I need a new country. Who'll have me?

I

IronDuke

Ancient Mariner
Ok, before reading my rant, please look at this link:
[a href=\'http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/08/03/gg050803.html\' target=\'_blank\']New Governor General[/a]

For those of you who don't know, the office of Governor General in Canada is similar to that of the President of Germany or the Queen of Britain.
In theory, he/she has immense power. They sign all government bills into law. They can disolve Parliament, they are Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and they can issue Orders-in-Council without the approval of the legislators.

Since the position is unelected, they have little real power in practice. They always just rubber-stamp whatever Parliament tells them to do, since they carry a mandate from the people. When they do go against the will of Parliament, it precipitates a constitutional crisis of epic proportions. (EG, The [a href=\'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King-Byng_Affair\' target=\'_blank\']King-Byng Affair[/a] of 1926)

So they just act basically as a good-will ambassador to Canadians and the world. A nice little throwback to a by-gone era. I approve of the position.

With the appointment of Michaelle Jean, however, a few things have been proven:
1. The Martin government is more concerned with Quebec than the rest of the country. Anything East of the walls of Old Quebec City just doesn't matter to Ottawa (There's 4 more provinces over there, you fucknuts!)

2. Minority rights trump majority representation. I have nothing against immigrants, but I think the highest office of the land should reflect the make-up of Canada as it currently is. Our last Governor-General was an immigrant and a minority. (Born in Hong Kong to chinese parents). This new one was born in Haiti and is black. Two in a row is a bit excessive, methinks. The population of Canada is 76% of European descent (white). Maybe it's time they got a little representation? If this job is supposed to be that of showing Canada to the world, why not who us for what we are: A white country with some immigrants in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

3. Liberalism is dead in Canada. Yes, the Liberal Party will reign supreme for years, but they are no longer liberals in any sense of the word. They are socialists who think they know what's best for the country and don't care what others think. Yes, they made some correct decisions in the past 30 years, but they were not the federal government's decisions to make. Canadians as a whole should determine their destiny, and whether they choose right or wrong their views should be government policy.
The last liberal Prime Minister we head was under Lester Pearson, the greatest man ever to hold the office. He believed in the principles of individual freedom to live one's own life free from crushing taxes, unwanted government programs, and unwanted government intrusion into daily life. That's what being a liberal is all about. It's not some weak-kneed anti-military thief who won't stand up for his own citizens and who thinks they are tools of radical and unwanted social change.
Gay marriage? All polls showed a majority of Canadians opposed to it. Yet it was passed. Racial laws? A big joke. Indians don't pay tax because of their skin colour, a white man is charged with a hate crime for fighting off two young black men who attacked him in the street.
People think they are owed a living from this land. No. They have to earn it. Fuck the welfare state, fuck socialist programs, fuck Trudeau and his insipid usurpation of the values which built this country.
Fuck....takes a deep breath

Ok, I strayed a bit. Oh well.

For my next rant, look for: The Canadian Senate, or A Retirement Home for Unelected Knobs who don't do anything worthwhile And later this month, be sure to catch: Paul Martin Is a Tax Evader Who Reigsters His Fucking Fleet of Merchant Ships in the Caribbean and then has the Nerve to Seek Election as Prime Minister

Now back to your regularly scheduled valium.



Seriously. Fuck this. I'm moving to New Zealand.
 
I think that Michaelle Jean does a good job of representing the country of Canada. In my opinion, you are mistaken in thinking that the Governour General, Federal President, Queen or anything like that is supposed to represent the people. The people are properly represented by the parliament. The Governour General in your case represents the country and the values it stands for. If something hasn't drastically changed within the past ten years, Canada wants to stand for diversity, tolerance and openness in the world. I doubt you can faithfully deliver that message with an old wrinkled man in a tight suit.
It is the same issue in Germany. For years, Germany has been represented by dated men. The current one is more of a representative of the corporations than of the country; the last one was a cleric (perhaps not in profession, but in his mind). But Germany wants to stand for exactly the same values as Canada. But it doesn't if some power-hungry and corrupt politicians become its face in the world.

I also disagree with you on your views of the social system, socialist programs and all that, but I think you're used to that by now [!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

However, I propose that we found our own nation in which we hand-pick the people we let in. All we have to do is save a little so we can afford a couple of Pacific Islands.
 
Canadians, if you need a Caucasian journalist, almost 48 years old, who can represent values of tolerance and diversity (I'm of Hungarian/Austrian descent), here I come [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

Seriously:
The population of Slovakia, my home country, is 85 percent white. We have a 15 percent minority of gypsies, who are of course not Caucasian. They live in horrible messy villages away from people, as noone wants them around. They don't pay taxes either, simply because they don't work (almost 100 percent unemployment among them - noone will employ them), steal and have many kids to get more welfare money (granted depending on the number of children), who don't go to school.

