Showing posts with label harper conservative government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label harper conservative government. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

What A Friend We Have In Stephen*



* With apologies to Joseph Scriven's original hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

One can only assume that these days there are far fewer congregants lustily singing the praises of their dark lord and master, Stephen Harper, in that hallowed place of worship known as the Conservative caucus. Their faith has, in recent times, been sorely shaken.

From the Moses-like figure who led them out of the political wilderness, Harper became a Jesus-figure, welcoming all into a family of shared values, righteousness, and integrity, intent on driving the money-changers from the temples of Parliament. That dream quickly faded, however, to be replaced by corruption, callousness, and exclusion that seem inevitable accompaniments of power; but at least the party faithful knew that some of the immense rewards of this world were well within their grasp, as long as they remained faithful and provided unquestioning service to their lord.

They are now learning that they were wrong.

While evidence has been circulating for years of Harper's willingness to abandon anyone who no longer served his agenda, recent events have demonstrated the absolute ruthlessness of his nature. There was, of course, his jettisoning of the terrible trio of Senators Duffy, Wallin, and Brazeau after having initially defending them in the house. As the optics changed, so did Harper's public pronouncements of them, to the point where they became personae no grata. More recently, as I noted in an earlier psst, there was his refusal to allow personal friendship with and deep political indebtedness to Nigel Wright stand in the way of publicly vilifying him as the chief-of-staff who betrayed him.

The most recent example of what some might describe as a lack of character at best, or as deeply pathological at worst, is the firing of Dimitri Souda, another Harper loyalist who answered his master's call to leave his current job, as he has done before, to become executive director of the Conservative Party of Canada. Because it became public that he was trying to gerrymander the nomination process so that the love of his life could steal win the nomination over a local favourite in the new riding of Oakville-North Burlington, he has been fired, as reported in The Toronto Star. Soudas' firing followed that of Wally Butts, a party organizer who had complained about Soudas' strongarm tactics.

Eve Adams’ campaign chairman, Stephen Sparling, denies that Soudas was fired, saying he voluntarily resigned so he could be more deeply engaged in Adams’ campaign. “He’s taken a new private-sector role and he’s freed up to work on his partner’s behalf”.

Perhaps on the strength of her own deep and abiding loyalty (start the link video at the five-minute mark) to Mr. Harper, Ms Adams still believes the nomination is within her reach.

Hmmm. I wonder if she remembers the name Helena Guergis?


Friday, May 18, 2012

'Dutch Disease' Confirmed By Harper-Funded Study

Despite the ongoing Harper-led campaign of vilification against Thomas Mulcair for his comments about the Alberta tarsands and Dutch disease, a Harper-funded study confirms the truth of his assertion.

As reported in The Globe, Industry Canada paid $25,000 to three academics to produce the lengthy study, which is about to be published in a prestigious journal, Resource and Energy Economics. The study concludes that between 33 and 39 per cent of the manufacturing employment loss that was due to exchange rate developments between 2002 and 2007 is related to the Dutch Disease phenomenon.

Despite that inconvenient finding, don't expect the character attacks on Mulcair to abate. If past practices are any indication, they will probably be taken to new levels as the party of national division, the Conservatives, seek to drown out rational debate with hysterical name-calling and finger-pointing, the chief weapons in their childish arsenal.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Mulcair's Dutch Disease Comments: A More Rational Assessment

Despite the near-hysterical reaction of certain CBC broadcasters to the comments made last week by Thomas Mulcair about how tarsands developments are inflating the value of the Canadian dollar, thereby weakening our manufacturing sector, there are those who are able to more objectively assess his comments. One of them is Lawrence Martin.

In his column today entitled Ottawa’s industrial policy divides Canada against itself, Martin observes that we made progress in the decades before 2000 in moving away from an economy based on resource extraction. Using figures from Jim Stanford's research, he reveals that well over half of Canada’s exports consisted of an increasingly sophisticated portfolio of value-added products in areas such as automotive assembly, telecommunications, aerospace technology and more.

However, as of July 2011, unprocessed and semi-processed resource exports accounted for two-thirds of Canada’s total exports, the highest in decades,” Mr. Stanford wrote. “Compare that to 1999, when finished goods made up almost 60 per cent of our exports.”

