'Canadians will fall in love' with new governor general
- Thread starter Sy
- Start date
Ya...sorry I dozed off there...yes we agree on something MM...tell do you eat the blue ones first 
RE: 'Canadians will fall
I know there is a percentage of people that would like to abolish the monarchy and I have heard diferent numbers from 30 to almost 50%, but there really is not a strong movement at this time to do it. Maybe one day there will be a big debate, election issue, movement etc about this.
Unlike Australia that had a vote and voted by a squeaker (albeit with a "rigged question") to keep the Queen, It won't be that easy to do in Canada due to the way our constitution is written. Actually it would be very dificult.
I know there is a percentage of people that would like to abolish the monarchy and I have heard diferent numbers from 30 to almost 50%, but there really is not a strong movement at this time to do it. Maybe one day there will be a big debate, election issue, movement etc about this.
Unlike Australia that had a vote and voted by a squeaker (albeit with a "rigged question") to keep the Queen, It won't be that easy to do in Canada due to the way our constitution is written. Actually it would be very dificult.
RE: 'Canadians will fall
Its so nice to see true values shine through...
"Let's abolish the monarchy!"
"Let's make fun of people who pledge allegiance to God, Queen, Flag, Anything!"
Makes me wonder where true patriotism left to make room for self-righteousness...
*Sigh*
Pledging allegiance to anything has nothing to do with personal opinions or values but denotes a respect for and willingness to abide by the values to which you are pledging your allegiance to.
Example: You may hate your government because of the actions of the people involved but because you are STILL a citizen under the eyes of said government (entitled to all the rights and rules your constitution designates) and therefore you in fact owe your government your life.
Its so nice to see true values shine through...
"Let's abolish the monarchy!"
"Let's make fun of people who pledge allegiance to God, Queen, Flag, Anything!"
Makes me wonder where true patriotism left to make room for self-righteousness...
*Sigh*
Pledging allegiance to anything has nothing to do with personal opinions or values but denotes a respect for and willingness to abide by the values to which you are pledging your allegiance to.
Example: You may hate your government because of the actions of the people involved but because you are STILL a citizen under the eyes of said government (entitled to all the rights and rules your constitution designates) and therefore you in fact owe your government your life.
Wow! I love that signature sy.....Well who can say for sure what their true patriotism would be unless actually put to the test..all else is just words and rhetoric. :? :? :?
Re: RE: 'Canadians will fall
I don't think I'm being self-righteous when I say would like to see the monarchical system abolished, Sy; I have some very real concerns about the constitutional issues, and the effect of the system on society.
For instance:
It should be a fundamental right to be able to elect a head of state, rather than it being the sole prerogative of a single family.
Through the use of Crown prerogative powers, issues of real importance are exempted from normal democratic processes.
It is a discrimanatory system - the monarchy is the embodiment of class, racial and religious divisions in our society.
It is a system which devalues intellect and real achievement - our royals bolster their position with unearned symbols of achievement. They accept posts as chancellors of our universities, debasing true academic merit. They appoint themselves to top military ranks, bedecking themselves in fancy uniforms and undeserved medals, belittling the work of true professionals and the memory of those who made genuine sacrifices.
The system is not even good for the royal family - In denying the right of ordinary citizens to represent their country as Head of State, the hereditary system condemns each heir to the throne to an abnormal childhood. Whereas the stresses this imposes were formerly easy to disguise, modern communications have harshly exposed them. The pressures are now evident for all to see and have already had very adverse effects on the current heir to the throne and his children. They are guaranteed a damaging childhood. We are guaranteed a damaged Head of State.
And so on, and so forth ...
Sy said:
I don't think I'm being self-righteous when I say would like to see the monarchical system abolished, Sy; I have some very real concerns about the constitutional issues, and the effect of the system on society.
For instance:
It should be a fundamental right to be able to elect a head of state, rather than it being the sole prerogative of a single family.
Through the use of Crown prerogative powers, issues of real importance are exempted from normal democratic processes.
It is a discrimanatory system - the monarchy is the embodiment of class, racial and religious divisions in our society.
It is a system which devalues intellect and real achievement - our royals bolster their position with unearned symbols of achievement. They accept posts as chancellors of our universities, debasing true academic merit. They appoint themselves to top military ranks, bedecking themselves in fancy uniforms and undeserved medals, belittling the work of true professionals and the memory of those who made genuine sacrifices.
