(Through Rose-Coloured Glasses)
“In a display that was anything but apathetic, thousands of Canadians of varying political stripes clogged city streets across Canada demanding Prime Minister Stephen Harper reopen Parliament and get back to work.” (Ciara Byrne — The Canadian Press )
Hey, people, listen, we are barking up the wrong tree.
As his Immigration minister said yesterday, it’s a lot easier for the government to operate without Parliament in session.
That’s exactly what my mother said when we were small, “I got a lot more done when you kids not home”.
Suddenly it dawned on me. Our Prime Minister is running the country like a family, one big if not always happy family. He is head of the household. How dare us kids (i.e. Canadian and through our representative MPs) want to talk back, and to question his authority, and his actions. He is the all powerful, know all, and arrogant father, doing everything he can just for the goodness of this family. We kids are really naughty, are trouble makers, and deserve to be punished, and have to be sent to our rooms, without dinner, and be grounded (just like sending his MPs packing, go back to their constituencies and not to return until things calm down).
You said, where is democracy. Big word. Of course there is democracy within the family. But there are definitely ground rules too. As long as we kids are not questioning the actions or behaviour of our elders (what do we kids know anyway), or talk back or voice our own opinion, or to bother him when he is pre-occupied, we are allowed to think whatever we want (and may be a protest or two). Isn’t that democratic enough, otherwise its just asking for trouble, and we will end up as a family of rebellious hoodlums.
People, calm down. Our Big Daddy knows best. If we behave, we may even get to taste a perogie (or is it prorogue?) Whatever, of course we don’t care, right?
Mr. Harper must have seen a preview of “Confucius” and has become a staunch follower of the strict Confucius feudal hierarchal order known as “wulun” (Monarch-minister, father-son, brothers, husband-wife, and friends) to keep social order. I wonder if he has any younger brothers to boss around. He could be more Chinese than us.