?

CoziestPigeon:

shatnershaman:

CoziestPigeon:
NO ONE WHO IS NOT A PART OF THE HOUSE VOTES FOR A PRIME MINISTER. NONE OF YOU VOTED FOR HARPER.

The people from the Calgary south-west riding did.

Care to explain how they are different than everyone else in the country?

That is Stephen Harper's riding. He's an MP too.

tikiwargod:

PedroSteckecilo:

Anyway, I think the GG is waiting to see what general public opinion on the matter is. So... if you care, one way or another, write the lady instead of complaining.

And then what? parliment is out for over a month, she can't do jack all about it because she ignored what was so clearly right. This is so wrong, in a time of economical crisis the harper government deceided to run like pussies and the Governor General let them, the coalition was going to call non-confidence to actually do something productive after this last election which wasted our time and money and Harper does everything in his power, no matter how un-constitutional it may be, to stop them.

You think its right, others think its wrong. We just had an election, I feel that its too soon for them to overthrow the government. As well this kinda came out of nowhere at a rapid pace.

As well if the GG does go off of public opinion, at least the Coalition can say that have the peoples mandate to rule, which at the moment is still sort of up in the air.

shatnershaman:

CoziestPigeon:

shatnershaman:

CoziestPigeon:
NO ONE WHO IS NOT A PART OF THE HOUSE VOTES FOR A PRIME MINISTER. NONE OF YOU VOTED FOR HARPER.

The people from the Calgary south-west riding did.

Care to explain how they are different than everyone else in the country?

That is Stephen Harper's riding. He's an MP too.

Right. Forgot about that.

This is horrific and flies in the face of democracy, but I just can't cay no to a button labeled "awesome".

PedroSteckecilo:

tikiwargod:

PedroSteckecilo:

Anyway, I think the GG is waiting to see what general public opinion on the matter is. So... if you care, one way or another, write the lady instead of complaining.

And then what? parliment is out for over a month, she can't do jack all about it because she ignored what was so clearly right. This is so wrong, in a time of economical crisis the harper government deceided to run like pussies and the Governor General let them, the coalition was going to call non-confidence to actually do something productive after this last election which wasted our time and money and Harper does everything in his power, no matter how un-constitutional it may be, to stop them.

You think its right, others think its wrong. We just had an election, I feel that its too soon for them to overthrow the government. As well this kinda came out of nowhere at a rapid pace.

As well if the GG does go off of public opinion, at least the Coalition can say that have the peoples mandate to rule, which at the moment is still sort of up in the air.

Eh, if you were listening to some of the stuff Harper proposed, it didn't really come out of no where.

hypothetical fact:
This is horrific and flies in the face of democracy, but I just can't cay no to a button labeled "awesome".

See, you obviously don't understand this. You voted (if you did) for an MP. That MP votes for their chosen leader. If your MP has realized that Harper is a fuckwad and votes for a coalition, that is what you voted for. This is almost the definition of democracy, and how shit works up here. Lern2CanadianCivicsplz

[/quote]

Anton P. Nym:
I very much want to know the GG's reasoning behind this decision. I don't think it was an easy one... note that the PM was in her office for three hours, so whatever did happen didn't happen in a snap. I also deeply respect Jean's intellect and sobriety, so I don't think it happened out of flim-flammery.

But I am very worried about the precedent this sets, and I want to know why it was set before I go on a harang-outang attack.

-- Steve

Agreed, Jean is a first class intellect and I really don't think she's one to make snap decisions. She's technically been asked to perform a duty that is not often fulfilled and kind of flies in the face of modern democratic politics... that is a completely appointed individual deciding the political fate of a nation.

As well, I recall that the last Governor General who approved a coalition government lost their job for overstepping their bounds. But that may have been a different situation.

Just to remind you Cozy, Westerners who lived under the Liberals in the 90's were ignored politically for almost a decade. Many people out here REALLY want to see a change in government and Dion reminds them of the same Eastern focused regional politicking we lived through in the past. This is going to split the nation like a rift in space. Look at it this way...

After a decade of being pushed around a western Candidate finally gets into power... and then immediately after an election the losers of that decide they want him out because (this is the opinion out here, not MY opinion) they lost. So now they're pulling every dirt trick in the book to try to get into power so they can push us around again and ignore us.

That's the opinion out here right now.

Personally I'm a lazy centrist, I'd rather see this put to a general referendum. I dislike the idea of ANY government in Canada ruling without election, we have little enough power as a people the rare times we do get to vote.

Hey, if you guys have yourself a revolution up there, you mind if your brothers from the south come up and help a bit? I'm all for stopping and crushing corruption and tyranny...that, and I need something to do.

CoziestPigeon:

hypothetical fact:
This is horrific and flies in the face of democracy, but I just can't cay no to a button labeled "awesome".

