As much as he tried to be conciliatory and magnanimous, the angst on the face of Bob Rae as he reluctantly let go of his passionate, all-consuming ambition to be the Prime Minister of Canada was all too evident. And, so too must have been the angst in the boardroom of Power Corp, where Rae's brother, John, is part of the ruling class, oops, sorry, senior management.
But wait, Michael Ignatieff is still part of the ruling elite "entitled to their entitlements" class of the Liberal Party of Canada isn't he? Well, that's a little hard to say. He's been absent from Canada for much of his adult life. On the surface he seems more centrist than the former NDP Premier of Ontario could ever claim to be. And whatever ties to Power Corp. he may have, it seems to be only a friendship to the Raes. Well, so far.
What is clear is that, with the notable exception of Stephen Harper, every Prime Minister in office longer than the time to have a cup of coffee in the past three decades, owes his allegiance to Power Corp. Then, add the likes of Maurice Strong (he of the UN Oil for Food scandal) and Paul Volker (former chair of he US Fed and current Barack Obama advisor) to the mix and their influence – dare I say dominance - over North American government is complete for the last 40 years.
And there's the rub isn't it? There is no ability to control Stephen Harper is there? Oh sure, Brian Mulroney, another Power Corp. alumni, was an adviser in the early days, but that too failed. So how to continue the run? Obviously Harper has to go.
But how? He was just elected a few weeks earlier. Albeit to a minority government as the Libs were reduced to their lowest vote tally in living memory. In the last minority Parliament, Lib leader Stephane Dion supported the Harper government against all of his pet causes in a twisting, hypocritical, mind-numbingly theatrical performance to avoid an election, all the while saying he was against what Harper was doing. It's a wonder his dog, Kyoto, didn't bite him.
No problem apparently though after the next election forced by Harper. The Libs did exactly what they said they would never do and crawled into bed with the NDP and the separatist Bloc. Well, as threesomes go, I doubt there has been another dripping with more sleaze and hypocrisy than that one. Or as Mulroney once mused, "There's no whore like an old whore." And I suppose he is an authority on that subject.
What puzzles me is the concept that Rae, and by extension his supporters, or more accurately, string pullers, tried to peddle that the Governor General had an obvious choice to make if they, the combined opposition, simply said they had no confidence in the sitting government and she should appoint them as the government.
It not only defies logic, and law and tradition, but speaks to the unadulterated ego and sense of entitlement possessed by the Liberal Party of Canada. That Jack and Gilles jumped on the train is really of no import. Neither will ever get close to the Prime Minister's office in any way, shape or form save and except as an invited visitor. Canadians, as apathetic as they can be in their "I'm all right Jack" existence, would never be so stupid as to let them close to the levers of power. So Layton signed on to his only shot and is still trying to milk out the dry udder of that cow while Duceppe is still sniggering at the door those idiots opened for him and the separatists.
And at the end of the last Rae-Day, the worst Premier Ontario has ever seen will not have the opportunity to become the worst Prime Minister Canada has ever seen. His brother, John Rae, who ran the campaigns of Jean Chretien and is a central, dominating part of the power brokers of Power Corp. will not have a direct pipeline into the Prime Minister's office.
Or will he?
Leo Knight
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4 comments:
And Ontario residents still continue to pay through the nose for electricity and "debt repayment" because Maurice Strong was put in charge of it by, you guessed it, BOB RAE.
Sincerely
R Moore
Thanks for this, Leo. You've expressed more eloquently what a lot of us have been thinking!
I wonder how many Canadians would be shocked to learn how much control of our federal gov't the mysterious Power Corp has had. Sad that most care more about who Lindsay Lohan is enjoying horizontal refreshment with than who controls their own government!
So who are Iggys backers.He obviously did not just wake up one day after 30 years & say if I go home to Canada they will let me lead the LPC & then become PM.The fact that after some unfortunate delays,such as Dion,that he is still pursuing his vision indicates he has very powerfull backers.Either that or the power corp whores have more than one iron in the fire?
That's the $64,000 question Greyburr. Who indeed? The power behind the throne in this country has been for much, if not all, of the last half century, Power Corp. And never moreso than during the Chretien years. And, there is no doubt in my mind that there were fingerprints of Power Corp. all over the ham-fisted attempt by Dion to usurp government with the coalition. With the Tories strengthening and the Libs in a tailspin and no apparent victory on the horizon, they had to find a way to the PMO. After all, what would Power Corp. be without the Government of Canada, and vice versa?
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