It is great to have Jacob explain our Parliamentary system so well on BhTV. I just want to point out that there were two other directives in the Harper budget statement. The Harper government also cancelled the pay equity provision and to prohibit the federal civil servants from striking. Of course, the budget statement was still talking about belt tightening to achieve surpluses in the present economic situation. In Canada, this is like going backwards in trying to bring some justice to this country. Great job!

i love world politics and i also love a fresh topic for diavlogs. i think it would be awesome to make this a new style of recurring diavlog where an expert about a certain country would be called on to explain its...goings on. bob could eventually take us around the world! i tried to listen about canada but i think i'd really like for someone to explain the "mystery" countries to me like turkey, saudi arabia and other ones that are hard to get a solid read on the culture. complex but relevant to the world stage would be good choices to me. whaddaya say bob?

Here's one way to think of the role of the Governor General: If you split the American President into two people - a head of state and a head of government - you get the Governor General and the Prime Minister of Canada, respectively. One utility of this system is that Canadians get to direct their patriotism towards the Governor General and generally jeer at the Prime Minister, as one would to any politician. There was a story of a joint press conference with Pres. Bush and PM Harper. When the two walked into the room together the American and the Canadian press stood up together as the leaders entered the room. Someone overheard Harper say to Bush: "that's the first time the Canadian press ever stood up for me."

It's been pointed out to me that I was mistaken about Trudeau's education; he did not complete his doctorate at LSE.

Sorry about the video quality, everyone!

I'm glad you have on Levy. He's the author of a paper I liked so much that I hosted it at my own site after it disappeared.
Jacob Levy's Liberalism's Divide James Fulford argues here that Canadian elites deliberately swamped separatist voters with immigrants to prevent Quebec from attaining independence. I don't care much for the policies they'll likely carry out in Quebec, but I wish the best of luck to separatists there and everywhere.

Jacob, I think it looks "artistic."

Matt Lee wants his foggy video lens back!

I echo the expressed gratitude for dealing with Canadian subjects and echo the expressed appreciation at how lucid was J T Levy. Small note: Harper is from Toronto, and went to high school here and then wound up doing graduate work in economics in Alberta. Agree with him or not, he is some politician; and I'm not so sure that he will be so quickly deposed should Ignatieff force an election. This, as I heard it, seems overstated.
Itzik Basman

"Prime Minister Harper slips his opponents’ trap".
This type of comment--characteristic of left-wing punditry on this topic--has all the wisdom of Br'er Fox. Stephen Harper is begging his opponents, "Please don't form a coalition government!" Ever single opinion poll taken from the first (hysterical) mooting of coalition to right now has Canadians (a.) demanding an election if a coalition government takes power and (b.) returning the Conservatives with a majority. Google "canadian polls coalition government" to see this for yourselves. This has a very funny side. To witness the inability of the (mainly left-wing) media and acedemia to perceive events without their distorting lens, read the following from Canada's AP equivalent (run verbatim in Canada's major media, oblivious to its screaming irony):
OTTAWA - Michael Ignatieff began his tenure as Liberal leader with a
blunt challenge to Stephen Harper: change your divisive, ruthlessly
partisan ways or we'll bring you down."
Harper is the new Trudeau: a PM simply many times smarter than his opponents (although, one must say, blessed by having singularly dense political opponents, academics & media.)

Titstorm:

i think it would be awesome to make this a new style of recurring diavlog where an expert about a certain country would be called on to explain its...goings on. bob could eventually take us around the world!

Uncle Ebenenzer:

Matt Lee wants his foggy video lens back!

Matthew Lee can handle the UN angle and a guest the inside angle. And, it can replace Conn Carroll's week on WIB!

Actually, you were posting an homage to Stephane Dion's video response, right? He looks like a CNN correspondent on a video phone.

