Monday, October 19, 2015

Decision Time



It has been, in the estimation of most people, an almost unbearably long campaign; its eleven weeks' duration likely tested the mettle of the most ardent of political junkies. Yet at the same time it has probably served at least one positive purpose for those who don't follow politics very closely: it has laid bare the true nature of the Harper regime. Contemptuous of democracy, willing to foster suspicion and incite racial, religious and ethnic tensions, the party's desperation has grown palpable. I am not sorry to see things wind down.

Ultimately, however, it has turned out to be personally valuable. As people get older, I am convinced that emotions like excitement and anticipation are harder to come by, time blunting the things that we so eagerly embraced in our youth. Yet it is precisely those feelings, along with some anxiety, that I am now experiencing as I anticipate the outcome of this election. This emotional state has also helped me realize more clearly than ever that there were largely two motivations behind this blog since I started it in 2010: a deep aversion to abuses of power, which I and so many others have written about over the years, and a deep love for Canada. It is the latter I want to discuss today.

Surely one of the most insidious and Machiavellian of the regime's schemes has been to relentlessly devalue and debase the notion of citizenship. While Harper's team was not the first to attempt this (here in Ontario Mike Harris gave it his best shot), they have had the longest opportunity to remake Canada in their own soulless ideology, one where the bonds that connect us to each other and the larger possibilities of society are slowly weakened until they break.

The low tax agenda, which erodes over time the ability to fund a larger vision, has been a centrepiece for Mr. Harper. And with it, of course, has come the inevitable extolment of the individual and the denigration of the collective. It is a formula designed to rip away our foundations as a nation, and one that people like former clerk of the Privy Council Alex Himelfarb and so many other progressives have been fighting back against. Himelfarb insists, for example, that tax isn't a four-letter word, warning that to embrace the neoliberal agenda means we won't be able to face up to our challenges and we will sleepwalk toward a smaller, meaner Canada.

But taxes are only a part of the Canadian equation that has been under consistent attack since the Harper ascension to power. The country I grew up in and love embraces so many qualities to which so many other countries aspire: acceptance, compassion, inclusion, peace are but four that have been put at grave risk by a government that regards them not as the virtues they truly are, virtues that need constant nurturing, but rather as impediments to the implementation of its marketplace mentality that knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

These are a few of the things about this country that I love so deeply, and I want them back to once more nourish our collective soul and enrich all of us. It is what guided my vote in the advance poll, and it is what I want to see rekindled throughout our land.

If all goes well tonight, the reign of Stephen Harper and his horde will be at an end. The healing and rebuilding of our country can begin. It is a task no particular party is up to alone, but I believe that all of us, together, can still accomplish great things.

14 comments:

  1. Harper was a political abomination that should not have been let anywhere near the highest political office in the land. Hopefully, if we manage to get rid of him and his divisive and nasty supporters and claim our country back tonight, the Lib and NDP partisans will wake up and put aside their vicious attacks on each other and bring about some form of proportional representation. That or merge their two parties so that the centre and left votes are not split again and allow the rabid right wing votes to dominate.

    It is shameful that voters had to take matters into their own hands and organize Strategic Voting groups like Leadnow because Trudeau, in particular, had refused to form a coalition with the NDP. Trudeau, if he wins, will have the opportunity to do bring the centre and left votes together. If he fails, we will be back to this nightmare in 4 years time.

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    1. You make some excellent points here, Anon. The allure of power has for too long led parties to give priority to their own interests at the expense of the public good. Let's hope the next four years see a change in that kind of venal, short-sighted thinking.

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  2. You're right Lorne, the length of the campaign laid bare the true nature of the Harper regime. Finally! And Harper did it to himself. It was amazing to watch how badly he botched his campaign. It gave Canadians insight though how out of it he really is. It's been a real nightmare watching this tyrant hijack our government and drive in the direction only he and his base wanted to go. History will also be made if Trudeau the son of a previous PM wins. That will be a first and I think a first that Canadians will embrace. Tonight when Canadians take back their country, it will also show that their not very easily manipulated. They didn't believe Harpers ads, nor did they believe Harper and they didn't believe the press that has given Harper a pass for 9 yrs. For the first time in a long time, I think there is a chance, where we can really show Harper the door.

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    1. I remember a little while ago that Harper told an American audience that he felt he had moved Canada to the right, Pamela. I hope the election results show a solid repudiation of that notion, as well as his beyond arrogant assumption that Canada was his to debase in the first place.

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  3. .. FYI ..'love of Canada' often is conflated or misdiagnosed as HDS
    Harper Derangement Syndrome .. which really gets me fired up..

