The Sins Of The Father?

But then again, perhaps Peter MacKay is only modelling his behaviour after his elders.

Peter MacKay Does Enjoy The Largess of The Public Purse, Doesn't He?

WHEN I GROW UP, I WANNA FLY A BIG JET!

It seems that Peter MacKay, the Defence Minister for our self- and inaccurately-proclaimed fiscal stewards, the Conservatives, does enjoy the generosity of Canadian taxpayers, but at least he is versatile in exploiting that resource. Not content to use it only to shorten his return home from fishing forays in remote regions of Newfoundland, he also likes to spend lavishly for photo-ops in F-35 mock-ups, probably every little boy's dream.

He must have been quite a play companion in his childhood.

Liz Witmer's Political Karma

As a survivor of the Mike Harris years in Ontario, I have very vivid memories of what was undoubtedly the most mean-spirited and incompetent of provincial regimes I have ever lived through. Their economic 'strategy' of slashing and burning, selling key assets such as the 407 to foreign consortia to conceal their colossal fiscal ineptitude, and appeasing big business left a lasting legacy of discontent; as well, their divisive rhetoric pitted Ontarians against one another, much in the same manner as the Harper regime has done throughout Canada.

While she was Harris's Labour Minister, Liz Witmer set her sights on The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, slashing both the benefits paid to workers and the premiums charged to business. As Martin Regg Cohn points out in his column today, Ms Witmer, recently appointed head of WSIB, is about to experience some political karma as she contends with the results of her former intervention: the board currently faces an unfunded liability of over $14 billion.

No doubt Ms Witmer will bring her much-vaunted abilities to bear on the situation.

Harper Down On Democracy?

Well, this can't be much of a surprise, can it?

The Haunting Threats To Democracy

Being a rather fitful sleeper at the best of times, I often awake throughout the night, the sole advantage of this affliction being the ability to recall a large number of my dreams. Last night was one such night.

In the dream, while I lived in an apparently normal environment, each time that I tried to express my opinion or move freely about, some force came out of the background to stop me, leading me to realize that my freedom was illusory.

While this dream actually did occur and is not a writer's artifice to lead into his theme, its central metaphor was obvious to me upon awakening. We live in a time when our democratic freedoms are being eroded, along with the values and supports that Canadians have long held dear. And yet, if we do not scratch beneath the surface, everything appears to be reasonably normal. It is only upon closer scrutiny or action that we begin to detect the stench coming from the hidden rot.

I guess it was something I was thinking about the other day during the demonstration at David Sweet's office. A young couple was in attendance; they told those of us who were taking pictures that they didn't want theirs posted on the Internet, the specific reasons for which I will not reveal except to say fear of government reprisal.

I suspect there is much such fear in this country today, and with very good reason. The Harper government, in its relentless drive to remake Canada in its stunted image, is well-known for its vindictiveness against groups who oppose its agenda, currently investigating, for example, the charitable status of those groups who oppose the regime's campaign of environmental despoliation. If there is a government equivalent to libel chill, this is it, although a more apt description is abuse of government power to stifle our Charter right of freedom of expression.

I was watching a documentary recently from a series called Earth From Above. In it, an activist who has worked hard to stop the building of dams on the Loire River in France makes this statement: "If you do not use democracy, it will wither."

I can only hope that this truth will dawn upon more and more people as they contemplate joining some of the planned future demonstrations against the Harper agenda.

Protesting The Harper Omnibus Budget Bill

I wrote a post the other day about a Leadnow.ca campaign promoting nation-wide demonstrations at the constituency offices of Conservative M.P.s to protest Bill C-38, the Harper government's omnibus budget bill that changes over 70 laws, eroding further our democracy, our labour laws, and our environmental safeguards, to name but three of its insidious contents.

Locally, a group of us gathered at the office of David Sweet, the Harper M.P. for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale. Although disappointed that he wasn't there (and in fairness to him, I checked afterwards and found out that his constituency hours are only Monday through Friday), it was nonetheless a healthy gathering of people, many of whom shared the view that this was just a first step in organizing local opposition to the agenda that Harper Inc. is mercilessly pursuing at the expense of the well-being of all Canadians.

None of us, being mature adults, are under any illusion that the fight will be easy or of short duration. We all know the power of the Conservative propaganda machine; coupled with the fear that the regime inspires in various groups who still subscribe to the tenets of democracy, and the contemptibly divisive tactics employed by a government drunk with its own unholy power, the road ahead is littered with obstacles.

But at least the process is in place. And while I recognize that it is very often very difficult for people to take that first step outside of their 'comfort zone' to join a protest, I suspect most would say that once they have taken that step, they look forward to more opportunities to do what they can to ensure that the great country they have known throughout their lives offers the same values and the same opportunities for their children and their children's children, down through the generations.

The future is at stake!

The Economy And The People

Several years ago, while he was still writing for Canada's self-proclaimed 'newspaper of record,' Rick Salutin penned a column entitled something like, The economy is doing fine, the people not so much. In it, he made some trenchant observations about how, over time, the well-being of the economy and the well-being of the people, once essentially synonymous, have sharply diverged. His thesis was that while the economy once served the people, today the opposite is true.

Echoing that thesis, in today's column entitled GM Oshawa job cuts show real economy hurting under Stephen Harper Thomas Walkom offers a similar perspective.

His biting analysis begins:

When Stephen Harper’s Conservatives talk about protecting the economy, they are speaking of an abstraction.

They override the right to strike of rail and airline workers in order to further this abstraction. They run roughshod over the environment in its name.

But the real economy is not an abstraction. It is people’s jobs and wages. It is our livelihood. It is how we get by.

And this real economy is not doing well.

Walkom then goes on to eviscerate the propaganda so proudly and persistently proclaimed by Harper Inc. that they are economic masters of the universe, the only party protecting the values and addressing the concerns of 'ordinary Canadians.'

For an inkling of whose interests the Harper regime is really protecting, please take a look at the article. Must reading in the arsenal of the critical thinker.