Her Excellency
The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor General of Canada**
Your Excellency:
As a Canadian, I am asking you to refuse Prime Minister Harper’s expected request to prorogue parliament.
My position is simple. The Conservative Party of Canada has lost the confidence of parliament, and that’s not likely to change even if the House of Commons is suspended for two months. Nor do we need another election; we know that a viable coalition, comprised of Liberals and New Democrats, has been formed, and they possess the wherewithal to govern our country.
I am also concerned by the rhetoric coming from the Prime Minister’s Office; the harsh words that are trying to paint this coalition as an abrogation of democracy. We both know that, in fact, this is our democracy in action. Mr. Harper has not behaved honorably over the last week and, at the very least, I expect our Prime Minister to obey the constitutional laws of our land.
I am also offended by the Prime Minster’s suggestion that the Bloc Québécois are somehow lesser Members of Parliament, and that their support for the Liberal-NDP Coalition creates an unholy alliance. The people of Québéc have elected the Bloc as their representatives in Ottawa. I may not always agree with their position, but I respect the people of Quebec, and their voice deserves to be heard in Ottawa, and across the country.
As an environmentalist, I support the Liberal-NDP Coalition because I believe Canada should be a leader on the world stage, and that developing nations are about to be devastated by climate change. I don’t need to tell you that United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has already determined that millions have been displaced by climate change. Over the next decade, we will see more Darfurs, and an increasing divide between rich and poor.
This crisis in Canada is occurring as the world convenes in Poland to hammer out an international climate change agreement. Canada, under Stephen Harper, has become one of the world’s most divisive countries, doing everything we can to stymie climate progress. At the 2007 conference in Bali, our delegates, along with the Americans, were booed and hissed. That won’t be true this time around, because America has embraced change. Will Canadians do the same?
We don’t inherit this world from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. Let’s not fail them, or ourselves.
Warm regards,
Richard Levangie
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
UPDATE: The Governor General has granted the Prime Minister’s request, and parliament has been suspended until the last week in January. This sets a horrible precedent, I should think.
Let the games begin. Be prepared for more hatred and fear-mongering from the Chicken Shit Conservative Party of Canada.
_____________
* I wish I had more time to work on these things; but this was hastily assembled. Michaëlle Jean is a fascinating woman; she was born in Haiti, but her family fled Papa Doc’s barbaric regime in 1968, and landed in Montreal. I believe that she truly loves Canada, and has been a remarkable representative for our country on the international stage, unlike our current Prime Minister.
** I hold a Governor-General’s Medal, and I rubbed it a few times this morning to help her make the right decision!
Nice piece and thoughts. There’s more on her as a person here, if you’re interested:
http://www.more.ca/attitude/profiles/la-belle-michaelle/a/1658
Thanks for the post. I hope this comment doesn’t come off as dismissive in any way… suggesting these events aren’t important. I’m going to admit to a lot of ignorance here, but I’d like to start by saying I’ve never been so interested in Canadian politics. I’ve done more reading about your system of government in the last couple days than we ever did in public school (though that’s not saying a whole lot).
First off, I was a little surprised the queen was still responsible (technically) for appointing anyone to a government office in Canada. From this sentence, I’m obviously coming to this with a great deal of ignorance, but I wonder if (for better or worse) there’s a large body of precedence that led the Governor General to accede to Harper’s wishes – despite what her personal feelings on the matter might be. Precedence doesn’t necessarily define the extent of authority, and the little bit of reading I did before posting this reply (over the last couple days) suggested there was at least one notable exception to the Governor General going along with the wishes of the Prime Minister (a very similar situation, if I recall). The fact that she had the legal authority to reject Harper, despite previous office-holders choosing not to exercise that authority – and didn’t, makes it disappointing. But the little bit of history I’ve read about the office, and it’s historical ties to the Queen and the Prime Minister and their relationship to each other… I find the whole thing fascinating.
That fascination is tempered by your Prime Minister’s antics throughout his term, and recently in particular (‘antics’ may not be the best word – it’s not amusing at all, but I couldn’t think of a good alternative). Being an American only recently liberated from eight years of our own stupidity, I don’t know how much my words will be worth, but I’ll write a few letters and sign a petition.
I have high hopes for new Canadian and US governments in the coming years, for my kids’ sake. I hope they don’t let us down, and I hope we don’t let them.
Looking back on my comment, I kind of wish I’d used the word ‘precedent’ rather than ‘precedence.’
It must be the late hour
I glad you did something, my view is this. Mr.Harper has manifested this crisis on purpose, he had 7 weeks to provide a economic package and he did nothing. He threw gasoline on the fire when he was going stop funding to Politicial parties during elections. Mr.Harper just exposed his hidden agenda, to bankrupt the opposition parties by going to the polls as much as he can and if he gets a majority he will cut off all funding except donations. Donation refunds is a bigger Government expense than the 30 million proposed to withdraw. Even in America they have two strong parties.