A blog to give a voice to our concern about the continued erosion of our democratic processes not only within the House of Commons and within our electoral system but also throughout our society. Here you will find articles about the current problems within our parliamentary democracy, about actions both good and bad by our elected representatives, about possible solutions, opinions and debate about the state of democracy in Canada, and about our roles/responsibilities as democratic citizens. We invite your thoughtful and polite comments upon our posts and ask those who wish to post longer articles or share ideas on this subject to submit them for inclusion as a guest post.
Contact us at democracyunderfire@gmail.com

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Goodby Harper, Hello Canada

I am going to be taking a short break from my weekly blogging over the holidays but before I do I wanted to write a little of my personal thoughts as to what I hope the new year will bring. I will admit to being very optimistic, perhaps too much so, for a return to a kinder, more inclusive, caring Canada as detailed by our new governments many proposed changes to things that were ignored, closed, silenced or abused by the previous regime. Just the tone of the PM and his various ministers gives me a renewed sense of hope for the future, a positive outlook and the reinvesting in people, the openness in listening to, and inviting such dialogue from, the provinces, the scientific community, our environmental groups and our native peoples is so refreshing.
I am not so naive as to believe that all the promises will be achieved in the next year or more, or even ever, but the fact that they are trying thus far for that “open and accountable” government promised to us so many times before is to be supported and encouraged. The reinstatement of the census, the unmuzzleing of our scientists and diplomats, the freedom of our charities to express an opinion without fear, the invitation to all Partys and Provinces to join the delegation at the climate change talks all show a real desire to actually fulfil such promises.
Its not going to be all plain sailing, the very practical proposals for appointing Senators (something that must be done if we are going to have a functional parliamentary system) is already being criticized by some of the very people who would have an increased say in such appointments, namely the Provinces. In trying to ensure a non partisan Senate but still be able to introduce government bills to that chamber previous procedures will need to be changed and some Senators are trying to do just that but some outside the chamber are going to do everything they can to block any efforts to make such changes. The new opposition, who are now in the same position as the Liberals were just a few brief weeks ago, are naturally against almost any move to undo legislation or decisions forced through whist they were in power. I hope they will learn to be a little less partisan with their rhetoric and debate future bills upon their merit, but I doubt that will happen. Just trying to form parliamentary committees has already turned into a squabble as to who can serve on or attend meetings.


So here is my message for 2016. Let us support and encourage the positive change that the new government is proposing, let us ensure that they keep their promises of consulting with the Provinces on shared issues, let us make sure that that open and accountable thing does not drop from sight again and, yes, let us hope for more 'Sunny Days' ahead for Canada.


I will be back in January with some thoughts upon the choices to be made in bringing in Electoral Reform. As Peter Lowry says “What we really need in considering these questions is people with open minds. You simply cannot consider solutions to the voting system until you have a clear idea of why you want to change it and what really are the options available. This is not as simple as people think.”


Meanwhile I wish all my readers Happy Holidays and a productive and prosperous 2016


Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Promises- Electoral Reform, spending & advertising.

Electoral Reform is probably the most called for item on the democratic reform agenda, and I suspect will be the most difficult to keep from being a very divisive promise given the strong opinions held by various individuals and citizen groups across the country. The promise is to:-
Form an all-party parliamentary committee to bring recommendations to Parliament on the way forward, to allow for action before the succeeding federal election. Ensure that electoral reform measures – such as ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting – are fully and fairly studied and considered. And within 18 months bring forward legislation to enact electoral reform.


I will cover the various possibilities regarding the types of voting systems in future posts, despite having written on that subject several time in the past I have some new thoughts as to the suitability of some of the proposals (in particular the much vaunted 'proportional representation'). For now all I am going to say that I am very pleased that this proposal call for ALL systems to be “fully and fairly studied and considered” and that voting methods such as on line voting (and hopefully other ways of improving ways to vote) will be included in the committees deliberations. I hope that wide consultation will take place with all the ramifications of any proposed system considered, including the effect of more complex ballots upon the voting process.


Repeal the anti-democratic elements in the Fair Elections Act and scrap the Citizen Voting Act, restore the voter identification card as an acceptable form of identification. Work with provinces and territories, and support Elections Canada, to register young Canadians as a part of their high school curriculum. Support voter registration as part of a civic ceremony in high schools, support Elections Canada in proactively registering Canadians from groups that historically have lower voter turnout.


Given some of the problems identified by voters during the election its pretty clear that the entire voter identification system needs a major overall and modernization. Various government agencies both federal and provincial have multiple databases with our information in which they check our electability for various programs, make sure we pay our taxes etc etc but seem unable to maintain an accurate list of voters. Much of the problems encountered stem from the necessity to vote at a particular location, perhaps an updated system can eliminate that need. And YES, lets give our youth and other non voters the tools and information to get them involved in deciding their future governance.

Provide Elections Canada
with the resources it needs to investigate matters that threaten the integrity of our electoral process. Ensure that the Chief Electoral Officer and Elections Canada have the tools and mandate to encourage more Canadians to vote. Restore the independence of the Commissioner of Canada Elections so that they are freely able to prosecute electoral violations.


Even before the Conservatives removed much of their powers Elections Canasta was not doing a good job of identifying and prosecuting those (almost exclusively political operatives) who abused the system, whether this was from lack of power or lack of resources is hard to tell but we do indeed need a strong independent body with the power to fully investigate such fraud. Election Canada is such a body, let us give them the tools they need to do their job which should indeed include urging all Canadians to vote when given the opertunity.


Appoint an Advertising Commissioner to assist the Auditor General in providing oversight on government advertising. Proposed messages will be reviewed by the Advertising Commissioner to ensure they are non-partisan and related to actual government requirements. Review electoral spending limits, and also ensure that political party spending between elections is subject to limits.
Create a more inclusive, independent commission that will organize leaders’ debates during election campaigns, with a mandate to increase Canadians engagement and knowledge of the issues.


These three items are all part of the same thing in my view, the ability of those who would seek to represent up, both individuals and partys, to be able to place their point of view and proposals before the public with some measure of “fairness' as compared with the incumbent partys and / or individuals or partys with resources far in excess of some of their oponents. Elections have become far to much about who can spend the most in 'advertising' (although it does not always result in the expected result as we have just seen) and as a result alternative views are all but unheard in the ensuing media war. We know that the Harper regime was using public money to toot its own horn for years prior to the election and this tenancy now seems to be spilling over into provincial governments (at least here in Ontario) so any oversight to check this practice is a good thing. The practice of excluding this or that leader of an established party from national debates is part and parcel of the ever increasing tilt to that “playing field” and must be corrected.


Its hard to say how all this will shake out but each of the proposals are a step in the right direction IMHO, at this point I remain optimistic that our new government and our parliamentarian's will work together to bring many of these reforms into being. I truly hope that our MPs will put partisan rhetoric aside and agree to strengthen our democratic systems for as we have seen it can so quickly and easily go the other way however we are already seeing some rhetoric that this system or that will benefit this party or that. I do not envy the “committee” on this one!

Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Thursday, December 3, 2015

The Democratic Balance.



A guest post by Jared Milne
It’s been about a month since the federal election that made Justin Trudeau prime minister. The election results illustrate both sides of the challenge that political parties face at election control-the need to motivate the party’s base, while also getting undecided “swing” voters to support them.

The Conservatives led by Stephen Harper illustrate one side of the challenge. Many of the Harper government’s policies were supported by the Conservatives’ base, such as the selling of the Canadian Wheat Board, the end of the long gun registry, tax policies such as income splitting and harsher sentences for criminals. However, commentators such as John Ivison noted how many Canadians had become fed up with Harper and wanted him gone. On election day, most of Harper’s seats came from his strongest base of support on the Prairies, enough to make the Conservatives the Official Opposition but not enough to let Harper stay on as prime minister.

