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JIM FLAHERTY
Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde of the Independence Party and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir
The economic crisis caused crisis in Steven Harper’s government back in November. (Well, actually, Steven Harper caused crisis in his government.) Parliament was prorogued. And, then, in December, the Belgian government fell. Now it is Iceland’s turn.
Geir Haarde resigned as Prime Minister on 26 January 2009. An interim government has been put into place until elections in April. This was not unexpected as Iceland has seen many and increasingly volatile demonstrations since Icelandic banks went under and the Krona was devalued. In the early days of the crisis, street protests were quiet, with Icelanders only holding signs. But tension and frustration are getting the best of usually stoic Icelanders and some demonstrations have been stormy. There are now mostly peaceful protests every Saturday at the parliament square in downtown Reykjavík.
Now comes news that Iceland will be fast-tracked into membership of the EU. This development is a surprise and will no doubt be met with some new protest as Icelanders (like the Norwegians) are divided regarding EU membership.
As I’ve written in prior posts, Icelanders are a proud and independent people. They are a strong and hardy people and they relish their self-sufficiency and independence from other countries. Independence from Norway was hard won. The fact that their new Prime Minster is the first openly gay head of state in the modern world is no big deal to Icelanders.
There are only a little over 300,000 people in Iceland and, yet, they were able to save their language by re-instituting it as a priority in schools. You can read about pride in the Icelandic language from a local’s perspective here. It’s beautiful.
This economic crisis is not only about people losing their jobs. It is also about individual countries becoming more like all the others. Ah, globalisation. It makes me feel a little sad. I wish I had kept some Krona from my last trip.
We, here in Canada, have a new Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff and is he ever smart! (Yay, brains!) Since Parliament has been cancelled until later this month, we don’t know what will happen when it resumes. Will Harpo’s new budget be accepted? If not, Harpo has said he will call an election. He also said he would run again. Duh. As if he created all that division and animosity in November for nothing?!? Mr. Ignatieff looks so Prime Minister-y, doesn’t he? (As opposed to this.)
CBC photos
Here we have 3 squeezable stress releasers. $8.99 per banker—either Alan (Greenspan, Former Federal Reserve Chairman), Ben (Bernanke, US Federal Reserve Chairman), or Henry (Paulson, US Secretary of the Treasury)—or $30.06 for all 3. From the website:
(I bet they get worse things done to ‘em.)
I really did put in a request (they asked!) for a squeezable, squishable, Jim Flaherty!
Last week, the President of Iceland requested a reduction in his salary: “President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson sent a letter to Minister of Finance Árni M. Mathiesen last week requesting a lowering of his salary in consistency with the lowering of salaries of other officials.” (Iceland Review) Icelanders are such good, solid people. It’s too bad a small group of greedy ones ruined lives in the rest of the country. I know Icelanders will make a comeback and it will be an honourable one. After all, the government has picked two women to clean up the mess! (*smiles*)
Here’s a good article from The Guardian (UK) about Icelanders dealing with their crisis. “Today people have too many trousers.” I admire them.
It seems Canada’s government is not the only government to fall in the wake of the economic crisis. Yesterday, the Belgian government collapsed. The Belgian Prime Minister, Yves Leterme, is accused of trying to influence the outcome of court proceedings having to do with freezing the assets of the bank, Fortis. He has tendered his resignation.
“Observers said the likely next steps would be a reshuffled cabinet without Leterme or early elections, an option few of the ruling parties would want amid a deepening economic crisis and with the Fortis debacle on voters’ minds.” Sounds excruciatingly familiar.
I can’t help feeling what’s happening in the world is very sad. In the WisdomBook video, Jane Goodall says,
“It’s awfully sad that with our clever brain, capable of taking us to the moon, we seem to have lost wisdom. And, that’s the wisdom of the indigenous people who would make a major decision based on ‘How will this decision affect our people seven generations ahead?’”
This is what happens when Steven Harper is challenged by Parliament. Instead of facing a “No Confidence” vote, he asked Canada’s Governor General to prorogue Parliament which temporarily shuts it down. “Hiding behind the Governor General’s skirts” is how one member of the press put it.
(The Beginning of this mess as well as a short history.)
Well, it’s a bright spot in winter, it is! I am reveling in the possibility of Steven Harper (aka “HARPO” or “Devil Spawn”) losing his job! (For those outside Canada, he is our Prime Minister.) (For now!!)
It's a great day!
I realise my jubilation/elation/euphoria/bliss/ecstasy/rapture will probably last as long as that word run-on will, but I am reveling just the same. Just the prospect of Harper being extremely nervous for a solid week gives me unspeakable joy!
Of course, a coalition government is possible but can the three parties really pull together long enough to create something viable? Maybe, maybe not, but I’m thoroughly enjoying watching Harpo’s eyes become more and more bloodshot.
On the 19th of November, we had a pretty big first snowfall here in Nova Scotia. To say the Nova Scotian government was unprepared would be to state the reeeeeeally, ridiculously painful, obvious.
Now, it appears, we are situated waaaaaay too close to the States. From the Chronicle Herald: “Halifax lawyer Ray Wagner said Wednesday that his firm, Wagners, is considering launching the lawsuit because of the ‘inconvenience, and personal and financial losses that occurred on the Cobequid Pass….We’re going to see what kinds of claims are out there and what the interest is among those people that have been horribly affected by the huge amount of hours they’ve spent on the highway, not knowing what’s going on,’ he said.”
Well, in case one needed a clear illustration of cheap, money grubbing, opportunistic, ambulance-chasing, Personal Injury Lawyers and, astonishingly, ones who are so unsophisticated they have to actually define their profession in the newspaper, there you are! Here’s more…
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