Throne speech -- New directions
After ten years of what amounted to national brain death under Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin's two year reign accomplished one thing at least -- a majority of Canadians began to realize that things had to change.
Instead of finding one big thing that they couldn't accept, I believe that many Canadians (those who weren't already fully committed to the conservative cause) discovered a lot of little things that just didn't add up. The pasted-on smile and bravado of the departed PM probably just reinforced the general impression that something was rotten in the state next to Denmark, or at least Denmark's largest autonomous region.
Among the things that seemed most out of whack with reality, I would list the following:
-- all talk and little action on health care, the solution always around the next corner, and the road very long and winding.
-- a foreign policy that seemed to be all about insulting George Bush and not taking in that Iraq was not Vietnam any more than our Afghanistan was the Soviet Afghanistan.
-- a mania for taking guns away from everyone except the bad guys.
-- lots of attention for the high maintenance gay lobby, while more pedestrian concerns like the family budget were too much trouble.
-- monumental pronouncements about the environment coupled with more and more air pollution.
-- and of course, the background stench of the overflowing septic tank in the Liberal back yard, going under the headline of Gomery.
Given all of this, it is surprising and quite disappointing to many conservatives that Canadians had any time left for the Liberals, especially after they campaigned as if to say, "so what?" to the Canadian voters.
Despite the disappointment of such a thin minority government as reward for an able campaign fought by a team with obviously superior integrity and potentially superior ability as well, Stephen Harper has in three months continued what he started in the two month campaign, a quiet revolution in which the major theme is confidence that the Conservative approach is best. A lesser individual in this position would probably be floundering around like a muskie on a dock at this point, trying to square circles that would remain round no matter what. Harper, meanwhile, has basically said, "okay, if this is what it has to be, then I'll take it, and we'll do what we can to turn things around."
Just that attitude alone has improved the tone of public affairs in Canada. It has signalled that we now have a government that is ahead of the curve, already in position to provide leadership before the Canadian people in their entirety stumble out of the long sleep of the Liberal night into the bracing brightness of Conservative day.
And if you think that's over the top, you were sleeping through the Liberal night. I wasn't. We almost lost our country thanks to those misguided fools and if the Canadian voters let them back in the wheelhouse again in my lifetime, I will be writing eulogies for Canada rather than keeping my fingers crossed that the nation will now pull back from the brink.
We need the new directions announced in the throne speech. At the same time, we need to understand that these are bare minimum objectives, in terms of fighting crime, reducing air pollution, increasing accountability of government, making the health care system solid and workable, and having our military contribution responsibly supported both in word and in deed.
Harper, as an economist and a very successful politician in a movement famous for failed political careers, demonstrates that he has the ability to reduce complex problems to simple steps, and therefore one can be optimistic that if Canadians appreciate these rather humble first steps out of the Liberal swamp, then perhaps they will gain an appetite for the higher ground that lies beyond.
Many will be hoping that this government can gain firmer traction and perhaps through a second round of elections, come into full majority power in Canada. Thus I would encourage those who are perhaps a little impatient with the lack of clear concern with various issues that might constitute "social conservatism" to view this as a temporary base, as a glass half full situation. At the same time, social conservatives need to signal to their MPs and to the Prime Minister that we are not just out here to provide additional votes for a fiscal conservative government. While I greatly admire the work of Stephen Harper and do not doubt his integrity, we must all remember that this is our "counter revolution" at work here through the convoluted processes of parliament.
I was struck by the odd coming together of imagery today on Parliament Hill. I saw and heard ancient and honourable rituals, couched in archaic language, establishing the intricate relationships between the elected government and the constitutional monarchy. I watched the rather odd spectacle of this fashionable (and many still think, out of place) Governor General inspecting the troops, those salt of the earth Canucks, while somewhere beyond the perimeter, a few lost souls chanted their deluded lament for the end of the Liberal two-faced era, with their cries for our troops to get out of Afghanistan. It was a plea that, if honoured, would help almost nobody on earth except Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, and in that moment alone, I sensed that our nation has been taken to the brink of national suicide because the very fact that this notion could appeal to any but a few lunatics (and I know that it does) shows that we have been brainwashed almost beyond belief by charlatans and poseurs of the radical left for two generations.
That's the real opposition that Harper faces in the House as well, for the actual opposition MPs there are nothing much more than inflated dolls, ready to shrivel to nothing at the first moment that the Canadian people come to their senses and realize the extent to which they have been fooled and misled over the years. Gomery was nothing compared to this, nothing at all, just a parking ticket on a mobster's limousine.
But bravo to Stephen Harper and the new government, and words of encouragement to any of the opposition who see an opportunity to work together to create a better Canada in the aftermath of the Liberal trainwreck. These first days have been impressive, but the mountain above is formidable. Perhaps this is why Harper chooses to wear the vest rather than the casual shirt -- we have much work to do now.