The New Democrats led by Tom Mulcair had the opposite problem. In 2011, Jack Layton made the NDP the Official Opposition for the first time in Canadian history largely by tapping into new support in Quebec. However, in 2015 Mulcair wasn’t able to retain much of that support, leading the NDP to lose over half their seats and returning them to third-party status in Parliament. Some commentators attributed the NDP’s loss to Mulcair’s attempt to bring the NDP closer to the political centre in an attempt to attract swing voters. Mulcair’s moves are said to have alienated many of the NDP’s most devoted supporters and led to many progressive voters to support Justin Trudeau and the Liberals instead.

By comparison, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals managed to not only retain the support of places that have frequently voted Liberal in the past such as in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, but also pick up new support in Western Canada. A lot of this support obviously came from past Liberal voters, but the Liberals also benefited from progressive voters who wanted Harper replaced and saw the Liberals as the party most likely to succeed. Justin Trudeau gained from the losses of both Harper and Mulcair.
What we can take away from this is just how difficult it can be for political parties to balance the expectations and goals of their base while also appealing to swing voters. Sometimes a change in a party’s policies might be seen as a principled attempt to broaden its appeal. At other times it might be seen as a crass attempt to get elected, or a betrayal of what the party stands for. A party that sticks too closely to its traditional base, and doesn’t show at least some kind of flexibility, may never get elected-which is supposed to be the whole point of being in politics!

The balancing act between appealing to a political party’s base, and appealing to swing voters, is one of the most difficult challenges in politics-but when it’s successful, the results can speak for themselves.

This article was originally published in the St. Albert Gazette on November 25, 2015 and is available online at http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/Keeping-old-voters-while-winning-new-ones-20151125.


Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Promises – Openness, Transparency and Service.

Continuing our review of the Liberal Partys promises we turn to:=
Openness and Transparency.
Amending the Access to Information Act so that all government data and information is made open by default in machine-readable, digital formats.
Accelerating and expanding open data initiatives and continually look for additional opportunities to do so.
Creating a central, no-fee portal for personal information requests.

All of the above, except the access to information item, has been underway for some time however it appears that some of the restrictions put upon those trying to initiate this within government by the previous regime have slowed and hampered the efforts and in fact deliberately ignored / abused the existing system . We hope that a less restrictive environment will speed up and expand these efforts.

The promise to “Create a single window for all government services, and work with the provinces and territories on ways to combine online access efforts.” would seem to part of this effort. There is already a “ individualized, secure accounts for Canadians who want to access all of their government benefits” and this can no doubt be expanded and be made more accessible.
It would seem to make sense to eliminate duplication of access to services with the provinces both on and off line and here I am going to suggest it may be the time to consider a proposal contained in a 2008 senate report largely ignored by the previous regime that being:-
RECOMMENDATION 2-3: The committee recommends that the federal government work with provincial, territorial and municipal governments to identify ways in which a range of existing and new services might be delivered through existing rural infrastructure points such as rural post offices.
Many folks, particularly in rural areas do not have access to reliable, affordable, unlimited internet and the provision of some services at your local post office would help keep our postal service alive and make services more accessible for many citizens.

Under the heading of Better Service for Canadians we see this which closely mirrors the above:-
Introduce a significant overhaul of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) operating practices to proactively contact Canadians when they are entitled to, but are not, receiving tax benefits; offering to create returns for clients, particularly lower income Canadians.

This one has bugged the hell out of me and many other citizens, particularly senior citizens, for years. Having to 'apply' for certain benefits year after year by filling out a form which mirrors the information already provided in your tax return (and which is then checked against that information upon receipt) is ridiculous and just wastes government resources. Similarly not informing folks (youth, seniors, physically and mentally challenged individuals etc etc) of support services, both financial and physical, to which they may be entitled may reduce the use of same but is wrong on so many levels. There is no doubt that there is room for improvement on this file.


A couple more promises include:-

Create a common, quarterly, and more detailed parliamentary expense report, make the Board of Internal Economy open by default.
A more open government is always a good thing in my view we just hope that such practices become the norm within Canada. Let us have both MP and Senators individual and office expenditures reported (and publicly available) on a timely basis, That is not annually some months after the year end but quarterly within 30 to 60 days.


Combat international tax evasion; and ending the CRA political harassment of charities, as well as clarifying rules to affirm the important role that charities play in developing and advocating for public policy in Canada.
Genuine charities that do “good work” or otherwise enhance society should continue to be free to publish their points of view without being hassled by the CRA, however there are those that are in fact political in their entire reason for existence who were not audited during Harpers attack on charities. Lets set reasonable rules across the board and ensure that the CRA follows them without bias.


Make Statistics Canada fully independent with a mandate to collect data needed by the private sector, other orders of government etc, etc. Strengthened Statistics Canada to make available more detailed labour market information, child development data,
and statistics on natural capital.
Having already restored the long form census I suspect that this will be instituted in short order. Labour market details are essential for establishing who and where need attention in regards to employment, more detailed LOCAL reports are desperately needed to cover specific areas and needs.


Finally they say they will:-
Create a Prime Minister’s Youth Advisory Council, of young Canadians and Mobilize the experience and knowledge of Canadians using evolving technologies.....
I am not quite sure how this is going to work, does this mean that they are going to take notice of chatter on 'social media', I sure as hell hope that the 'input' will be more substantive than that, its a good thing to listen to Canadians but how to separate the partisan rhetoric from the substantive suggestions will be almost impossible!


Next week Electoral Reform, advertising and debates.
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The House That Harper Built: Built to Last

A guest post by Pamela Mac Neil
The CONs aren't going anywhere. The absolute key to their staying power and their focus on winning again in 4 more years is their base. Anyone who thinks we've gotten Harper out, so we can sit back and relax is kidding themselves. The CON base does not consist of a group of people who are just political conservatives. It is a tightly knit, dogmatic, religious, entity who'se beliefs are for the most part outside of the Canadian mainsteam. Harper has successfully used faith as an opportunity politically to build a base that he saw working in the US. Canada's evangelicals are highly organized, well funded and much more likely to vote then other Canadians. In a speech to the Conservative think fest, Civitas, he outlined plans for a broad new party coalition that would ensure a lasting hold on power. He said that this can be done by bringing social conservatives of all faiths into the conservative party. What Harper called Theo-Cons. Mainly people of Christian faiths answered the call and of those Christians it was the Evangelical fundamental Christians who were in the majority. The same people who shared Harpers faith. They eventually became the majority of his base. Harpers own toned down Christian fundamentalism, is not some irrelevant belief system, but remains in present day, part of his political legacy. Harper has reshaped the Canadian Government, by the supporting of a covert Evangelical mission. Most importantly they were Harpers vehicle to implementing his Neoliberal agenda. With Harper as Prime Minister, the far right of Canadian conservatism achieved with the seizure of political power, the opportunity to now implement a Neoliberal policy agenda by first dismantling the modern welfare state. Harper and his CONs had developed one of the most extensive and manipulative political machines in Canadian history. They used micro-targeting of ethnic communities and other demographics, they did voter identification including to the poll level and they out fundraised the other parties by a 3.1 margin. Harper had a solid hold on his base and knew how to maintain it.


More then anything Harpers obvious end-game was not to just dismantle Canada's modern welfare state, but also its social democratic and liberal including small "l" liberal legacy and to make that Neoliberal transformation permanent. Harpers fascist, overt merging of corporatism and state power to the exclusion and ignorance of the Canadian majority is one of the wonders of his 9 yrs. in power and achieved mainly because of the complete silence of the MSM. Now that Harper has left, what are the Cons who survived the election and are now the official opposition going to do. Their number one focus will be pleasing their base. It is their base that has the power and it is their base that is in charge. Having had political power, their base will want to taste it again. The Cons know this. They have already started placating them. When Kenney said "We got the big things right, we just have to change the tone" the Canadian majority rolled their eyes and thought what a ridiculous thing to say. We voted them out because they didn't get the big things right! Who Kenney was really talking to though, when he said "We got the big things right" was to his base. He was assuring them. Even if he sounded ridiculous to the Canadian majority, it is only what his base thinks that matters. When the liberals found a deficit instead of the , surplus conservatives promised, Joe Olivers over the top "I'm shocked,shocked" response was for his base. The Canadian public would just put the remark down to a not very bright ex Minister of Finance in deep denial, but like Kenney he was assuring his base. He was saying, I am shocked that these liberals would go so far as to distort the truth by saying we had a deficit instead of the surplus we promised. The Cons cannot afford to have their base know that they were lied to by both Harper and Oliver about having a surplus. If their base were to start to disbelieve what their being told by the leaders of their party, then those same leaders would lose their bases trust, then it would be over, the CON party would be no more.

