Words Fail Me Here

Unequivocally evil is the only phrase I can think of to describe this ecological and environmental outrage. Read the story and draw your own conclusions:

Ottawa removing North Pacific humpback whales from list of ‘threatened’ species

Harper's Political Posturing

Given the recent spate of 'bad luck' experienced by Enbridge over its propensity for oil spills, the Harper regime knows it is facing an uphill battle to convince Canadians that the company can guarantee the environmental integrity of the lands over which its pipelines run. In his column today, Tim Harper points out that because the government is running out of opponents to vilify, it is trying a new tact through its mouthpiece, senior minister for B.C./Heritage Minister James Moore:

“This project will not survive public scrutiny unless Enbridge takes far more seriously (its) obligations to engage with the public and to answer those very legitimate questions about the way in which they have operated their business in the very recent past,” Moore said.

Wow! A Harper minion talking tough to business! That surely will solve all the problems, especially when the company repackages its empty and worthless assurances in a new communications' campaign.

And Moore's 'outspokenness' should certainly dispel any impression that Harper Inc. is simply a tool of big business interests.

UPDATE: The emptiness of Moore's rhetoric is attested to, I think, by this announcement today by the federal government.

Will The Legendary Harper Vindictiveness Rear Its Head Again?

A report in today's Globe suggests we could soon be seeing another instance of Harper bullying and intimidation tactics.

Well-known for his intolerance of and disdain for dissent, and given his Natural Resources' Minister's recent musings about radicals having infiltrated the environmental opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline, Mr. Harper, environmentalists fear, "is planning to limit their advocacy role."

The story goes on to say:

The Conservative-dominated Commons finance committee is set to begin a review of the charity sector, and several activists say government MPs have told business groups that the committee will look at the environmental sector’s transparency, its advocacy role and the flow of funds from outside the country.

Given his autocratic nature and the fact that he has a majority government, there seems little to stop the dark lord from doing as he pleases, except perhaps a clamorous and widespread expression of public indignation over his thuggish tactics.

Given our legendary passivity and docility, I'm not expecting too much of that.

Being Stephen Harper Must Be Frustrating At Times

Were I a more compassionate and empathetic man, I suppose I could at times muster a modicum of sympathy for our dark lord, Stephen Harper. Why, you may ask - doesn't he now enjoy a majority government that allows him to impose his will throughout our once fair land? Doesn't he already exert a wholly unholy influence over our once robust structures of democracy? Doesn't he regularly show contempt for the truth, both inside and outside Parliament?

Of course he does, but consider the almost unbearable frustration he must be experiencing now, one that may lead him to a new assault on democracy, not because his will is being thwarted, but because it is being slowed down by those pesky environmentalists he alleges are in the sway of 'foreign interests.' According to today's Star,

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says environmentalists funded by “foreign money” are trying to hijack public hearings on the controversial Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline — and the government would like to put a stop to such activities.

In high demagogic dudgeon, Mr. Harper warns about dark foreign forces arrayed against us, a threat to both our economy and our way of life, as more than 70 native groups oppose the project and 4,300 people have signed up to give evidence at the hearings on the environmental and economic impact of the proposed $5.5 billion pipeline. Our dear leader decries the use of foreign money to really overload the public consultation phase of regulatory hearings just for the purpose of slowing down the process.

“This is something that is not good for the Canadian economy and the government of Canada will be taking a close look at how we can ensure that our regulatory processes are effective and deliver decisions in a reasonable amount of time,” he said after a government announcement in Edmonton.

Annie Roy, a spokesperson for the Northern Gateway review panel, responded by reminding Harper that the panel “is an independent body, mandated by the Minister of the Environment and the National Energy Board,” to hold public hearings.

But since Harper is a man not the least bit deterred by the once powerful traditions of Parliamentary democracy, expect him to find a way to shorten, even abrogate this environmental process.