Further to Friday’s post, and for those of us who couldn’t make it out to Edmonton to see it for ourselves, The Canadian Press followed Her Excellency to the iHuman centre, and they have a bit of video to show for it. In it, Her Excellency stepped into a sound booth and recorded a bit of hip hop on her own, mixed with a song from her Haitian childhood. It was cool to see how the people at the Youth Dialogue responded to her, and they seemed quite taken with the fact that she is a model for how anyone can reach such heights when coming from almost nothing. I think more than any previous Governor General, Michaëlle Jean has made the position somewhat transcendent in that it’s not just a ceremonial position where she reads a few speeches and hosts a state dinner or two – it’s about being a face for Canada as a whole, a reflection of hopes and aspirations, and connectedness. (Now, if she could only show a little more backbone with a certain Prime Minister who like to ignore the rule of law and reign him in every now and again…)
Speaking to supporters in Quebec, Ignatieff reinforced his pre-election narrative of trying to “Make Parliament Work™”, but says the government needs to shape up on EI reform, the isotope crisis (which has only gotten worse, with the cost of isotopes having doubled since May), and H1N1. Because we all know that this is going to play into the election talk come autumn – that the Liberals did the right thing by trying to Make Parliament Work™ but were surprised to find that the Conservatives really had no interest in doing so, and they really have no other choice at this point but to call that dread election that apparently no Canadian wants to have.
Speaking about the “working group,” there are a few more hints on their negotiating points, along with a whole bunch of economists sounding alarmed. What’s that – make it easier to get EI? The rolls will double overnight! Suddenly everyone will be a seasonal fisher! No one will want to work any longer! Doom! Doooooom! Then Marlene Jennings comes along and reminds everyone that they’re simply proposing temporary measures until the economy heats up again and creates more jobs, which if you listen to Mark Carney, could be any day now so this may all be a moot point anyway. Okay, I jest – we all know the job market will trail the economic recovery for some time, but those economists sounded a bit on the alarmist side.
The Conservatives are not only back to sounding tough on crime, they now want to get tough on white-collar crime, no doubt in the wake of those investor scandals happening in places like Montreal. Along the way they claim the Liberals are holding up their measures, while the Liberals are saying that it’s a fallacy because they haven’t actually brought any measures forward. So, it’s a day that ends in y, right?
And finally, a big giant raspberry to the Prime Minister of Australia for being a spineless ass in not voting to change his party’s line – let alone his country’s – when it comes to opposing same-sex marriages. Instead, they’ll opt for a national system to register same-sex relationships, and change some taxation, welfare and pension laws so that they won’t discriminate. Except of course for the inherent discrimination in saying that same-sex relationships are somehow lesser than heterosexual ones.
Why you can trust Xtra