All political parties have a base. They come from , across Canada, young and old, from all walks of life, all ages, all beliefs, nationalities, and races. The political party base that Harper has built though is more like an antidemocratic cult following. Most of them share the same religious beliefs and most are capitalists politically in one form or another. Their values are from the religious right, such as family values, Law and Order and total support of Israel. They are against homosexuality, same sex marriage, abortion and environmentalism. It was predictable to Harper how his base would think on almost every issue, like a preacher, preaching to his flock, he knew just what to say, he knew how to placate them. Harpers beliefs were their beliefs, so he had no problem with them approving his policies. Harper did not seek out mainstream Canadians to join his conservative party and he excluded them from his governence. They were the real enemy! They were the ones who could stop his climb to power. They must be ignored, excluded, controlled and manipulated. Operating in secrecy was the best way to hold them in check and the MSM complete silence, assisted him in doing this. His bases votes were the votes that gave him the power he so desperately craved and these were the votes he could count on. He had created a living , breathing, predictable human voting machine, that he controlled and used to stay in power, like a laird managing his estate. In 2015 he campaigned only for his base. While they basked in being Harpers chosen people, mainstream Canada had had enough. They voted Harper out and gave Justin Trudeau, the son of the father Pierre Trudeau, the man who Harper had an ongoing irrational pathological hatred for, a majority of seats on which to form a government . My guess is that Harper did not see it coming! Operating in his self-made cacoon along with his base for 9yrs, he had always felt sure of them keeping him into power. He was not worried about mainstream Canadians, because in his mind they had been relegated to non-status, citizens who didn't care about voting. He is still a conservative MP, but that means nothing to him. Like an injured dog he has slunk off to hide and lick his wounds. The Conservatives are now the official opposition. Their base gave them 99 seats.

It is important to note that while the Canadian majority, despised Harper and much of his CON party, on a level playing field the electorate would have demolished the CON party, much like they did to Mulroney in 1993. The power of the CON base prevented that from happening. 99 seats is alot to give to a political party that was completely inept, including completely corrupt, the extent of which we are yet to find out. We will be able to count on the CONs spinning their B.S. to the Canadian public and the MSM still giving them a pass on everything, but what we must be is ever vigilant in making sure they never lead our government again. It's not anywhere near impossible for them to win another election. All that would be needed would be another low vote count from mainstream Canadians. It's that simple. In the mean time the Cons will be continually placating their base and pretending to care about the rest of Canada and pretending to be tough on the Liberals. What they are focused on though, right out of the starting gate, as the official opposition, is winning the next election and they know it is their base that is the key to their winning. Harper has gone, but the source of his power, his base, like cancer cells still intact after chemotherapy, still remain.


Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Promises - Parliamentary Accountability

As promised in my post A cabinet that looks like Canada, this week I am going to take a closer look at the Liberal Government's quite modest promises as regards to parliamentary reform as listed in their platform document. Taking them one at a time they are (in shortened form):-


Strengthen the role of parliamentary committee chairs, including elections by secret ballot. Ensure a more robust system of oversight and review for legislation.”

This one bothers me a little given that committee chairs already have considerable power over the way such meetings are conducted and can, as we have seen in recent years, use procedural actions to disrupt open discussion should they wish to. They need to be more open and accountable with rules established to ensure such partisan or personal biases cannot substantially effect discussions not more power over the process. I am not at all sure what “ a more robust system of oversight and review for legislation” means, reviewing proposed legislation is after all THE function of committees. Government House Leader Dominic Leblanc says House committees should be independent from government with non-partisan chairs and possibly no parliamentary secretary members. As with all things the devil is in the details, this one is a wait and see item.


Liberal Caucus members will only be required to vote with the Cabinet on those matters that implement the Liberal electoral platform or traditional confidence matters.....”

Whilst more 'free' votes are highly desirable I am not sure that this actually promises that, in the short term at least most, if not all legislation could be said to “implement the Liberal electoral platform”. No MP should be “required to vote” in any particular manner, naturally those who disagree with their own party’s legislation and vote against it may face some kind of 'disciplinary' action from the party but telling an MP how to vote is wrong and antidemocratic. The ONLY vote that could result in a minority government falling should be one that specifically says “This house has no confidence in thus 'whipping' the vote would be unnecessary.....”


Create a new, nonpartisan, merit-based, broad, and diverse process to advise the Prime Minister on Senate appointments.”

We do not know at this point what this “process” will be however given the restrictions placed upon the PM by the constitution, and if he truly wants to make the Senate the non partisan chamber of 'sober second thought' then taking advice, or even better, candidate recommendations from outside government is the only alternative. I have said before that given that Senators are meant to be representative of the province in which they reside that it seems appropriate that said provinces should be able to propose at least some of those candidates. Once again this is a wait and see what the 'process' involves but is far better than proposing reforms that involve opening up the constitution in a long and potentially divisive process..


Work with all parties in the House of Commons to ensure an inclusive, representative, transparent, and accountable process to advise on appointments to the Supreme Court.”

It is my understanding that such a process was already in place, it is just that the previous PM chose to ignore such processes.


Introduce a Prime Minister’s Question Period, empower the Speaker to challenge and sanction Members during Question Period.

The PM is supposed to be one amongst equals, is having a special question period just for him reinforcing the perception that he and he alone is responsible for policy? I agree that the speaker should have more power to enforce members to behave and to answer actual questions put, not go off on some unrelated time passing distraction. Good luck with that.

Change parliamentary financial processes, ensuring accounting consistency among the Estimates and the Public Accounts, providing costing analysis for each
government bill and restoring the requirement that the government’s borrowing plans
receive Parliament’s pre-approval.

Duh!


Ensure that all of the Officers of Parliament – the Chief Electoral Officer, the Access to Information Commissioner, the Auditor General, the Parliamentary Budget Officer etc, etc, are all properly funded and respected for doing their important work to help Canadians.

We have seen during the last governments tenure that when you cant get rid of an officer whos reports you don’t like the next best thing is to cut their funding. We hope that they all do get sufficient funding restored to do their job effectively but must ask if there is a way to ensure that future governments cannot silence these officers by such methods.


Not use prorogation to avoid difficult political circumstances, change the House of Commons Standing Orders to end the practice of using omnibus bills to reduce scrutiny
prevent future governments from using this method to silence critical reports.'

Both of these promises are a very good start and we hope that they can indeed “prevent future governments (and their own) from using omnibus bills“ although how you 'lock in' such rules to prevent future governments from changing them back and what penalties can be put in place to prevent the rules being ignored is questionable. All the rules around prorogation, forming coalitions upon the defeat of a minority government, and similar constitutional matters need to be clarified, particularly if electoral reform takes place that results in a greater probability of more minority’s being elected.

The above is almost identical to the 'list' proposed by Ms May of the Greens as presented in the post Fixing What Harper Broke where she says “Ideally, a parliamentary committee will be mandated to review the abuses of the last ten years and recommend a full suite of measures to ensure it never happens again. “ There is the rub, any incoming government can seemingly come in and change the rules (or ignore them) as most are not enshrined in law, but for a few citizens invoking constitutional challenges it could have been much worse.
As we have seen in recent years the rules around prorogation, minority and coalition governments and even House proceedings are easily abused, and how and when such constitutional maneuverings can take place is far from clear and governed more by 'tradition' than any hard and fast rules or guidelines. Such things need to be formally documented to avoid future 'constitutional crises'. With the House setting its own rules this is not an easy task, we wish the new Liberal government well with these changes and await the recall of the House to see exactly how much the 'tone' and substance of the proceeding will change under what we hope and expect to be a more open and respectful leadership.




Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday, November 15, 2015

As Predicted......

To judge by a report released Tuesday by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the outgoing Harper government was unduly optimistic in its forecasts and estimates. (thats putting it 'nicely'!)
......that suggests that the Conservatives' heralded return to a budgetary surplus was in fact a mirage that could not have been achieved without the one-time sale of government-held shares in General Motors early in the first quarter.
For each of the next five years, the PBO projects fiscal deficits averaging $4.3 billion a year.
However, those deficits don't include the Trudeau government's spending plans. They are the deficits that would have occurred under the budgeting of former prime minister Stephen Harper, if his government had remained in office.
CBC Nov 11 2015


When the Liberals take power in the Fall I predict that they will find it is all smoke and mirrors, any 'surplus' will have been spent on shiny goodies and there will be a substantial deficit on the books.
'Rural' Nov 23 2014


With the above in mind lets take a closer look at what the Liberal Government intends to do about such 'slight of hand' when it comes to public accounting.


They have promised to make the Parliamentary Budget Officer truly independent, properly funded, and answerable only, and directly, to Parliament. Under the previous government he was an officer of the Library of Parliament and reported to the Speakers of both chambers. This would seem to indicate that he now would be a fully independent Officer of Parliament, we would hope that he would also be provided with the authority to make all departments provide him with the information necessary to make accurate and timely reports upon the current fiscal situation and proposed program spending. The Parliament of Canada Act states that, "the Parliamentary Budget Officer is entitled, by request made to the deputy head of a department... to free and timely access to any financial or economic data in the possession of the department that are required for the performance of his or her mandate." , however this did not stop various departments from withholding such information under the previous government. His reports can only be as good as the information that he receives, and as the previous PBO did (much to the vexation of those in power) his reports should be made publicly available by default.


There is also a promise to change parliamentary financial processes to ensure accounting consistency among the Estimates and the Public Accounts. My only comment upon that is why the hell would different departments use different accounting methods in the first place? Moving on, they say that they will provide costing analysis for each government bill and restore the requirement that the government’s borrowing plans receive Parliament’s pre-approval. I would bloody well hope so, asking MPs to vote upon proposed legislation without knowing the full impact of said bill upon the country’s finances is literally like “buying a pig in a poke”.


All these proposals are definitely a step in the right direction and we hope will be quickly instituted and we hope legislated into law to make it harder for this, or any future government to circumnavigate said rules. The question remains, as with all parliamentary 'rules' is what penalties will be introduced for those who refuse to follow said rules. As we have seen in the past there are no substantial consequences within parliament for such malfeasance other than at the ballot box every few years (if and when the public realize what is going on).




Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Lost my Poppy

Remembrance Day.....

Lost my new poppy..was pinned on fast

Seems them soldiers have the last laugh
Reminding us,  they are still proud
Looking for "My Poppy"...their jokes allowed.

I pinned it firm over my heart
Taped it, bent it, not we to part
Low and behold...Poppies Gone...
Good name, for a Remembrance Song...!!

I feel bad if my Poppy not seen
This special memory, lost boyhood dreams
Gave their lives for us we know
But Poppies are sold...wherever we go.

So I purchase another..smile goes with
No my friend not really a twit
I accept the game,  old soldiers play
Re-pin "this one" proudly..."it's Remembrance Day."

Footnote:
I am sure poppies don't just fall from clothing, I feel they are letting us know
the gesture sure is appreciated by they that gave it their all on the fields of freedom battles.
So if you lose your Poppy...a soldier is saying "Thanks" for remembering them.
Purchase another....their price paid was greater than a few coins dropped in a box.
Wallyguy....Wiarton.



Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday, November 8, 2015

A cabinet that looks like Canada, why .... “Because its 2015”


Given the large number of Liberal MPs elected that was one of the easier promises to keep but never the less a damn fine start. Now comes the more difficult stuff so let briefly review the platform promises in regard to our democratic institutions and how “Fair and Open” this government intends to be. We all know we have heard similar phrases before and the outcome was nothing like the promise! With this in mind over the next few weeks I will take a closer look at some of the promises and some of the difficulties that may arise in keeping them, but in the meanwhile here is a quickie primer on those promises.


Restoring a sense of trust in our democracy and greater openness and transparency.
Amending the Access to Information Act so that all government data and information is made open by default in machine-readable, digital formats.
Accelerating and expanding open data initiatives and continually look for additional opportunities to do so.
Creating a central, no-fee portal for personal information requests.
Create a common, quarterly, and more detailed parliamentary expense report, make the Board of Internal Economy open by default.


Restoring democracy and accountability to Parliament.
Strengthen the role of parliamentary committee chairs, including elections by secret ballot. Ensure a more robust system of oversight and review for legislation.
Liberal Caucus members will only be required to vote with the Cabinet on those matters that implement the Liberal electoral platform or traditional confidence matters such as the Speech from the Throne and significant budgetary measures.
Create a new, nonpartisan, merit-based, broad, and diverse process to advise the Prime Minister on Senate appointments.
Work with all parties in the House of Commons to ensure an inclusive, representative, transparent, and accountable process to advise on appointments to the Supreme Court.
Introduce a Prime Minister’s Question Period, empower the Speaker to challenge and sanction Members during Question Period.
Change parliamentary financial processes, ensuring accounting consistency among
the Estimates and the Public Accounts, providing costing analysis for each
government bill and restoring the requirement that the government’s borrowing plans
receive Parliament’s pre-approval.
Ensure that all of the Officers of Parliament – the Chief Electoral Officer, the Access to Information Commissioner, the Auditor General, the Parliamentary Budget Officer etc, etc, are all properly funded and respected for doing their important work to help Canadians.
Not use prorogation to avoid difficult political circumstances, change the House of Commons Standing Orders to end the practice of using omnibus bills to reduce scrutiny of legislative measures.


Electoral Reform, advertising and debates.
Form an all-party parliamentary committee to bring recommendations to Parliament on the way forward, to allow for action before the succeeding federal election. Ensure that electoral reform measures – such as ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting – are fully and fairly studied and considered. Within 18 months bring forward legislation to enact electoral reform
Repeal the anti-democratic elements in the Fair Elections Act and scrap the Citizen Voting Act, restore the voter identification card as an acceptable form of identification.
Provide Elections Canada with the resources it needs to investigate matters that threaten the integrity of our electoral process. Ensure that the Chief Electoral Officer and Elections Canada have the tools and mandate to encourage more Canadians to vote. Restore the independence of the Commissioner of Canada Elections so that they are freely able to prosecute electoral violations.
Appoint an Advertising Commissioner to assist the Auditor General in providing oversight on government advertising. Proposed messages will be reviewed by the Advertising Commissioner to ensure they are non-partisan and related to actual government requirements.
Review electoral spending limits, and also ensure that political party spending between elections is subject to limits.
Create a more inclusive, independent commission that will organize leaders’ debates during election campaigns, with a mandate to increase Canadians engagement and knowledge of the issues.
Work with provinces and territories, and support Elections Canada, to register young Canadians as a part of their high school curriculum. Support voter registration as part of a civic ceremony in high schools, support Elections Canada in proactively registering Canadians from groups that historically have lower voter turnout.


Evidence-based decision-making.
Allow government scientists to speak freely about their work, with only limited and publicly stated exceptions. Consolidate government science so that it is easily available to the public at-large through a central portal. Gag was removed Friday
Make Statistics Canada fully independent with a mandate to collect data needed by the private sector, other orders of government etc, etc. Strengthened Statistics Canada to make available more detailed labour market information, child development data,
and statistics on natural capital.
Immediately restore the mandatory long-form census. This was done within 24 hours of being sworn in, details to follow!


