A Fall election is in the hands of the Liberals

Last Tuesday night Canada's Governor General, Michaelle Jean, read the Throne Speech. This event was much anticipated, and had been preceded by a lot of hype, conjecture and analysis. I suspect there are very few people outside political social circles and the media who bothered to tune in.

The media had been leaked a copy of the speech earlier in the day, presumably so they could get “insider” details into the evening news cycle, saving the public the tiresome job of having to listen to the fucking thing. Not being fortunate enough to have an advance copy I ended up listening to the entire speech on CBC radio.

I consider it my job to impart to you, the public who fund such exercises in democracy, my impressions of the Throne Speech and it's consequences. Forgive my honesty. The Governor General would have served Canadians better if she'd cut the speech into squares and used the pieces as Kleenex or toilet paper. It was a pointless document, an absurdly measured slice of political bullshit that held about as much relevance to Canadians as a report on the state of potholes in our major urban centres. We know the potholes are there, thank you, but what in hell is the government going to do about them? Issues such as the environment, crime, the state of northern affairs, and Canada's role in Afganistan were raised. Since the speech didn't address these issues in any meaningful detail, the media and their pet pundits filled in the blanks for us, luckily having been allowed to prepare their interpretations and line up experts using the “leaked” document.

(A sidenote here. Reports out of Ottawa claim that the Prime Minister's Office, the PMO, is planning to build a new state of the art media centre, to allow for better communication between the national press and the Prime Minister. Many details of “The Shoe Store Project,” the name of the proposal, have been blacked out of official documents, or withheld completely due to matters of cabinet confidentiality, security, international affairs and defense. At a projected cost of $2 million, this announcement has caused consternation in the media, who value their role as independent communicators and believe this is a move to control access to information. It's not as if they'd ever accept leaked documents, or fail to report on exactly what's happening in Ottawa in a way which average Canadians can understand. How dare the PMO step on the toes of the media. The Conservatives will pay, oh yeah baby, right after the media finishes dissecting the implications of a pointless Throne Speech.)

The Throne Speech ended up being a purely political exercise. Interest in the details, as vague as they are, border on non-existent. No, the real implications of the speech are tied to the fact that the Conservatives must have support from one of the three opposition parties in order to have the speech passed. If the speech does not pass a House of Commmons vote, then we will have a federal election. It's difficult for politically uninterested Canadians to understand why such a pointless speech could trigger a national election, and I'd have to agree with that sentiment. How any political party, whose existence is underwritten with public funds, could disagree with a speech full of meaningless platitudes about Canada's greatness and a set of vague pledges to work harder towards progress in the future, is difficult for me to understand and it's my job to follow this circus. Never mind the fifty per cent of the population who are so disinterested in the entire political process that they don't bother to vote.

Let's see if I can simplify the situation. The NDP and the Bloc Quebcois are going to vote against the Throne Speech mainly because they're prepped for a possible election. The Conservatives know this and so there's really no need to work with either group, never mind addressing the reasons behind the two parties' stated dissatisfaction. The Liberal Party, very literally, cannot afford an election. They don't have any money in the bank. Their only choice in the event of an election would be to follow the lead of Ontario's Green Party leader and campaign by bicycle, as a cost saving measure. The Party's internal problems are so vast and public that the francophone leader, Stephane Dion, cannot find anyone to work for his Quebec team. Add into the mix Iggy Flop, the Liberal Deputy leader and torture aficinado, is on record as having said that Canada doesn't need an election this fall and that Canada should be investing money in the military. Canada's Official Opposition, the presumed balance of the sitting Conservatives Party, is melting down faster than the arctic ice shield and Iggy Flop is going to position himself to rebuild, or join the Conservatives as Minster of Forced Education. The Communist Party of Canada is in a stronger position than the Libs.

So instead of the Throne Speech allowing the public to preview the direction of the government in the coming months, what we get is a media obsessed with political ramifications and parties concerned more with their seat count and prepping for the next election than what's happening right now, everyday, in Canada. The details of the speech, as thin as they are, will become debating points in a question period that no one watches and that has no function in our lives other than providing cynical comic relief. This is a win-win situation for the Cons: a possible election this Fall, which they'd win, or one at a later date, which they'd probably also win because the Libs are busy disintegrating, the NDP is easy to ignore, and the Bloc doesn't campaign outside Quebec. I bet Stephen Harper is sleeping well these days.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.