Many quite falsely identify Canada as a liberal democracy when we are in fact a constitutional monarchy. The difference, of course, is that we are without the possession of citizenship in the American sense, but subjects in the English sense of the word.
Many claim that I am being too literal about this feudal relationship and that the Queen has not made a notable intervention into the lives of Canadians since our dutiful entry into World War II. The Crown has no ‘real’ power and we should thank our dear ancestors for the democracy that they’ve left us.
But what about the institutions of government that are the legacy of our monarchical subjugation? I could point to the immense glare of feudalism that ranges from the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada. Despite the Englishness of our Queenly matriarch, this full group of personal consultants uses the word ‘privy’ to gussy up an institution that should be honestly called the Queen’s secret council of Canada.
The removal of the Queen from Canadian life in all but name as given this group an outrageous degree of autonomy and power insofar as they are not elected by Canadian subjects and are no longer required to report their deliberations to the throne. They just exist, in an untouchable political limbo, transporting themselves from Langevin Block where they enjoy direct access, to the Prime Minister’s Office and corporate board rooms and helicopters.
Housed in the same office building, the secret council of Canada, a remnant institution of our peasant days and the Prime Minister’s Office exists in the same dusty corridor, the deliberations of its occupants are deemed unfit for us to know.
Another sordid feature of Canada’s peasant-monarch legacy is when government becomes a venue for a politician and his benefactors to get rich from. Federal Treasury Board minister Tony Clement representing Parry Sound, Ontario has manoeuvred profitably and stealthily through the Canadian government’s most English-inspired agencies to disguise at least $223 million dollars in patronage money he helped distribute through his personal network.
In control of the G8 war-chest, the $1 billion dollars allotted to keep the tattered rabble of Canada separated from global leadership’s politically fruitless luncheon in July 2010, Clement moved $50 million dollars to 32 privately-conduct ‘infrastructure’ in his ridings, Parry Sound, hundreds of miles away from the G8 site and its security provisions.
Clement’s economic crookedness is partially related to his occupational incompetency. His treasury squandered $173 million of public money (hence $223 million total) in 2010 through lost and damaged office supplies. As The Hill Times explains:
Some notable items included $3,233 worth of stolen or unauthorized use of taxis; $15,319 worth of stolen BlackBerry devices and another $34,833 worth of accidental losses, destruction or damage of BlackBerries; $115,721 worth of stolen laptops and another $73,889 worth of accidental losses, destruction or damage of laptops; and $133,182 worth of vandalism to government vehicles and almost $3.9-million worth of accidents that government vehicles have been in.
How revolting is the fact that Canada’s Department of Defense reported $32,481 in lost weaponry for the 2010 fiscal year? How can we be sure that these indeed were ‘lost’, which is perhaps the public’s worst nightmare when it comes to the fate of guns and bullets.
Clement’s success as a Tory black bagger and money changer is the construction of special loopholes for himself, he’s subsequent denial of the proceedings, and his fortuitous insulation from public scrutiny thanks to the Prime Minister’s Office. The feudal relationship is the sheer secrecy the government gives Clement while he feeds off public money. The Federal NDP asked the Prime Minister’s Office for transcripts that not only caught Clement in the confect of a lie and cover-up, but that would make public his guarantee to release all documents related to his handling of G8 funny money.
What the NDP was given were verifiably doctored records with Clement’s comments and admissions strategically annexed from the discussion. We will see if the public is granted access to documents and if they even indeed care.
My argument throughout has been that it is Canada’s stubborn insistence on remaining part of the Dominion and the institutional impasses left over from British imperialism is the conditions through which double dipping politicians like Clement can be made to exist. The crisis is partly structural and partly moral.
Many quite falsely identify Canada as a liberal democracy when we are in fact a constitutional monarchy. The difference, of course, is that we are without the possession of citizenship in the American sense, but subjects in the English sense of the word.
Many claim that I am being too literal about this feudal relationship and that the Queen has not made a notable intervention into the lives of Canadians since our dutiful entry into World War II. The Crown has no ‘real’ power and we should thank our dear ancestors for the democracy that they’ve left us.
But what about the institutions of government that are the legacy of our monarchical subjugation? I could point to the immense glare of feudalism that ranges from the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada. Despite the Englishness of our Queenly matriarch, this full group of personal consultants uses the word ‘privy’ to gussy up an institution that should be honestly called the Queen’s secret council of Canada.
The removal of the Queen from Canadian life in all but name as given this group an outrageous degree of autonomy and power insofar as they are not elected by Canadian subjects and are no longer required to report their deliberations to the throne. They just exist, in an untouchable political limbo, transporting themselves from Langevin Block where they enjoy direct access, to the Prime Minister’s Office and corporate board rooms and helicopters.
Housed in the same office building, the secret council of Canada, a remnant institution of our peasant days and the Prime Minister’s Office exists in the same dusty corridor, the deliberations of its occupants are deemed unfit for us to know.
Another sordid feature of Canada’s peasant-monarch legacy is when government becomes a venue for a politician and his benefactors to get rich from. Federal Treasury Board minister Tony Clement representing Parry Sound, Ontario has manoeuvred profitably and stealthily through the Canadian government’s most English-inspired agencies to disguise at least $223 million dollars in patronage money he helped distribute through his personal network.
In control of the G8 war-chest, the $1 billion dollars allotted to keep the tattered rabble of Canada separated from global leadership’s politically fruitless luncheon in July 2010, Clement moved $50 million dollars to 32 privately-conduct ‘infrastructure’ in his ridings, Parry Sound, hundreds of miles away from the G8 site and its security provisions.
Clement’s economic crookedness is partially related to his occupational incompetency. His treasury squandered $173 million of public money (hence $223 million total) in 2010 through lost and damaged office supplies. As The Hill Times explains:
Some notable items included $3,233 worth of stolen or unauthorized use of taxis; $15,319 worth of stolen BlackBerry devices and another $34,833 worth of accidental losses, destruction or damage of BlackBerries; $115,721 worth of stolen laptops and another $73,889 worth of accidental losses, destruction or damage of laptops; and $133,182 worth of vandalism to government vehicles and almost $3.9-million worth of accidents that government vehicles have been in.
How revolting is the fact that Canada’s Department of Defense reported $32,481 in lost weaponry for the 2010 fiscal year? How can we be sure that these indeed were ‘lost’, which is perhaps the public’s worst nightmare when it comes to the fate of guns and bullets.
Clement’s success as a Tory black bagger and money changer is the construction of special loopholes for himself, he’s subsequent denial of the proceedings, and his fortuitous insulation from public scrutiny thanks to the Prime Minister’s Office. The feudal relationship is the sheer secrecy the government gives Clement while he feeds off public money. The Federal NDP asked the Prime Minister’s Office for transcripts that not only caught Clement in the confect of a lie and cover-up, but that would make public his guarantee to release all documents related to his handling of G8 funny money.
What the NDP was given were verifiably doctored records with Clement’s comments and admissions strategically annexed from the discussion. We will see if the public is granted access to documents and if they even indeed care.
My argument throughout has been that it is Canada’s stubborn insistence on remaining part of the Dominion and the institutional impasses left over from British imperialism is the conditions through which double dipping politicians like Clement can be made to exist. The crisis is partly structural and partly moral.
