shockedcanadian
Diamond Member
- Aug 6, 2012
- 43,702
- 42,742
- 3,605
The Security Industrial Complex destroyed our young, our vulnerable, our competiveness, innovation, reputation and ultimately our economy.
Covert police states that enforce a caste through agent provocateurs and manufacturing threats are destined to fail. History is littered with this and it is clear to me that after decades of docile, weak, boot licking politicians, that there is a drastic shift provincially and federally to weed out the bad actors, abusers and criminals.
I have paid a steep price. It seems due to this mass shift in cash that even the wealthy and untouchable no longer want to prop this up. It will be up to the powers that be to hold the criminals accountable, take back our Charter and nations potential.
Opening Parliament on Groundhog Day is ironic, but not funny. Winter is coming.
This week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted a video on X, āseeking an urgent meeting with the prime ministerā to ābring practical solutions, an openness to hear other ideas and work together to fast-track results.ā
No one is pretending weāre not in a crisis in Canada, and increasingly, parliamentarians are hearing their constituentsā pleas for less partisanship and more solutions. I recently spoke with one such member of Parliament: Greg McLean.
Heās a Conservative who campaigned hard in the last three elections to beat back Liberal competitors in the urban riding of Calgary Centre. As MP, heās a big believer in all-party committee and policy work, trying to shape a parliamentary democracy that works for all Canadians. But he says itās not that simple these days.
āIf you think about democracy being a three-legged stool ā with the judiciary, the legislature and the executive,ā Greg explains, āthe role of the legislature has diminished significantly with the Liberal government ignoring the role of the legislature in that democracy.
āI see that continuing with this prime minister, unfortunately,ā he laments, āWeād like him to do well, but weād also like him to respect that Canada is a democracy that has a legislature ā¦ it isnāt just an executive run ā sit down and sign an edict and this is the way itās going to be. You have to move some of these laws, and changes in laws, through Parliament. And thatās our role. We need to get back to that.ā
Thereās no ignoring the fact that political expediency can be seductive. I ask Greg whether he expects more floor-crossings, to give the Liberals a majority government.
āI donāt know,ā he responds solemnly. āI hope not.ā
āThe Michael Ma crossing was a shock, to all of us. I turned over the chairmanship of the parliamentary friendship group, the Canada-Hong Kong parliamentary friendship group, to Michael, because of his strong representation there,ā he says.
āI donāt know what the quid pro quo on the floor crossings are,ā Greg muses. āBut I donāt think itās good for Canada at this point in time to have that process continue in the way that it did with Michael Ma.ā
There are more upbeat things for Conservatives to talk about, however: the buzz heās feeling in the aftermath of a rousing party convention, and most of all, policy ideas he presented there, to revive Canadaās stagnating economy.
Last spring, Poilievre asked Greg to chair an economic growth council, together with two fellow Tories, MP Gaetan Malette and former MP Rick Perkins, to consult with business leaders across the country and recommend what can be done to stem the flow of investment dollars out of Canada. Over the past decade, more than $500 billion in Canadian investment capital has flowed abroad, chasing better returns elsewhere.
This mandate is a perfect fit with Gregās talent; before this boomer-generation MP was elected, he was a finance guy, managing investment portfolios and tech startups.
Last election ā Greg acknowledges, with a mix of bewilderment and regret ā all the Conservativesā policy work went unnoticed because of the politics of the moment. āAll the policy exercises we went through before the last election,ā he reports, āand there were still people who said, āWell, you guys didnāt have any policy.ā We had deeper policy ā¦ than any other election Iāve been involved with.ā
Covert police states that enforce a caste through agent provocateurs and manufacturing threats are destined to fail. History is littered with this and it is clear to me that after decades of docile, weak, boot licking politicians, that there is a drastic shift provincially and federally to weed out the bad actors, abusers and criminals.
I have paid a steep price. It seems due to this mass shift in cash that even the wealthy and untouchable no longer want to prop this up. It will be up to the powers that be to hold the criminals accountable, take back our Charter and nations potential.
Opening Parliament on Groundhog Day is ironic, but not funny. Winter is coming.
This week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted a video on X, āseeking an urgent meeting with the prime ministerā to ābring practical solutions, an openness to hear other ideas and work together to fast-track results.ā
No one is pretending weāre not in a crisis in Canada, and increasingly, parliamentarians are hearing their constituentsā pleas for less partisanship and more solutions. I recently spoke with one such member of Parliament: Greg McLean.
Heās a Conservative who campaigned hard in the last three elections to beat back Liberal competitors in the urban riding of Calgary Centre. As MP, heās a big believer in all-party committee and policy work, trying to shape a parliamentary democracy that works for all Canadians. But he says itās not that simple these days.
āIf you think about democracy being a three-legged stool ā with the judiciary, the legislature and the executive,ā Greg explains, āthe role of the legislature has diminished significantly with the Liberal government ignoring the role of the legislature in that democracy.
āI see that continuing with this prime minister, unfortunately,ā he laments, āWeād like him to do well, but weād also like him to respect that Canada is a democracy that has a legislature ā¦ it isnāt just an executive run ā sit down and sign an edict and this is the way itās going to be. You have to move some of these laws, and changes in laws, through Parliament. And thatās our role. We need to get back to that.ā
Thereās no ignoring the fact that political expediency can be seductive. I ask Greg whether he expects more floor-crossings, to give the Liberals a majority government.
āI donāt know,ā he responds solemnly. āI hope not.ā
āThe Michael Ma crossing was a shock, to all of us. I turned over the chairmanship of the parliamentary friendship group, the Canada-Hong Kong parliamentary friendship group, to Michael, because of his strong representation there,ā he says.
āI donāt know what the quid pro quo on the floor crossings are,ā Greg muses. āBut I donāt think itās good for Canada at this point in time to have that process continue in the way that it did with Michael Ma.ā
There are more upbeat things for Conservatives to talk about, however: the buzz heās feeling in the aftermath of a rousing party convention, and most of all, policy ideas he presented there, to revive Canadaās stagnating economy.
Last spring, Poilievre asked Greg to chair an economic growth council, together with two fellow Tories, MP Gaetan Malette and former MP Rick Perkins, to consult with business leaders across the country and recommend what can be done to stem the flow of investment dollars out of Canada. Over the past decade, more than $500 billion in Canadian investment capital has flowed abroad, chasing better returns elsewhere.
This mandate is a perfect fit with Gregās talent; before this boomer-generation MP was elected, he was a finance guy, managing investment portfolios and tech startups.
Last election ā Greg acknowledges, with a mix of bewilderment and regret ā all the Conservativesā policy work went unnoticed because of the politics of the moment. āAll the policy exercises we went through before the last election,ā he reports, āand there were still people who said, āWell, you guys didnāt have any policy.ā We had deeper policy ā¦ than any other election Iāve been involved with.ā
