Congratulations To The Harper Government

May the Prime Minister and his party enablers wear this award with distinction!

P.S. Check out some of the readers' comments on the site as well.

Did they Use The Harper Government In The Study?

This would seem to explain a great deal about our Conservative overlords.

U.S. Steel Loses Its Appeal, So Harper Government Capitulates

Those who think that unfettered capitalism is the greatest gift to humanity imaginable will rejoice in the news that even though American steel giant U.S. Steel lost its appeal against the Canadian federal government that was seeking a $10,000 daily fine for the company's failure to live up to employment commitments in its Hamilton Ontario facility, the Harper government has dropped its lawsuit on the promise that the company will keep operations going until 2015.

Those who believe that unfettered capitalism is the greatest curse visited upon humanity may have a different reaction to the news, and may draw the inference that the Harper government was never serious about its lawsuit, but only launched it, under the auspices of then Industry Minister Tony Clement, in anticipation of an election.

The Star and Its Readers

If the Harper government keeps an 'enemies list', which, quite frankly, I have little doubt that it does, given its infernal embrace of 'values' that are repellent to Canadians who believe in fairness, ethics, justice, and the rule of law, high on its list must be The Toronto Star and many of its readers, relentless as they are in speaking the truth about our political overseers.

As I occasionally do, I am taking this opportunity to reproduce a few letters from today's edition that address truths that even as perverted a government as we currently strain under cannot deny. Enjoy:

Re: Attawapiskat leaders want UN to intervene, Dec. 6

It’s a very special skill. Knowing instinctively how to turn every situation into a wedge issue — divide the public and conquer. And Stephen Harper has it in spades.

Who else could see videos of children suffering in atrocious conditions, ready to freeze to death this winter, and turn the country against itself in circular arguments: those who blame the Native peoples, and those who blame the government. And then do nothing about the immediate crisis, forcing an appeal to the UN for help. It’s an emergency like this that brings out true character.

There’s no leadership in Mudville today, mighty Stephen has struck out.

D.S. Barclay, Georgetown

Perhaps Stephen Harper should put Tony Clement’s constituency office under third party management. More so than Attawapiskat, there appears to have been a lack of accountability with federal funds.

Rob Strang, Orangeville

I, for one, totally believe Peter MacKay when he states that this was a “search and rescue” mission. The helicopter crew was “searching” for MacKay’s integrity. But they couldn’t find it and so they were unable to “rescue” it. Case closed.

Lawrence Jeppesen, Oakville

Re: Tories waging unending black-ops campaign, Dec. 2

Peter Van Loan considers it a “normal activity” for partisan goons to phone constituents in opposition members’ ridings; causing unwarranted mischief. According to the Conservative House Leader, “truth” is now the new name for blatant misinformation.

Mr. Van Loan will defend the right of dissemblers under “the principle of freedom of speech and the right to speak their minds.” Does this bizarre world of newspeak and dirty tricks reflect core conservative values? One can only wonder.

Linda Leon, Whitehorse, Yukon

Sayed Shah Sharifi - The Toronto Star Continues Championing His Cause

Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave Afghan interpreter, may have been betrayed by the Harper government and our contemptible Minister of Immigration, Jason Kenney, but he has the support of The Toronto Star, countless people worldwide, and the pro bono services of Lorne Waldman, one of the country’s leading immigration lawyers.

In his latest installment of this potentially tragic unfolding tale, Paul Watson reveals that outrage over Sharifi's mistreatment by our government is not limited to right-thinking Canadians. The lead in the latest article sums up the growing anger:

From Africa, through Europe to Mexico, the U.S. and across Canada, thousands of people are joining the outcry against the Canadian government’s refusal to give an Afghan war hero safe refuge.

The article goes on to discuss two petition sites, thepetitionsite.com and petitionbuzz.com, both of which permit one to add personal comments. But as my wise wife tells me, petitions are not nearly as effective as letters. Anyone who wishes to, can use the letter I sent to Jason Kenney as a template for their own efforts.

One final note, and it is hardly surprising: in apparent retaliation for the military speaking up as advocates for Sharifi, the Harper government [has] gag[ged] Canadian soldiers from speaking publicly about the case now.

The Battle of Sayed Shah Sharifi Continues

The Star continues its excellent coverage of the plight of Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave young Afghan interpreter who has been betrayed by the Harper government, despite glowing Canadian military reports supporting his application for emigration to Canada.

