"Canada's New Government"
(...is full of shit)
The Conservatives insist on referring to themselves as "Canada's New Government", instead of simply "The Government of Canada".
I'm reminded of the old pieces of a ship analogy used in philosophy class. The question generally goes like this: If pieces/parts of a ship are replaced, bit by bit, until none of the original materials are actually a part of the ship, is it still the same ship?
Now, the Canadian government is made up of many people, and several parties. The people in the parties change, the people that get elected change, and the number of seats a party gets changes (and thus the party in power changes). But no matter what, it's still the same institution, it's still the Government of Canada.
But apparently, Harper doesn't like reality. The reality is there has been a Government of Canada since 1867. Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada are just temporary pieces in the ship that is our country. They'll come in, and then they'll go out.
If they were to do some good for this country (highly unlikely, IMO), if they were to do the the kind of thing that gets favourably remembered years later, nobody is going to say "Yes, that was a great thing that Harper did" and then add on "Not like those stupid Liberals Martin and Chretien, grr." Long-term memory of politics is not so partisan, I don't think.
The Conservatives are clearly trying some sort of lame-ass marketing technique, in the hopes that voters will be convinced and remain loyal. But the very fact that the Conservatives were even elected goes to show that voters will not stay loyal to a party they previously voted for. A lot of people voted Conservative because they wanted to punish the Liberals for the sponsorship scandal. They will just as soon vote the Conservatives out of power.
You see, I had always thought that no matter what party was in power previous to the current government, the current government is obligated to take responsibility for whatever previous Prime Ministers and parties-in-power have done. So if Harper et all don't like what Martin or Chretien did while in power, if Dion doesn't like what Mulroney did before them, and if the Bloc and the NDP don't like what anybody's done, everybody has just got to suck it up and MOVE ON.
Watching/reading/listening to federal politics these days just makes me want tear my hair out in frustration. I mean, why can't politicians just say, "Okay, this is the situation we are in right now. What's done is done. What do we want to change? What do we want to start? What do we want to finish?" and just address the issues at hand without taking EVERY SINGLE FUCKING OPPORTUNITY to bash the other party or to highlight how their own party is just ohsogreat?
Canada's New Government, my ass. You won the election. You are not the Liberal Party. WE KNOW. Nobody is going to get confused about that. So shut up about it already.
The Conservatives insist on referring to themselves as "Canada's New Government", instead of simply "The Government of Canada".
I'm reminded of the old pieces of a ship analogy used in philosophy class. The question generally goes like this: If pieces/parts of a ship are replaced, bit by bit, until none of the original materials are actually a part of the ship, is it still the same ship?
Now, the Canadian government is made up of many people, and several parties. The people in the parties change, the people that get elected change, and the number of seats a party gets changes (and thus the party in power changes). But no matter what, it's still the same institution, it's still the Government of Canada.
But apparently, Harper doesn't like reality. The reality is there has been a Government of Canada since 1867. Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada are just temporary pieces in the ship that is our country. They'll come in, and then they'll go out.
If they were to do some good for this country (highly unlikely, IMO), if they were to do the the kind of thing that gets favourably remembered years later, nobody is going to say "Yes, that was a great thing that Harper did" and then add on "Not like those stupid Liberals Martin and Chretien, grr." Long-term memory of politics is not so partisan, I don't think.
The Conservatives are clearly trying some sort of lame-ass marketing technique, in the hopes that voters will be convinced and remain loyal. But the very fact that the Conservatives were even elected goes to show that voters will not stay loyal to a party they previously voted for. A lot of people voted Conservative because they wanted to punish the Liberals for the sponsorship scandal. They will just as soon vote the Conservatives out of power.
You see, I had always thought that no matter what party was in power previous to the current government, the current government is obligated to take responsibility for whatever previous Prime Ministers and parties-in-power have done. So if Harper et all don't like what Martin or Chretien did while in power, if Dion doesn't like what Mulroney did before them, and if the Bloc and the NDP don't like what anybody's done, everybody has just got to suck it up and MOVE ON.
Watching/reading/listening to federal politics these days just makes me want tear my hair out in frustration. I mean, why can't politicians just say, "Okay, this is the situation we are in right now. What's done is done. What do we want to change? What do we want to start? What do we want to finish?" and just address the issues at hand without taking EVERY SINGLE FUCKING OPPORTUNITY to bash the other party or to highlight how their own party is just ohsogreat?
Canada's New Government, my ass. You won the election. You are not the Liberal Party. WE KNOW. Nobody is going to get confused about that. So shut up about it already.