Via the Hill Times, March 21, 2011, Michael McBane, national coordinator of the Canadian Health Coalition in Ottawa informs and warns us of yet another attack by harper on our democracy:
The Harper government has given the unelected Senate the mandate to conduct a second mandatory review of the 2004 Health Accord. The previous review was conducted by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health in 2008. The move bypasses the House of Commons, where the Harper government is in a minority, to a Senate committee where the Conservatives are now in a majority. This is one more in a growing list of anti-democratic actions by the Harper government.
Hearings started on March 10 in the Senate Committee on Science, Technology and Social Affairs. Already, organizations that support a strong leadership role of the federal government in health care, including the Canadian Health Coalition, have been told they will not be allowed to appear and give testimony.
The message for Canadians is clear: The Harper government not only holds Parliament in contempt, it also seems to view Canadians who strongly support public health care with contempt as well. This does not bode well for the future of medicare.
On the eve of negotiations for renewal of the Health Accord in 2014, members of the Harper government and the Conservative Party have floated trial balloons hinting at cuts to health care transfers. One prominent caucus member has even called for a termination of all federal health care transfers.
Reminds me of a disc jockey who hated Metallica, wanted it banned from his program, and held a vote allowing only women over 50 to vote (Happy to say even that limited audience voted to keep Metallica).
Denying testimony from those who don’t kow-tow to his ideology is bad in itself, but by-passing the House of Commons violates our democratic system in which citizens can give voice through their elected representatives.
Steve is doing what he always accused the Liberals of doing even though that party never abused their majority in the Senate in such fashion - he is using the Senate to make changes to our legislation that he knows would not fly through our democratic system.
This is not a clever master strategist. This is not a great chess player. This is a man who doesn’t give a damn about the very people he is supposed to serve - a man so convinced that the only opinions and will that matter are his own - that he has continuously stomped on and undermined the very democratic process set in place to protect a government of the people for the people.
This latest attack on democracy should be all over the front pages on nationals. CPC support comes largely from older, retired people. People who tend to rely on national health care more than younger Canadians. It should be on the front pages for all of us.
Maybe if some busty hooker were to get up and wage a public information campaign, we might get people to pay attention to how their own government is giving them the finger while hacking away at their rights.
2 comments:
This is utterly appalling. Why has this not been widely reported? Doesn't the House of Commons have the final say on the renewal of the Health Accord? I guess Harpie is hoping he will have his majority before 2014 which makes it essential that Canadians get this information before the next election. Liberal ads should dump all over this.
no kidding. This use of his hand picked partisan senators to pass legislation that would never pass a first vote in the House...incredible how little criticism it's getting.
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