TV or Democracy

With the next set of promises recently presented in the House after several days of targeted leaks of some of the content which highlighted 'more choice of cable & satellite TV channels' I wonder if Canadians are really as shallow as the Harper Regime seems to think. Can we really be bought by a promise to give us more choice in selecting TV channels and similar meaningless goodies, is this such an important thing that it needs to be in the throne speech and have legislation brought forward to force the companies concerned to open up more choice, a move that will cost taxpayers nothing but will undoubtedly increase subscriber fees. Will such a promise really make voters forget how this regime has gutted the rules and ministries that protect our land, lakes, oceans, fish, flora and fauna? Will this suddenly make the missing census data that our social and local governments organizations rely upon, and that the regime does not want to interfere with their ideological agenda, suddenly appear? Will those channels suddenly have our government employees, our scientists, our diplomats and those Conservative backbenchers speaking out and providing us with reliable information without being inundated with Harperland spin & lies?


Perhaps the voters will forget the bad stuff (if they even knew in the first place) and blindly watch as the current regime feed them self congratulatory adverts, paid for with our money, telling us how our entire future depends upon selling our unimproved resources to China and continually telling us “we have a plan”, “we have a plan”!


Given the general disinterest in politics and the ever increasing disenchantment with our elected representative by those that do take any notice I begin to wonder where the Canadian populations priority’s lay. The views on my two blogs add to my concern, here are the top 3 posts on this site - Canadian Coup d'etat? Sep 19, 2010, 613 views - Canada is a corporate plutocracy Mar 29, 2009, 470 views - Democracy is Under Attack Dec 20, 2009, 385 views. Now compare it with these top 3 from my personal blog - Rural Satellite TV Aug 24, 2012, 5247 views - Thousands of Lakes and Rivers left unprotected. Oct 23, 2012, 1392 views - Broadcast TV in Grey Bruce Jun 21, 2011, 954 – and even the fourth item was another post about television broadcasts ending with 903 views. Hardy a reliable poll but it sure shows where the interest of many of out citizens lays!


Having taken a break from writing here over the summer, mostly to combat the depression brought on by following the direction that the Harper Regime is taking this country, I can understand how the average citizen would not want to dig too deep, just the little sound bites on whatever Canadian TV channels you get are enough to make all but the most concerned turn off.


The choice may well be TV or Democracy but I fear that many will choose TV, and it wont be the parliamentary channel.........


Meanwhile for those that are taking notice, once again Harper is flaunting parliamentary democracy by introducing an omnibus bill to reinstate all the bills (except those which HE does not now want) that are normally dropped, and reintroduced individually with due process, when the house is prorogued. He said he prorogued because “most of the promises the Conservatives made in the last election have been fulfilled........ “ apparently not, although I don’t remember him promising to ignore parliamentary tradition and ram through bills with minimal debate!



Finally the Green Party of Canada has published an alternative Throne Speech which in my estimation should be a must read for all citizens but particularly those that are charged with representing the electorate in the House of Commons. I urge you to read it and consider the possibilities if any (or all) of the other opposition partys were to make such a commitment.
See http://www.greenparty.ca/green-speech-throne












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