As his last hope after being rejected by faceless bureaucrats and abandoned by the spineless Jason Kenney, Canada's Immigration Minister, Sharifi is reluctantly accepting the offer of pro bono legal help from Lorne Waldman, a Toronto immigration and refugee lawyer who has successfully argued cases all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, who plans to ask the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review of the government’s decision to reject Sharifi’s visa application.

The article, again by Paul Watson, concludes with the following:

Take heart that a growing number of Star readers haven’t been so timid about speaking up for Sharifi. I get new emails from them every day, often with copies of angry letters they have sent to Kenney and other MPs.

One has started an online petition at www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/canadianpatriotyes, hoping to channel enough public outrage to move Kenney to think again and do right by an Afghan who risked his life to support Canadian combat troops.

Those outraged by Sharifi's contemptible treatment may wish to add their name to the petition.

As Usual, The CBC Is Under Attack By The Right-Wing

I have written before about how I feel that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has, in many ways, sold out to the Conservative Government. Undoubtedly not having understood the sad history of appeasement, they have pursued that profitless course, trying to convince the government of its bones fides by giving right-wing cranks like Kevin O'Leary his own show, and allowing Peter Mansbrige to play the role of the obeisant sycophant during his interviews with those who hold power.

Nonetheless, the Right is implacable. As is so widely evident in their destructive rhetoric, they cannot tolerate opposing views, even when they hold power. It is therefore not surprising that there is a concerted move afoot to defang ( I mean defund) the CBC even further.

As reported in a Globe story entitled CBC funding under microscope in Conservative survey:

Conservative Senator Irving Gerstein, who chairs the Conservative Party’s fundraising division, recently sent a letter to supporters that included a 10-question “National Critical Issues Survey” seeking input to help the government set its priorities for the fall and into 2012.

One question asks whether the more than $1-billion Ottawa spends on the CBC is “good value” or “bad value.”

Meanwhile, two Conservative MPs, Rob Anders and Ed Holder, are taking it a step further, asking their constituents in surveys whether the government should keep funding the CBC.

Mr. Anders, a Calgary MP who has always been a controversial maverick on the right wing of his party, now features a petition on his website calling on Parliament “to end public funding of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.”

Some may recall that Anders, who had an interesting previous life as a professional political heckler in the U.S., was also the moral and mental genius who was the sole parliamentarian to vote against Nelson Mandela being recognized as an honorary citizen of Canada, labeling him a communist and terrorist.

Need I add more?

The Scourge of Phantom Crime

Readers of this blog may know that I place a great deal of stock in critical thinking. Although I am sure that I stray from it on a regular basis, to be a consistent critical thinker is the ideal toward which I strive. It is therefore disheartening, though hardly surprising, that an internal memo circulated Sunday to Conservative Members of Parliament gives insight into a Harper political agenda that seems largely predicated on contempt for the electorate.

An article in today's Star entitled Crime crackdown tops Harper agenda reveals, to no one's surprise, that the Fall parliamentary session is to be dominated by law and order legislation:

While it’s not known for sure what measures will be in the legislation, they could include adult sentences for youths convicted of serious crimes, expanded surveillance powers for police, curbing house arrest for property crimes and ending pardons for serious crimes.

Not to be deterred by the fact of falling crime rates, the government has an interesting, but hardly novel way to justify its promise of more incarceration time for more Canadians, who will need to be quartered in the new prisons that will be built at a cost of over $6 billion:

"Quite simply, people are not reporting to the police that they are a victim of crime,” the memo says. “More needs to be done.”

The key word in the above excerpt is simply, which, in my view, reveals how the Harper government looks at issues, never allowing hard data to get in the way of its ideological imperatives. However, what I do resent is the assumption about the citizens of Canada implicit in such an assertion. Clearly, we are perceived as lacking either the fortitude or the intelligence to collectively challenge groundless claims about issues like phantom crime.

Time will tell whether they are correct in making that assumption.

Breaking 'News'

There is a story posted on the Globe website entitled, E-mails cite ‘directive’ to re-brand government in Harper’s name, which reveals that Dimitri Soudas lied when he denied a story circulating that orders went out to some civil servants last fall mandating that they use the term “Harper Government” in official government of Canada communications.

This is news?

