Throne Speech for the 40th Session

6 posts / 0 new

Wed, 2008-11-19 23:23

remind

So, harper wants to tinker with the election process but make no real changes other than what would give him a majority government.

Quote:
The Conservative government vowed again Wednesday to pursue legislation in the
new parliamentary session that would give British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario
22 more seats in the House of Commons to reflect more accurately the rapidly
growing populations in those provinces.

NDP MP Charlie Angus dismissed it as "putting a little bit of paint on a
leaky old boat and trying to pass it off as a new Bluenose."

He argued the Commons needs sweeping democratic reform, not tinkering around
the edges. In particular, he called for a system of "fair and open proportional
representation so that people in Canada actually feel their votes are being
counted."

As it stands now, MPs from Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia represent an
average of 10,000 more constituents than MPs from other provinces.

Wed, 2008-11-19 23:27

remind

Link to full text of speech

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/539933

__________________________________________________________
"watching the tide roll away"

Thu, 2008-11-20 01:07

sgm

The speech also laid out plans to move ahead with the 'Free Trade' deal with Colombia.

Briarpatch Magazine is currently running a piece on the many problems with this trade agreement:

"Canadians concerned about respect for human rights have good reason to
oppose a trade deal with Colombia. Human Rights Watch characterizes
Colombia as the country with the “worst human rights and humanitarian
situation in the region, with many serious problems, including massive
internal displacement, killings, and enforced disappearances.” "

Thu, 2008-11-20 01:23

thorin_bane

sgm ...they are only human rights. It isn't like they have state intervention in theri economy, because then we would have problems...hey pretty soon steve will have to scrap the US FTA because they appear to have seen JMK economics in their review and with closing guantanimo their human righs record will improve.

______________________________________________________________________________________
"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it."
Noam Chomsky

Thu, 2008-11-20 01:33

sgm

thorin_bane wrote:

It isn't like they have state intervention in theri economy, because then we would have problems.

Sure, and imagine if we faced the additional problem of a president interested in altering the constitution to strengthen his hold on power.

Then, certainly, the denunciations would sound ever louder from capitals such as Ottawa and Washington.

Thu, 2008-11-20 13:30

remind

Was just reading the WS opinion piece on E. May's response to the Throne speech. And this little snippet of after the fact commentary caught my eye.

Quote:
Of course, deficits are no way to fight a recession. Mass public sector
layoffs and deep tax cuts are needed now more than ever before, but
there is a strange economic view in Ottawa that spending – even
non-productive spending on things like public sector employees and
social welfare schemes – is somehow good for the economy.

"These are the same economic bright lights who think war, natural disasters and broken windows create economic growth."

So the self-proclaimed "bright light" at the WS believes that massive cuts to the public sector would be a good thing for the economy as well as gutting education, health care, senior's pensions, EI, disability pensions, widow's and orphans benefits, workers compensation, welfare, vetern's assistance programs, student loans and social housing, along with many other social programs. Plus cut taxes.

Amazing really, how short sighted and non-thinking a person can be.

First, during the great depression Canada never had any of those things, and their abscence didn't save economic melt down of the capitalist system. But it sure destroyed millions of people's lives, which brought about the very social programs that the "bright light" advocates gutting.

Not going to bother with itemizing the rest of the implications contained within this belief, other than to say such a idea would absolutely destroy Canada, the government, all the infrastructure, and render millions and millions homeless. No tax money, no anything. Certainly the rich could have their money and feel special but they would have nothing else.

Moreover, they might not even have that in the end.

___________________________________________________________
"watching the tide roll away"