Better Service for Canadians.
Introduce a significant overhaul of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) operating practices to proactively contact Canadians when they are entitled to, but are not, receiving tax benefits; offering to create returns for clients, particularly lower income Canadians.
Combat international tax evasion; and ending the CRA political harassment of charities, as well as clarifying rules to affirm the important role that charities play in developing and advocating for public policy in Canada.
Create a Prime Minister’s Youth Advisory Council, consisting of young Canadians aged 16-24, to provide non-partisan advice to the Prime Minister on issues the country
is facing
Create a single window for all government services, and work with the provinces and territories on ways to combine online access efforts. Create individualized, secure accounts for Canadians who want to access all of their government benefits and other services.
Mobilize the experience and knowledge of Canadians using evolving technologies and incorporate their input into our decisions.


Security and oversight.
Create an all-party national security oversight committee to monitor and oversee the operations of every government department and agency with national security responsibilities.

The above is a very shortened summary of the Liberal document “A Fair and Open Government” which see for more details. 
  Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Election Revisited

The election has now taken place and for many of us the results may override any concerns that we had with the process however make no mistake this election process was far from flawless. If we are to believe the folks who reported problems at Pollwatch there were polls that failed to open on time or ran out of ballots, poll staff who did not understand or follow the rules regarding identification, numerous errors on voter identification cards regarding poll locations (only some of which EC caught before the election), failure to update voter lists for those who took the time to pre-regester etc etc.


All these things are unacceptable and appear to be centred upon two things, errors and missing information in ECs database, and inadequate training (or understanding of it) and unreliability of temporary poll staff. I presume that EC will be investigating these failures and seeking solutions but don’t KNOW that they will be doing so as I have seen no post election acknowledgement of these issues. I will therefor try and speak to some of these things, point out why I think some of the issues arised and suggest some possible solutions. I will be considering forwarding some of these observations and ideas to Elections Canada via their feedback contact page at https://secure.elections.ca/FeedbackQuestion.aspx?lang=e. If you had problems voting or were unable to vote for one reason or another I would suggest you document the exact details of you experience and submit it directly to EC via this means. The twitter pollwatch feed certainly indicates some of the problems but to fix them EC will require more detailed information and by submitting it directly it is more likely to be looked into.


A number of voters who had moved or found out they were not registered and called in or registered on line found out that that were still not on the list on voting day. This is obviously a problem with the database entry regime, there is some evidence that if your name and birthdate exists elsewhere in the database one or the other will be considered a duplicate and be deleted, a small error in data entry when transcribing from a written address change form or list (which all have inadequate space for fire#s and longer addresses), perhaps aggravated by poor writing, will result in your not showing up where you should on the list. Some poll staff are known to have not entered the FULL address on address change lists on polling day so next time........!

A better way of correcting addresses at EC offices, advanced and regular polls would IMHO be to have voters fill in (print please) a card with said information prior to approaching the poll clerks, the clerk could then check said address against their ID and drop card into an “address change” box to be sent on the EC for database updates. Saves time and reduces the chance of errors.


Part of the problem with folks not being registered or going to the wrong poll station must be blamed upon the search function on the EC website as regards finding IF you are registered and finding what poll station to vote at. Given that poll areas cross the boundary lines of postal code areas and to identify voters exact data is needed we understand that accurate address information is needed but trying to get the web site to accept such is damn near impossible, particularly for rural areas where 'streets' are not named.
When searching for where to vote after entering your postal code you are presented with this......




I live at '123456' 'Side Road 9', Township of 'abcd'
I entered this information 6 or 8 different ways in the above form and never did get told where to vote, not only did it reject my entry’s but then deleted my previous attempt and failed to tell me what bit it did not like. I later found out that apparently I live on '9' 'siderd' and my neighbours who live on 'concession 6' live on '6' 'concession' , I note that the address on voter info cards is likewise printed arse backwards. Very confusing for rural residents who's official (per municipal paperwork, drivers licence etc) is the former not the latter. What “Number suffix” means I have no clue!
A simple fix for this would be to be more precise as to what the data entry field requires i.e 'House number or Firecode', 'Street name or Road Number' etc. Also I note that when searching to find if you are registered you will be presented with a pull down list of possible streets / roads in your area whilst when searching for poll location you are not. Why not? Some folks postal address is different from their municipal address, even going to a box number in different municipality and even different postal code area this does not seem to be accounted for in distributing voter information cards or database information.


Now we turn to staff errors and polls failing to open, these are obviously mostly a failure of temporary staff failing to understand or absorb the 4 hours of training that they were suppose to receive and failing to review the quite precise and detailed training manual they received. Given that most of these folks are hired for one 14 to 16 hour day (plus 4 hours training) on a one time basis it is hardly surprising that such issues arise and it is difficult to ensure that reliable individuals are hired, particularly in that even the trainers and EC district are mostly temporary staff hire for a few days or weeks. Perhaps poll staff should go through a 'mock' voting routine during training rather than just watch a film and briefly review the book? Some folks had to fight to vote even with proper ID and were asked for secondary ID even after presenting their drivers licence, we have no count of those who were denied the right to vote as such things are not counted, when turned away for whatever reason it should be documented by staff and the voter encouraged to fill in a 'complaints form'. How else can EC know there is a problem?


In a letter to the Editor thanking the more than 200,000 election workers Marc Mayrand, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada said “There will be time in the coming weeks and months to review our electoral procedures and consider ways they could be modernized for future elections. For now, our dedicated election workers should take great pride in their accomplishments and important contributions to our society.” We should indeed thank these folks for they worked a long day with no breaks and without them the election could not take place.


Here's a though, why not combine the federal and provincial systems and full time staff so that all elections in Canada are run by the same entity, using the same system, the same databases and wherever possible the same individuals who previously worked the polls. Why not encourage and enable both poll staff and exiting voters to document any problems they encountered by placing forms (indicating poll # so they are traceable) and THE 'complaints box' (yes there is one) in an obvious and clearly marked location at the exit door and actually asking staff to use them. Why not devise a system that allows voter to vote at ANY poll withing their district (as they do at district offices by special poll), they are after all all voting for the same group of candidates. This may involve the use of interconnected computers , =gasp= , not necessarily to vote but to track who has voted.


There seem to be two main needs, to see if the individual is entitled to vote - 18 and Canadian citizen (is this ever checked, how about every body get a permanent citizenship/ photo id / voter card?) and have they voted before. Perhaps we need to get them to dip their thumb in indelible ink, it would work better than the current system!
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Democracy's Future

After 5 years of writing about democracy's decline and the impact of one particular individual had in that regard I am now faced with the question of 'what do I write about now'. The choice is not hard for there is much to be done not only to return from where we came, but to move forward with improving our democratic systems and establish into law such systems so that they cannot again be twisted and ignored by future leaders and their followers.


A good place to start seems to be the Liberal platform on Democratic Reform which seems to say all the right things but as always it will be the details and implementation that will be the stumbling blocks. With it improbable that any legislation in this regard will be introduced anytime soon this leaves me lots of time to go over their 32 point plan some of which they can implement right away like unmuzzling our bureaucrats, scientists and federal departments so that we see the true details of the task ahead of us.


Before I get into that I am going to take a look at some of the problems that arose around the country at the polls both from the point of view of the elector and from that of an election worker. It was good to see a central place to report problems at #pollwatch and I shall use some of the things posted there as a basis for some suggestions of both what went wrong and how to correct them. Given the millions of voters and the thousands of folks on twitter (I am not one of them) the volume of complaints was not that large, however if even one voters was turned away (and many more than that were) then it is something that must be fixed. I do hope that EC will be looking into such matters but have yet to see any commitment to do so.


This then is the task I have set myself in the coming weeks and months, one part of which will be reexamining, once again, the various voting methods that may be part of the promised study of electoral reform that is a big part of that 32 point plan, and the implementation of which is high on the agenda of a large majority of out population.


