Posts Tagged by Harper
Will You Rise Up for Canada?
| 4/17/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Finally, I’m hearing what has been frustrating me. Throughout this campaign I’ve been astounded that more and more Canadians are not becoming aware of just how badly we need to restore democracy in this country. I’ve wondered how so many can be presented with the evidence of Harper’s contempt for our system and just let it roll off them as they decide they don’t want Michael Ignatieff so they will just let Harper carry on.
I hear the cynicism that ‘they’ (the politicians) are all the same and nothing will change. We wont know unless we vote out the bad and replace him with someone else. Just because Harper has worked to develop a teflon exterior which allows him to tell lies and distortions one after another without consequences doesn’t make him right or believable.
I’ve been a political junkie most of my adult life and I’ve never seen a Prime Minister like this one and I never want to see one like him again. It’s bad enough he came to office promising a new era of transparency and accountability and failed to deliver. It’s unbelievable that he’s been allowed to remain in office for 5 years in the most closed, secretive and dictatorial environment I have ever seen. (more…)
Harper Apologizes, Sort Of
| 4/7/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Following several revelations about people trying to attend Conservative campaign events being ejected, apparently for having done really bad things like — attending a Liberal campaign event, having an bumper sticker supportive of the NDP, campaigning against plastic water bottles on the University of Guelph campus, being an advocate for homeless veterans or participating in an event designed to encourage young people to vote — Harper has offered an apology. Sort of:
“If anybody is kept out of any of our events that’s there to hear our message, we obviously apologize to them,” the Conservative Leader said during a campaign stop north of Toronto, in Vaughan.
I don’t know, if I was going to offer an apology to people, especially young people, about the poor behaviour of people who represented me, I’d be saying I was sorry to those people and assuring them their treatment was unacceptable.
Interesting to note, a person currently charged with fraud was able to attend a Conservative campaign rally and apparently has had some ongoing involvement with Harper’s Conservatives. I guess that is to keep Bruce Carson company. Remember him, the former point man for the very security sensitive Afghanistan file who had 5 previous convictions for fraud and had been ordered to have psychiatric counselling.
Have you noticed that Harper never takes responsibility for anything? (more…)
The Election is First About Contempt
| 4/5/2011 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Well, it’s now just over a week into the six week election campaign. The leaders of the various parties are busy crisscrossing the country telling us what they are going to do. Like we actually will believe everything they say.
The challenge is to cut through the rhetoric to find the truth. The truth of course is also dependent on the perspective of the person perceiving it. I found it rather surprising the number of people I’ve encountered who believe the government was brought down over their budget. While the budget was not about to get support, it was not what brought the government down.
The government was brought down because they were found by the opposition to be in contempt of Parliament. The government’s contempt was specifically their ongoing refusal to provide full costing figures for expensive legislation they wanted the Opposition to support. It is the first time in our history a government has been found to be in contempt.
In general, Harper has shown nothing but contempt and disdain for our Parliamentary system since he arrived on the Hill. He uses it for his own ends and runs roughshod over anyone or anything standing in his way. This Canadian is bloody tired of it. (more…)
Where Is the Recalibration?
| 3/4/2010 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics, Harper |
Well, I’ve read through the Throne Speech which was delivered yesterday. I’ve read some of the commentary which has appeared this morning in reaction to it. For the most part, they are echoing my thoughts as I read through the speech, where exactly is the recalibration? There was very little real focus or meat.
I had the sense that the speech came about from a brainstorming session around the Cabinet table on how many buttons could they find to press in a bid to make Canadians believe this government has a real sense of need and direction. The point form results was then handed over to speech writers to form into what was delivered yesterday.
I know the devil is in the details and Throne Speeches are not where one would expect to see details. Some will emerge today as the Budget is delivered. For the most part, speech repeated previous announcements and claims from the government.
Public Wage Freezes
It does say there will be a freeze on not only public service budgets but the wages of the Cabinet, Senators and MPs. That is really sharing in the hardship that 1.5million Canadians are going through, not to mention the millions of Canadians who find themselves under-employed as the result of jobs lost through business failures and jobs moved offshore. (more…)
Some Thoughts on Democratic Reform
| 1/22/2010 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Having spent some time exploring through the discussions at the Facebook page Canadians Against Proroguing Government I have noticed many of the discussions have centered around the participants view on democratic reform. In view of Harper’s rather disturbing abuse of our parliamentary system, this is pretty understandable.
In the other Westminster style parliamentary systems throughout the world, no evidence has been found of abuse equalling what Harper has carried out with impunity. It appears for many Canadians that has been a wake up call to them to pay attention to what our governments are doing and excess liberties a Prime Minister takes.
It has been interesting reading some of the opinions and ideas expressed on the CAPP page about democratic reform. It has sparked me to think through my own opinions on the subject.
Education
Yes, education is top on my list. The majority of people I’ve spoken to tell me they didn’t receive any education in how our government runs when they were in school unless they chose to take a course in high school. My American friends tell me a half year Civics course is mandatory in the first year of high school. That’s an idea which I believe has merit.
One element which has allowed Harper to abuse our democratic process is his ability to distort perceptions with the public. Let’s use last year’s prorogation as an example. (more…)
Haiti Becomes Harper’s “Relief”
| 1/19/2010 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
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. (more…)
Online Noise or Springboard to Action?
| 1/7/2010 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
I’ve been watching a group on Facebook for the last couple of days called Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. The group was formed on December 30th in response to Harper proroguing parliament the second time in a year. On Tuesday (Jan 5th) the group had just over 20,000 members, as of this writing it has surpassed 80,000.
A second group for coordinating the location of rallies across the country on January 23rd is also up and running. Offline planning meetings for some of the projected rallies are currently scheduled.
Discussion on the CAPP group is steady and lively. While some are simply demanding the MPs get back to work (aka back into Parliament) some are putting forth some very reasoned thoughts about how continued abuse of our Parliamentary system can be reigned in. Ideas about perceived needs for reform of various aspects of our Parliamentary institution.
People in the group are reporting on their attempts to contact their MPs, especially their Conservative MPs, to voice their displeasure. Most are being met with the party line that this suspension of parliament is just routine business and that the citizen who contacted them to express their will is misguided and misinformed. The arrogance of the leader has apparently rubbed off on those who follow him.
Harper Had That Coming
| 12/3/2009 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
PM Harper’s arrival in China yesterday started off rather bizarrely by him choosing to upstage Flaherty (who was back here in Canada) and release the latest economic update. Guess that was as far as he could get from the House of Commons. Either that or he realized what a pompous little jerk Flaherty is and decided that as PM he was just had to upstage him, I’d be frightened if I actually started to understand Harper’s thought processes.
That little political grandstand was nothing compared to what came later on.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the number two man in China, publicly chastized Harper for the five year gap in official visits from a Canadian leader. Harper hasn’t made an effort to visit China on his watch, in fact he and his goons have taken a bit of a hardline towards China. Economic conditions and pressure from the Opposition has more to do with Harper showing up in China than any change of attitude on his part.
David Akin, a journalist travelling with Harper, tries to argue that the public rebuke Harper received is a slight to all Canadians. Technically, Akin is right in that Harper is representing Canada and its people when he’s making an official visit. (more…)
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