No Hidden Agenda
The Speech from the Throne introducing Canada's 41st Parliament, set out in neat detail precisely those items which Prime Minister Stephen Harper delineated during the election campaign. It is well to remember that the Conservatives under Stephen Harper were given a majority mandate on the basis of the public's approval of the previous three minority Parliaments under Mr. Harper. The voting public seems to like steady as she goes.
Enough of the public also liked their Conservative government's decision making with respect to international affairs. The public - or at least enough of the public to give the Conservatives the majority Mr. Harper pleaded for - approved of the manner in which Mr. Harper governed domestically. The warnings of the Conservatives' "hidden agenda" so shrilly voiced by the opposition, didn't appear to materialize.
And now that there is a majority Conservative government where the green light has been given to proceed as he sees fit, and the Prime Minister is not reverting to 'type' and revealing his 'true agenda' the opposition claims to be disappointed at the tenor of the commitments elucidated by the Governor General on behalf of the Conservative government. It's too tame, too predictable, too timid.
While the majority government has reiterated their determination to reduce taxes, eliminate the deficit, combat crime, reform the Senate, end direct public subsidies for political parties, redraw the political map to give additional, deserved seats to the three provinces in particular who are grossly under-represented, the opposition grumbles about the unadventuresome and placid tone of the promises.
"Canadians have expressed their desire for a strong, stable national government in this new Parliament. With this clear mandate, our government will deliver on its commitments." That's pretty clear; the government acknowledging that it has listened to the electorate which isn't thrilled with too many surprises brought their way, and appreciates the comfort of knowing the fundamental issues are being addressed adequately.
No surprise then to hear NDP leader Jack Layton blowing hot and cold, settling in for four years of 'civility' by proclaiming "What we got was just the same old ideas. There were some good things in the speech from the throne that we look forward to, but there were quite a lot of disappointments." One can only suppose the largest disappointment was the 'same old ideas' that the public wanted, leaving him little to screech and rave about.
As for Liberal leader Bob Rae, newly invested in a new role to reinvigorate the Liberals and reduce the current Official Opposition to their former status by outshining, outperforming and outclassing the NDP (which shouldn't prove too much of a troublesome burden even for the Liberals), "I saw a certain level of complacence in the document", no "surprises", nothing "dramatic".
Complacence is as complacence does; the Liberals could teach the Conservatives a lot about that state of affairs.
Enough of the public also liked their Conservative government's decision making with respect to international affairs. The public - or at least enough of the public to give the Conservatives the majority Mr. Harper pleaded for - approved of the manner in which Mr. Harper governed domestically. The warnings of the Conservatives' "hidden agenda" so shrilly voiced by the opposition, didn't appear to materialize.
And now that there is a majority Conservative government where the green light has been given to proceed as he sees fit, and the Prime Minister is not reverting to 'type' and revealing his 'true agenda' the opposition claims to be disappointed at the tenor of the commitments elucidated by the Governor General on behalf of the Conservative government. It's too tame, too predictable, too timid.
While the majority government has reiterated their determination to reduce taxes, eliminate the deficit, combat crime, reform the Senate, end direct public subsidies for political parties, redraw the political map to give additional, deserved seats to the three provinces in particular who are grossly under-represented, the opposition grumbles about the unadventuresome and placid tone of the promises.
"Canadians have expressed their desire for a strong, stable national government in this new Parliament. With this clear mandate, our government will deliver on its commitments." That's pretty clear; the government acknowledging that it has listened to the electorate which isn't thrilled with too many surprises brought their way, and appreciates the comfort of knowing the fundamental issues are being addressed adequately.
No surprise then to hear NDP leader Jack Layton blowing hot and cold, settling in for four years of 'civility' by proclaiming "What we got was just the same old ideas. There were some good things in the speech from the throne that we look forward to, but there were quite a lot of disappointments." One can only suppose the largest disappointment was the 'same old ideas' that the public wanted, leaving him little to screech and rave about.
As for Liberal leader Bob Rae, newly invested in a new role to reinvigorate the Liberals and reduce the current Official Opposition to their former status by outshining, outperforming and outclassing the NDP (which shouldn't prove too much of a troublesome burden even for the Liberals), "I saw a certain level of complacence in the document", no "surprises", nothing "dramatic".
Complacence is as complacence does; the Liberals could teach the Conservatives a lot about that state of affairs.
posted by Pieface | 2:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home