In one of his many quotable remarks, Sir John A once observed: Given a government with a big surplus, a big majority, and a weak opposition, you could debauch a committee of archangels. The current federal government has neither a surplus nor a majority, but it stands accused of avoiding Parliament, hampering accountability, and undermining Canadian democracy. How valid are these charges and should archangels be concerned?
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Monty Python fans will recognize that saying from their TV series and as the title of their 1971 film. It came to me as I shuddered at the thought of another blog dealing with the pandemic, racial tensions, economic inequality, or matters Trumpian. For a complete change of pace, I offer “Notes from a Grumpy Old Grammarian.” I readily acknowledge how unimportant this topic may seem and I also concede that one might be able to find grammatical lapses – infrequent and minor – in my writings of the past 50 years. But I can’t help lamenting the continuing decline in grammatical standards. Let me illustrate with four examples. In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, there have been increasing calls to defund police departments. While understandable, this is a simplistic reaction. What is needed, I would argue, is a fundamental shift in the focus and objective of police departments. When Sir Robert Peel established the first modern police force, in London in 1829, he set forth nine principles. The last is especially pertinent today. It is “To recognize always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.” What we have instead is a downward spiral of disaster, with evidence of crime leading to expanded police budgets and increasingly aggressive policing while we ignore the various causes of many of these crimes. |
AuthorC. Richard Tindal, Ph.D is a retired Professor of Government. He taught for 30 years at St. Lawrence College, Kingston and was an occasional Visiting Professor at Queen's University. He has also written and consulted extensively about government. Archives
October 2023
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