Why do we have government? When did we start praying to the government to “Give us this day, our daily bread?” Is this a democratic government? It is not God, that is for sure. And yet, if it is a democratic government, should it not look for ways to ensure its people can be fed in this 21st century? Is it not the welfare of all its citizens that should concern our government?
Canadians have a convoluted system of government that is so wrong in this day. It has a federal government and provincial governments and they each can blame the other for their failures. The recent coronavirus killed more than 50,000 Canadians. It was remarkable how fast the federal government was able to obtain vaccines. It was remarkable how the provincial governments let their hospitals collapse under the weight of patients sick with the disease. Lock-downs meant different strategies in different provinces. And federal lock-downs conflicted.
Today we have run-away inflation and people are starting to grow hungry. Our grocery stores are more worried about shoplifting that can eat into their windfall capital gains. What do our governments do? They point the finger at each other.
And how is Canada going to house its burgeoning population. Our country needs more people and we cannot accommodate them. The federal government makes faint promises and provincial governments are exploiting the opportunities to their political benefit.
And what do we do about this? Those who think we can change our constitution have a fight on their hands. It is a carryover of our British-crafted colonialism. There are more ways to say ‘no’ than there are to say ‘yes.’ And you can align the ‘nos’ with the provinces. We will even have difficulty in dispensing with the monarchy—despite the majority of Canadians who don’t give a damn about them.
You can almost forget the possibilities to have a democratic constitution. The smaller the fiefdom, the harder they will fight to keep it.
I have always imagined a constitutional congress in Canada. Boy, that is a battle I would love to take part in!
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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