Why would Canada want to change the lyrics to “O Canada?” It makes very little sense, especially right now at the end of one of the most patriotic events in Canadian history. There’s not too many times I’ve been in a bar and suddenly had the entire establishment break out in the national anthem, but that happened at the end of the gold medal Men’s Hockey game. The 2010 Olympics, while not as patriotic as the 1972 Summit is a close second.

This move seems to be more of a play for the Government of Canada to get sympathy votes from women voters, when the nation has more pressing concerns, the largest deficit in Canadian history, a government who will gladly put aside the democratically elected Parliament to allow them to govern without a pesky opposition.

Is “all thy sons command” really a horrible lyric? If so, make it “all thy suns command.”

My dear, and sexy friend Nicholas, posted this video to twitter. There’s a few things that strike me about this video… other than the terrible audio, because really, the sound’s horrible.

1. Three tokens for a quarter?!?! WTF?!?! Now it’s one token for twelve quarters!
2. Toronto in the ’50s seems quaint. I’m pretty sure it’s just the music, but Toronto in the ’50s does seem like some cheesy movie. Anyone have a time machine? I wanna see what it was really like? Go down to Queen Street and see what was hopping in the pubs and bars that lined Queen West. I’m sure Buddy Holly was shredding on the stage of the Horseshoe.
3. “Toronto got itself a subway, really!” That quote. It’s kinda cute how he says it, but the content of what he says is the reality. Toronto was as full of municipal cynicism as it is today. It’s a tradition. I think it’s a tradition that needs to end. I think it’s about time we looked with optimism at what Toronto is and, more importantly, what it can become.

• Louis Riel a traitor? Well yes. An elected member of parliament? Yes. A founder of Manitoba? Yes. A hero? Yes. Why doesn’t he deserve a statue?
• Ladies! It seems I embody all top four items that you ladies desire in man. Whatcha doin’ tonight?
• Every wondered why you see a rainbow when watering your lawn? It’s because something is oozing out of the ground. Or, maybe it’s because the water refracts the light. SCIENCE!

• Fuck you Miller, relying on outside sources to fund one of the most important infrastructures in Toronto.
• Fuck you McGuinty, you know the entire province relies on the city of Toronto.
• Fuck you Harper, just cuz.
• CBC wants to know how French are you… in other news, la SRC ne se soucie pas comment l’anglais que vous soyez.
• Smitherman wants to take the Chertien/Martin approach to governance… he might win my vote.
• Surgery in Windsor, not a good idea. Is there anything that’s a good idea in Windsor?
• Who cares? No one uses Bing or Yahoo!
• As often as I’ve had brunch at Sneaky Dee’s, I’ve never had their Huevos Rancheros.
• The Parliamentary Budget Officer takes a look at Canada and its long term financial future.
• I think I need to puke…
• Sharon Jones is coming to Toronto in May, but she’s playing the Sound Academy. Any other venue, and I’d be there with bells on. I absolutely refuse to visit that venue.
• Most god-awful recipes I’ve ever seen. (thanks Terri)

• I want this for my birthday.
• How to attract women.
• Google wants to bring 1 gigabit per second internet to you.
• Adam Giambrone throws in the towel.I’m iffy on this. I wouldn’t have voted for the man, because of the state of the TTC, but to have to drop out of the race because of his personal life isn’t right.
• Did you know they still do a MacWorld Expo? Why? Seriously, why?
• Google Street View… let’s visit the Yukon River in Whitehorse.
• Valentines day mixtape courtesy of Monitor Mix. Dear Carrie Brownstein, will you be my valentine?
• Fake Simpsons words that belong in the dictionary. (Courtesy of swhibbsy)

via The Muppet Newsflash

Heather mentioned CBC’s DocZone on her blog, and today, I decided to watch “After Elizabeth II” a documentary on the Monarchy. For some strange reason, most of this is taken from the British point of view. They compare a possible King Charles being asked to step down by a British Prime Minister and Cabinet, but really, in this modern world, when the Sovereign of the UK is a shared Sovereign of numerous other countries, can the British government ask him to step down? I think not. Sure this happened to King Edward, but this was before the separation of the Empire, more importantly, before World War II, when Canada came into its own.