    That aside.. I feel its important to implement 'evidence based medicine' when confronted by contagion, infection, delusions or mood disorders etc.. especially when they impact more than individuals.. and reach out into society, community, culture.. even politics... governance etc

    As controversial as it seems.. to Mainstream Media.. our current PM, his self-named cabinet, caucus, party etc etc (which is not 'The Government') is gone 'rogue'.. or as the PM's former in house lawyer Benjamin Perrin points out publicly - from his personal experience - 'the current government has lost its moral authority to govern' .. and there we have it.

    Just as Perrin disputed Nigel Wright, Ray Novak & Stephen Harper's mealy denials & variations.. Perrin now hints to the broader frightening reality.. an out of control & non-ethical Party driven by Stephen Harper.. no longer responsive to the electorate.

    My overall point here? What 'low tax agenda' ? Whatever 'political speech' or promises comes from a disturbed omnipotent egotist like our current PM and his parrots, needs to be examined for any shred of truth or reality. This a PM who describes himself as a great environmentalist, an economist, a statesman, a nation builder ... its sheer noise, nonsense and posturing !

    This a corrupted and creepy human being who belief he's the smartest man in the room matches his belief he's the most deserving man in the country, possibly in the world. The glib droning and braying about jobs, protecting the economy, pandas, wheat boards, pipelines blah blah woof woof... need to be held up to reality!

    How is our navy doing Mr Harper? Our First Nation Reconciliation? Our inland and maritime waters? Manufacturing? How are you doing re cooperation with Provincial Premiers? Eliminating asbestos exports to the 3rd world?

    Even his party name came via a hostile political takeover.. he's no more a 'conservative' or 'Tory' than I am.. He just like a hermit crab or a parasite. Needed a 'Brand' or 'host' with votes.. and in Peter MacKay he found a minority partner who could sell out the Progressive Conservative to him... so he could play the old stock, the monarchists, the Ukranians, the west.. the thugs like Rob Ford, the lunatics like Jason Kenney, the greedy like Tony Clement & the bizarre folks like Kellie Leitch.. so similar to him - in so many ways

    And so here we are in 2015 after the greatest electoral fraud in Canada's history in 2011 - handed him a majority - ie 4 years unassailable power of Omnibus Bills, thousands of lawyers, the PMO, RCMP, the Senate, the Mainstream Media, the Military, the spies - and we have to hope he crashes and burns today !!!

    Low tax agenda - my arse ... its all been about manipulating Economy, the books, clawing back money, hiding money, robbing military vets, giving tax dollars away to big energy, advertising and self adulation.. and attacking whomever he fears on any given day.. And he's certainly had lots of help

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    1. Your excoriating assessment of the Harper years addresses the terrible sickness he has visited upon Canada, Salamander. May that massive carbuncle on the body politic finally be lanced by tonight's end.

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  4. Hi, Lorne. Just making the rounds. I voted today. Set a new record. Well under 2:30, probably closer to 2:15 from opening the front door to the pre-clearance line to my station (where I had to wait for the person ahead to mark their ballot), to checking in, receiving, marking and casting my ballot, to out that front door again.

    I just thought you might like to bask in the glow of my achievement. A personal best. Remind me, how long did it take you to vote? I don't think you were anywhere close to sub-2:30 were you?

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    1. My time at the advance poll was probably about 20 minutes, Mound. I hope the speed with which you were able to exercise your franchise is not indicative of a lack of voter interest in your riding, or did you go as soon as it opened?

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  5. I think it was a combination of factors including massive turnouts for advanced polls. One of my neighbours waited some 90-minutes in line. There were reports of people waiting up to 3-hours. Some of the polls at my station had line ups of maybe six or seven. Mine, none. It was bliss.

    20 minutes, eh Lorne? I hope you'll figure to do a bit better next time. Feel free to use me as your inspiration.

    Touch wood (and I just did) but I think we're having the day for which we've waited so long.

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    1. My anticipation is growing, Mound. I will not be following my early nightly retirement regimen tonight!

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  6. Today I feel like Bilbo, when the great black cloud lifted over Mordor. It's a beautiful day.

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    1. Let us all, as Canadians united in goodwill, bask in this day, double nickel.

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  7. .. props to all the Indy bloggers.. the commenters, the tweetrs too.. for being outstanding and fearless Canadians in the face of Harper's dark decade.. not hard to identify the cadre of Friends of Canada.. the Glowing Hearts as I like to call them... they're on a list the Harper Government compiled as 'Enemies of Canada' .. Being on the Harper list? Priceless ! You're on it by the way ..

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    1. It is a good day for all of Canada, Salamander. The spirit of our country has revived, and I sincerely hope that it flourishes under the new government.

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