-- Peter O'Donnell
After ten years of what amounted to national brain death under Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin's two year reign accomplished one thing at least -- a majority of Canadians began to realize that things had to change.
Instead of finding one big thing that they couldn't accept, I believe that many Canadians (those who weren't already fully committed to the conservative cause) discovered a lot of little things that just didn't add up. The pasted-on smile and bravado of the departed PM probably just reinforced the general impression that something was rotten in the state next to Denmark, or at least Denmark's largest autonomous region.
Among the things that seemed most out of whack with reality, I would list the following:
-- all talk and little action on health care, the solution always around the next corner, and the road very long and winding.
-- a foreign policy that seemed to be all about insulting George Bush and not taking in that Iraq was not Vietnam any more than our Afghanistan was the Soviet Afghanistan.
-- a mania for taking guns away from everyone except the bad guys.
-- lots of attention for the high maintenance gay lobby, while more pedestrian concerns like the family budget were too much trouble.
-- monumental pronouncements about the environment coupled with more and more air pollution.
-- and of course, the background stench of the overflowing septic tank in the Liberal back yard, going under the headline of Gomery.
Given all of this, it is surprising and quite disappointing to many conservatives that Canadians had any time left for the Liberals, especially after they campaigned as if to say, "so what?" to the Canadian voters.
Despite the disappointment of such a thin minority government as reward for an able campaign fought by a team with obviously superior integrity and potentially superior ability as well, Stephen Harper has in three months continued what he started in the two month campaign, a quiet revolution in which the major theme is confidence that the Conservative approach is best. A lesser individual in this position would probably be floundering around like a muskie on a dock at this point, trying to square circles that would remain round no matter what. Harper, meanwhile, has basically said, "okay, if this is what it has to be, then I'll take it, and we'll do what we can to turn things around."
Just that attitude alone has improved the tone of public affairs in Canada. It has signalled that we now have a government that is ahead of the curve, already in position to provide leadership before the Canadian people in their entirety stumble out of the long sleep of the Liberal night into the bracing brightness of Conservative day.
And if you think that's over the top, you were sleeping through the Liberal night. I wasn't. We almost lost our country thanks to those misguided fools and if the Canadian voters let them back in the wheelhouse again in my lifetime, I will be writing eulogies for Canada rather than keeping my fingers crossed that the nation will now pull back from the brink.
We need the new directions announced in the throne speech. At the same time, we need to understand that these are bare minimum objectives, in terms of fighting crime, reducing air pollution, increasing accountability of government, making the health care system solid and workable, and having our military contribution responsibly supported both in word and in deed.
Harper, as an economist and a very successful politician in a movement famous for failed political careers, demonstrates that he has the ability to reduce complex problems to simple steps, and therefore one can be optimistic that if Canadians appreciate these rather humble first steps out of the Liberal swamp, then perhaps they will gain an appetite for the higher ground that lies beyond.
Many will be hoping that this government can gain firmer traction and perhaps through a second round of elections, come into full majority power in Canada. Thus I would encourage those who are perhaps a little impatient with the lack of clear concern with various issues that might constitute "social conservatism" to view this as a temporary base, as a glass half full situation. At the same time, social conservatives need to signal to their MPs and to the Prime Minister that we are not just out here to provide additional votes for a fiscal conservative government. While I greatly admire the work of Stephen Harper and do not doubt his integrity, we must all remember that this is our "counter revolution" at work here through the convoluted processes of parliament.
I was struck by the odd coming together of imagery today on Parliament Hill. I saw and heard ancient and honourable rituals, couched in archaic language, establishing the intricate relationships between the elected government and the constitutional monarchy. I watched the rather odd spectacle of this fashionable (and many still think, out of place) Governor General inspecting the troops, those salt of the earth Canucks, while somewhere beyond the perimeter, a few lost souls chanted their deluded lament for the end of the Liberal two-faced era, with their cries for our troops to get out of Afghanistan. It was a plea that, if honoured, would help almost nobody on earth except Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, and in that moment alone, I sensed that our nation has been taken to the brink of national suicide because the very fact that this notion could appeal to any but a few lunatics (and I know that it does) shows that we have been brainwashed almost beyond belief by charlatans and poseurs of the radical left for two generations.
That's the real opposition that Harper faces in the House as well, for the actual opposition MPs there are nothing much more than inflated dolls, ready to shrivel to nothing at the first moment that the Canadian people come to their senses and realize the extent to which they have been fooled and misled over the years. Gomery was nothing compared to this, nothing at all, just a parking ticket on a mobster's limousine.
But bravo to Stephen Harper and the new government, and words of encouragement to any of the opposition who see an opportunity to work together to create a better Canada in the aftermath of the Liberal trainwreck. These first days have been impressive, but the mountain above is formidable. Perhaps this is why Harper chooses to wear the vest rather than the casual shirt -- we have much work to do now.
-- Peter O'Donnell
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