dear canadians: please read this

I'm still under the weather (though I've finally turned a corner, thank the stars) and too tired to put together a coherent post about the current Canadian political situation.  Mostly I've been stressed about the rhetoric coming out of Stephen Harper and the Conservative party -- first of all, "socialist" is not a dirty word, and if it weren't for the "socialists", we wouldn't have some of the things that makes this country admired -- universal health care, anyone?

Second -- I may not agree with the Bloc Quebecois and their aims (though I do agree with them a lot on social/fiscal/environmental issues), but they are the legitimately, democratically elected representatives from the people of Quebec, and they have a right to participate in parliament and represent their constituents. 

Mostly, I'm distressed that the Prime Minister of this country doesn't seem to possess any understanding of how Canadian Parliamentary democracy works, and seems to think he's suddenly working in an American style republic.  It's not the case.  But for a far more eloquent post on this very subject, please head over to Mark Blevis' blog, and read his post entitled "A New Education on the Parliamentary System".  He's put the case more coherently and more thoughtfully than I can right now.

And as Valerie said on Twitter (actually, she tweeted several interesting thoughts, including some echoed in Mark's post):

"So when you listen to what the Harper says in the next few days, ask yourself what country's language he's speaking."

Comments

[zydeco fish]

Exactly.

[k]

Yeah, except I keep reading this comments (esp. on the GG's site) from people who seem to believe that we elected a PM last time we voted. Last I looked, his name wasn't on *my* ballot.

Sigh. Why haven't we educated our citizens to understand their own political system?

[John Meadows]

With the dominance of U.S. media, maybe Canadians have a more thorough misunderstanding of the American political system then they do of their own system. :)

[k]

I'll admit, this is a rare situation for our country, but not without precedent, and surely we should be able to understand that yes, this *is* how things can work.

[Tyffanie Morgan]

You know, these arguments remind me of my frustration during election time. I think most Canadians when faced with the challenge of elections are faced with a few questions on how they should vote. 1) Should I vote for the party that I want that may not necessarily be the same local MP that I want? or 2) Vote for the MP that I want and who cares about the party! or 3) Vote for the party with the best leader who will become PM. I don't think it's very clear who or what people are voting for anymore. Perhaps it's time for reform. Not Reform... reform :) Or at least make it more clear to Canadians what we are asked to do every 3-4 years. Goodness knows, Mr. Harper needs some clarity on this matter :)

[k]

Oh, Tyffanie, I agree -- some sort of change or reform is needed, because we can't keep on keeping on like this.

And a good dose of education all around would be a good start -- we need to know how the system actually works now, and what are options are, so we can work to change them, or refine them.

I'm equally distressed that people who spent so much time following the American elections are willing to spend so much less time on our own politics. Not everyone, but a lot.

And for the first time in a long time, I'm envious of those same Americans who managed to organize and educate and get themselves out to the polls and make a significant change. I want that for *us*, too.