Star Exclusive Reveals Harper Government Collaborated With U.S. In Framing Legislation

A shocking Star exclusive today, one that will probably be met for the most part with typical Canadian complacency and passivity ('Peace, order and good government, and may I please go back to sleep now?') reveals that the Harper Government collaborated with, took direction from, and leaked information to U.S. legislators while framing a new copyright bill.

The first sentence of the article provides a concise summary of the issue:

Secret U.S. government cables show a stunning willingness by senior Canadian officials to appease American demands for a U.S.-style copyright law here.

My use of the word 'collaborated' in my post title is not meant to connote something positive, but rather to invoke the odium associated with those who worked with Germany during World War Two to betray their own countries' interests. Like those collaborators, the policy director for Tony Clement, when he was Minister of Trade, suggested that American demands for tough copyright law might be aided "if Canada were placed among the worst offenders on an international piracy watch list."

"Days later, the U.S. placed Canada alongside China and Russia on the list."

A chief collaborator seems to have been Maxime Bernier, who was the Industry Minister prior to his public disgrace and worked closely with American Ambassador David Wilkins.

“Bernier promised to keep the Ambassador informed on the copyright bill's progress, and indicated that US (government) officials might see the legislation after it is approved by Cabinet, but before it is introduced in Parliament,” the cable adds.

Bernier also “encouraged the Ambassador to speak publicly about the importance of (intellectual property rights) to the United States, saying such efforts would improve the chances of Cabinet and Parliament approving a good copyright bill,” the cable says.

The contentious copyright bill was not passed due to the dissolution of Parliament prior to the last election. It is expected to be reintroduced this fall.

I can only hope that two things precede the opening of the fall Parliamentary session: that this story has 'legs' and provokes outrage, and that the opposition parties have the stomach to pursue it.

Both long shots indeed.

Please sign this petition urging Prime Minister Harper to stop threatening Michaela Keyserlingk and to stop exporting asbestos.

And They Did This BEFORE They Got Their Majority

Probably to the surprise of few who have tracked their anti-democratic and anti-transparency propensities, last month the Harper regime terminated The Coordination of Access to Information Requests System, or CAIRS, an electronic list of nearly every access to information request filed to federal departments and agencies.

Frequently used as an investigative tool by journalists to keep the government more open, its demise will undoubtedly further the agenda of Harper and his minions.

And I Thought I Had Written My Last Blog Entry Before The Election ....

It seems I was wrong. Once more, the disdain Harper has consistently shown for Canadian democratic traditions and norms is made manifest. Click here to read the story and watch the video that demonstrates the on-going threat he and his ilk pose.

A Few Thoughts Going Into The Last Weekend Before The Election

While it would be presumptuous to try to predict the outcome of Monday's vote, I am heartened by what I perceive to be an awakening of the Canadian electorate. If political polls and advance voting numbers are any indication, we are demonstrating, counter to the much-discussed assertions of voter apathy, that we are listening and following this campaign like few in recent memory.

I have been convinced for some time now that if we are ever to rid ourselves of the scourge of political arrogance that has characterized our elected representatives for far too long, we have to begin by showing that we do care about our country. And the best way to do that is by turning out in huge numbers on election day. To abstain from voting is to tell our Members of Parliament to do what they will and that like sheep, we will be led wherever their whims and self-interest take us.

But I think we will prove far less docile than our leaders would like us to be, their platitudes about the importance of political engagement notwithstanding. If I am right, I think there will be a number of factors accounting for the change, including the following:

The turmoil in the Middle East, starting with Egypt's indefatigable protests that led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, can have left few unaffected. The resolve, the passion, and the courage of so many people willing to risk everything, even their lives, for a principle that we have so frequently taken for granted or openly disdained, has left an indelible mark upon our collective psyche. And of course, those gyrations continue to this day in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Libya.

Rick Mercer's rant to young people, so amply and effectively disseminated through social media, is undoubtedly responsible for the rise of voter flash mobs on university campuses throughout the country. The energy, enthusiasm and passion so evident in the mob videos, I think and hope, will result in significant youth turnout at the ballot box which, in turn, will contribute to establishing a lifelong voting habit.

