Rick Mercer Speaks the Truth
Posted by I.A.M. in CANADA, Canada for Foreigners, Humour, NEWS, THINKINESSMany of you — possibly 75% of you actually, are not sitting in the Dominion of Canada when reading this. Many of you still wonder ‘when I’ll be writing that book explaining Canada to foreigners?’ Well, after seeing things like this video from Rick Mercer I realise there isn’t any need to add to the material available. The man has the entire thing tapped (or ‘taped’, if you’re in the UK). Thankfully, I’ve just run across a post over at Tentative Equinox (happy belated Spring, by the way, oh belovèd TE)
The thing to remember here is that 99% of the things stated in this, which may seem at first glance to be a skit, are correct. Queen Elisabeth [hurrah!] is the titular Queen of Canada and holds that office when in the Dominion (so named because she has dominion over it and therefore us [hurrah!]), and the parliamentary democratic system of government we employ operates in exactly the way he explains. The election described is the one in October of last year which was held whilst I was in London (for a reaction to its results, go here to read the post¹).
Sometimes the strangest turn of events is more accurate than anything a writer of fiction might concoct on his best day following a morning reading in the British Library and stopping off for a double espresso on the way back to the keyboard.
The only thing better than this at explaining matters political is the introduction to “side two” of the Blues Brothers’ concert album Made in America which begins with the Blues Brothers’ All-Star Blues Band (Paul “The Shiv” Shaffer², conductor) playing the tune “Green Onions”, and then continues as Elwood J. Blues (played by Dan Aykroyd³) appears on stage to give the crowd a straight-forward lecture on “How Geopolitical Structures are Affected by Cultural Developments (and the Chrysler 440 Cubic-Inch Engine)” [ED. — not its actual title]. Brilliance and absurdity, all with a chunka-chunka Memphis back-beat! Possibly the finest way that Political Science and Social Geography has ever been presented as part of a rock show. Not there’s much competition,granted… outside of U2 concerts and Press Conferences…
If only I could locate a CD of that album… damn, that record is everything one could want and a long sleep-in the next morning.
So… That’s Canada, in a sense: we all want records made by our countrymen playing music developed from songs sung by African Slaves in the United States of America. Which is a change from having the English singing them [c.f. any recording by The Beatles and the Rolling Stones]
¹ While I did have a rather emotional response to the results, it was with more disappointment than anything else. Our PM, while I may not agree with his policies or management style, bear him no ill will as a person and am certain he loves his wife and children, is a friend to small dogs, etc. I’m certain he and I could have a beer together and discuss things such as the economy and the arts and agree to disagree about the priorities of them both to the nation’s well-being. ‘Live and let live’; ‘I may not agree with what you say, but I’ll fight to the death for your right to say it’; and all that. Except Mr. Harper may have to pick up the tab for the beer, as I’m a struggling Canadian Publishing Entrepreneur and could use some government financial stimulation even if that’s merely an evening of pints.
Ian Alexander Martin [
Entries (RSS)
Excellent summary, but he did leave out the convenient point that the opposition was PO’ed that the guvmint wanted to do away with the taxpayer subsidies for their parties. Another quibble is that we are not technically a “democracy” per se. We are a representative democracy; in fact, one could say we are a Constitutional Parliamentary Monarchical Representative Democracy, but we won’t, because that’s silly.
I am also sorry to see that he left out discussion of the fact that we have a bicameral federal legislature (which divides legislative authority with local (read “provincial”) governments) and that the term “MP” includes both members of the House of Commons and members of the Senate. I want to get all punchy every time I see a reporter write “MPs and Senators”. That’s like saying “players and goalies” or “Canadians and Manitobans”.
The bit was already 6½ minutes long! Whattaya want; an entire episode dedicated to the development of the Canadian political structure? The only thing really big enough to handle the entire topic would be a book and that wouldn’t be even half as interesting as anything Rick Mercer does.
Feel free to get punchy! I’ll back you up!
However, is the term “MP” in essence “Member of the Senate House of Parliament”, is is used because “MSHP” is not only weird-looking, it is also possible to confuse it with “Manufacturer’s Suggested wHolesale Price”?
Sorry… that was the best I could do. Have pity on me: I’m old and weak.
Whenever the tv appears on RM’s set it is advisable to be prepared to take notes, as opposed to when the graffitied wall appears. The tv is a signal that there will be a carefully prepared summary of something important, while the rants are his more or less off the cuff, well– rants. Canada is a weird place and those prepared summaries show just how weird it is. Unfortunately, the right (as opposed to “correct”) side of politics is no longer afraid of the left (or sinister) side because the lefties have drifted far enough right that the right has very little ‘left’ to fear. All we can do now to keep them off balance is to vote Green and hope Elizabeth May can cut them down to size.
Hey! Doesn’t this program run on daylight saving time yet? Or is this one aspect of Canada that has refused to go along with the American mandate?
[sigh]
Please note that the time is now up-dated.
Umm, yeah? Besides, what’s another 30 seconds?
I guess someone will have to write a book on this stuff if it’s going to be done right.
Send me the manuscript when it’s done and I’ll whip through for grammatical and…
Why are you shaking your head?