The undemocratic nature of the (current) Canadian government
The following article was posted to ontd_political. (PS: For those who are not from Canada, the Diamond Jubilee refers to the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II of England's coronation. Stephen Harper is the current Prime Minister of Canada.)
'Justin Bieber given Diamond Jubilee Medal by Stephen Harper. Twitter explodes over pop icon's wardrobe choice.'
Apparently, people felt that Bieber's wardrone choice was disrespectful.
Here is what I posted in reply.
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Personally, I would suggest that what is much more relevant is the following.
(1) 'Ottawa spending $100,000 for paper flags, lapel pins to mark Diamond Jubilee'
Of 7.5 million dollars spent on Jubilee celebrations, 3.7 million $ went to pay for the diamond jubilee medals program.
Let us not forget that all this spending was carried out while doing the following...
(2) 'Federal budget’s deep cuts getting deeper'
Of course, apparently no one outside the government should have the right to know the details of these cuts.
(3) 'Budget watchdog takes Harper government to court over information request'
(4) 'Opposition calls for independent budget watchdog'
Apparently, the lack of transparency on the part of the Conservative government is such that "Opposition MPs and senators were forced to vote on the budget without knowing what programs and services are facing elimination or reduced budgets, and what potential effects those changes will have on Canadians". (cf. link above)
(5) Let us also not forget about the following: apparently other things to which budget cuts don't apply are...
The federal prisons sector: 'Texas conservatives reject Harper's crime plan'
Cronies of the Harper government: (former) Finance minister Tony 'Clement steered G8 funding in riding, documents show'
Also, 'Costly federal appointments office has nothing much to do' (except spending millions in taxpayer dollars, that is)
'F-35 Scandal: Canada's Procurement Of Jets Slammed By Critics' (i.e. misspending by Defense Minister Peter McKay)
(6) Of course, the above do not address the utter and complete disregard for democracy evinced by the current Conservative government:
(i) Lack of transparency with regards to federal budget (see above)
(ii) Using tactics such as submitting only mammoth bills referred to as 'omnibus bills' with increased frequency relative to previous governments (see here and here) as well as using tactics such as time allocation measures to limit the amount of time which can be spent discussing bills (see for example here).
(iii)'Secretive' foreign investment reviews (see here).
(iv) 'OECD criticises Canada for aid budget cuts and lack of transparency'
(v) 'Journal Nature tells Canada to stop muzzling scientists'
I could go on, but I think the above makes my point.