Aside from that, there’s the point that it’s nearly impossible for Canada to separate itself from the crown. To do so would require the consent of 100% of the Canadian provinces, and we all remember every single time Canada tried to meddle with the constitution, it was a nightmare (Meech Lake, Charlottetown, Chretien giving vetoes to regions, Trudeau trying to pass the Constitution through British Parliament, All previous prime ministers trying to create the constitution…).

The UK will become a Republic more easily than Canada.

So it seems everyone wants to undo Harper’s move to prorogue parliament, and the answer… Join a Facebook group.

I have two problems with this.

1) Are we really “Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament?” I’m not (that’s actually why I didn’t join the group). Prorogation has a specific use in Canadian democracy, but this isn’t it. Harper is using this little used bit of Canadian law to get his way.

Brief intermission to apologize for the following language. Sorry.

2) What the fuck is this going to do? What the fuck will a demonstration do? What the fuck will writing to the PMO do? What the fuck will writing to your MP do?

No, seriously, those are all questions that I want to know the answers to. Please tell me.

But boys and girls, there’s a stronger question that’s begging to be asked here. What can we do? I want to know, and I want to do it.

• I want to prevent this douchewad from returning to 24 Sussex.
• I want to find a way to ensure that someone else forms government.
• I want the Liberal Party of Canada to find a new, electable leader for the party.
• I want the New Democratic Party to find a new electable leader.
• I want Canadians to see that an economist might make sense as a Prime Minister on paper, but when the reality is the largest deficit in Canadian history, we have to do something about it.
• I want Canadians to shout that KNOWINGLY handing prisoners over to a government who commit abuse is wrong.
• I want Canada to return to a place of respect in the world.
• I want Canadians to know their Government has treated their own appointed accountability with contempt.

So, please, tell me what we can do. I want to do it.

Today marked the second December in as many years in which the Head of Government has asked the defacto Head of State to prorogue Parliament. This wouldn’t be a problem if there was a practical purpose to end the session early, however, in both cases the Right Honourable Prime Minister has used this little-used Parliamentary tradition to serve his singular purpose.

Last year, Her Excellency, the Governor General prorogued parliament on the advice of her Prime Minister to prevent an election or a coalition government forming. This year, Madame Jean had a precedence set, if he asks, she must grant; what happened to the oversight of the Crown? What’s the purpose of this prorogation? An outsider would just assume that the government was done its job for the session. However, the government had over 30 bills sitting, waiting to be debated and voted on.

Some speculate it’s to prevent any negative news during the Vancouver Olympics. Some suggest that it’s to delay any investigations into abuse and torture allegations in Afghanistan. Some think it will allow Mr. Harper to appoint another five Conservative senators and then shuffle the committees to be more blue-friendly.

None of these are in the spirit of what prorogation is meant for, none of these are anything less than self-serving options. How about a bill specifying reasons in which a government can prorogue parliament. The NDP/Liberals/Bloc have the majority of seats. Would this not be easy enough to pass through Parliament and the Senate? Oh wait, you can’t pass any legislation when Parliament is not in session.

Michäelle, remember why you’re the one in the throne, you’re the one representing Her Majesty.

All hail, King Adam I?

http://canadiancynic.blogspot.com/

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/740829

The Tories are blanketing Liberal-held Jewish ridings with material claiming the Martin Government and Dion’s opposition were Anti-Semitic.

I find this interview very interesting as the Conservative MP can’t even get his facts straight and is very obviously avoiding the actual topic. While the Grit MP is clearly on message and able to quickly dispute any “facts” presented by the Tory.

There’s at least one Yid I know who’s not too happy about such poor voter-manipulation.