A Good Start To The Week

It is always gratifying to begin the week reading the thoughts of engaged Canadians who see through the thinly-veiled lies of the Harper cabal. In this morning's Star, three letter-writers address the topic of Bill C-520, a 'private member's bill' proposed by Conservative MP Mark Adler, about which I have previously written.

Enjoy:

Watchdogs present united front against Tory disclosure bill, Feb. 26

Conservative MP Mark Adler’s claim that the desire for “transparency” is behind his private member’s bill is completely fraudulent. The bill would require all employees of the so-called “watchdog” agencies – like auditor-general’s office, the ethics commissioner, and Elections Canada — to declare any prior political affiliations or activities, going back 10 years.

It sounds harmless enough, even reasonable. But it’s not. The bill’s real purpose has nothing to do with transparency; it’s to give the government the legal authority to interfere in the business of these agencies – which are already sworn to neutrality – and to expose their employees and their activities to constant partisan challenges from the party in power.

Together with the bill on electoral reform, Adler’s proposal is yet another of the prime minister’s Trojan horses, a devious attempt to undermine the neutrality of the very institutions whose independence we depend on for good governance.

Paul Wilson, Heathcote

As I read this article on Bill C-520 it struck me that we are returning to the Joseph McCarthy era when people who had a Communist Party past or any link to communism were labelled “Commies.” Many wonderful people were grilled about past associations and careers were ruined and jobs lost.

Do we really want a bill that prevents anyone with past “partisan activity” from holding parliamentary watchdog positions? I’m afraid what that bill really means is that only Conservatives need apply.

Elaine Faye, Brampton

Are you sure it was introduced by an MP named Adler and not a senator named McCarthy?

Edward Barber, Unionville

Heather Mallick And The Climate Of Fear

Toronto Star columnist Heather Mallick has a lacerating assessment this morning of the political landscape we now inhabit, thanks to the machinations of the Harper cabal. Owen, over at Norther Reflections, has a post on her piece that is well-worth reading.

I shall only add this from her column:

What an extraordinary thing to live a pleasant life in a western nation and yet fear your own government. But the Canada Revenue Agency’s new audits of environmental charities like Tides Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation and Environmental Defence in the midst of their continuing warnings about the effects of the climate-poisoning Alberta tarsands project are terrifying.

Harperites are sessile, “rooted to the ground and unable to pick up and move ... when conditions turn unfavourable,” as the New Yorker put it recently in a rather dismissive piece about plant IQ. They can’t adapt to the news of climate change so they lash out at those who have.

I have praised David Suzuki to the skies, most recently in a column about a performance staged at the Royal Ontario Museum about the damage done by the tarsands. Am I to be audited next?

Extraordinary, indeed, that we are witness to, and in many cases abettors of, an ongoing process of democratic subversion directed by the Harper cabal, culminating in a very real and justifiable fear of the government.