The Virtue of Ceremony

Almost all of Rand's important characters hated ceremony. They either reflected this by their actions, or through their words. Waste, they would say, is the ultimate sin and is without virtue.

I gave a speech from the throne too. After I flushed it had about the same level of substance. The one delivered by her Excellency, however, had a lingering smell of cultural imperialism that just wouldn’t go away.

The pomp and circumstance that goes into the speech from the throne is the only thing that gets ordinary Canadians, albeit temporarily, to even pay attention, which is a problem in and of itself. I don’t know if that is because they don’t care, or if it is because the speech is really boring. This afternoon, there was about 45 minutes of very official knocking on doors and such. Did you know that the person who knocks on the door of the House of Commons (the usher of the black rod) makes well over a hundred grand a year? Pretty expensive trick-or-treater if you ask me.

In outlining the government’s five priorities, her Excellency did an adept job at reading the provisions drafted for her consideration by the Privy Council Office as ordered by the Prime Minister. It was also fun to watch the MPs herded behind the thin gold bar at the entrance to the Senate floor. That said, what a phenomenal waste of time and more importantly, money. There were numerous government officials who probably don’t have to do anything except go to cocktail parties until the next throne speech. The entire process reeked of elitism and government largesse with which few Canadians could identify. It was nice that the Governor General invited Santa clause and eight of his stunt doubles to attend.

At least when the President delivers the State of the Union to Congress, he can actually do something about it. What is her Excellency going to do if the House of Commons ignores her? Go out and buy a new hat? Our system of government pretty clearly establishes that the de facto Head of State and the legislative branch are on the same page, and if it doesn't, let me assure you that separatists are not suddenly going to see the light because of the carefully chosen words of the Prime Minister, read by a woman who is the representative of her Majesty, the Queen of England, also known as the embodiment of English as an intergenerational cultural oppressor. Je me souviens, indeed.

At least the State of Union helps frame the debate from the perspective of the single most important political figure in the states.

This is not a call for a wholesale renewal of our parliamentary system or process. This is a call for the Prime Minister to look beyond the Senate when he goes after democratizing institutions that Canadians pay for. The Senate actually does something for the average Canadian from time to time- I don’t think the usher of the Black Rod can say the same thing.

But, what about tradition? Tradition is fine provided that it doesn’t impinge upon the present. Tell Canadians that there won’t be money for wheelchairs or for combating homelessness because they spent over a million dollars firing blanks into the air and making sure that the Senate understands the importance of their role. I am not going to suggest for one second that massive policy changes would occur if we had that extra million bucks, but if we added it to the millions "carefully expended" investigating the millions syphoned off to well placed members of the former government to help save federalism...

It just smells. Can't one of the more nubile Senators get up and knock on the door instead?