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Welcome to the 1st installment of Canadian Corner I'll be discussing Canadian Issues such as politics, culture, history etc. My goal is two fold to provide a discussion forum for these issues with other Canadians on Homeschoolblogger and also provide information to my Homeschooling brethern elsewhere so they can learn a little bit about Canada, how we function, our history and our place in teh world.
Todays Topic: The Speech from the Throne
Backgorund Info:
FAQ from CBC on What is A Throne Speech
Parliament of Canada Web Site
Prime Minister of Canada's Web Site
The Actual Speech From the Throne
What this means to Canadians
Canada has a Parliamentary System of Government we have Prime Minister who is not elected at large by the Canadian Voters but rather our Prime Minister is usually a Member of Parliament (but can be a Canadian Senator) who is the Leader of the Party who has the most members in the House of Commons called MP's or Member of Parliament currently our Prime Minister is the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada he does not hold a majority of seats that is he does not have 50% + 1 of the seats in the House of Commons but is the Leader of the Party with the most seats. This is called a Minority Government which means he needs the support of enough members from the 3 opposition parties to have 50%+1 support. He was elected Prime Minister in 2006 and has done a Good Job in my opinion though he has been hampered by not having a Majority Government. He is not able to pass all teh legislation he needs to further our country. Minority Governments can be good because they can sometimes provide compromises but this current minority government is not working because the opposition parties are busy representing their self interests and not the greater Canadian Good. The last session of Parliament was Prorogued which means it was ended but not dissolved this means that the Government is going to start working on a new agenda. This new Agenda is called a Throne Speech and is read by our Head of State (Governor General) though written by the Prime Minister and Cabinet. It sets out the course and framework for future legislation that will be brought forwards as well as general Government policy direction.
In the coming Days the the Speech will be voted on at several stages and on possible amendments these votes are considered confidence votes and if the Government is defeated they will submit their resignation to the Governor General who will do one of 2 things #1 dissolve Parliament and call a new election or #2 which is rare see if another party or coalition of parties is prepared to try and form a government.
The current throne speech is chalked full of things that might be unpalatable to the opposition parties but one only has to see that 2 of the 3 opposition parties have been saying for the last month they would vote against it though it was just released tonight that the opposition parties are not interested in greater good of Canada but rather their own good, in fact the opposition party with the 2nd highest number of MP's purpose is to rip apart Canada by having Quebec Separate. (In other countries they would be tried for treason in Canada we give them Government Salaries and Perks from a Government they don't want to be a part of) The Official Opposition Liberal's (Official Opposition is 2nd Highest Party in Parliament) haven't made up their mind. The Conservatives are actually in a win/win situation if the Liberals support it they continue to Govern and get things done and the Liberals concede on their big issues if they defeat the Speech an election will be called and the Conservatives are high in the Polls and the Liberals are fighting internally so the Conservatives will most likely win and possibly win a Majority which would make governing easier.
The Big Question is will The Liberals cave in on what few principles they have and support the government (They talk about a plan where some of their members will show up and vote against it but enough will stay away or abstain so it's not defeated this to me is still supporting it because they know the outcome), or will they forget about the polls and stand up for their principles, which aren't mine and probably aren't the majority of Canadians anyways. Stephane Dion made his demands that he said needed to be met which were as unreasonable and unrealistic as the Treasonous Separatists and The Socialists demands.
Today is good day for Stephen Harper and Yes A Good Day for all Canadians
Category: Canadian Corner
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