D'oh Canada! We hardly know you.

[kickingfrog]

Thank goodness none of us think this way.

 

 

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...al_gam_mostview

 

 

COLIN PERKEL

 

The Canadian Press

 

December 14, 2008 at 3:22 PM EST

 

TORONTO — D'oh Canada! We hardly know you.

 

The prime minister is not our head of state. We are not a representative republic. We do not elect our prime minister directly.

 

A new survey for the Dominion Institute taken in the aftermath of this month's political crisis suggests a woeful ignorance when it comes to our system of government.

 

For example, results of the Ipsos Reid survey show 75 per cent of Canadians asked believe the prime minister, or the Governor General, is head of state. Bzzzz — wrong.

 

A new survey suggests Canadians are woefully ignorant about their system of government. Seventy-five per cent of Canadians surveyed identified the prime minister, or the Governor General, as head of state. Bzzzz — wrong. It's the Queen.

 

It's actually the Queen.

 

Only 24 per cent managed to answer correctly, according to the poll provided exclusively to The Canadian Press.

 

Marc Chalifoux, president of the Dominion Institute, said he decided to commission the survey in light of the furor caused when a coalition of opposition parties threatened to topple Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government.

 

Mr. Harper's defensive strategy was to ask Governor-General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue, or shut down, Parliament until late in January to avoid what likely would have been a vote of non-confidence.

 

With such unfamiliar words such as “treason” and “coup d'état” entering the Canadian political lexicon, Mr. Chalifoux said he wanted to gauge the understanding people had of what had transpired.

 

“Canadians certainly were interested by what was going on in Ottawa, but lacked in many cases the basic knowledge to form informed opinions,” Mr. Chalifoux said.

 

“We found a lot of ignorance.”

 

The institute drew up four basic questions:

 

• Who is the head of state?

 

• How can Canada's system of government best be described?

 

• Do Canadians elect the prime minister directly?

 

• Can the governor general nix a prime minister's request for a new election?

 

“These questions we're asking aren't just trivia,” Mr. Chalifoux said.

 

“These are part of the basic tool kit of knowledge that citizens need to function in a democracy.”

 

Given a choice how best to describe the system of government, 25 per cent decided on a “co-operative assembly” while 17 per cent opted for a “representative republic.”

 

Canada is neither.

 

Only 59 per cent correctly picked constitutional monarchy.

 

In a similar vein, 51 per cent wrongly agreed that Canadians elect the prime minister directly.

 

In fact, Canadians elect local members of Parliament and the leader of the party with the most members by tradition becomes prime minister at the request of the governor general.

 

“Our school system needs to be doing a better job of training young people to be citizens,” Mr. Chalifoux said.

 

One question that did elicit close to unanimous agreement was about the Governor-General's power to refuse to call an election at the request of a prime minister who no longer enjoys majority support in the House of Commons.

 

A full 90 per cent responded — correctly — that the Governor General does have the power, which Ms. Jean may yet be called on to wield if the opposition coalition does defeat the government with a vote in the Commons.

 

Overall, the survey found the lowest levels of knowledge in Quebec — 70 per cent of Quebeckers, for example, wrongly believe Canadians directly elect the prime minister. Only 35 per cent of Atlantic Canadians made that mistake.

 

The survey of 1,070 Canadians done Dec. 9-12 is said to be accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Edited December 15, 2008 by kickingfrog

[Ramble]

I think this Mercer clip would have been a better example. But to each their own i guess lol.

 

Think what way? That's the system. They "party" with the most power governs the country. If "parties unit" they they hold the most seats and they can govern. This isn't something new to Canadian politics. If memory serves me correctly the NDP and Liberals united in Ontario back in 1985 and over threw the Conservatives in power. It's not like this "coalition" thing hasnt happened before. It's just on the Federal level now so everyone is paying attention. Party's align all the time, i remember not to long ago when the Block and Conservatives were working together so they could hold a majority. This is no different. If Harper would attempt to communicate with the opposition and actually try to govern as a representative, instead of trying to run the opposition into the mud this wouldnt have happened.

