Toronto's Voter Suppression Protest

If you live in southern Ontario, you know that yesterday was a gift, with sunny skies and temperatures reaching about 15 degrees Celsius, surpassing normal highs by about 11 degrees.

A crowd of maybe 1000 gathered in Toronto's Dundas Square to protest the threats against our democracy epitomized by the voter suppression crimes of the last federal election, crimes that the ruling Harper Conservatives seem strangely indifferent to as they consistently impede and mock all efforts to uncover the truth.

As you will see in the pictures that follow, both the protest signs and the range of ages attending the protest bespeak a real concern on the part of a cross-section of Canadian society. After the pictures I have posted two links to local coverage of the event:

Click here to see how CTV covered the protest.

Click here for Star coverage, including viedo.

Canada's 'Newspaper of Record' Continues Its Defense Of Harper

The Globe's John Ibbitson says the Harper regime wasn't behind the voter suppression crimes because, well, because Guy Giorno and Stephen Harper say they didn't do it.

Seems like it isn't just the Conservative Party that has contempt for the intelligence of Canadians.

A New Tory Fantasy Excuse For Robocalls

He may not have anything else going for him, but at least Conservative backbencher Maurice Vellacott has a rich imagination.

More On Voter Suppression

The Globe has some interesting letters today on the voter suppression crimes of the last election. Of particular note is the first one, by an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria, who attended a campaign school presentation in which instructors "made it clear that robo-calling and voter suppression were an acceptable and normal part of winning political campaigns."

If you follow the link, you will notice that three of the presenters have, ahem, rather close ties to the Harper regime. The story keeps getting darker and darker.

h/t katie o'malley

Voter Suppression - March 11 Toronto Protest

As I suspect is the case with most political bloggers, I offer commentary and provide links to important stories because I love my country and am very concerned about the direction in which it is heading. As well, I am deeply offended when abuse of political power occurs. And, like many others who write, I always hope that something I post may influence the thinking of some readers to the point where they become more aware of and interested in the important issues confronting our country.

That's on a good day.

There are many other days when I wonder if I am just preaching to the converted, to people who already are very engaged in the affairs and issues plaguing us as a nation, and that my words don't really have the slightest impact on those who go about their lives blithely unaware and unconcerned about both their rights and their responsibilities as Canadian citizens.

In which case, of course, I and countless others are largely wasting our time.

I hope for Scenario 1 to be true, but I fear that Scenario 2 is closer to the truth.

My reflections today are prompted by the voter suppression crimes that have been so much in the news and dominating the political blogoshphere. In following both, I am left with the distinct impression that the issue has resonated with Canadians across the land. However, stepping back from the newspaper and the computer, I wonder if that is the case.

Yesterday, the first of a planned series of rallies was held in Vancouver. According to a Globe report, it attracted just a few hundred people, according to an unofficial police estimate.

Now, maybe there wasn't sufficient lead time to ensure a larger attendance, maybe the weather was bad, maybe people weren't aware of the protest. Or maybe people just don't care.

Other protests are being planned, one on Monday in Ottawa and one in Calgary and Toronto March 11. Here is a link to a Facebook page about the Toronto event, scheduled to start at 2:30pm, Yonge-Dundas Square.

While large attendance at these rallies may not move Harper, it is without question that small turnouts will simply embolden him to do even worse things to this country.

The responsibility to ensure that doesn't happen rests with all of us.

Are Canadians 'Mad As Hell' Over Voter Suppression Crimes?

Read a cross-section of opinion from the Star's letters and decide for yourself.

This one from the Guelph Mercury also merits scrutiny.

Harper's Fondest Fantasy

The Star Exposes Another Harper Lie

More and more, people are seeing the bald mendacity of the Harper regime. Despite their claims of electoral probity and refusal to use U.S. firms in their campaigning, it turns out that 14 Conservative (will the claim be made that they were rogues?) did exactly that by signing on with Front Porch Strategies, a well-connected Republican company during last year’s election campaign; one of them was the offensively pugnacious Dean Del Maestro, who has done a fine acting job feigning indignation over what he calls Liberal and NDP smears in the House of Commons. Interestingly, but hardly surprisingly, one of the events orchestrated by the company for Del Maestro turned into a smear campaign against Michael Ignatief.

The Star also reports how the Conservatives use the resources of the powerful Conservative global organization, the International Democratic Union (IDU), a coalition of member parties including the U.S. Republicans, the Canadian and U.K. Conservative parties and, in the Australia, the centre-right Liberals.

Perhaps of even greater note is the fact that Senator Doug (in-and-out-Conservative crimes) Finley is a deputy chair at IDU.

What is that old saying? If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas. Clearly, corporate entities need to vet their clients more carefully.

Exactly How Dangerous Is Harper?

That is the title of a piece written by Gerald Caplan, in which he opines that the Harper Conservatives are like nothing Canada has ever seen before, a party that refuses to follow the customs and practices of past governments, a party that sees politics as a form of warfare with, I suppose, the rest of us as collateral damage.

