Canadian Politics! Now 12% less boring!

[pyat]

So, a former pastor of mine, the man who married velvetpage and I, is using Facebook to organize a political protest at Bob Rae's office. The text of the invite is as follows:

"Join the protest this Friday, December at 12:00 noon in front of Bob Rae's Cabbagetown office, 514 Parliament Street, Toronto. Join those who want to tell Mr. Rae that no Canadian voted for a government that seeks the support of separatists. Tell Mr. Rae that our economy can not afford these kinds of games right now."

Well, first off, a rather large number of Canadians voted for a government that seeks the support of separatists. We call those Canadians "Quebecois." But, that aside, I am still not sure what I think of my former Pastor inviting me to a political protest. I'm not one who thinks that separation of church and state extends to forbidding pastors from expressing any politics publicly or engaging in political activism. So, that doesn't bother me too much.

That said, I am frankly uncomfortable with the idea of a mass-invite to any kind of protest when there is no clear moral imperative or danger. It's simply more political gaming. ("Oh no! Canada might have a short-lived coalition government, just like any number of other democracies have had! Doom!)" I generally approve of political arrangements that force cooperation and compromise - governance according to a single political creed or philosophy is a mistake.

If the coalition is created and does poorly, the public backlash will be pretty strong. They will be punished or rewarded by the electorate. I am not terribly happy with the possible concessions that may be offered to the separatist element, but presumably the NDP and Liberals would recognize that handing over too much would be bad for them in the next election.

Then again, I'm also one of those people who thinks that Quebec independence would basically be a historical blip. And also rather silly that people regularly accuse Separatists of treason.

Comments

[cargoweasel.livejournal.com]

OH Bob Rae, will your reign of terror ever end

heh, do you remember the Socialist Republic of Ontario circa 1990 or so, during the Rae Days? It was that kind of horseshit that ushered in Mike Harris and the rebellion of the 905ers.

I hear he switched to the Liberals now, thus raising the average IQ of both parties!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Ah, Rae Days... sigh. Thinking of them always reminds me of high school. :)

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

When I think of school (grade seven to be precise) I think about Bill Davis' stupid open concept classroom and how hard it was to learn anything with three teachers talking at the same time.

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

So, is your pastor Sun Yung Moon? If he's married to you and Erin, does that mean you two aren't legally married???

have a short-lived coalition government

This seems very dangerous to me, leastwise here it would never fly.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

So, is your pastor Sun Yung Moon? If he's married to you and Erin, does that mean you two aren't legally married???

Oh, we're a triad. Mostly a Christmas and Easter thing, though. He shows up to demand conjugal rights, and I explain that I don't like him that way, and we end up playing Bible Scrabble.

This seems very dangerous to me, leastwise here it would never fly.

Well, by "short-lived" I mean "one term."

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't get this. What does this have to do with any sort of religious issues? I mean, this is over things like economic stimulus packages, the right to strike, and funding frameworks for political parties. I don't remember any sermons *ever* talking about those things.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Not very interesting sermons, anyway.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Heh.

You know, sometimes I miss church, just for the sermons (and the singing, and the coffee and baked goods at the end).

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I agree. While I'm not entirely happy with the theology of the Unitarian church we attend, I wasn't entirely happy with the theology of the Salvationist church before it, either. And the Unitarians have nearly as much singing, shorter sermons, and more baked goods!

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I actually started looking up unitarian churches after making that comment. There were two churches, one seemed cool, while the other one didn't quite so much.

[neosis.livejournal.com]

The Conservative Party of Canada is bristling with Social Conservatives, and thus many churches hope that the Conservative party will eventually pass laws that they support. You know the usual, ban gay marriage, ban gay adoption, fund religious school programs, bring prayers back into public schools, ban stem cell research, and ban abortion.

All the other major parties are pretty rigorously secular in their policies and agendas.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I see.

Half of those couldn't even be done without a constitutional amendment. And the religious school programs is a provincial issue.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

It doesn't matter. They just want a government that postures loudly on their behalf.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

But... why exactly?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Because they are used to living in faith.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I see.

I totally don't get that mindset, as in it is totally alien to me. And my parents were quite active in the church when I was growing up.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Well, also because they don't realize that not much can be done. :)

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes sense.

I wonder if something can be done about that...

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

There was some interesting discussion last night on the news about the Conservatives attempts at astroturfing, stuff like scripts for firing away at call-in shows and such. One of the things that's being pushed is that the coalition is driven by separatists and socialists and is therefore a threat to our rights and freedoms... except that the separatists haven't done anything of note in years and Canada is socialist nation already.

And besides, it's not like the separatists are taking over the government. IIRC, aren't they just signing papers to say that they won't vote against the coalition? Or something?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

IIRC, aren't they just signing papers to say that they won't vote against the coalition? Or something?

Presumably they are some backroom deals going on to give them some things they want in addition to that. I don't know.

[relee.livejournal.com]

From the sounds of it, it's less about the Seperatists, and more about finding an excuse to oppose the coalition. I think perhaps that sir pastor wants a conservative government, and he sees this as opposition parties 'cheating' and taking over the government. So he's attacking the weakest link.

Or maybe I'm just full of crap, I dunno. ^.^;;

[nottheterritory.livejournal.com]

One vote for you not being full of crap here.

Ditto

[pxtl.livejournal.com]

They keep saying "it's not democratic"

Some 51% of our elected representatives are supporting this new government. That's called a majority, which makes it pretty damned democratic, if you ask me.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

You are not full of crap, at least judging by the other Facebook groups he has started or joined:

"Protest at Bob Rae's Front Door, Canadians Against a Liberal/NDP Coalition Gov't, Fans of Michael Coren, Pray for Major Ivan Budgell, Elect Bob Saroya Conservative Candidate for ETOBICOKE NORTH , ELECT LAURA DREXLER TO WR OSSTF OT EXECUTIVE, Support Melissa Bhagat, Elect George Khouri, Conservative MP for Pickering - Scarborough East, I Bet I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Support Stephen Harper, Supporters of Peter Shurman, 8 not 12, Elect Paul Calandra as the next Member of Parliament for Oak Ridges Markham."

[relee.livejournal.com]

*nods* I thought so.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

As mentioned elsewhere, I'm glad to see the majority of our elected officials getting off their backsides at last. Joe Clark's minority gov't (also Conservative) lasted what, 18 months? And yet Harper's bunch got in a second time. I'd rather see people of diverse politics working together in a coalition than be ruled by one party for whom the majority didn't vote.

The Bloc won't have enough power in a coalition to ask for anything significant, anyway.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

The Bloc won't have enough power in a coalition to ask for anything significant, anyway.

I'm hoping it will be for stuff like increased transfer payments to provinces. Basically, things that can benefit everyone, but can still be shown to be benefiting Quebec.

[mrs-dm.livejournal.com]

I think Joe Clark's government lasted only 9 months. That number sticks in my mind as the minimum amount of time needed to gestate an election.

[neosis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was 273 days. According to Wikipedia, it was NDP MP Bob Rae who attached the rider "This government has lost the confidence of parliament" that brought the government down.

Interesting side note: If the Governor General hadn't prorogued parliament, Harper would have gone down in the history books for the shortest Canadian government ever.