 

It's actually a fairly intellegent system. This way no party can go to crazy with power. There is always the opportunity for the remaining parties to unite and over throw a party if the feel they are too far "out there". It's awesome to see it action really. Even more interesting is watching the way Harper is responding to it so he doesnt loose power. Suspending Parliment was just a stunt so he could remain in control. I'm not sure the Gov. Gen. made a wise decision by allowing that however, traditionally the Gov. Gen. sides with the majority. I think she is breaking new ground here and isn't exactly sure how to proceed so she is being cautious. Now Harper is trying to appoint people to Senate, after he gave the song and dance a while back about the senate being disbanded, or they should be elected. Now here he is trying to stack the deck in his favour, right when he runs into some political trouble.

 

Anyway, I don't mean to ruffle anyones feathers here. It's just my take on the matter. It's a good article to post, thanks man.

 

-R-

[holdfast]

I think this Mercer clip would have been a better example. But to each their own i guess lol.

 

Think what way? That's the system. They "party" with the most power governs the country. If "parties unit" they they hold the most seats and they can govern. This isn't something new to Canadian politics. If memory serves me correctly the NDP and Liberals united in Ontario back in 1985 and over threw the Conservatives in power. It's not like this "coalition" thing hasnt happened before. It's just on the Federal level now so everyone is paying attention. Party's align all the time, i remember not to long ago when the Block and Conservatives were working together so they could hold a majority. This is no different. If Harper would attempt to communicate with the opposition and actually try to govern as a representative, instead of trying to run the opposition into the mud this wouldnt have happened.

 

It's actually a fairly intelligent system. This way no party can go to crazy with power. There is always the opportunity for the remaining parties to unite and over throw a party if the feel they are too far "out there". It's awesome to see it action really. Even more interesting is watching the way Harper is responding to it so he doesnt loose power. Suspending Parliment was just a stunt so he could remain in control. I'm not sure the Gov. Gen. made a wise decision by allowing that however, traditionally the Gov. Gen. sides with the majority. I think she is breaking new ground here and isn't exactly sure how to proceed so she is being cautious. Now Harper is trying to appoint people to Senate, after he gave the song and dance a while back about the senate being disbanded, or they should be elected. Now here he is trying to stack the deck in his favour, right when he runs into some political trouble.

 

Anyway, I don't mean to ruffle anyones feathers here. It's just my take on the matter. It's a good article to post, thanks man.

 

-R-

 

Lets be clear on whats going on here. You have two Parties that have formed a coalition with a Separest party, which both the Liberals and NDP have formed an Alliance with. They Deny that the Block aren't part of the Coalition as to Veto, However in the First sentence of the accord the Wording was "Canadians and Quebecers have formed a coalition" ...........( Wonder if that was a Doucette thing eh) If that's not devising you tell me what is. lets be real about this, the reason the three Idiots got together was they were going to loose their $1.95 per vote for their Parties. Ask any Western here and see if they really care if the Block looses money. The Stimulation package is just a ploy for the suckers, Hook fish and line. Isn't it stupid when you look at it now that the three Idiots wanted a Stimulation package especially for the auto sector before the Americans even got one. If I'm not mistaken I belief Mr Ray got elected from that Coalition in Ontario. You may not of lived there then but I can tell ya, my family experienced our wort financial times during those dark years. You may think it Intelligent this Coalition, but I look at it as Gilles Doucette laughing at all the suckers as this has turned Quebec Nationalism on. Thank you Liberals, Block and NDP. Too bad they really don't have all Canadians as their mandate but themselves. This Intelligence has done nothing but Devise Canada. Remember the Block has 50 seats, without them there would be no minority government. If you think theyre there for Canada, youre a sucker. You gotta look at all things around you. Ive been both a Liberal and Conservative.

Edited December 15, 2008 by holdfast

[Guest lundboy]

Hmmm.... you're almost getting it. Now throw away the left right paradigm and see through to the fact that they are all just puppets serving the same master.

[Golfisher]

Hmmm.... you're almost getting it. Now throw away the left right paradigm and see through to the fact that they are all just puppets serving the same master.

 

That's right, they all serve moi, and lately I have not been well served!