The system is not even good for the royal family - In denying the right of ordinary citizens to represent their country as Head of State, the hereditary system condemns each heir to the throne to an abnormal childhood. Whereas the stresses this imposes were formerly easy to disguise, modern communications have harshly exposed them. The pressures are now evident for all to see and have already had very adverse effects on the current heir to the throne and his children. They are guaranteed a damaging childhood. We are guaranteed a damaged Head of State.
And so on, and so forth ...
RE: 'Canadians will fall
Queen silent on storm about Jean
OTTAWA -- The Queen will not review the controversial appointment of Michaelle Jean, and Buckingham Palace will not reveal the number or tone of e-mails it is receiving from Canadians on the governor general-designate.
Queen silent on storm about Jean
OTTAWA -- The Queen will not review the controversial appointment of Michaelle Jean, and Buckingham Palace will not reveal the number or tone of e-mails it is receiving from Canadians on the governor general-designate.
I guess we have to stand in line if we want to "love" her:
Mon, August 22, 2005
Blindsided by love
Choice of Governor General more proof PM unfit for duty
By Ezra Levant -- Calgary Sun
"I didn't think you were that serious," said Helen Scherrer, Paul Martin's principal secretary, when Martin asked if she had contacted Michaelle Jean about becoming Canada's next Governor General.
Scherrer was surprised. "I said, 'This is it?' And he said, 'Yes it is. That's the one'."
That's the kind of care our prime minister put into choosing the Queen's representative in Canada, the highest appointed office in the land, the person who may be called upon to arbitrate a constitutional crisis in this minority Parliament or if Quebec secedes. No due diligence. No interview. His aide hadn't even contacted Jean, yet Martin just knew.
Scherrer made this admission in an interview with journalist Julie Smyth. Martin had asked Scherrer to "go and see" Jean, but Scherrer assumed Martin was kidding. But he wasn't. He was in love, says Scherrer.
"Once he was in love with the name and in love with the woman, he wanted her appointed as soon as possible," says Scherrer. Love at first sight. How romantic.
Scherrer describes not a serious prime minister, but an intellectual nullity. "I think he watches Radio-Canada and had seen her on TV. It did not take long. I did not have to convince him. He said 'yes' right away."
So it's true, what Liberal MP Roger Gallaway said. Like a teenaged groupie, Martin chose our Governor General by flipping through the "Quebec version of People magazine." Is that surprising, from a prime minister who takes foreign policy instructions from U2's Bono? We're lucky Martin wasn't watching Baywatch, or Pamela Anderson would be our Governor General. You know how boys are in the summer.
That's why Martin didn't know Jean is also a loyal citizen of France, or that she dined with terrorists from the FLQ, or that she called Quebec a "dominated people", or that her house was redecorated by an FLQ terrorist, or that her husband made documentaries about the FLQ with al Jazeera-like objectivity.
Martin saw a pretty, French-speaking black woman on TV and wanted to add her to his collection.
Don't blame the pretty, French-speaking black woman. She is who she is. It's Martin who isn't who he is supposed to be -- a responsible decision-maker. And Scherrer and the rest of the PMO didn't do what they were supposed to do -- a background check for a prospective appointee. Even Wal-Mart asks for references from prospective employees.
Last week, Jean issued a statement -- actually, two different versions, in French and English. An eastern newspaper called it a "statement of loyalty"; a paper in the west said "Jean pledges to be loyal to Canada." But Jean did not use the word "loyal." That's the media projecting their hopes or excuses onto her.
FLQ terrorists are beyond the pale, and so are their supporters, such as Jean and her husband. Peaceful separatists such as the Bloc and Parti Quebecois are politically legitimate, but not in the office of the Governor General -- that requires a loyalty to the Queen and a renunciation of competing loyalties. In Jean's case, she must renounce her French citizenship, renounce her belief in Quebec independence and repudiate her comments about using the post to promote Haiti's agenda.
This is not an abstraction. If Quebec declares independence after a close referendum and Paris acknowledges it but Ottawa disputes it, whose team is Jean on?
All of these things make Jean a perfect fit for the CBC. But all of them disqualify her from the Governor General's post. That Martin is unfit to be PM is old news.
