Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Priority Six - We are a bunch of Pricks
The Conservative Government has said that it will not lower the flag on the Peace Tower as a sign of respect for the soldiers that were recently killed in Afghanistan. The Government wishes to make it clear that this is not meant to disrespect soldiers who pay the ultimate price but quite the opposite – according to the Conservative Government, it’s actually more respectful this way.

In defending this position the Minister of Defense Gordon O'Connor somehow blamed Jean Chrétien. From what I can gather, the Conservative position is that Chrétien was wrong to start lowering the flag in the first place and he was often inconsistent. This is what the Conservatives do when they get their backs up. By this time tomorrow, they will be saying they want to lower the flag but can’t because they are simply too outraged over the sponsorship scandal to have someone lift their arms and pull on the ropes at the base of the pole.

It should be pointed out that when the Conservatives were in opposition they demanded that the flag fly at half mast in similar circumstances as a sign of respect for the deceased. Now that they are in power they have changed their minds entirely.

In case you are wondering what the official protocol is for this type of thing I have cut and pasted the relevant section from the department of Heritage website.

…the flag on the Peace Tower of the Parliament Building at Ottawa is flown at half-mast:
on the death of a Lieutenant Governor;
on the death of a Canadian Privy Councillor, a Senator, or a Member of the House of Commons;
on the death of a person whom it is desired to honour.

This is a pretty straightforward list.

Everyone knows what Lieutenant Governors are: they are an elite group of politically connected senior citizens who represent the Queen in each of the provinces. These brave men and women are required to attend cocktail receptions on a daily basis for their country. When their livers explode, the flag is lowered as a sign of respect.

For many, it might come as a shock to hear that the flag is lowered “on the death of a Canadian Privy Councilor” mostly because, let’s face it, nobody really knows what that means. The Canadian Privy Council is actually a ceremonial “council of advisors” to the Queen. I know it sounds exhausting, but rest assured there is no official duty that goes along with the distinction. In fact, you are required to do nothing. Every former Canadian premier is a member and the bottom line is the Queen doesn’t have Bob Rae on speed dial. Membership is also open to anyone who is a good friend of the Prime Minister. For example a previous Conservative government made Conrad Black a Member of the Privy Council. It is somehow fitting that if Conrad goes down in a nasty prison brawl over a carton of cigarettes, the flag over the Peace Tower will fly at half mast. A nation will mourn the passing of a guy who voluntarily gave up his Canadian citizenship so he could play dress-up party in England.

Further down the list we come to Senator. When a member of the Senate finally drops, the flag is not far behind. This has led to some confusion in the past when the flag has been lowered to half mast and it turns out the senator in question was simply resting his eyes. As a result there is now a rigorous process to ensure the senator is actually deceased. Once actual death is established the flag is immediately lowered. I think we can all agree on this one. When I think of the sacrifices many of these senators have made for their country I get downright weepy.

Take Senator Michael Fortier for example.

The first thing Stephen Harper did when he took office was to appoint his Quebec campaign manager to the Senate. Harper’s hand was barely off the Bible at his swearing in ceremony before his buddy Fortier was on the teat and we were on the hook for his salary.

And so if Senator Fortier chokes on a chicken bone in the Parliamentary dining room this evening the flag will be lowered to half mast. I agree with this one. It would only be appropriate that the nation be given the opportunity to honour Fortier for his few weeks of service to our country doing whatever it is he does. Of course, one hopes that the good senator avoids the chicken bones and lives well past one hundred.

Which brings us to the third category, a very interesting one indeed.

- on the death of a person whom it is desired to honour.

And rest assured the Prime Minister makes this call. The Prime Minister of Canada can order that flag lowered as a sign of respect to anyone we desire to honour. It is my suggestion that along with Members of Parliament, Senators and Members of the Privy Council, we as a nation desire to honour men and women in uniform who pay the ultimate price while serving their country.

Lower the flag, Prime Minster.
posted by Rick Mercer at 4:31 PM  

Here here.  I find that while the conservatives may say they are more accountable, they still flip flop like Mr Dithers... (FYI Mr Dithers was Paul Martin's nickname).

Once you are in office and have the political powers that got you there tugging every which way on your johnson, you too would flip flop quicker than an Irishman on the 12th step of AA at the Guniess Brewery's free-all-you-can-drink weekend celebration.

That's not an excuse, I just think it is easy to sit back and judge people in vicarious situations and throw acusations there way (like the Conservatives loved to do to the Liberals for all those many many MANY years they lost to them in federal election after federal election).  But once they actually are sitting in the same (or similar) seat they find it much harder to not fall to the same pressures.

Mind you it didn't take Harper sitting in the PM seat to show his hipocrasy, but that's a whole 'nother string of conversations.

Definately, it is easier to poke holes in others' work than to produce the work yourself.  However, it is quite different to complain about someone's work etc and then do that exact same thing you complained about.

One of the biggest examples of this recently is the whole emerson thing.  I won't go into the debate of whether he should or shouldn't've.  However, the liberals whined and complained about this, but did I hear them whine when Stronach crossed the floor?  What was the difference? Only a matter of a couple of months or so.

I think the difference was that her crossing was due to a vote.  She may have felt her constituents, or maybe the entire country, was better served by allowing the minority government to continue to exist rather than jumping directly into another election.  Harper obviously wanted the non-confidence vote to succeed and would have applied pressure for his party members to vote the government down.

This guy recently just switched parties, again probably because he felt it better served his constituents, but it wasn't due to any particular issue.  It was just a matter of reversing his political standing on a whim.  I don't care if his riding was "largely conservative".  If they voted liberal, then they weren't right-wing enough to want a Conservative MP.

I don't think Belinda polled her constituents (i almosted spelled it poled) before making the leap.  But there are more similarities then not.  Both got a seat in the cabinet of the opposite side.  Chances are that Stronach's constituents voted conservative (during the 04 election), then they weren't left-wing enough to want a liberal MP.  You're just giving stronach's move an explaination.  Frankly, if one felt it was wrong for Emerson to make the move then it is wrong that Stronach did so as well.  To be "accountable" they should have resigned their seat and had a by-election running with their new party.

I agree with you that if they didn't feel they could do their duties as elected, a by-election is in order.  However, I think you missed by point about Harper's pressure on his party.  Did ANY conservatives vote to keep the government going?  Leaving the party may have been the only way to vote against another election.

I am just thoroughly disgusted that they even allow crossing parties.
Those lines should be permanent until you quit or end your current elected term.

But again sitting back here in the bleachers is far easier than being the one grossly overpaid to represent a constiuency.

Certainly then you would have people complaining about the cost of by-elections.

People will always complain - it's the only way we can tell if some of them are still alive!