EDITORIAL
Adrienne Clarkson, a new standard for waste
From
the Far Lane
Emmett Macfarlane
Editor-in-Chief
It doesn’t take long for someone watching
Canada’s Gov. Gen., Adrienne Clarkson, to practically
smell the arrogance she exudes. Nor does it take much thought
for one to realize how useless and wasteful her position is
to the country.
“Her Excellency” has recently been under fire
for exorbitant spending practices. Last year, Clarkson spent
$41 million, including $5 million on a pointless trip to Russia,
Finland and Iceland. She defended her budget on Monday, saying “We
have all sorts of reasons to believe that having a Governor
General is relevant to Canadians if it continues to relate
to Canadians and that’s what spending our budget means.”
Come again?
The Governor General is a figurehead — the Queen’s
representative (insert eye-rolling here) — who literally
rubberstamps everything the prime minister “recommends” because
her position is archaic and antithetical to democracy. Put
simply, the Governor General is a relic and it’s laughable
that we still honour the position in the 21st Century.
The fact that Clarkson and her husband John Ralston Saul have
astronomically raised spending is indicative not only of the
Liberal party’s rule, but of general ignorance among
the population. There are people who believe she actually makes
decisions as Canada’s Commander-in-Chief, which she doesn’t
(unless you include what colour the new carpeting will be in
Rideau Hall, the mansion she inhabits while spending taxpayer
dollars).
Those who would defend Clarkson are incapable of providing
a single reason for keeping her, or the institution she represents,
in place.
The Governor General’s “authority” is in
name only. She acts on the advice of the prime minister, and
no one holding her office has contradicted the PM in over 50
years — and nor should they, which is precisely my point.
Clarkson and her predecessors are an old stain on Canada’s
political fabric, serving only as a reminder of our colonial
ancestry. The institution is no more effective than just that:
an old stain like those created by the spills of the socialite,
upper-class products of incest Clarkson and her husband mimic
as they hop from banquet to ball on government money.
On a Citytv news piece last Friday, a reporter was asking
pedestrians if they thought we should get rid of the Governor
General. When the first person, a middle-aged woman, immediately
and confidently replied no, I figured she might be able to
make a decent argument to support her position. “Why
not?” the reporter asked.
Long pause.
“I don’t know,” the woman said. “I
guess I’m just a traditionalist.”
Well, if not evolving and bettering ourselves was ever a reason
to keep a troglodytic institution in place, then I’m
convinced.