So while the Conservatives and their apologists at the CBC (aka Peter Mansbridge and Rex Murphy) can wax apoplectic about the 'divisiveness' of this national leader's comments, Lawrence Martin ends his piece thus:

But let the debate roar on. The country needs a new industrial strategy, one based on more than corporate tax cuts, free-trade agreements and rampant resource exploitation.

Monday, May 7, 2012

See Stephen, See Stephen Run

While the purpose of this Harper-initiated site may be to inspire fear of the NDP under Thomas Mulcair, I think it suggests a measure of, shall we say, nervousness, on the part of Mr. Harper and company.

H/T Kady O'Malley

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

How To Vent Your Frustration with Stephen Harper

Ever felt like knocking a little sense into our contemptible Prime Minister? Visit this website for an unusual and cathartic opportunity.

Monday, April 9, 2012

The Conservative Mind Equated With 'Low-Effort' Thinking'

Following up from an earlier report establishing a relationship between low intelligence and racism, prejudice and conservatism, The Huffington Post reports on a new study equating conservative politics with 'low-effort' thinking.

For those of us who have been following closely the antics of the Harper Conservatives and their supporters, there are few surprises in the report.

UPDATE: Closely related to this study is an article on AlterNet etitled, The Science of Fox News: Why Its Viewers are the Most Misinformed.

Enjoy!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

From The Bottom Of The Swamp: Conservative Reaction to Mulcair's Victory

Why does the Conservative Party's classlessness never really surprise me?

On Saturday, before Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a chance to congratulate the new leader of the Official Opposition, the Conservative party had already released a statement attacking the New Democrat.

"Thomas Mulcair is an opportunist whose high-tax agenda, blind ambition and divisive personality would put Canadian families and their jobs at risk," said a statement by Conservative spokesperson Fred DeLorey.

"Mulcair has said he would bring back a risky, job-killing carbon tax which would raise the price of everything — even though Canadians overwhelmingly rejected carbon taxes," warned DeLorey.


How can any thinking Canadian have any respect for these people?

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Conservative Ethos: Caviar for Corporations, Cake For Canadian Masses

Stephen Harper and his wrecking crew continue their agenda of altering the fundamental nature of Canadian society. By engineering an ever-dwindling supply of government revenue through corporate tax cuts that neither attract nor keep jobs in Canada, making huge expenditures on jet fighters we don't need, and building super-prisons during a time of record low crime rates, the neo-liberal cabal seems to think that it will be easy to convince us of the need to make ordinary people pay the price of their folly.

And they are probably right, unless Canadians wake up and begin critically evaluating the nonsense coming out of Ottawa in a steady stream. A good place to start might be the editorial in today's Star that lays bare the ideological underpinnings of the current Conservative assault on Old Age Security, which the Harper regime has deemed to be unaffordable in its present form, despite solid evidence from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Haper's Trade Deal With China: Less Than Meets The Eye

Stephen Harper's pending foreign investment protection agreement with China, hailed as a breakthrough that will one day make a “very practical difference” for Canadian companies seeking to invest here, (more outsourcing?)has been summed up very nicely by an astute Star reader:

We get the pandas. They get the manufacturing jobs. Sounds like a good trade to me!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Rick Salutin on Democracy

We live in time when the Harper government seems to be doing everything in its power to persuade Canadians that democracy is meaningless and that we, the citizens, have no power. In my view, the increasing invocation of closure on debate, sending more and more Parliamentary committees to meet behind closed doors, and egregiously and contemptuously ignoring all questions from the Opposition by responding with partisan ripostes, the Harperites are following an agenda to disenchant and disengage normal Canadians, leaving the field almost totally to their reactionary supporters.

Rick Salutin, in his latest video on The Star website, reminds us that there is much more to democracy than simply trudging to the polls every few years. It is something that has to be cultivated and practiced all the time. The video is well-worth viewing.

Monday, October 3, 2011

No Surprises Here: Harper Government Set To Undermine Unions

As reported online in the Globe and Mail today, "The Conservatives are set to take another hit at labour organizations, this time through a private member’s bill designed to force Canada’s unions to open their books to the public."

"The bill’s content is still confidential, but its title shows it will seek to change the rules governing labour organizations under the Income Tax Act, which exempts unions, along with charities and municipalities, from paying taxes. If adopted, the bill will force unions “to apply financial disclosure rules” that are already in place for charities, said a source, given the tax benefit that they receive."