Stephane Dion has only been in politics about 13 years (not 25). He was plucked from the Political Science Department of the University of Montreal following the near-separatist victory in the 1995 referendum. The Prime Minister at the time, Jean Chretien, wanted Dion to head his post-referendum national unity strategy precisely for his hard-nosed approach to separatism. In the years following the referendum, Dion took several measures that have succeeded in quelling the separatist threat: declaring as federal policy that a simple majority in a future referendum will be insufficient for Quebec to secede, declaring support for the principle of partition, which states that if Canada can be divided, so too can Quebec (meaning that pro-Canada regions of Quebec, such as Montreal, will remain in Canada following Quebec independence), and getting the Supreme Court to rule unilateral secession illegal. Interestingly, these controversial ideas were first advanced by Stephen Harper, who was the national unity spokesman for the Reform Party (a predecessor of the Conservative Party) in the mid-1990s. These two men -- Dion and Harper -- along with former Prime Minister Chretien, have done more than anyone else to make Quebec separatism improbable. Also, though

Ham and rye? Will has clearly taken leave of his senses. The correct phrase is "pastrami and rye."

heck yeah, man. anything but more Conn. what's the point of having him on every week? as if we couldn't guess what he's going to say....."Let me guess....you're taking the conservatives' side??"

Asking both Levy and Wilkinson, there's now this interesting wrinkle on the auto bailout. What I find interesting is, that these transnational automobile corporations face different legislative action in two states (and maybe three, taking Mexico's future actions). And, there seems to be some coordination between Canada and the US. All this is happening during two transition periods in each country where in both the auto bailout is a live issue.

Great diavlog! Very informative.

Quoting mikef: Wow -- "Dumb and Dumber" discuss Canadian politics.

The last 10 minutes was interesting, but the first 45 was Dumb pretending he could not locate Canada on a map, and Dumber pretending he could, but he struggled at every step. An enthusiastic high school student could have told the story better, and without the snide remarks.

Where is Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy when you need them!

Mikef your comments are snotty and undeserved. The analysis may have not been at post graduate seminar level in Canadian Studies, but it was clear and linear and illuminating. I say that as an educated Canadian who has taken an interest in these events. Wilkinson is extremely bright and chimed in with timely and appropriate questions and observations. I strongly suggest you climb down from your high horse. How ironic, with your comments about "snide" and "Dumb" and "Dumber", it is that you said, "Where is Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy...". Verb to nouns: "Oh dear, there he goes again." Itzik Basman

I'm on the late freight, but I did want to register my sincere thanks for a great lesson in Canadian civics and politics. Thanks to Jacob for delivering it, and thanks to Will for arranging and guiding it. ..... [Added] Great to read comments from people who live in/know about Canada, too. The theoretical stuff touched on at the end -- like the notion of an "untouchable" minority party -- sounded fascinating. By all means, let's have Jacob back on Free Will. ==========
Yeah, I swiped "on the late freight" from Cobb. Too good a phrase not to appropriate, and I also wanted to call attention to his video response, in case you missed it.

Thanks for your perspective, CHUD. This point especially caught my eye:

Quoting CHUD: I also don't think Ignatieff is cultivating a Trudeau-like philosopher king public persona. A smarty pants sure, but it's largely unclear how the public views him. The issue of him being an aristocrat, who in his teen's went to Canada's elite prep school (Upper Canada College) and then became a member of the international intelligentsia, still looms large in many people's minds.

Sounds like the perception of his persona has all the bad parts of being one of the elite, and none of the good. Is this him, or is Canada picking up from the US this bad habit of anti-intellectualism/anti-cosmopolitanism?

Quoting jtlevy: Sorry about the video quality, everyone!

Not to worry. As long as I could hear clearly, that's all I cared about.

Quoting ogieogie: Ham and rye? Will has clearly taken leave of his senses.

The correct phrase is "pastrami and rye."

I wouldn't go so far as to say the brother has lost his senses. I mean, he got a culture problem. What's he gonna do? He's half-Canadian. (apologies to Jules)

Quoting Baltimoron: ... What I find interesting is, that these transnational automobile corporations face different legislative action in two states (and maybe three, taking Mexico's future actions). And, there seems to be some coordination between Canada and the US. All this is happening during two transition periods in each country where in both the auto bailout is a live issue.

You're right. That is an interesting set of scenarios to think about.

Quoting basman: Verb to nouns: "Oh dear, there he goes again."

Zing!