So from a pessimistic view of our democracy’s future I now must change my mindset to an optimistic outlook, this view will not be shared by all readers particularly highly partisan individuals who's political aspirations took a hit last week. I urge all Canadians to look upon this an opportunity to put partisan rhetoric aside and do everything we can to enhance and secure our democratic systems for future generations. A recent very good sign is the invitation by Justin for all the premiers and opposition leaders to join him at December's climate change summit in Paris both from an environmental point of view and a governmental cooperation perspective.


Democracy can be messy but democracy doesn’t exist to make leaders look good. It exists to do good for the people.” - Justin Trudeau 

 
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Friday, October 23, 2015

A Political Party Sans Politics

A guest post by Pamela Mac Neil
Conservatives are looking for a new leader and in doing that, the conservatives may have to make an important decision. Harper and his CONs have, particularly in the last 4 yrs governed for only for 1/3rd of Canadians. They've governed only for their base. Much of the policies created by Harper not only appeased his base, but also satisfied his neoliberal agenda. Harpers continued exclusion of the Canadian majority throughout the last 4 yrs, was because he knew Canadians would not agree with his neoliberal/fascist/evangelical policies. Every avenue, to hide what he was doing from the Canadian public, that Harper could take, he took. From omnibus bills, to signing trade deals and announcing policy changes outside the country, to just plain doing things in secrecy. This exclusion of the Canadian public even carried over to the election by instituting an invitation only attendance at Harpers campaign stops. What is truly amazing is that the MSM has never exposed that Harper was governing only for his base and how he was doing that. So what will the new leader do? Will he/she focus primarily on their base, or will they include the rest of Canada in their future plans? Will they reach out to all Canadians? The MSM and people within the conservative party are talking about what has to be changed. Many are saying it's the tone that has to change. That's like saying that a rabid dogs problem is not that he has rabies, but that he barks to loud. Harper after being PM is staying on as an MP. Anyone think that he is doing this because he cares about the people in his riding? Harper wants to be able to influence who the new leader will be, the more malleable the better. He thinks if the conservatives get to govern again, the chosen leader will continue on with his neoliberal agenda. It is important to understand though that Harper and many people in the conservative party are living in their own self made bubble. While they were in power, they remained in that self made bubble, that is how they governed and that is why, essentially, they lost the election. Living in a bubble does not stop them from making plans for the future. They know they need the people outside of their bubble, but they have to figure out the best way to communicate with them without offending their base.


Whoever the new leader is, I think he/she will continue with the same strategy of pandering to the conservative base, because, apart from wanting to give this base a political platform, their base are also the ones with the money . If they wanted to change from having a conservative base to having an actual Conservative Political Party they would have to allow in red and progressive tories. They would have to stop being primarily a right wing, christian fundamentalist party. This is who they are. They are not really a political party. They are a group of people who have no political philosophy, but are connected together by a shared belief in christian fundamentalism and neoliberalism. Low taxes, austerity, small government and being born again does not a political party make.We must never forget that this group of people, call them what you want, a cabal, a cult, a sect, were our government for 9 years and we must never forget that the man at the helm of that government, Harper, wanted to make Canada into a fascist police state, then feed us to the Global Neoliberal Sharks. It will be a long time before the christian fundamentalist, neoliberal conservatives, if ever, get back into power. In the meantime they will find a new leader and will continue to operate in their self made bubble, becoming over time, a mere appendage of the Canadian political landscape. And Harper? He will become the forgotten man of Canadian politics.


Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Last Chance .........

Tomorrow will be the last chance to have your say as to who you want to represent you in parliament and, although we currently vote for individuals, this election has been all about which party is best positioned to replace the Harper Regime, With a minority government very much a probability we can only hope that whichever party get the most seats will work with ALL MPs to undo some of the antidemocratic practices that the Conservative have made common practice, and that opposition MPs from other partys put aside partisan games to ensure that this happens. That the remaining conservatives in both the House and the Senate will mostly be obstructionists in this regard is a given so its even more important that the remaining MPs work together for the good of Canada.


Even this faint hope will disappear if Harper get back in, and if the Libs and the NDP are to be believed will result in a 'hung parliament' that does NOT have the confidence of the majority and given Harpers past performance would result in a 'constitutional crisis'!
So if you have not voted already, which almost 4 million citizens have done, then please ensure that you do get out and vote and please vote for change......
And do not forger that the millions being spend on those almost continuous adverts, telling us that if you vote for anyone but Harper yes men the world will end, will be reimbursed at around 60% from the taxpayers pocket, the upper limit of which has basically doubled due to the long election and Con legislation! So much for lower taxes eh.
If you are reading this you have no doubt already decided that Harper and his 'election team' are a bunch of lieing, scheming, anti democratic, would be dictators with no morals and who will do and say ANYTHING to retain power, so I am preaching to the converted but I will leave you with these thoughts from Kibycairo who sums up my thoughts with remarkable accuracy.....


“Some on the left might argue that the Liberal Party is just a 'kinder gentler' group that is going to screw the weak and the vulnerable. And there is a sense in which that is true. But here's the thing - when you eliminate the rule of law (as Harper is doing), when you eliminate the ability for people to protect themselves against the arbitrary power of government (as Harper is doing), when you make the House of Commons entirely unaccountable (as Harper has done), when you gut Elections Canada and make Election Fraud de facto legal (which Harper is doing), when you destroy the freedom of information system (as Harper has done), when muzzle scientists and eliminate fact-based policy efforts, when you do all these things then it really doesn't matter what you believe because you really can't change anything. And this is the trap that Harper represents..............


The Liberals may not become the progressive government many of us were hoping for, but HarperCons are a threat to the very system itself, to a system in which we can meaningfully fight for justice and equality. Harper represents a dark, American-like (Pottersville) sort of future where the justice system is a pawn of the government, where the police and the Army are an extension of a political party, where racism is institutionalized, where guns are everywhere, where the Charter of Rights is distant memory, and eduction and healthcare is reserved for the rich. Justin Trudeau may not be a progressive wonder-boy, but I will take a man and a party that represents the possibility of change than one who represents a dark, goose-stepping future any day of the week.
Amen to that!




Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Friday, October 16, 2015

October 20th, 2015: Harper Leaves

 
A guest post by Pamela Mac Neil
A conversation between stephen Harper and Jason Kenney is overheard the day after they lose the election.


Kenney-"Well we lost the election, Steve.


Harper- "No shit Sherlock"


Kenney- "Look we can, regroup and come back in the next election, stronger then ever."


Harper- "I was so close. I was ready to act on all of the groundwork I had laid, but the left wing media and those toronto intellectual elites couldn't handle having a down to earth guy like me as PM."


Kenney-" I know, I know"


Harper- " Trudeau, they voted in Trudeau!!"


Kenney- "I know, I know"


Harper- "And that damn Muslim Nenshi, could't keep his mouth shut, that cost us votes in Calgary"


Kenney- "I know, I know"


Harper- "Will you stop bloody well saying that, it's getting on my nerves, besides, you'll be fine. You're running for the leadership right? Got your future all neatly mapped out. Doesn't matter what happens to me"


Kenney- "I'll be carrying on your legacy"


Harper-" Look Jason, it's my legacy! The only one who could have continued it was me. Got that?"


Kenney- "But it's a legacy we all agreed to"


Harper- "Only with me as the Leader. I didn't do all of those changes to the bloody liberal, Pierre Trudeau Brand, so someone else can take credit for it"


Harper- Repeats- "Oh God! They voted in Trudeau, Trudeau!"


Kenney - "Maybe they liked his charisma"


Harper- "Are you saying they didn't like my substantial presence?"


Kenney- "No, it's just"


Harper- "It's just what?"


Kenney- "Well, the average Canadian is not equipped to see the difference"


Harper- "You got that right"


Harper- "The average Canadian knows squat. Why do ya think I kept my distance from them, didn't want to even talk to them. Always wanting me to explain what I'm doing, like 6 year olds wanting teacher to tell them what the world is all about. My base? Well they understood, they trusted me. They accepted everything I told them."