Whatever the ultimate fate and intention of this private member's bill, it will keep alive the tired conservative rhetoric about union bosses and at the very least represents their continuing campaign of sowing public and union members' discontent with unions.

As well, it could mean ending unions' political activism, thereby eliminating one of the few counterweights to the corporate agenda that is so well-financed in this country through lobbyists, conservative think tanks, etc.

Most darkly, it could be a prelude to Harper introducing 'workplace democracy' legislation that would allow union members to opt out of paying dues to unions that pursue causes that individuals don't support, a favorite tactic of the right-wing in United States and an effective way to cripple or destroy unions.


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

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Is This a 'Goodbye Charlie Brown' Moment?

Those with long enough memories will recall a famous confrontation that took place in 1986 between Brian Mulroney, then just nine months into his mandate, and Solange Denis, a senior citizen defiant in her resolve to hold the Prime Minister to account.

At the time,

Mulroney [made] a controversial decision to partly de-index pensions. At a protest in Ottawa, an angry woman named Solange Denis [stared] down Mulroney and said: “You lied to us.... You made us vote for you and then goodbye Charlie Brown.”

Response: Mulroney [said] “I’m listening to you, Madame.” Indeed he was. Barely a week later, Mulroney’s government backed down on the plan to de-index pensions.


I'm wondering if we are not reaching another 'Charlie Brown' moment in the case of Michaela Keyserlingk who, as has been widely reported, is being told by The Conservative Party of Canada to stop using its logo in an advertising banner calling on Mr. Harper and his government to stop the deadly export of asbestos.

Like Solange Denis, Ms Keyserlingk is defiant as she confronts power, refusing to stop using the logo even though she admits she is doing so illegally. I suspect a moral victory is in the offing, and a column by Tim Harper in today's Star implies a costly price will be paid by the Conservatives if they seek legal remedy against this still-grieving widow. I hope you will get a chance to check out Harper's column.


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

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Stephen Harper: Pay No Attention To The Stats Can Man Behind The Curtain

The other day I wrote about the fact that statistics show serious crime in Canada to be at a 40-year-low. Despite this, of course, the Harper Government is marching headlong in its pursuit of measures to combat crime, including, of course, the building of super prisons that we neither need nor can afford.

In today's Globe, Jeffrey Simpson, in an incisive column entitled Tories judge evidence of falling rates inadmissible, explains why such statistics have no impact on our Conservative overlords. If you get a few moments, check it out.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Lawrence Martin on the Shortcomings of the Press

Lawrence martin, in a piece called Has the fourth estate lost its tenacity? wonders whether it is the failure to offer much followup on stories of abuse of authority, dirty tactics, etc. that might explain why none of the wrongdoing on the part of the Harper Conservatives seemed to have any effect on their electoral fortunes. Well worth a look.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Pension Reform's Opponents

Canadian Labour Congress President Ken Georgetti has written a good article entitled Canadians betrayed on cpp reform that discusses the need for reform to the Canadian Pension Plan and how efforts by the financial industry have convinced the Conservatives to back away from it.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

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.

Friday, April 29, 2011

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:

Thursday, April 28, 2011

No Surprises Here: The Globe Endorses Harper

As if to once more remind people of how hollow its claim to being Canada's national newspaper is, the Globe and Mail has offered an endorsement of Stephen Harper. Its reasons for recommending that the electorate (or at least that portion lacking critical thinking skills) give yet another mandate to Harper and his regime would be laughable were the stakes not so high, and once more amply demonstrate the journal's increasing irrelevance to the Canadian political discussion.

I am reproducing a small portion of its rallying cry for the Conservatives to illustrate. The bolded portions are my own:

Only Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party have shown the leadership, the bullheadedness (let's call it what it is) and the discipline this country needs. He has built the Conservatives into arguably the only truly national party, and during his five years in office has demonstrated strength of character, resolve and a desire to reform. Canadians take Mr. Harper's successful stewardship of the economy for granted, which is high praise. He has not been the scary character portrayed by the opposition; with some exceptions, his government has been moderate and pragmatic.

It is because of this kind of fatuous thinking that I have not spent a day regretting my decision late last year to cancel my subscription to the once venerable paper.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

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