Poor Paul Martin. Unlucky in love, unlucky in politics.
Mon, August 22, 2005
Blindsided by love
Choice of Governor General more proof PM unfit for duty
By Ezra Levant -- Calgary Sun
"I didn't think you were that serious," said Helen Scherrer, Paul Martin's principal secretary, when Martin asked if she had contacted Michaelle Jean about becoming Canada's next Governor General.
Scherrer was surprised. "I said, 'This is it?' And he said, 'Yes it is. That's the one'."
That's the kind of care our prime minister put into choosing the Queen's representative in Canada, the highest appointed office in the land, the person who may be called upon to arbitrate a constitutional crisis in this minority Parliament or if Quebec secedes. No due diligence. No interview. His aide hadn't even contacted Jean, yet Martin just knew.
Scherrer made this admission in an interview with journalist Julie Smyth. Martin had asked Scherrer to "go and see" Jean, but Scherrer assumed Martin was kidding. But he wasn't. He was in love, says Scherrer.
"Once he was in love with the name and in love with the woman, he wanted her appointed as soon as possible," says Scherrer. Love at first sight. How romantic.
Scherrer describes not a serious prime minister, but an intellectual nullity. "I think he watches Radio-Canada and had seen her on TV. It did not take long. I did not have to convince him. He said 'yes' right away."
So it's true, what Liberal MP Roger Gallaway said. Like a teenaged groupie, Martin chose our Governor General by flipping through the "Quebec version of People magazine." Is that surprising, from a prime minister who takes foreign policy instructions from U2's Bono? We're lucky Martin wasn't watching Baywatch, or Pamela Anderson would be our Governor General. You know how boys are in the summer.
That's why Martin didn't know Jean is also a loyal citizen of France, or that she dined with terrorists from the FLQ, or that she called Quebec a "dominated people", or that her house was redecorated by an FLQ terrorist, or that her husband made documentaries about the FLQ with al Jazeera-like objectivity.
Martin saw a pretty, French-speaking black woman on TV and wanted to add her to his collection.
Don't blame the pretty, French-speaking black woman. She is who she is. It's Martin who isn't who he is supposed to be -- a responsible decision-maker. And Scherrer and the rest of the PMO didn't do what they were supposed to do -- a background check for a prospective appointee. Even Wal-Mart asks for references from prospective employees.
Last week, Jean issued a statement -- actually, two different versions, in French and English. An eastern newspaper called it a "statement of loyalty"; a paper in the west said "Jean pledges to be loyal to Canada." But Jean did not use the word "loyal." That's the media projecting their hopes or excuses onto her.
FLQ terrorists are beyond the pale, and so are their supporters, such as Jean and her husband. Peaceful separatists such as the Bloc and Parti Quebecois are politically legitimate, but not in the office of the Governor General -- that requires a loyalty to the Queen and a renunciation of competing loyalties. In Jean's case, she must renounce her French citizenship, renounce her belief in Quebec independence and repudiate her comments about using the post to promote Haiti's agenda.
This is not an abstraction. If Quebec declares independence after a close referendum and Paris acknowledges it but Ottawa disputes it, whose team is Jean on?
All of these things make Jean a perfect fit for the CBC. But all of them disqualify her from the Governor General's post. That Martin is unfit to be PM is old news.
Poor Paul Martin. Unlucky in love, unlucky in politics.
RE: 'Canadians will fall
Apparently not yet, as her popularity is on the decline.
I just heard on radio that Decima, said support for her has dropped 21 points to 38% from a high of 59%.
Here is a lionk from CTV. Jean's popularity slips after controversy: poll
Strange.
What else I don't get is, there are 13 provinces and territories, so why should Quebec get every other one? They should rotate the position from each province, so each province gets a citizen chosen every 13 years. Sounds fair to me.
Apparently not yet, as her popularity is on the decline.
I just heard on radio that Decima, said support for her has dropped 21 points to 38% from a high of 59%.
Here is a lionk from CTV. Jean's popularity slips after controversy: poll
Strange.
What else I don't get is, there are 13 provinces and territories, so why should Quebec get every other one? They should rotate the position from each province, so each province gets a citizen chosen every 13 years. Sounds fair to me.
