Wow. I wish such things were possible in the US. Judicial activism, secularism, and anti-Catholic bigotry
have greatly undermined the ability of the Church or its members to get anything like positive press, let alone positive recognition.
Grant it, O Lord!
I wouldn't be so hard on the USA Norse...
There is a rather large difference between the Federal USA legislative branch and the Canadian Parliament in how bills become law.
In the USA getting a bill passed out of committee is a huge undertaking in itself. If it does ever get to the floor for debate in the Senate and Congress it is lucky. Then once a bill is compromised in so many ways from the original bill, it has amendments/riders attached to it. Then by the time it gets passed it has to go to the bureaucrats to have the law made workable in society. The whole process can take years and a lot of money. Couple that with the fact that bureaucrats often have careers that span many presidential terms. Hearings upon hearings, appeals, and plan implementation on the bill take years.
In a Parliamentary system, let's say the House of Commons, you have several parties. The majority party's leader is the prime minister. I know I'm leaving some out here, Alex will fix me on this. But in other words if the majority party wants a bill passed, it will most likely get passed. Bills do not go under the same draconian process that undermines our process for law making.
Only in rare cases do major bills pass in a fast manner in the USA.
Example. You are a freshman/sophomore congressperson. You are say, Republican. You can often vote on many issues that aren't "republican party-line." Let's put it this way, if the bill is pressing and large and important to the more powerful legislators and let's say the president then you are almost coerced into voting with the party line. So if you are from say, Maryland and you promised your constituents a new highway and the chair of the transportation committee (who would be republican in this case) calls you up and says, "young legislator, vote yes on bill W, remember you want that funding for the highway you promised back home."
But for the most part when a bill even comes out of committee it is re-written many times. I know my post is long, but compare it to USA federal law making.
In Canada/UK if a bill is introduced, it is argued and the put to a vote in a more simplified process. Ever watch CSPAN and see the UK House of Commons debate? You should, it's interesting. But basically it is, "our party wants this bill passed, the legwork has already been done, let's argue about it, and put it to a vote." Alex may be able to key me into the process that happens before a bill is put on the floor in Canada. I am sure they have their committees and studies that take place during the bill writing process.
However in a parliamentary system if you wanted to pass a bill that said "all computer monitors made after 2 Jan 2008 must have a ultraviolet filter in them to help protect peoples' eyes" and the bill passed and got made into law, it would say "all computer monitors made after 2 Jan 2008 will have a ultraviolet filter to protect human eyes.?
If this was introduced in the USA it would take two years to come out of committee, and if it did pass and become law it probably would read something like this;
All computer monitors that weigh between 2.76 pounds and 5.789 pounds that are made the first and fourth monday of alternating months in a factory that has 25 parking spots must place a filter in the computer monitor that protects human eyes from ultraviolet light. The uv filter must be made by company X. Amendments, company A can take private property through eminent domain if they wish to build a retail store or office building and these companies will also get a federal tax break of .45% for 25 years. they will have to offer the landowner 20% of the market value of the land they took through eminent domain. Amendment, government agencies that work in the sphere of national security can have the right to wire-tap cell phones without judiciary approval if the person's has more than three bank accounts. Amendment 355 million dollars to build a highway through state A.
So long story short, it's the legislative differences of why this can happen so quickly in Canada and not in the USA. Only in rare circumstances does a bill get proposed in the USA and go to the senate and house in a fast manner for debate and vote.
