Schiavo Case
A lot has already been said about this, so I won't bother expanding on the merits of the case itself (though I do end up coming down on the "crazy, wacky, nutjob, Christian extremist" side of the argument).
I wanted to comment on something that I've probably commented on half a dozen times before.
The US Senate convened on a..... SUNDAY. Yes, on the weekend. The majority of the US House debated late Sunday night, and voted at 12:01am this morning. President Bush was woken up at around 1am so he could sign the bill.
This inevitably leads to a comparison between the US Congress and Canadian Parliament.
Can anyone imagine the House of Commons convening on a Sunday? Is that even legal?
It's actually pointless to discuss the institutional barriers to a weekend session, so let me discuss the more basic issues.
Firstly, it seems almost taboo for Canadian politicians to "care" a lot about a number of issues. I've personally never witnessed much passion or fire from our public officials. And when they ARE passionate, they're usually "extremist" anyway, so who cares. I've rarely seen mainstream Canadian politicians who seemed genuinely passionate about their beliefs and values. Things seem a lot more cynical up here than down there. That's just an observation, I think it's an accurate one.
Secondly, I remember a couple of years ago, I opened up the newspaper to see that another "Canadian celebrity" had abandoned his Canadian citizenship in favour of a US citizenship. As a "proud Canadian", I think I told one of my siblings, "hey, look, Michael J. Fox just became an American citizen, what a traitor", but then I realized something: Michael J. Fox became an American right around the time he was diagnosed with Parkinson's or maybe when his Parkinson's started getting worse, I forget. I realized something at that moment. I thought to myself that he probably became a US citizen in order to lobby Congress for medical research funds (since it'd be awkward to go to Congress as a foreign citizen). I realized that America, and more specifically, the American government's actions and capabilities were far more meaningful and consequential than the Canadian government's. Michael J. Fox can't really lobby the Canadian government for more funds, firstly because we're not as rich as the US, but also because there's no real way for him to do so. The Canadian parliament does not seem as powerful or capable as its American counterpart. Hmm. I don't think this was the best example to give, so maybe I'll come up with another example another time.
One last example of "caring" or "passion", I remember in the last US Congress, a number of new US Republican Senators volunteered to stay in the Senate all night, essentially alone in order to overcome judicial filibusters. I was pretty shocked by that as well - you wouldn't see that up here.
I wanted to comment on something that I've probably commented on half a dozen times before.
The US Senate convened on a..... SUNDAY. Yes, on the weekend. The majority of the US House debated late Sunday night, and voted at 12:01am this morning. President Bush was woken up at around 1am so he could sign the bill.
This inevitably leads to a comparison between the US Congress and Canadian Parliament.
Can anyone imagine the House of Commons convening on a Sunday? Is that even legal?
It's actually pointless to discuss the institutional barriers to a weekend session, so let me discuss the more basic issues.
Firstly, it seems almost taboo for Canadian politicians to "care" a lot about a number of issues. I've personally never witnessed much passion or fire from our public officials. And when they ARE passionate, they're usually "extremist" anyway, so who cares. I've rarely seen mainstream Canadian politicians who seemed genuinely passionate about their beliefs and values. Things seem a lot more cynical up here than down there. That's just an observation, I think it's an accurate one.
Secondly, I remember a couple of years ago, I opened up the newspaper to see that another "Canadian celebrity" had abandoned his Canadian citizenship in favour of a US citizenship. As a "proud Canadian", I think I told one of my siblings, "hey, look, Michael J. Fox just became an American citizen, what a traitor", but then I realized something: Michael J. Fox became an American right around the time he was diagnosed with Parkinson's or maybe when his Parkinson's started getting worse, I forget. I realized something at that moment. I thought to myself that he probably became a US citizen in order to lobby Congress for medical research funds (since it'd be awkward to go to Congress as a foreign citizen). I realized that America, and more specifically, the American government's actions and capabilities were far more meaningful and consequential than the Canadian government's. Michael J. Fox can't really lobby the Canadian government for more funds, firstly because we're not as rich as the US, but also because there's no real way for him to do so. The Canadian parliament does not seem as powerful or capable as its American counterpart. Hmm. I don't think this was the best example to give, so maybe I'll come up with another example another time.
One last example of "caring" or "passion", I remember in the last US Congress, a number of new US Republican Senators volunteered to stay in the Senate all night, essentially alone in order to overcome judicial filibusters. I was pretty shocked by that as well - you wouldn't see that up here.
posted by Japnaam Singh at
8:10 PM
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