Re: RE: 'Canadians will fall in love' with new governor gene
Pledged alligence to the Republic for WHICH IT STANDS. 8O
Funny, here in Louisiana, we start the day with the pledge en français along with the Star Spangled Banner & O Canada (tout en français) on the local Radio Station and then get our news (en français) de Montreal!
8O
L'Acadiens n'a jamais oublié Acadia ou 1755 ! 8O
TenPenny said:
Pledged alligence to the Republic for WHICH IT STANDS. 8O
Funny, here in Louisiana, we start the day with the pledge en français along with the Star Spangled Banner & O Canada (tout en français) on the local Radio Station and then get our news (en français) de Montreal!
8O
L'Acadiens n'a jamais oublié Acadia ou 1755 ! 8O
Speaking of pledge, interesting that Canada has a pledge to the Queen and the US has a pledge of Alegiance to God.
To avoid being hypocritical, if we do not seperate Queen from state, then by all means we surely will not seperate Church from state. If one is acceptable, then so is the other. The Queen by the way is also the head of the Church of England.
Being of a Catholic faith, this lady has absolutely no relevance in my life. I will continue to pledge my alegiance to my faith, not some elderly lady who lives in England.
To avoid being hypocritical, if we do not seperate Queen from state, then by all means we surely will not seperate Church from state. If one is acceptable, then so is the other. The Queen by the way is also the head of the Church of England.
Being of a Catholic faith, this lady has absolutely no relevance in my life. I will continue to pledge my alegiance to my faith, not some elderly lady who lives in England.
Nascar_James said:
Umm, Nascar? I hate to tell you this, but you don't actually have to worry about pledging allegiance to the Queen. You see, you live in the US. It is a republic. It is entirely irrelevant whether you are Catholic or not, you trump that by being American. If you're an expatriat, by chance, you still don't have to pledge allegiance to the queen.
In Canada, y ou don't pledge in school, at home, at work, at play, or any other place that I can think of. Seems to me that some Americans, on the other hand, never stop pledging to god. I suspect that god, if he does exist, must be just about bored out of his mind by the tedious repetitions.
We know that Americans pledge the hell out of the flag of the United States, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, upstairs, downstairs, in your nightgown. But you see, Canadians don't do that. Therein lies the difference. We don't have a pledge-by-rote.
Nascar_James said:
Well, being a patriotic American, such as you claim to be, you probably already know that the Pledge of Allegiance was originally written by socialist author, and Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy, for a children's magazine as such:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
The "under God" bit wasn't added until 1954.
But you knew all that right?
Funny innit? A socialist and a Baptist minister...sounds very much like our own Tommy Douglas...a man whom your country villified...
Haggis McBagpipe said:
Well, I used to live in Canada (birth country), so I do know that immigrants who become citizens need to pledge alegiance to the Queen. I don't disagree, if Canada wants to have this pledge so be it ... just as we have our pledge, a more universal pledge ... to God.
:? I've never had to pledge anything to the Queen, but then again I was born here.
I am curious though...Does anyone know the actual wording the Canadian pledge to Ye Olde Queen is?
There must be someone here that had to go through that pomp and circumstance.
That's kind of cool. I didn't know that. Louisiana seems to have a Worldly attitude and sense of community. Too bad most of North America isn't as open.
I am curious though...Does anyone know the actual wording the Canadian pledge to Ye Olde Queen is?
There must be someone here that had to go through that pomp and circumstance.
That's kind of cool. I didn't know that. Louisiana seems to have a Worldly attitude and sense of community. Too bad most of North America isn't as open.
Nascar_James said:
As Vanni pointed out, though, the god part is a pretty recent addition.
I think in the end it is about freedom, we simply have a better understanding of freedom in this country. The pledge is forced down the throats of your children, but here we have the freedom to decide for ourselves.
RE: 'Canadians will fall
"From this day forward, I pledge my loyalty and allegiance to Canada and Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada. I promise to respect our country's rights and freedoms, to uphold our democratic values, to faithfully observe our laws and fulfill my duties and obligations as a Canadian citizen."
It was slightly changed a couple years ago as it used to say " and her heirs" after her name.
"From this day forward, I pledge my loyalty and allegiance to Canada and Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada. I promise to respect our country's rights and freedoms, to uphold our democratic values, to faithfully observe our laws and fulfill my duties and obligations as a Canadian citizen."
It was slightly changed a couple years ago as it used to say " and her heirs" after her name.