When Comes Such Another?

I was just beginning to write of something bordering on legal nonsense when an event occurred that forced a change of topic. What I had intended was giving information on three Canadian residents who are not yet citizens. This trio desires to sue in order to avoid having to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen.*

They, however, have no problem swearing an oath of allegiance to Canada, a country they readily admit they admire. Thus we have a nonsense.

Canada is a constitutional monarchy, and hence,  by swearing allegiance to Canada they automatically swear allegiance to the reigning monarch, in this case Her Majesty Elizabeth II. Legally, this is a case of mutatis mutandis, and that should be the end of the matter.  Judges reviewing the case should have no difficulty in ruling against these three, unless the aforesaid judges missed a class in Grade Eleven English, or barely scraped through the bar exam. 

But enough of this. It was in the middle of such ruminations that I learned of the passing of the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Canada's Minister of Finance until recently. This was a shock, for Mr. Flaherty was one of those rare politicians who always kept the welfare of Canadians first and foremost. Moreover, he knew well that the monies he dealt with as Minister of Finance were not his, nor even the Government's, but belonged to Canadian taxpayers. This was an insight that very few Ministers of Finance have. Or, indeed, few other politicians.

Mr. Flaherty knew when to spend, and did so during the economic downturn caused by a number of banks making fools of themselves and causing havoc among American and European citizens. Actions by him as well as the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, kept Canadian banks away from the more egregious fiscal nonsense seen in American and European banks and investment houses. This spending also enabled jobs to be kept and infrastructure projects to be started.

Spending -- that was the easy part.

Much more difficult was reigning in that spending, after the crisis began to abate. It is in this area that most Ministers of Finance come to grief, finding it simply too politically tough to do. Here Mr. Flaherty shone, and given the support of his Prime Minister, put in policies that aim to balance the budget by 2015.

Such a policy is critical to achieve, as Jim Flaherty knew. Why on earth would he want to assign children and grandchildren to a life of penury?

Why indeed, and so I write:

When comes such another?

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*It is unclear at this time of writing just who this lot wants to sue. It also may not be possible: the matter is not a legal one but a constitutional one, and hence more in Parliament's court than in a court of law. -- Ed.