See, you obviously don't understand this. You voted (if you did) for an MP. That MP votes for their chosen leader. If your MP has realized that Harper is a fuckwad and votes for a coalition, that is what you voted for. This is almost the definition of democracy, and how shit works up here. Lern2CanadianCivicsplz

Well shit works wrong up there, and I stand by my comment that a button marked awesome must be clicked.

It all sounds awfully complicated to me, and I even bothered to read the wikipedia article!

Bad jokes aside, I used to think Canada was cool, but you guys somehow have a dirty evangelical Christian conservative as PM. Not so cool.

I'm pissed that nothing will be done for one entire month...It's our general governor's fault.

Anyway, I think the GG is waiting to see what general public opinion on the matter is.

Not really. The King-Byng affair set a precedent whereby the GG isn't effectively allowed to override the Prime Minister, so Michaëlle Jean didn't want to provoke a constitutional crisis. And you can say that's bad, but what's worse would be investing more power than we already do in our British-style system in appointed positions.

Radical restructuring would be cool, if messy. Get rid of the royalty and the senate, mix up how the house of commons runs.

Yeah, but if we got rid of the Senate, GG, etc. more of our government proportionally would just be run by dumbasses, like in the United States, since the electorate often makes unremarkable choices.

You can call me "undemocratic" for saying it, but our government already functions on this basis: the Queen, GG, Prime Minister, Senate, and civil service aren't elected positions, they're all appointed ones (this is true of the PM insofar as Canadians vote for a parliament, not a Prime Minister). This is characteristic of a British-style system: MPs are token elected representation, while a large amount of political authority rests in the hands of those with Noblesse oblige. The U.S., by contrast, has more systemic democratic checks in their political structure, but that's not all roses and wine, either.

"What the hell do we need the queen's representative as the head of state for anymore if she just cow tows to the Prime Minister, even when he is being anti-parliamentary?"

For the same reason we maintain our relationship with the Queen: because it's symbolic, and respectful to our history - which was carved out because of our loyalty to the commonwealth. Again, it's easy to dismiss this argument, but our adherence to UK-style governance has also led Canada in large part to reject excessively individualistic American political models, so I would defer.

Just to remind you Cozy, Westerners who lived under the Liberals in the 90's were ignored politically for almost a decade.

I understand western alienation - the NEP skyrocketing Albertan unemployment and whatnot. But I think it's a little exaggerated to describe the federal government as "ignoring" the west in the nineties: yes, Ontario and Quebec are priorities (and should be), as they're the most populace provinces, but the Liberals government for all of Canada, as do the Harper Conservatives (except Toronto & Montreal in the latter case, and possibly Alberta in the former).

but you guys somehow have a dirty evangelical Christian conservative as PM.

Stockwell Day was never PM. Stephen Harper is byinlarge secular and principled in his Calgary School conservatism - he rebelled against Manning because he felt he was tacit in turning the Reform into a party that advocated religious bigotry, and he later considered running for the PCs.

I dislike the idea of ANY government in Canada ruling without election, we have little enough power as a people the rare times we do get to vote.

It's funny because this is what absolutist English monarchs used to do: cancel parliament, and govern out of their own coffers for as long as they could afford to. Still, I dislike the idea of an accord with the Bloc.

Suspend parliament until late next month--goodness. Has this ever happened before? Well, it has happened before in England--in 1628 when King Charles I gave a prorogation speech and dissolved parliament.

PedroSteckecilo:

tikiwargod:

PedroSteckecilo:

Anyway, I think the GG is waiting to see what general public opinion on the matter is. So... if you care, one way or another, write the lady instead of complaining.

And then what? parliment is out for over a month, she can't do jack all about it because she ignored what was so clearly right. This is so wrong, in a time of economical crisis the harper government deceided to run like pussies and the Governor General let them, the coalition was going to call non-confidence to actually do something productive after this last election which wasted our time and money and Harper does everything in his power, no matter how un-constitutional it may be, to stop them.

You think its right, others think its wrong. We just had an election, I feel that its too soon for them to overthrow the government. As well this kinda came out of nowhere at a rapid pace.

As well if the GG does go off of public opinion, at least the Coalition can say that have the peoples mandate to rule, which at the moment is still sort of up in the air.

The coalitionwasn't listening to the people, they were trying to overthrow the government in order to actually get things done because as of right now stephen harper is wasting time and not trrying to fix any of our problems, he used the eccuse (spelling?) that a gevernment can't get alot of things done in 2 months but he's been in power for a few years, hes a joke and we need a real leader right now, we need progress towards economic stability and that's not going to happen because parliment is prorogued.

latenightapplepie:
It all sounds awfully complicated to me, and I even bothered to read the wikipedia article!

Bad jokes aside, I used to think Canada was cool, but you guys somehow have a dirty evangelical Christian conservative as PM. Not so cool.

Not exactly true, bringing up your Religion/Faith etc. in Canadian politics is generally considered political suicide up here, it's what killed Stockwell Day's hopes of becoming prime minister, he was the real nutter.