Many tax payers are offended by this. And there's a great discussion as to what do to, because in 20 years they may become a much greater minority. And there will be less tax payers to collect the money for the welfare.
It is the economy (and prejudice) that decides in the end, not some diversity and tolerance [!--emo&:angry:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/mad.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'mad.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I think you might be on to something Per. Our own country might just be the way to go.
I think there might be some poor African country willing to sell us an offshore archipelago.

I'll make some iniquiries
 
I think you should all read ' Who Are We : The Challenges to America's National Identity' by Samuel P. Huntington

Yeah, it's somewhat provocative and you shouldn't agree with it, but still, the data presented in there is very interesting.

Even if it focuses on the USA, the matter of the search of a nation's identity could be transposed in many western countries.

Cheers
 
Ok, I jusr re-read my post, and I sound racist.

I really am not. I believe in total equality for all men and women of all ethnic backgrounds.

I just think that if the demographic and social makeup of a country are to change, they should do so naturally, not imposed from above by the government.

In other words, She should not have been appointed because she was a minority. SHe should have been appointed on the basis of her skills to carry out her duties
 
[!--QuoteBegin-IronDuke+Aug 4 2005, 02:59 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(IronDuke @ Aug 4 2005, 02:59 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]1. The Martin government is more concerned with Quebec than the rest of the country. Anything East of the walls of Old Quebec City just doesn't matter to Ottawa (There's 4 more provinces over there, you fucknuts!)[/quote]

True. But as a member of the Atlantic Provinces, I get to be just as jaded.

[!--QuoteBegin-IronDuke+--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(IronDuke)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]2. Minority rights trump majority representation. I have nothing against immigrants, but I think the highest office of the land should reflect the make-up of Canada as it currently is. Our last Governor-General was an immigrant and a minority. (Born in Hong Kong to chinese parents). This new one was born in Haiti and is black. Two in a row is a bit excessive, methinks. The population of Canada is 76% of European descent (white). Maybe it's time they got a little representation? If this job is supposed to be that of showing Canada to the world, why not who us for what we are: A white country with some immigrants in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.[/quote]
THIS is pure bullshit. It's an American theory. The great American melting pot of culture, that is, in which they for some reason base everything on the colour of a person's skin and the accent which inhabits their words. Canada is about celebrating the fact that a person can be Chinese, Haitian, fucking Madagascarian, and still be a Canadian. For this reason skin colour and nation of origin should matter the least.

Is that an idealist view? Yeah. But in the end, I don't think that we're prone to picking a Governor General who is caustically incapable of performing her duties just to get a colour on the radar. Go read Mrs. Jean's resumé. It's just as impressive as Mrs. Clarkson's, and far more impressive than many other Canadian Governor Generals of the past fifty years.

Besides, look at it this way. Why would a black Governor General be pandering to the plebs? So few Canadians are of African descent it's not funny. Noone panders for 4% of the vote. It's not worth pissing off the other 74% who are white (most of which aren't overreacting like this). Even on the international scene, many GGs and their Commonwealth equivalents, even from Africa, are white.

Finally, I want to look at the real reason why I think Mrs. Jean was selected for the task. Her age and her vibrance. She has the ability to, in her figurehead-like position, instill with the youth of Canada a lot of potential energy that can be placed into politics. I suppose it's akin to making J.K. Rowling the next Queen of England, both women have the ability to reach out and influence the youth. Although I thought Adrienne Clarkson was great, our new GG will likely be even better, since she will identify with the younger voters far more easily. And we definitely need that sort of encouragement with our youth.
 
Dude, the real reason why she gets the job?

She's french and it's an election year.


As for it being an 'American' idea, why does that make it automatically bad?
America's melting pot culture encourages people to be blind to race - it doesn't matter at all in any way. Everyone is considered equal, and race doesn't enter into it because it's not a factor in determining anything.

In Canada, the policies of the government perpetuate the existance of racial groups. If it is the official policy to view people as members of ethnic groups and treat them differently, then people of Group A will be cheesed off when Group B gets something.
You seem to think that governments exist to make everyone happy. They don't. Governmental power derrives from one source and one source alone - the people. Shouldn't government, then, reflect the people who gave it the power?

My rights as an individual human being are inalienable, and only allow government to make rules and dicate what I can and cannot do under my own free choice.

I know she's qualified. Read my previous post. I object to her being chosen because she's black/french/a woman/all of the above, as Mr. Martin was so happy to point out.

She should have been chosen for her ability to carry out the duties of the office.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-IronDuke+Aug 4 2005, 02:24 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(IronDuke @ Aug 4 2005, 02:24 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Ok, I jusr re-read my post, and I sound racist.

I really am not.
[snapback]114022[/snapback]​
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Ever heard of Freudian slips? [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--] I also agree with Perun about your skewed view of Social programs but I'll leave that for when I'm bored.
 
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