Then there is the dreary and relentless campaign of negativity that has characterized the Harper Conservative regime's bid for reelection. What does a strategy based upon the cultivation of fear, anger, suspicion and even hatred, along with the party's well-documented anti-democratic behaviour, tell the voter? It tells me that it is a party without vision, a party lacking the capacity to help Canada realize its great potential, a party that spurns logic and reason in favour of a demagogic manipulation of the people it purports to want to represent. In other words, a party unfit to govern.

And so as the campaign winds down and we move quickly toward May 2, I join with all others of goodwill and hope as I reflect upon the possibilities for the country that I love.

Peter Russell Warns All Of Us About The Dangers Of A Harper Majority

Despite the fawning endorsement of the Harper regime by Canada's self-proclaimed 'newspaper of record,' The Globe and Mail, others are able to rise above political partisanship to articulate how dangerous a Conservative majority government would be. One such person is constitutional expert Peter Russell who, in this 3-minute video, issues a timely warning:

Laurie Hawn, Magical Thinking, and George Orwell

As I had predicted in an earlier blog entry, propagandist and cognitive prestidigitator extraordinaire Laurie Hawn, employing a tactic worthy of George Orwell's 1984 and its government's constant rewriting of history ($75 million? You just think I said $75 million!) has changed his narrative on the cost of the F-35 jets. For months on end, despite all evidence to the contrary, the ever-cantankerous and always-contemptuous Parliamentary Secretary to Defence Minister Peter MacKay has disdained the many credible reports that the jets will cost anywhere from $120 to over $200 million apiece, consistently claiming that $75 million was a solid and reliable figure.

In his latest appearance on Power and Politics, shown yesterday, Hawn insisted that he hasn't used that number for over a month, and that he has said all along that $9 billion for the entire program cost is the important number, and that that figure contains contingencies for any price overruns.

Apparently Hawn has not heard of the Internet or CBC podcasts of past Power and Politics shows, where his words reveal him to be a prevaricator of gargantuan proportions.

And ultimately, isn't it this seemingly endless capacity of the Harper Government and its adherents to mislead and lie to the people that renders them manifestly unfit for governance?

But don't take my word about Hawn. Check out these links to evaluate his veracity and credibility:

March 29 Power and Politics

April 5 Power and Politics

MP Laurie Hawn on the F-35

F-35 cost details will come, MP says

Engines included in F-35 deal, officials insist

The Monsters are Due on Parliament Hill

On this Easter Sunday, I'm feeling in a nostalgic frame of mind, no doubt inspired by the shifting array of attack ads given the surge in popularity of the NDP. Thanks to the last two years of Conservative ads attacking Michael Ignatieff, we have become so conditioned to seeing him as the enemy, the sheep in wolf's clothing, the fifth colonist, if you will, that it is somewhat jarring to learn that we've been wrong all along.

Now, it turns out, according to the latest word from Stephen Harper, Jack Layton is the true threat to all things that we hold dear:



Perhaps it was this ad that got me thinking about The Twilight Zone, a favourite of mine when I was a young lad. One of its most memorable episodes was entitled, “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street,” perhaps the finest exploration of mob psychology ever presented in popular entertainment.

Without giving away the entire story, I will say that it revolves around the aftermath of an apparent meteorite flying over Maple Street, an ordinary suburban neighbourhood, on a mild and relaxed Saturday afternoon. Soon, the people find themselves without electrical or automotive power, and the situation quickly degenerates into suspicions and accusations that someone in their midst is responsible for the power loss, and may not be who he seems to be. The ensuing confusion and mayhem, seen in the last third of the episode, represents the kind of mentality I suspect is at the heart of such attack ads.

I Think I've Reached My Saturation Point

The following is a comment I left yesterday on Sue's Blog in response to a post she made about Evan Solomon's Power and Politics and the media obsession with coalition talk. It pretty much sums up my frustration about media coverage of this issue and, in some ways, the entire election campaign:

While I generally like Power and Politics, I tuned in [yesterday] and quickly tuned out when I saw the coalition topic being pursued. I have just about reached the breaking point in my patience with the kind of 'gotcha' journalism that has become the norm today, a journalism much in evidence during Peter Mansbridge's interview with Ignatieff when the coalition issue was raised.

My own theory, based on that interview [....] is that Mansbridge and others at the CBC are so fearful of the Conservatives and what they plan to do with the Corporation that they have become toadies for the Prime Minister in the misbegotten hope that somehow they will be spared the inevitable cuts that will ultimately lead to its demise.

