Throne Speech - Brace yourself.

[HeresyLives]

“Our government will open Canada's doors further to venture capital and to foreign investment in key sectors, including the satellite and telecommunications industries,” as well as to the uranium industry.

In addition, the Conservatives vow to press ahead with establishing a national securities regulator, despite opposition from some provinces. On the law-and-order front, they promise to increase penalties for sex offences against children. And Throne Speech proposes will “comprehensive reforms to the refugee system.”

In a spirit of patriotism that the Conservatives have promoted, the federal government will “bring individuals, groups and businesses together to build community war memorials,” while also asking “Parliament to examine the original gender-neutral English wording of the national anthem.”



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/throne-speech-freezes-mp-salaries-opens-door-to-foreign-investment/article1488376/

[Lucy Goosey]

1. Arrgghh

A few things:

It will look to innovative charities and forward-thinking private-sector companies to partner on new approaches to many social challenges.

Hmmm, let's privatize and offload to charities work that should be done by the government?

Our communities are built on the rule of law, the cornerstone of peace, order and good government. The law must protect everyone, and those who commit crimes must be held to account. Canadians want a justice system that delivers justice.

Correction: Canadians have a justice system that delivers justice. I fucking hate this "tough on crime" bullshit - crime rates are going down. (I'm also mildly paranoid that it could lead to a re-opening of the long settled issue of the death penalty. Am I way off base here?)

At least the Supreme Court isn't playing along: Top court bucks tough-on-crime trend

Our Government supports the establishment of a National Monument to the Victims of Communism

Am I just being sensitive, or does this seem weird? (I am so paranoid about the Cons.) I mean, Holocaust memorials aren't called monuments to the victims of Nazism, so this seems like kind of a sneaky pro-capitalist dog whistle. I'm definitely not a communist, but victims of, say, Stalin's purges weren't only victims of the economic system known as communism; they were victims of Stalinism. Victims in North Korea are victims of a crazy-pants megalomaniac. At any rate, why is this any sort of national priority?

And if we're going to make the national anthem less sexist, can we also make it less, uh, God-y?

[HeresyLives]

2. I'll agree with all of that.

Same ol' drivel. Privatize, tough on crime we don't have, useless monuments and memorials to how strong and good we are, and how many people we 'beat'.

Oh yeah, and for women...change a word in the anthem.

[Spazito]

3. All very good points!

After reading the speech, I couldn't help but think "What dreck!". The Cons are nothing but cons and this speech is simply further proof of that. There is VERY LITTLE of substance there at all when you cross out all the fluff of which there is enough to stuff many mattresses.

[daleo]

4. Prorogue and recalibrate for two months

Result - asking “Parliament to examine the original gender-neutral English wording of the national anthem.”

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. Our "national anthem" is really a bit of a joke methinks

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.
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"our home and native land" ??

- bullshit

The great majority of us are invaders and immigrants

the "natives" get tiny bits of mostly worthless land to survive on

My family fits into the "immigrant" category;

our grandparents came over from Scotland in the early 1900's

[HeresyLives]

6. All anthems are the same tho.

A product of the time they were written...and not meant to be taken literally as a statement of today's values.

The American one talks about a long-ago battle, the French one about the Bastille.

Maybe the time for national anthems is just....over.

[Metric System]

7. I'm kind of surprised the Cons would choose to tinker with the anthem now. What's that all about?

Distraction?

[HeresyLives]

8. Why do communities suddenly all need war memorials?

Every community I've ever been in, no matter how small, already has one anyway from either WWI or II.

But suddenly, with 500,000 people out of work, war memorials are an urgent matter.

Yeah distraction..or sheer stupidity.

[Lucy Goosey]

9. To remind us that we love the military-industrial complex?

[Spazito]

10. All they have is 'war is peace' ergo war memorials....

They are beyond obvious in this bushite tactic and it won't work, hasn't worked.