His Hands Are All Over It

Like an ugly stain that resists the most determined efforts at removal, Bill C-520, a 'private member's bill' proposed by Conservative MP Mark Adler, has Stephen Harper's signature and paranoid paw prints all over it.

The bill, about which I have written previously, would require all employees in parliamentary watchdog offices — such as the auditor general, ethics commissioner, or Elections Canada — to disclose any “partisan activity” in the decade before joining the office.

The fact that it has the full backing of the Prime Minister's Office is key to understanding both its genesis and the mentality that informs it, a mentality that those who follow Canadian politics closely are, of course, already acutely aware.

Without question, Harper and his cabal are the worst infection that ever invaded our political system. Their much chronicled acts of contempt against democracy, far too numerous to recap here, are ample testament to that fact. Fueled by suspicion and paranoia of Nixonian proportions, they see their enemies everywhere. To qualify as an enemy, one merely needs to stand in opposition to Conservative policy or voice a contrary opinion. And like the bully who never stops until he has what he perceives to be complete victory, Harper continues his relentless war against our cherished values and traditions, almost all of which must seem inimical to his ideology and agenda.

Fortunately, Canadians are becoming increasingly aware of this raging disease within our midst and are banding together in what Montreal Simon calls The Great Canadian Resistance. And happily, membership in that resistance is not limited to 'ordinary' citizens.

As reported in today's Toronto Star, Ottawa’s parliamentary watchdogs have taken the rare step of banding together to raise concerns over the bill. Indeed, in a letter to the House of Commons committee studying C-520, the watchdogs call the provisions very broad, vague in its definitions of “partisan” conduct, and warn the legislation could affect their ability to do their job.

“Examining the conduct of an employee following an allegation of partisan conduct may have an impact on the particular files, audits or investigations conducted by the employee in question,” the letter reads. “Such examination could halt or hinder an ongoing file, audit or investigation and cause delay.”

And of course, that is precisely the intent of the bill: to create such fear of repercussions for doing their jobs that they will be continuously second-guessing themselves, ultimately to the point of paralysis.

Like the effects of a wasting disease, each day the health of our democracy withers a little more, and there is only one cure. Let us hope that with the efforts of all concerned Canadians, 2015 will see a massive re-engagement at the ballot box, the last thing that the Harper cabal wants, because they know it would mark the end of their gravely unhealthy rule.