Consequently, since I already know how I will vote, I am beginning to withdraw from the almost obsessive viewing of things pertaining to the election. The media, it seems to me, are aiding and abetting the Harper regime's agenda by playing upon and compounding the ignorance and credulity of my fellow Canadians. If that sounds a bit harsh and arrogant, I [am afraid that I] cannot offer any apologies.

A Great Anti-Harper Video

For those interested in what Stephen harper has done to set back issues important to all of us, but especially to women, give this about a minute of your time:

The Philosophical Foundation of My Aversion To Stephen Harper And His Government

While conventional wisdom dictates that blog posts should be short and pithy, I am going to challenge it by posting something in excess of 700 words as I outline why I think Stephen Harper and his dark politics are injurious to the Canadian psyche. Although many of my comments can equally apply to politicians of other stripes, it is essentially the philosophical foundation for my aversion to the Prime Minister; I hope you will stay with me.

What does contemporary government leadership have in common with one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, Hamlet, whose chief villain, yielding to his lust for power, kills his brother in order to seize the throne of Denmark? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

To appreciate its relevance, we have to understand that Shakespeare's contemporaries saw an order to the universe they called “The Great Chain of Being” in which each realm, be it divine, human, animal, or mineral, had a hierarchy. (Remnants of that notion remain today as we, for example, refer to the lion as the ‘king' of the jungle; reason has priority over emotion, the eagle is considered the head of the avian world, etc.) In human affairs, the King was regarded as God’s representative in human society and so was responsible for the spiritual and material well-being of the people. If the King was good, the nation prospered; if bad, the country suffered.

Because Hamlet deals with a ruler, Claudius, who achieves his royal ambitions through murder, he is deemed to have violated the natural order and is therefore not God's rightful representative. As the story unfolds, this usurper is responsible for a moral corruption that affects many, thereby seriously undermining the spiritual health of Denmark. Characters lose their better natures, surrendering to betrayal, suspicion, hatred, and vengeance in place of fidelity, trust, love and forgiveness.

So how is this tale of moral decay and destruction relevant to us? Can it help to explain some of the political and moral dysfunction plaguing Western society today? Well, even though we no longer see political power as coming from above, i.e., from God, but rather from below, i.e., the people, (at least in a democracy), it is difficult to accept the notion that government is merely a reflection of the people, that we only get the representation we deserve through the electoral process. In truth, how many of us purposely vote to install people defined by ineptitude, dishonesty, corruption, contempt, and cronyism? Yet these elements characterize so many governments today, including our own.

I submit that the aspect of the Great Chain of Being so pertinent today is the infectiously destructive nature of bad leadership. By this I mean much more than the obvious consequences of being led by those unfit to govern: abuses of basic freedoms, manipulation of truth, withholding of information to which we are entitled, abrogation of due process, catering to special interests, etc. Much more insidious, and something Shakespeare clearly demonstrates in Hamlet, is the toll exacted upon the nation’s spiritual health or character. Indeed, that play's central metaphor is an unseen yet highly contagious and destructive disease.

I believe it to be an apt metaphor for our times.If we consider, for example, the widespread cynicism and disengagement gripping people today, we are witnessing the effects of bad leadership. When people are manipulated by the politics of fear, division, suspicion and exclusion, they become victims of diseased leadership. When people refuse to vote because they don’t feel it will make any difference, when they ascribe self-interest and greed as the main motivations of people seeking elected office, when they evince little or no surprise at the flouting of constitutional laws by their elected representatives, they not only have fallen prey to a spiritual or moral malaise, they are in fact facilitating its spread, something I suspect our political leadership is not in the least bit concerned about; after all, the more disengagement and disaffection there is amongst the voters, the easier it is for politicians to continue on their self-aggrandizing and pernicious paths.

So is there a solution, a cure for this disease? How does a nation recover its soul? Democracy being a messy process, there is no simple answer, but I sincerely believe that the search for one must begin with as many people as possible turning out on Election Day. At a time when people in other parts of the world are willing to fight and die for democracy, that seems like little enough to ask of citizens. And it may ultimately help restore health to the body politic.

Two Letters from Prominent Canadians

Two letters from prominent Canadians, one from novelist Nino Ricci to Stephen Harper, and one from Patricia Pearson, granddaughter of Lester B. Pearson, to Olivia Chow, are well worth reading today.