Since I believe in giving credit where credit is due, Harper has responded decisively to the crisis in Haiti by sending our troops and resources into the area to assist with aid and security. He was able to do this in a timely manner, the first flights arrived in Haiti on Wednesday, because of one other task he undertook after coming to office. He moved to properly equip our Canadian Armed Force so they can get the job done. There is still work to do but much has been done.
In his more pragmatic, cunning moments since last Tuesday he must be breathing some huge sighs of relief. He was taking some serious heat from the public and the polls over his decision to shut down Parliament for the second time in a year. That must have been hard on him, after he and his minions pontificating that neither the Afghan detainee issue nor the proroguing of Parliament were even on Canadians radar.
The polls showed he had dropped from near majority territory and a solid 15 points ahead of the Liberals in the fall to almost tied with the Liberals early this month. Harper must be finding it awful hard to have to actually deal with the fact he can rigidly control his Conservative MPs but can’t control the Opposition or the Canadian people.
The horrific news from Haiti may have momentarily pushed the reaction to Harper’s undemocratic moves from the media’s main stories for now but Canadians haven’t forgotten. The facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament continues to grow. Two weeks ago today 22,000 people belonged to it, today 203,817 belong. Seventeen have joined since I started writing this article.
The group has been a springboard for another website noprorogue.ca. That site is focused on the organization of the rallies scheduled for Saturday Jan 23rd across the country and even reports of rallies happening internationally spearheaded by expat Canadians. To find out where the closest rally is to you, visit the site.
The reaction to Harper’s undemocratic arrogance cuts across party lines. That doesn’t mean Canadians aren’t watching the Opposition to see what they have to offer and what they are going to do to pull Harper’s license to govern.
notice: The content of this post contains my opinions and my right to express them. I will respect your right to express your opinion in the comments as long as you’re not abusive and you respect my right to my opinion.
January 19th, 2010 at 7:59 am
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