At the Idle No More event at Ottawa’s Rideau Centre today, I bore witness: I saw friendly activists handing out literature: I saw a poster that said “We Support Chief Spence”. Theresa Spence, the Chief of the Northern Ontario First Nation of Attawapiskat is in Day 20 of her hunger strike. She
Continue readingTag: governor general
Canadian Progressive World: Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s “Bond Girl” Shines At The 2012 London Olympics
That’s right, our absentee head of state is the newest Bond girl. The Queen made her acting debut in the spectacular and humorous Bond sequence during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games. I think the Queen should take up acting. Here are my three reasons: First, the 86-year old
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Michaëlle Jean and memories of prorogations past
An interesting story came out this week offering some insight into former Governor General Michaëlle Jean’s decision to grant Stephen Harper’s Conservative government a prorogation of Parliament in 2008 when he was facing defeat at the hands of the Liberal/NDP coalition. Constitutional scholar Peter Russell told OntarioNewsWatch.com this week that
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Retiring the Monarchy
Alright, what longstanding Canadian institution shall we dispense with today? Queen Elizabeth II has been all over the news of late in honour of her Diamond Jubilee. Never satisfied, some of those rabble-rousing muckrakers in the NDP have refused to join in the festivities. That killjoy Pat Martin in particular,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Stunning confirmation of voter suppression affecting the May 2 2011 election from Globe & Mail report
This report in today’s Globe & Mail on the results of surveys undertaken by Ekos of voter suppression is both alarming (in its confirmation that criminal acts were committed in several ridings), and significant in its conclusion that the results in several ridings were affected by these criminal acts (my
Continue readingsomecanuckchick dot com: Demand a Royal Commission, Canada!
FACT: Only the Harper government can call for a judicial inquiry into the Robocalls Scandal… and that ain’t gonna happen, Canada! Would you like a Royal Commission to investigate the Robocalls Scandal? Would you like to know how you can make that happen, Canada? Contact the Governor General and demand
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Should the Governor General Fire the Cons?
Well I see Great RoboCon Leader is accusing the opposition of conducting a smear campaign. Stephen Harper is now categorically denying the Conservative Party machine was behind misleading robo-calls that confused voters in Guelph and elsewhere, calling the entire matter a “smear campaign” by the NDP and Liberals. Because when
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Coalition is Dead – Someone Tell Stephen Harper
The idea of a coalition government is dead for the simple reason that it is not in Michael Ignatieff’s political interest to enter into a coalition that would require him to share power. Although it is in his political interest not to contradict Stephe…
Continue readingMadLibMadLib: Election Called for May 2
The Governor General, as expected, has agreed to drop the writ and dissolve parliament. The first day of the election period seems to be shaping up to be about the coalition and whether or not the Canadian public is being lied to by the Liberal Party and their sneaky agenda
Continue readingRight of Center Ice: Would Harper prorogue parliament again?
A thought for progressives to discuss: Layton has two votes this week with one potentially mattering significantly more than the other. If Layton supports the budget on Thursday can he really vote alongside the expected Liberal non-confidence motion on Friday? He could certainly vote against an Opposition Day non-confidence motion,
Continue readingFive of Five: The Future
Canada’s new Governor General David Johnston aims a C7 assault rifle at the perception that the Monarchy is archaic and ridiculous. For the next while it will be all about guns, soldiers, hockey and cheap donuts. I Miss the Haitian lady.Photo via Glob…
Continue readingLiveblogging Canada’s New Governor General
Thank you for visiting our live coverage of the installation ceremony of our new Governor General, David Johnston!
Continue readingCanada’s next Governor General
Prime Minister Cowboy Steve surprised many with his choice for Canada’s 36th viceregal. Calling him a man who “represents the best of Canada,” Cowboy Steve on Thursday announced David Johnston will be Canada’s next Governor General.
Johnston, a 67 year-old retired trucker was born in Miramichi, New Brunswick. He attended Louis Riel Elementary School where he graduated from Grade 8. He has always harboured a desire to earn his high school equivalency certificate, but never quite got around to it. A teacher said she considered Johnston to be “a little bit slow”, making him a good candidate for a career in public service. Johnston is a voracious reader, holding a public library card since 2008.
Like previous Governors General, Johnston has a very good working knowledge of the French language. Childhood friend Terry Kirkpatrick remembers Johnston crossing the border into Quebec Saturday nights to buy cheap suds. “He told us tales of seeing the French peelers at the famous strip clubs in Montreal”, added Kirkpatrick.
Divorced since the age of 52, Johnston has relied on the kindness of strangers, including a Saint John prostitute named Sylvia. It was not clear at press time whether Sylvia would accompany Johnston to Ottawa to live in Rideau Hall. Little is known of Sylvia, but police in her hometown remember her as “goodhearted” and well behaved since her last breach of probation. She sports several tattoos including the requisite tramp stamp. It is believed she has her own teeth.
Higher ups in the Conservative Party have long valued Johnston’s political experience and savvy. Johnston once wrote a letter to the editor of a local weekly newspaper, and he has voted in every federal election since accidentally spoiling his ballot in 2004.
An intrepid traveler, Johnston has visited three of the four Atlantic provinces, explaining “I were pissed off when they tells me there’s no goddamned bridge to Newfoundland.” Johnston has taken several trips abroad to New England where he likes to visit native casinos and buy cheap smokes. Johnston follows the educational series Trailer Park Boys with great interest.
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The Wheatsheaf: This and that, here and there
The lack of inspiration, motivation, and recreation to complete a blog entry with any degree of analytical thought prevents a lengthy post. Rather here is a summary of thoughts on recent topics. Guergis and Jaffer – the power couple we love to hate:I am sick of this news story. The
Continue readingPop The Stack: The Next GG Should be Elected
News today that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is looking for a new Governor General. A number of names have already been suggested for possible replacements. I won’t speculate but my guess is we won’t get another former CBC employee. But I’d like to suggest to the Prime Minister that he think creatively about this choice. […]
Pop The Stack: Andrew Coyne’s Modest Proposal
The Canadian Interwebs are ablaze with anger over the recent prorogation of parliament and polls tell us that even the general population is quite upset. Hopefully the fast growing Facebook protest group “Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament” will tranlate into feet on the ground during the nationwide protests against proroguing on Jan 23, the Saturday before […]
Pop The Stack: Senate and GG Reform : A Simple Solution
A great article on the Globe and Mail about Harper’s Senate reform plans. As always, Senate reform is a more complex issue than it first appears. Harper likely knows this and knows that his overly simple solution will never be implemented anyways because as the author points out, there are a lot of drawbacks to […]