Kenney- "You'll probably get alot of offers in the next few weeks My mom says your phone will be ringing off the hook."


Harper- "None of them will come close to being PM. I mean look at the perks. Look at my entourage. People at my beck and call for anything I needed. Being the only one in charge. People doing what ever I've told them to. That's strong leadership. You know what George W. said to me when we were reading the bible together. He said Steve, never forget because you are one of God's chosen leaders, you take what ever you need to get God's work done and don't forget them infidels. We owe it to our people to rid the world of them. No one understands that better then you as PM of Canada and me as President of these here United States"


Kenney- "Did Bibi call?"


Harper- "No, he's in Moscow right now talking to Putin, probably making sure if Russia ends up being in charge and not the US. they'll be willing to negotiate with Israel. He also asked me not to criticize Russia about helping Assad at least until he says it's okay. Doesn't matter now."


Harper- "Lynton flew home to Australia last night. After the election results were in, he couldn't get out of here fast enough. Cameron hasn't called either, he was the one who recommended Lynton to me."


Kenney-"I thought for sure the wearing of the Niqab issue would help you win another majority. Mom described you as a valiant crusader for Canadian values."


Harper- "So did I. Probably those bloody Muslims worked behind the scenes and got the courts to support them and that bloody Muslim Siddiqui wrote an article calling me a racist and a despot and the the next day wrote another article, telling people to vote for Trudeau. I thought Siddiqui retired. There should be a law, that after journalists retire there no longer allowed to write any more columns. If I would have won I would have made a law doing just that."


Kenney-" Yeah you could have included it in one of your omnibus bills."


Harper- Puts face in his open hands "Oh God Jason I was so close. With the RCMP and bill C-51 I could have controlled the whole country. No one would have dared protest. I would have been free to complete my Neoliberal agenda and would have solidified and expanded my power. I could have been Prime Minister for life! Did ya hear that, for life!!"


Kenney- "Yes, I thought we had all our bases covered."


Harper- "So did I. We knew the MSM would follow our lead and do what we wanted them to do and they did. Also, any conservative running was told to stay away from local debates and the media, and they did. Vetting and giving invitations to those who wanted to attend my campaign stops was a brilliant idea, because only those who supported me got an invitation, that way I could control the message. Some Canadians not of our base complained, but I figure their just so insecure they have to be included in everything I do."


Kenney- "And don't forget the ads, telling Canadians what they should think about Trudeau. They worked brilliantly in the 2 previous elections."


Harper-"The one that should have definitely worked, but didn't, was the Fair Election Act. That was supposed to be my ticket straight to the majority everyone promised me."


Kenney- "Yeah I thought for sure it would give you your majority,I mean were talking about people here who don't even have the correct ID that the new Election Act requires and there now going to go out and get the right ID just to vote? People like indians? I don't think so! My mom says, for as long as she can remember, Indians have alway been shiftless and irresponsible."


Harper-" Yeah, well, I was talking to Bibi about a month ago and I told him , my majority was in the bag, that we had laid the groundwork in many ways to assure a majority win . I told him that once we won, I would be able to finish what I had started and Canada would be the Country I had dreamed of and the Country him and I had talked about over many hours when I was in Israel and I thanked him for his advice. I also told him that we had put a hold on refugees, preventing many muslim refugees from coming to Canada and we had figured out a way to get rid of many muslims who were already here and I would tell him all about it when we got together after the election."


Kenney- "Yeah you would have finally been able to get rid of that Palestinian busy body Dr. Abuelaish." My mother says she would never go to a Dr. with the last name of Abuelaish, as a woman she just couldn't trust him."


Harper-"yeah, can you imagine the nerve of him asking for a meeting with Baird or myself. All because he wanted visas for 100 Palestinian kids to get medical help. The Palestinians brought this on to themselves. Bibi told me that Palestinians use their kids as shields. He says their quite primitive people, sort of like our indians. Old Stock Canadians know what I'm talking about."


Kenney- "How about Mohamed Fahmy coming back the last week of the election."


Harper- "Yeah and blabbing his big mouth off that I should have called el- Sisi directly. That nobody publicly telling me, me the Prime Minister of Canada, that I should have done his bidding. If I would have won, he would have been the first person I would have deported under bill C-24. and I would have seen him off myself waving goodbye to him at the airport."


Harper- "Do ya think we can find a way to stay?"


Kenney-" Like how?"


Harper-"I don't know. Maybe if there was a terrorist attack, not a real one, but an attack that could be called terrorist, then I would have to use the War Measures Act. to call a state of emergency and I could stay as Prime Minister. Then I could keep extending that stay. I would have to get approval from the Governor General, but he does exactly what I tell him, so no worries there. I would have the RCMP and the Military acting in support of bill C-51. By the time everyone figured what happened it would be too late and I would be in place to be PM for life."


Kenney- "hmm, I don't know Steve, even if it did work, I don't think we have the time, you know, to make the necessary arrangements, mom always says good planning is what makes a project successful."


Harper-"I don't give a damn what your mother says, It's what I say that matters.


Kenney- "Not anymore Steve


Then someone knocks on the door, opens it, pokes his head in, looks at Harper and says,"Mr. Harper, Prime Minister Trudeau is here to see you."


Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Its not about me!

The Conservative “This election isn’t about me, Stephen Harper” ad that reached airwaves during Friday’s Blue Jays game is remarkable. It is impossible to look upon it as anything other than an acknowledgment that the leader of the Conservatives has become a liability to his party.
Remember this is the man who dictated that our Canadian Government shall henceforth be known as the “Harper Government” but its not about him eh!

In the case of the Conservatives it must also be considered that the party is substantially a creation of its leader: in a real sense he is its God. The party’s post-Harper fate is unclear, but the chance of schism is obvious. And if it can hold together, the possibility of falling into a deep bog of mediocrity is equally obvious. So what does Harper represent to a Conservative partisan? He is everything. He is the horse on which the farm is already bet.
This is the man that has been airing personal attacks upon young Trudeau for many months and making this election very personal.

But there is he on TV, complaining that the other candidates want to make things personal and that they would rather talk about him than about their policies. It is an all but explicit appeal to voters who like what I sometimes think of as the Martin-Harper version of Canada, but who are tired of Harper and his callow Prime Minister’s Office myrmidons.

It is the death march of deception for Harper to try to remove himself from the political equation in this election. This is the man who insisted that the public service refer to the crowd in charge not as the “Government of Canada” but the “Harper government”. This is the guy who allowed everyone to remove their muzzles just long enough to read scripted lines that came down from the high-command in the PMO.

The Conservative Party of Canada IS Stephen Harper, he has made it such with his obsessive need to control everything personally and the building a cadre of unelected disciples in the PMO to do his bidding. This election is very much about him, and ridding the country of this would be dictator.

We want him Gone, Gone Gone so Vote That Fker Out




Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

If He Stays: Canada's Sovereign Demise


A guest post by Pamela Mac Neil


There is really only one question that Harper and his gang has in this election. How can we win? Sounds innocent enough, after all, all of the leaders and their parties want to win but it is different with Harper. He will say anything no matter how repugnant, he will do anything, no matter how ugly or corrupt, he will tell any lie, no matter how blatant, he will fake any emotion that he thinks will make him seem genuine, he will trash anyone who he thinks gets in his way and he will promote any issue no matter how vile, that he thinks his base will vote for. Nothing is off the table for him to use. Not racism, not bullying, not lying, not pandering (only to his base), while telling 2/3rds of Canadians to get stuffed. We can all see that he is absolutely desperate and determined to hold onto power, but we need to look deeper and ask why he's prepared to use such extreme measures to win. It's not just about his lust for power and his authoritarian agenda. That is part of it and a big part, but more then anything, the thing that matters the most to him, the thing that he will do anything to achieve, the thing he has been working on for the most part in secrecy for 9yrs and especially in the last 4yrs, working, working, working on the nation he wants so fervently to see Canada become, his national dream that he is frothing at the mouth to realize, is Canada becoming a nation who is governed completely by Neoliberalism. Everything Harper has done is to that end.

