Might Shatner Boldly Lead Canada As Governor? 318
just fiddling around writes "Now that Michaëlle Jean is approaching the end of her customary five-year post as Governor General of Canada, the rumor mill has started on who Prime Minister Steven Harper will propose to the Queen in her stead. According to the CBC, the short list includes Captain Kirk, actor William Shatner. It seems that acting can lead to the highest offices in places other than California."
IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:5, Interesting)
You...pitted...us...againsteachother. You...wanted...me..todoyourbidding. You...want...me...tobeyourgovernor. Well...I...WON'T...DO...IT!
One of the funniest things I saw on the 'net recently was to describe that style of speaking as Shatneritis.
But what is interesting is that Adam West used the same style of speech in the Batman TV series, (and according to Burt Ward did so in order to get more camera time on himself). Perhaps West and Shatner were twins separated at birth?
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:5, Informative)
It was revealed quite some time ago that Shatner's "dramatic pauses" were due to him trying to remember his lines. Probably equally true for Adam West, though I don't really know.
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, ST was a very low-budget show and they didn't have the money for retakes.
Nevertheless, William Shatner has already turned down the idea. There was a FB group a while ago, and he contacted us to say that while he was flattered, he felt that he was not qualified to represent Canada in such a respected and honoured position.
I would look it up, but FB is blocked at work.
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I'm not sure how that follows. Software is a good part of what makes a good cell phone, and Google certainly has a lot of talented software engineers.
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Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:4, Funny)
most of the old star trek cast are dead you insensitive clod!
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:5, Funny)
Which shows the lengths they're prepared to go to...
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:5, Funny)
Which shows the lengths to which they're prepared to go...
This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put...
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:4, Funny)
James Doohan even went so far as to put himself into a transporter loop to avoid talking to him.
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Well when you change jobs do you still talk to all the people in your old job, even the ones you kinda got along with...
Probably not. The fact that Shatner isn't in much contact with the rest of the cast. Isn't so much that he is so hated by the cast, but more to the concept was they were never really much of friends anyway.
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Plus the fact that it's been more than 40 years since they were "the cast".
I can't think of anyone I know other family that I've known that long (I can't even think of anyone that my parents have known that long other than family), much less that I've liked that long....
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:5, Funny)
Q: What's Shatner's favorite french film festival?
A: Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannes!
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It seems that acting can lead to the highest offices in places other than California."
Ronald Reagan was from Illinois, and his acting career let to the US Presidency. So it's been like that for some time.
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems that one of the jobs of the GG of Canada is periodically meeting the Aga Khan:
http://archive.gg.ca/media/pho/index_e.asp?GalleryID=584 [archive.gg.ca]
http://www.akdn.org/photos_show.asp?Sid=47 [akdn.org]
Now, how would Shatner handle this situation..?
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(Hum, she's called Khan but looks like Uhura... conflict!)
*extends hand* - Denny Crane.
I'm guessing that you are American? (Score:3, Informative)
(Hum, she's called Khan but looks like Uhura... conflict!)
*extends hand* - Denny Crane.
*Sigh* The lady is our current Governor General you insensitive clod.
The man is Kahn.
Re:IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? (Score:4, Interesting)
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KHAAANADA.com [khaaan.com]
As a Canadian (Score:3, Insightful)
I say: fuck that noise.
Re:As a Canadian (Score:5, Insightful)
I suppose I should qualify that statement. Everything I have read about William Shatner gives me the impression the man is a dick. If placed against someone (who has some reasonable buzz about him in this specific context) such as Romeo Dallaire [wikipedia.org], how does William Shatner measure up? This is no minor office - and the person who occupies it should be one of exceptional quality. Michelle Jean, my issues with her handling of Harper aside, was a person that could be looked up to for her journey through life and her efforts to support those less fortunate.
What has William Shatner done to deserve this?
As far as I'm concerned, he shouldn't even be mentioned among such people has Romeo Dallaire or Michelle Jean.
Re:As a Canadian (Score:5, Interesting)
This is actually a pretty good choice. As a Canadian, I'm more than happy for Kirk to be the guy schmoozing on behalf of my country.
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You seem to forget that in Canada the GG has official duties which they're required to follow through for the operation of the country. Half of it is public junk the other half is government. Saying that the GG has no power or responsibilities, is the same as saying the PM doesn't lead his party, and isn't responsible for cabinet positions.
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No, you're being disingenuous. Yes, technically, the Queen (and by extension, her representatives, the GGs of commonwealth countries), holds all the power. But in reality, the GG is a messenger boy at best. If he or the Queen actually tried to exert their paper authority, it would start a constitutional crisis.
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If you think it's purely ceremonial, look back to December of 2008 where, at the behest of under-fire PM Stephen Harper, agreed to prorogue (suspend) parliament until the end of January to avoid a confidence vote scheduled for the following Monday in which the government was widely expected to lose.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/04/harper-jean.html
"Monday's no-confidence vote could have precipitated the rise of a proposed Liberal-NDP coalition, supported by the Bloc Québécois, or could hav
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Yes the role is ceremonial... until it's needed, sometimes that level of power is needed.
Re:As a Canadian (Score:4, Insightful)
No you're being dense at not understanding how a parliamentry system works with a functioning GG, especially in Canada. More so in Canada because of the Charter, compared to other commonwealth countries.
Re:As a Canadian (Score:5, Insightful)
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I don't know about you, but I'd like our purely ceremonial head of government to be taken seriously both at home and abroad.
Oh, and the position is ceremonial - until it's not.
Re:As a Canadian (Score:5, Insightful)
Alright, I'm going to take this in another direction. I've got more than enough karma to burn, and I haven't flamed someone in a while.
I don't know about you, but I'd like our purely ceremonial head of government to be taken seriously both at home and abroad.
No comment.
No comment? What fucking world do you live in? Do you not realize that perception may as well be reality in politics? The Governor General acts as the head of the Canadian Government. She meets with heads of state all the fucking time. She may not have any official power, but she wields a massive amount of influence. Access is power.
Get your head out of your ass. This appointment is not some minor office that nobody cares about. We are selecting someone to represent Canada to the world, and represent the Queen in this country. I expect that person to be one of the best of us. Do you honestly believe that William Shatner is one of the best of us?
Your posts demonstrate the problem with democracy. William Shatner is being considered alongside a man who has been internationally recognized for trying to stop the genocide in Rwanda, and speaking out about it ever since.
So I say to you, respectfully, go fuck yourself.
On the "until its not" comment: it wasn't that long ago. [wikipedia.org]
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"Oh, and the position is ceremonial - until it's not.
?????"
I can help with that. A lot of jobs and positions are "ceremonial" - but when you search down through the paperwork, and all the dross, there really are resposibilities associated with the job.
In a time of crisis, a powerful personality who exerts his will might change that ceremonial position into a real position of power.
Of course, that is largely dependent on the people he has to interact with. If he's surrounded by a bunch of putzes with no cl
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This is actually a pretty good choice. As a Canadian, I'm more than happy for Kirk to be the guy schmoozing on behalf of my country.
Seconded.
Would I want him as a premier or worse yet prime minister? Hell no. However, having someone used to being in front of a camera and group speaking that is known throughout the world is exactly what you want for the role of GG.
How many people in other countries know who Canada's current GovGen is? How about how many Canadians? I had to look it up (I got the last two mixed up somehow). Having Shatner as GG would ensure ALL canadians know who the current GG is and a lot of the world (well maybe the
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Well that's what you'd think, unless the shit hits the constitutional fan, as it did in Australia in 1975. I think you want someone with serious backbone in the position. [wikipedia.org]
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The recent proroguing of parliament in Canada, twice, has been very controversial and is one of the decisions actually made by the GG.
There are a few other important ones, and while the job is ceremonial probably 90%+ of the time, those few occasions would lead one to want someone with at least a little concept of good governance.
Shatner is a shallow powderpuff, true (Score:3, Funny)
however, you are forgetting that the GG is a shallow powderpuff position
therefore, give the shallow powderpuff person the shallow powderpuff position, and give the serious meaningful people you list serious meaningful positions
it would be insulting, as you say, to give a shallow powderpuff a serious meaningful position in spite of other serious meaningful candidates
but it is equally insulting to give a serious meaningful candidate a shallow powderpuff position
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Powderpuff is just a single letter away from Powerpuff. If someone wants a powderpuff position, then maybe they know something you don't. For example, the Communist Party of good old Soviet Russia should really had thought more about who [wikipedia.org] they appointed as a secretary [wikipedia.org]...
Re:As a Canadian (Score:4, Informative)
Born in Haiti, her family fled the country when she was 11 after her father was arrested and tortured. For most of the 80s, she went to university and volunteered at womens shelters. She co-ordinated major studies on violence against women in domestic settings. She moved into journalism in the late 80s, winning several awards for her coverage. She speaks 5 languages fluently. She has started womens shelters across the country.
What has William Fucking Shatner done?
source [www.cbc.ca]
Re:As a Canadian (Score:4, Insightful)
"Stunt"? She was participating in the traditional lifestyle of some of Canada's Native People. It was no stunt, it's called respect, and it's something I sure-as-hell hope our Governer General has in spades when it comes to dealing with the citizens of our country.
She speaks French in Quebec, She eats Lobster in Nova Scotia and she eats seal heart when she's visiting Inuit people.
Re:As a Canadian (Score:4, Insightful)
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So you think that it's not classy to show public support for an indigenous people, who are poor and marginalized, by sharing the food that they eat out of necessity?
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Yes and no. I've talked to a few constitutional scholars about this, and they seem to be of the opinion that the powers are still real, but probably can only be used once; if the GG pulls the trigger and tells the Premine Minister to bite it, or dissolves Parliament without a request, or something of that ilk, the Supreme Court would likely support her, and then the provincial and federal governments would all get together and amend the Constitution to prevent it from happening again. Whether the public wou
Re:As a Canadian (Score:4, Funny)
Re:As a Canadian (Score:4, Insightful)
[W]e LIKE the Queen. She's a classy dame
I remember singing "God Save the Queen" in grade school. The Union Jack had been replaced the red and white maple leaf flag, of course, but the Queen's image was still on our currency and no one but ornithologists gave much thought to loons.
So, yeah, you could say we like it that way.
Pomp, circumstance, and the trappings of culture may not hold the appeal they did in other times, but every time I watch televised coverage of a US president giving a speech and I hear "Hail to the Chief" being played by a military band, or attend an even where the national anthem is played and see people struggling to remember the less-than-inspiring words ("the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air") and/or hit all the notes (1-1/2 octaves), I think back to how things were in Canada.
As for the sovereignty argument, I'd suggest that's overblown. The US opted for armed insurrection, so I suppose it's natural for there to be a focus on such things as "rights" or "freedom and liberty" to the exclusion of everything else that's just as important. I find that approach naive and simplistic (something you'd expect from an adolescent, perhaps), but who am I to judge?
A Canadian writer once wrote something to the effect that Canadians defer to authority, while Americans bow to power. I suspect that's a distinction too subtle for most Americans to understand. Or appreciate.
You Do Realize You Are Reporting on a Facebook Gro (Score:5, Informative)
Might Shatner Boldly Lead Canada As Governor?
The only 'short list' I could find referenced was simply which Facebook groups had the most members. If anyone else can find anything worth noting from this article other than the fact that Star Trek fans are more numerous on Facebook than Leonard Cohen fans ... let me know. PROTIP: Facebook is not a cross section of the populace nor does that cross section necessarily think they are voting for William Shatner as Governor General when they click a tiny button to join that group. A flippant mouse click can be just as much a joke or laugh than it can be a true desire.
Re:You Do Realize You Are Reporting on a Facebook (Score:2)
Might Shatner Boldly Lead Canada As Governor?
The only 'short list' I could find referenced was simply which Facebook groups had the most members.
Oh come on, next you will be saying that this is not news for Nerds. At least it is a current story!
Re:You Do Realize You Are Reporting on a Facebook (Score:5, Informative)
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While I agree it's not really anything to report on YET, but don't doubt the power of something like facebook. It's not official polls but they can give some insight on people's opinions. Granted, this one is a bit of nerd-out kind of group, but suppose there was a group "I don't want our troops overseas" that had say... 3 Million + members. Think that might send a message?
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"I don't want our troops overseas" that had say... 3 Million + members. Think that might send a message?
It might. But what I meant by cross section was that you're not sampling Canada, you're sampling Facebook. Are all the members Canadian? Does the group have a solid representative amount of Inuit? What about the elderly?
The problem with your proposed group of three million against the war is the simple fact that it is highly probable that users with internet connections heavily using Facebook and joining Facebook groups are biased towards liberal ideals. I'm not claiming that, I'm just stating the
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I know its not going to reach everyone, thats why a pro or anti group managing to get to 3 Million members is only 3 million members and not the full population of Canada.
And I think apathy for voting is a bigger issue than people being technologically incapable. You probably have more 18 and 19 year olds who don't vote but are on Facebook than you have people in regions of Canada without access to the internet. I don't have any stats to back that up so take that with a grain of salt. Our company has branch
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...suppose there was a group "I don't want our troops overseas" that had say... 3 Million + members. Think that might send a message?
A message that 1% of the US population supports something? I don't think that would be a very meaningful message.
Re:You Do Realize You Are Reporting on a Facebook (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a retarded story. The only mention of Shatner in the whole FA is this:
There might have been another submission that could have been rejected that included this link [www.cbc.ca], but, again, basically right off the bat, you see:
The OP is an asshole for submitting this as a serious story and writing the summary as if it were legit, and Taco, representative of all the editors I suppose, is being irresponsible for posting such a bullshit story like this on the front page.
Many people have been lamenting that the quality of stories have been going down in Slashdot. I don't really have that much of a gripe about that. I don't come to Slashdot for breaking news or the like. But when you start to post flat out falsehoods (there is no shortlist, there's not even a rumour, it's just a god damn Facebook group), that's when you cross the line into tabloidism. Horrible.
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Now I know you're new here!
Seriously, this is SOP. Learn to love it or learn to be disappointed.
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Governor GENERAL ... (Score:2, Informative)
It's not Governor. It' Governor General. It's in the summary, but not in the headline.
Canada has a different system of government, and we don't have Governors per se.
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Yes we do. We just call them Premiers. Having said that: Taco, fix the fucking headline already, you dumb american hick.
Not just CA (Score:3, Interesting)
It seems that acting can lead to the highest offices in places other than California."
Like... the United States [whitehouse.gov] (which isn't entirely composed of California, in spite of rumors)?
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I hear that the president often operates outside of California:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan [wikipedia.org]
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So in this thread, we say the words 'president' and 'California' and then link to a page about Reagan? You guys already covered the top two google hits, so here's #3 [ronaldreagan.com]
So in other words. . . (Score:2)
Shatner will boldly go where no Canuck has gone before?
Highest Offices (Score:5, Insightful)
"It seems that acting can lead to the highest offices in places other than California"
Absolutely. Forgotten about our 40th president of the United States, have we?
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No, he just has a stricter definition of what constitutes acting. Obviously not that strict, though...
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Wait, are you saying Arnie's a better actor than Ronnie? Hmm... if you took the ratio of their talent, I think you'd have to apply L'Hopital's rule to figure out whether the ratio was above or below 1. ;-)
Not a serious contender (Score:5, Informative)
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Shatner has lived in Hollywood for ages, which is a serious strike against anyone vying for the GG position.
For all intents and purposes, he's an American at this point.
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Shatner has lived in Hollywood for ages, which is a serious strike against anyone vying for the GG position.
For all intents and purposes, he's an American at this point.
Yup, I would be insulted as a Canadian if he (Or quite frankly any other actor) were appointed. Nice guy and all, but just not a GG candidate.
We have had a couple of very successful journalists do the job, but there's a huge difference between a veteran reporter and a veteran actor.
Shatner is... (Score:4, Funny)
bilingual if... by that... you mean ... that he... groups his... words in... groups of ... two? The... random emphasis ... and random... questions are... useless though?
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Wow, way to spit in the eye of a native Montrealer. Mod parent down: -1 Incorrect.
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Shatner isn't bilingual Wow, way to spit in the eye of a native Montrealer. Mod parent down: -1 Incorrect.
I went to high school in Montreal. Half of my family live there and I can say unequivocally that "native Montrealer" != "bilingual"
Now, it is probably the highest concentration of (English/French) bilingual people in Canada. But saying that he must be bilingual because he from Montreal is like saying that someone must be Cajun because they're from New Orleans.
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Never said that, was just pointing out that parent was incorrect in a very curt fashion.
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N.B. I'm not saying he doesn't... I'm just saying the logic is faulty. Similarly it's not terribly insulting to call an Anglo Montrealer of his generation mono-lingual. In fact you'd sort of expect an Anglo of his age who left Montreal over 40 years ago to either not speak French at all or to speak it very badly.
(I seem to actually recall him speaking French at some point... and my recollection is that it was not pretty... but I have never met him not tried to speak French with him so my faulty memory has l
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From what I've read, none of the actors learned Esperanto when making Incubus. They were just speaking words phonetically, and you can hear mispronunciations throughout the movie.
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Do Sam Neill, Alec Baldwin, Tim Curry, Stellan Skaarsgard (I know I spelled that wrong), Sean Connery, et. al. know Russian, or did they just memorize their lines for The Hunt for Red October?
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That's what I was going to say.
The strike against him is that he doesn't speak French. Though I really wonder how he could maintain his ability to speak Esperanto, given that it was a dead language as soon as it was imagined.
It's like learning to speak Latin - yeah you can do it, but why? All you really want is to be able to read it, and even then there isn't a whole lot of a point to it.
Proposing to the Queen? (Score:2)
Sorry dude, she's already married! You will never be king.
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Better as Governor General than actor? (Score:2)
Marooned eternity, in the center of a dead country (Score:5, Funny)
Huh? (Score:2)
He "Shatner-ed" on the 50 yd line (Score:2, Funny)
In high school there was a small group of miscreants who took the phrase "To boldly go where no man has gone before" to new depths of depravity. To this group to "Shatner" was to eliminate bodily waste in a place where it was presumed "no man has gone before."
One year at homecoming it was reported that somebody had "Shatnered" on the 50 yard line.
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Well, shat is the past tense of shit, so to "Shatner" is a nice pun, and clearly conveys the rules of the game without having to state them at all.
Regan? (Score:2)
It seems that acting can lead to the highest offices in places other than California.
Or.... the entire USA [wikipedia.org] perhaps? (Although admitedly he was also the Govenor of California before that apparently if wikipedia is to be believed).
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Yeah, but that was like, a billion years ago.
We need relevance man, relevance!
What's funny about this story though, is Shatner isn't actually on any short list for GG. There is a facebook movement to put him there.
In other words, the whole summary is a complete fucking lie. Gotta love Slashdot!
Canada Day is June 1st (Score:2)
Re:Canada Day is July 1st (Score:2)
I demand a return to patronage appointments! (Score:2)
I'm tired of all these artist/journalist GGs. Let's get the job back to it's proper political patronage role. Forget about political correctness, the criteria should be: which old white guy raised the most money for the party in power.
Can - You (Score:2)
Not with our current Prime Minister (Score:2)
Donny Crane. Sure it was an acting gig, but there are a lot of "screen moments" that can be extracted.
What is politics but a PR play and Canada's current prime minister is way to image conscious to go anywhere near a Donny Crane.
Infidelity. Check.
Gay Marriage. Check.
Insensitivity. Check.
Politically Incorrect. Check.
ob HHGttG (Score:2)
If Shatner has any government post in Canada, I think the US north better stop whining about how we need to build a fence down south and start worrying about how we can reinforce the longest previously unprotected border in the world.
might shatner boldly lead canada ? (Score:2)
"might shatner boldly lead canada ?"
I thought Picard was bold, not Kirk.
No... And it's 'Governor General' Not 'Governor' (Score:4, Insightful)
This is very old news in Canada. And no he won't. He doesn't even want the job, and the government is not considering him.
And it is "Governor General" not governor. It is an appointed position akin to say the most ceremonial presidential position in some republics. That is, before a law can come into effect it must be signed off by the GG. It is called Royal Assent. The GG represents the Queen of Canada (Elizabeth II) in Canada, and the monarch of the constitutional monarchy must approve all laws before they can come into effect. However, the GG by tradition always gives Royal Assent at the request of the Prime Minister. However most people don't realize that the GG doesn't HAVE to sign. It is a form of check or balance in the system. Of course this would likely never happen except in the rarest of circumstance.
Royal Assent must also be given in England as well before a law created in Parliament can go into effect. Of course in their case, the Queen signs it herself.
Before the 20th century, it was more common for the monarch to be able to withhold Royal Assent than today (less political repercussions back then). It is this ability to withhold Royal Assent that lent itself to the American Presidential Veto.
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Canadians have a long history of fighting for what we believe in. We have had troops in most major conflicts over the last 100 years (WWI, WWI, Korea), and we've had peace keeping soldiers in every place that the UN has ever needed them. We have people in Afghanistan, and have lost quite a few soldiers. We're not afraid to fight for what we
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You're not listening.
The Queen of Canada isn't British, she's Canadian. She can only be advised by Canadians on Canadian matters. She is a completely separate legal person from the British Queen, or the Australian Queen, or the Queen of any other commonwealth country. In fact, we would be in just as much right to call ourselves "Australian" as we would "British."
The Brits could oust their Monarchy tomorrow and we would still have a Queen. And maybe I'm just strange, but I think of a "national identity" as
Not very comparable (Score:2)
Say what you like about Shatner (Score:2)
But yesterday, you didn't even know that Canukistan had a "Governor General", and today you're debating the merits of the candidates, just because some random intartubes nobody started a Facebook page with Shatner's name on it.
What I say about Shatner is that the the strong-greaved Achaians and the spear-Danes of old may be gone, but a God walks amongst us still and he wants to make love to the mountain [youtube.com].
Seems to me (Score:2)
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"Arguably, Schwarzenegger is responsible for the veritable demise of the middle class in California. "
As a Californian, I'll take that argument. You give the office way more power than it has. I would suggest the legislature, through which the Governor must pass all legislation, has done more to harm the middle class than anything Muscleman could do. They have driven all business out and welcomed migrants and illegals with open arms, using our money to give them all manner of free programs, licenses, housing, medical, education, you name it, I wouldn't put a bet on anything they haven't given out using my m
$#*! My Governor Says (Score:2)
This thread is now about the governor of Canada saying funny $#*!.
Places other than California? (Score:2)
You mean like Washington DC [wikipedia.org]?