This brief excerpt offers an ominous intimation about the voter suppression crimes:

Those of us who wouldn’t trust Stephen Harper if he told us today was Friday have no doubt who organized Robo-gate. In fact, I’m informed by a former Conservative operative familiar with both the party and technology that there’s far more to be revealed in this saga.

You can read the full piece here.

Now This Is Getting Really Frightening

Despite the steadfast denials of Harper and his functionaries, along with the stalwart efforts of Dean Del Maestro at diverting public attention away from voter suppression crimes, Elections Canada reports that it has received over 31,000 complaints from Canadians reporting attempts to subvert their vote.

Even the true believers who discount any possibility that their party and dear leader could have been behind these crimes must be disturbed by the government's cavalier and combative reactions to the accusations, reactions which do nothing to acknowledge the sacredness of our democracy and everything to further alienate the citizens of this country.

UPDATE: Thanks to The Galloping Beaver for this important information.

The Nation's Editorial Boards: Harper Voter Suppression Stonewalling Bad For Democracy

At least that seems to be the consensus at the following newspapers:

The National Post

The Vancouver Sun

The Hamilton Spectator

The Toronto Star

The Calgary Herald

The Lethbridge Herald

The Ottawa Citizen

The St. John's Telegram

And the list goes on, with one predictable exception, of course: The Toronto Sun

So far, Canada's self-proclaimed newspaper of record, as far as I can determine, has not deigned to offer its editorial insights on the crimes.

Today's Star Editorial Cartoon

Works on more than one level, doesn't it?

Doug (In-AndOut-Scandal Finley) Tells Us To Relax and forget About Robocalls

Senator Doug Finley, the mastermind behind the in-and-out crimes committed by the Harper Conservatives, and husband of the Tory's go-to-girl, Diane Finley, narrowly escaped justice in those illegal acts thanks to a plea bargain by the Conservative Party.

Now this same paragon of virtue is telling us to all rest easy, that any instances of (voter suppression) wrongdoing will be unveiled as isolated incidents carried out by local volunteers.

Thanks Doug. I for one can rest easier tonight, knowing that you are on the job protecting our democratic freedoms.

Rick Mercer Has Harper's Number

Voter Suppression: Canadians Continue To Vent Their Fury

While the rogue Prime Minister continues to deny his party's involvement in voter suppression, Canadians continue to vent their fury.

The Star Continues Digging into Tory Voter Suppression Crimes

While Canada's so-called newspaper of record continues doing only a perfunctory job in its coverage of the voter suppression crimes that may very well have affected the outcome of the last federal election, The Toronto Star continues to dig deeply and widely, bringing readers a very comprehensive picture of what one would like to hope will be the beginning of the end of the Harper regime.

Today's coverage, for example, confirms that attempts at election-rigging were not restricted to a putative rogue party functionary in Guelph. Indeed, the crimes seem to have extended all the way to the West Coast, where Ken Hancock was told that his voting location had been changed from the usual location — a local school not far from his Pender Island, B.C., home — to the municipality of Saanich on Vancouver Island.

The supposed new location meant that Hancock would have to drive to the ferry dock at Otter Bay on the northwest side of Pender Island, take a 40-minute ferry ride south to Vancouver Island, and then drive another 30 kilometres to Saanich to cast his ballot.

As citizens of this country, we have a responsibility to commit the time and effort necessary to educate ourselves fully into the extent and range of these very serious crimes. Fortunately, The Star is doing much of the legwork for us.

The Sound of Subversion - A Robocall Recorded

So this is what subversion sounds like. The Star has obtained a voice recording of one of the fake calls in Guelph, giving instructions to the recipient to go to the wrong polling station.

What is that old saying about the banality of evil?

The Harper Conservatives: A Scapegoat For Every Occasion

I just finished reading a thoughtful piece by Michael Ignatief's former chief speechwriter, Adam Goldenberg, suggesting that those Tory functionaries who are scapegoated for the government's crimes often go on to their reward - reinstatement within the party hierarchy.

A reposting of a reader's comment following the article speaks volumes:

I am 91 years old and have voted for the Conservative Party all my life. I fought over in Europe during the second world war to defend Canada's freedoms from tyranny, and now the nazi jackboot is descending on Canada. Some of my friends died in battle long ago as I live to watch Canada being slowly turned into nazi Germany by this group in Ottawa that I voted for. I hope I live long enough to see them out of power. These people in Ottawa are dangerous to our cherished freedoms and are a danmation to those who died preserving Canada's freedoms from people like them.

For Anyone Inclined to Give Harper The Benefit Of The Doubt...

I urge you to read Lawrence Martin's damning assessment of his dirty operations.

The Public Responds To Conservative Voter-Suppression Crimes

While I normally spend little time reading readers' on-line comments in The Globe and Mail, these, I think, help to capture the fury more and more of the public is feeling over Harper-inspired malfeasance.