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Shortchanged by the GG again
09 May 2005
Many nations celebrated the 60th anniversary of VE Day - Victory in Europe Day - on May 8. No country suffered more or lost more people in World War II than the former Soviet Union: 27 million dead. In recognition of the effort and sacrifice Soviet people made to stop the German steamroller and eventually defeat the Nazis, world leaders went to Moscow to watch the parade of 2,500 veterans in Red Square.
According to this BBC story, more than 50 world leaders attended the ceremony.. US President George Bush attended. So did French President Jacques Chirac, Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Chinese President Hu Jintao. UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was there. So was Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski went, despite his country's decades of oppression under Soviet rule.
Canada, instead, sent its own wanna-be royalty, the Governor General. What an insult to the memory of the millions who died. We pawned off a patronage appointee, whose waste of our tax dollars should be considered criminal, on the Russians. While Canadians of all political stripes are clamouring for the GG to be dethroned (and maybe run out of town on a rail at the same time), the government is still sending her to major international events.
Canada played a proud role in WWII: with more than one million in uniform, we suffered more than 53,000 wounded and more than 42,000 dead. Surely their memory deserved a dignifed ambassador to recognize the Soviet sacrifices.
Paul Martin,allegedly our leader, blamed "politics" for not attending ceremonies in the Netherlands, where a parade of Canadian vets was greeted and cheered on by an audience of 200,000. That same article notes "On Monday, Clarkson was among 50 world leaders attending ceremonies in Moscow." Obviously this is an ironic use of the word "leader" since our GG is merely a patronage appointment.
On behalf of all Canadians who attended ceremonies here in Canada (I was at the local Legion for their ceremony, Sunday) and worldwide, I apologize sincerely for this embarrassing gaffe. We should have sent one of our elected leaders. Instead we sloughed off the junket-junkie, the queen snout in the public trough. That was completely unacceptable.
It's bad enough that Queen Adrienne drains the public purse with her expensive junkets, but usually only Canadians have to suffer her haughty arrogance. Foisting her on the world stage is an inexcusable lapse in protocol. The event deserved more dignity than I believe the GG could ever muster.
According to this BBC story, more than 50 world leaders attended the ceremony.. US President George Bush attended. So did French President Jacques Chirac, Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Chinese President Hu Jintao. UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was there. So was Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski went, despite his country's decades of oppression under Soviet rule.
Canada, instead, sent its own wanna-be royalty, the Governor General. What an insult to the memory of the millions who died. We pawned off a patronage appointee, whose waste of our tax dollars should be considered criminal, on the Russians. While Canadians of all political stripes are clamouring for the GG to be dethroned (and maybe run out of town on a rail at the same time), the government is still sending her to major international events.
Canada played a proud role in WWII: with more than one million in uniform, we suffered more than 53,000 wounded and more than 42,000 dead. Surely their memory deserved a dignifed ambassador to recognize the Soviet sacrifices.
Paul Martin,allegedly our leader, blamed "politics" for not attending ceremonies in the Netherlands, where a parade of Canadian vets was greeted and cheered on by an audience of 200,000. That same article notes "On Monday, Clarkson was among 50 world leaders attending ceremonies in Moscow." Obviously this is an ironic use of the word "leader" since our GG is merely a patronage appointment.
On behalf of all Canadians who attended ceremonies here in Canada (I was at the local Legion for their ceremony, Sunday) and worldwide, I apologize sincerely for this embarrassing gaffe. We should have sent one of our elected leaders. Instead we sloughed off the junket-junkie, the queen snout in the public trough. That was completely unacceptable.
It's bad enough that Queen Adrienne drains the public purse with her expensive junkets, but usually only Canadians have to suffer her haughty arrogance. Foisting her on the world stage is an inexcusable lapse in protocol. The event deserved more dignity than I believe the GG could ever muster.