A Neoliberal Nation he can point to and say proudly, I created this. The reason he is desperate to hold on to power is that he is not finished yet. He needs 4 more yrs. to complete his Neoliberal agenda. He needs 4 more years to destroy democracy and replace it with Neoliberalism. He has already taken our liberal infrastructure by the throat and throttled it, but he hasn't yet destroyed it. He needs 4 more years to do that. He has painstakingly and incrementally laid the groundwork to implement his Neoliberal infrastucture. He has implemented some Neoliberal policies where possible, like replacing the Canadian Wheat Board, signing trade deals, implementing full economic austerity, but for the most part he has been busy laying the groundwork for the real pay off , being able to implement Neoliberal policies full scale, across the Canadian government and succeeding at delivering a fully intact Neoliberal infrastructure, over the next 4 yrs. He wants to change the Canadian state into a market state that he will lead.

Does anyone think that after he does this, he will, after 2015, in the next election, be voted out, so he will eventually have to leave. The future elections will be so thoroughly rigged that he will win every time. They will be elections in name only. Like the ones Mugabe holds. Let's take a look at some of the groundwork he has layed. Harpers exclusion of 2/3rds of Canadians from attending his invitation only campaign, is not new. He has been excluding the Canadian majority since becoming PM in 2006, but certainly more so since 2011. But how the heck do you prevent the majority of Canadians from wanting to know what you are doing. You start with your Caucus and Cabinet. No one who thinks, let alone thinks for themselves is allowed in and if there happens to be some who get through, he makes short shrift of them. These ministers and backbenchers must be told exactly what to say, in the house and in public. This is important because they are the ones bringing Harpers message to the Canadian public, so they must be able to explain, through talking points, what the government is doing without giving away Harpers Neoliberal agenda. Total obedience, nothing less. Message control and vetting is another example of laying the ground work. These controls are instituted across the board for
everyone in Harpers government. Harper and the PMO, through information control, controls every facet of the government and in so doing controls the Canadian majority. If the people in our government cannot communicate with us of their own free accord, then they will stop communicating with us all together, except for Harper followers. All public pronouncements by civil servants, diplomats, the military, cabinet members and conservative MPs must be approved by the PMO or the PCO. When the Canadian governments ability to communicate is curtailed or completely shut down Canadian citizens are left in the dark about everything their government is doing. Continuous unfettered dialogue with Canadians and there government, may lead to questions about what is the thinking behind Harpers various political decisions.

When people are talking to their government, they expect answers and it is too risky for Harper to be asked anything about Neoliberalism. Better to just cut communications off completely from Canadians. After awhile they'll accept it and move on. Harper knows 70% of Canadians will not vote for him, so how does he make that not matter. He creates a law, called The Fair Election Law, which suppresses votes by making it harder to vote by changing ID requirements, by those unlikely to vote conservative such as aboriginal, students and those with disabilities. He even bans the chief electoral office from promoting voting. And expats who have been away from Canada for more then 5 yrs? Tough their not allowed to vote. This law was created long before the 2015 election. That's what's called thinking and planning ahead and laying the groundwork to get closer to achieving a 2015 election victory.

There are actually 3 major beliefs that underly Harpers Political decisions.
1. Neoliberalism
2. Fascism
3. Evangelical fundamentalist Christianity

Sometimes, his policies are defined by his Evangelical beliefs, such as his dogmatic support of Israel, his rejection and thrashing of anything Muslim and his deregulation of environmental controls. His deregulating of the environment though is really a combination of his Neoliberal beliefs and his Evangelical beliefs. By undermining and eradicating Scientific, centralized knowlege and shutting research stations and destroying the work of science libraries, he is laying the groundwork for having environmental decisions based on market signals and not on scientific knowledge and evidence. Neoliberal, free-market environmentalism and environmentalism according to Evangelical Christian Fundamentalism, make the corporate elite, God and his base very happy. Everyone knows about Harpers disdain and refusal for the most part of talking to the MSM.When he does deign to talk to to them, he dictates what the questions will be and how many. The MSM has fallen into line very nicely, succumbing to Harpers autocratic demands. When their talking to him or about him the word Neoliberalism, never passes their lips. It's like talking to or about the Pope, but never ever mentioning his Catholicism. Deregulations and defunding are Neoliberal tools. They lay the groundwork for privatization.

Just look at the social programs that have been defunded like healthcare, education, UI, OAS, Veteran Affairs to name a few and because of Harpers defunding of these social programs, if he gets 4 more yrs, he won't hesitate to privatize them and all of the other Canadian social programs. Then there are the democratic institutions like parliament that must be thwarted, undermined, ignored and abused, eventually to be done away with completely. A market state doesn't need parliamentary oversight. Neoliberalism holds that it is the free market, not democracy that leads to freedom. Neoliberalism requires a strong state that uses its power to create and enforce markets and prop them up when they fail. Harper is creating a state governed by market transactions, not democratic practices. He believes and wants a Neoliberal government. He does not believe nor does he want a democracy, a democracy with all of its liberal institutions, its social programs, Its laws and courts supported by a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, its human rights, its public education, its public health care, in short a democracy that prevents him from having a Neoliberal government, will have to go.

It is astounding how successful Harper has been at controlling, manipulating and isolating 70% of Canadians, the Canadian majority, Harpers real enemy. He is able to continue this offensive behaviour even during an election. They must not ever be witnesses to what their PM and their government is really up to. Like the wife whose husband is having an affair and she is the last to know, so Canadians will be the last to know about Harpers Neoliberal deceit. Canadians are kept in the Dark mainly because Harper governs in complete secrecy. Harper the tyrant and his autocratic behaviour lends itself well to operating in secrecy. Having a profound need to have power, coupled with his profound need to create and lead a Neoliberal government is a lethal combination. Margaret Thatchers Neoliberalism, while corrupt, was implemented by a woman who somewhat thought ,whether British citizens, liked it or not that a Neoliberal government was being created for their own good. Ronald Reagan , supported Neoliberalism policy, probably without knowing what it really meant, but because it fit with the myth he held so dearly that America was "A shining City Upon a Hill" "Gods Country." A sign of American Exceptionalism. Both brought severe and lasting damage to their countries and the world. Harper however has long believed that a Neoliberal government is the ideal and only government. He has been promoting Neoliberal ideas since University and he has, since being Prime Minister of Canada, systematically and secretly been changing the fundamental relationship of Canada's Government and Its citizens by dismantling our democratic sovereign nation and replacing it with a dictatorial Neoliberal nation. If he gets 4 more yrs. Canada will become a country where police authorities including a secret police will not have to abide by the constitution and will be at Harpers beck and call.

If he gets 4 more yrs. Harper will finish his ongoing destruction of Canada's sovereignty. He will then hand Canada's governence, on a silver platter, to the global political, corporate and economic elite. An elite he desperately wants to be part of. Canada will be a National Sovereign State no more. We have to stop just focusing on each particular undemocratic policy, law, program or strategy that harper initiates and ask ourselves what these undemocratic particulars share when their united together. What is the bigger picture. If during the next 4 yrs Canadians, do catch on, maybe not so much to his Neoliberal agenda, but more to his dictatorial behaviour, observed when they oppose and protest, then they will understand that the unconstitutional legislation such as Bill-C13, Bill C-34, Bill C-639, and Bill C-51, are necessary laws, created to monitor, arrest, jail and just plain stop Canadians when their protesting against Harpers turning Canada into a fascist police state. If Harper gets 4 more yrs., the scope of the damage he has already done to our democracy, will be further expanded to include
all of our democracy. If Harper is voted out in Oct., I wonder how many Canadians will realize how close we came to losing it all!


Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers