If you only read one article on Canada today, I hope you read this.
The University of Ottawa's Ralph Heintzman, who created and headed the federal Public Service Office of Values and Ethics, provides an important insight into what’s happening here: There is a “lack of sense of inner self-restraint on the part of the prime minister, a sense that it is some kind of war and therefore anything is legitimate, that it's quite acceptable for a prime minister to lie, for example, about how our parliamentary democracy works.”
Many good, direct, indisputable examples to support Caplan's arguments. Read them for yourself.
Caplan tells us what we face, and why. What we need to add to this is how we can fight this very hostile takeover of our democracy and our identity.
As Caplan, Lawrence, and several other journalists have pointed out recently, the regular systems of keeping such a prime minister and his mouth pieces in check are not only helpless to stop the devastation of Parliament and our institutions, those very systems serve as fodder to promote hate, confusion, and diversion as harper lies about them and re-shapes them into costly or commie gremlins in the minds of the less-than-informed.
If harper and his CONsorts are indeed treating their rule as a war against anything that doesn't promote their narrow ideology and goals (and I have no doubt this is the case), then the rest of Canada - the sane part - had better wake up to the fact that our own government is waging war on us and act accordingly.
I'm not suggesting we break the law. I am saying we need to get far more creative, we need to be far more vocal, and we need to find legal ways of stopping harper's destructive acts and takeovers even if our efforts fail. The efforts themselves will draw attention to the issues and to the fact that in many case, if not most, the majority of Canadians don't approve of his changes to our country and will not sit passively by.
The hell with politeness and verbal restraint. In this, I'm not saying use profanities as a point (although it took one little potty word to finally draw attention publicly to the CON's sick actions and words concerning banning delegates from Durban), but I am saying that any rules - informal or not - of respect for government simply because it is government do not apply. In a state of war, we aren't expected to say please or thank you as our front doors are being kicked in.
But our counter attacks should be fact-based, and I am proud to say that's not a problem for those currently expressing their outrage against this government. Hell, harper gives us enough ammunition without having to invent a thing.
Better networking, coordinated efforts, high profile petitions to the GG, more involvement in well organized groups that offer resistance...what else?
One thing is certain: we can't afford to sit back passively with the excuse that this takeover is just to big to take on. Every voice silenced gives a bigger platform for the hostile CONs and their mindless followers. And dammit, really rip into those who say all political parties are corrupt, so why bother getting involved?
Showing posts with label democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label democracy. Show all posts
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
The cost of apathy, the rewards of giving a damn
Meanwhile, Canadians whine about having to go vote and can’t be bothered to become informed of what their government is up to.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Be afraid.
The party that thrives on spreading false fears is engineering a true reason to be afraid. But of course, they won’t open this piece of legislation for debate, nor will they be honest to Canadians as to how it will affect us.
The package is benignly nicknamed “lawful access,” but isn’t benign. If the Conservatives move forward with it, it would feature a three-pronged approach focused on information disclosure, mandated surveillance technologies, and new police powers.
(Emphasis mine)
The first prong mandates the disclosure of Internet provider customer information without court oversight...The new system would require the disclosure of customer name, address, phone number, e-mail address, Internet protocol address, and a series of device identification numbers.
The second prong requires Internet providers to re-work their networks to allow for real-time surveillance...These include the power to intercept communications, to isolate the communications to a particular individual, and to engage in multiple simultaneous interceptions.
Having obtained customer information without court oversight and mandated Internet surveillance capabilities, the third prong creates a several new police powers designed to obtain access to the surveillance data.
Lawful access raises genuine privacy and free speech concerns, particularly given the fact the government has never provided adequate evidence on the need for it, it has never been subject to committee review, and it would cost millions to implement yet there has been no disclosure on who would actually pay for it. Given this, it is not surprising that every privacy commissioner in Canada has signed a joint letter expressing their concerns.
Not only is the substance problematic, but the attempt to fast track lawful access virtually guarantees that it will not be fully vetted. For example, over the past few weeks there has been mounting concern that the legislation would also create new criminal liability for hyperlinking to content that incites hatred and for using anonymous or false names online.
As we cheered on countries who used social media to spread the desire for change and allowed people to organize, our own government plans to control freedom of speech here, on the Net in particular.
This is no big surprise since it has been one of the few areas where harper could not control dissent. Social media has not been kind to him, and with good reason. With nearly every newspaper supporting the harper regime, it has been left to the Net users to expose the serious abuses of his government and the obvious direction in which he is taking our country against the will of most Canadians.
Youtube has been especially unfriendly to the master strategist. It is a powerful social engine due to brief messaging tightly scripted, presented with visuals.
A few months ago, several articles came out about limitations public servants are subject to during elections. While the purpose of the legislation is to assure that public servants remain non-partisan and take a moment to assess their involvement with politics before over-stepping bounds, such limitations were deemed undemocratic, stifling public servants’ rights to be actively engaged in politics.
This access act would stifle every Canadian and do so without justification, without providing those silenced with recourse, without oversight agencies protecting individual privacy or freedom of speech rights.
Meanwhile, the harper government has just made sure it can deny access to its own doings.
In a major decision, the court decided that Canada’s Access to Information Act does not apply to the records controlled by the people at the top of the government’s power pyramid: the prime minister, cabinet ministers, and their staffs. And though the current Conservative government promised in the 2006 election campaign to ensure that ministers’ offices would be subject to the access law, it fought that principle in court.
We can see where this is going. The harper regime can operate in secrecy as it plans major changes that affect us all, while any person who questions or criticizes - as is not only our right, but our responsibility in a democracy - will be silenced, perhaps even charged.
With a majority, harper will slide the lawful access legislation through easily since there is no longer an opposition that can vote him down. He owns the Senate majority as well, so forget sober second thought or in-depth review working out the legalities or fairness of the act. Harper will bury this in another omnibus crime Bill that will allow even the little bit of debate in the House to turn to the usual harper dishonesty of criticizing opposition to parts of the Bill as criticism to the more benign parts he puts in for window dressing.
And silencing dissent, stopping the sharing of information, making criticism criminal...that's just the beginning. There are reasons why leaders like harper want to control information and discussion at all levels. They want to make sure we don't have any chance of opposing what he knows will be highly unpopular changes to our country, our way of life, our very rights in order to pursue his own very narrow, backwards, extremist view of what Canada should be and how Canadians should live, even at very personal levels of religion, marriage, rights, and how we spend our money.
Smoke ‘em while you got ‘em, because our days of free speech and activism on the Net are numbered. The very people who have been resisting this type of tyranny will be the first to be silenced.
The package is benignly nicknamed “lawful access,” but isn’t benign. If the Conservatives move forward with it, it would feature a three-pronged approach focused on information disclosure, mandated surveillance technologies, and new police powers.
(Emphasis mine)
The first prong mandates the disclosure of Internet provider customer information without court oversight...The new system would require the disclosure of customer name, address, phone number, e-mail address, Internet protocol address, and a series of device identification numbers.
The second prong requires Internet providers to re-work their networks to allow for real-time surveillance...These include the power to intercept communications, to isolate the communications to a particular individual, and to engage in multiple simultaneous interceptions.
Having obtained customer information without court oversight and mandated Internet surveillance capabilities, the third prong creates a several new police powers designed to obtain access to the surveillance data.
Lawful access raises genuine privacy and free speech concerns, particularly given the fact the government has never provided adequate evidence on the need for it, it has never been subject to committee review, and it would cost millions to implement yet there has been no disclosure on who would actually pay for it. Given this, it is not surprising that every privacy commissioner in Canada has signed a joint letter expressing their concerns.
Not only is the substance problematic, but the attempt to fast track lawful access virtually guarantees that it will not be fully vetted. For example, over the past few weeks there has been mounting concern that the legislation would also create new criminal liability for hyperlinking to content that incites hatred and for using anonymous or false names online.
As we cheered on countries who used social media to spread the desire for change and allowed people to organize, our own government plans to control freedom of speech here, on the Net in particular.
This is no big surprise since it has been one of the few areas where harper could not control dissent. Social media has not been kind to him, and with good reason. With nearly every newspaper supporting the harper regime, it has been left to the Net users to expose the serious abuses of his government and the obvious direction in which he is taking our country against the will of most Canadians.
Youtube has been especially unfriendly to the master strategist. It is a powerful social engine due to brief messaging tightly scripted, presented with visuals.
A few months ago, several articles came out about limitations public servants are subject to during elections. While the purpose of the legislation is to assure that public servants remain non-partisan and take a moment to assess their involvement with politics before over-stepping bounds, such limitations were deemed undemocratic, stifling public servants’ rights to be actively engaged in politics.
This access act would stifle every Canadian and do so without justification, without providing those silenced with recourse, without oversight agencies protecting individual privacy or freedom of speech rights.
Meanwhile, the harper government has just made sure it can deny access to its own doings.
In a major decision, the court decided that Canada’s Access to Information Act does not apply to the records controlled by the people at the top of the government’s power pyramid: the prime minister, cabinet ministers, and their staffs. And though the current Conservative government promised in the 2006 election campaign to ensure that ministers’ offices would be subject to the access law, it fought that principle in court.
We can see where this is going. The harper regime can operate in secrecy as it plans major changes that affect us all, while any person who questions or criticizes - as is not only our right, but our responsibility in a democracy - will be silenced, perhaps even charged.
With a majority, harper will slide the lawful access legislation through easily since there is no longer an opposition that can vote him down. He owns the Senate majority as well, so forget sober second thought or in-depth review working out the legalities or fairness of the act. Harper will bury this in another omnibus crime Bill that will allow even the little bit of debate in the House to turn to the usual harper dishonesty of criticizing opposition to parts of the Bill as criticism to the more benign parts he puts in for window dressing.
And silencing dissent, stopping the sharing of information, making criticism criminal...that's just the beginning. There are reasons why leaders like harper want to control information and discussion at all levels. They want to make sure we don't have any chance of opposing what he knows will be highly unpopular changes to our country, our way of life, our very rights in order to pursue his own very narrow, backwards, extremist view of what Canada should be and how Canadians should live, even at very personal levels of religion, marriage, rights, and how we spend our money.
Smoke ‘em while you got ‘em, because our days of free speech and activism on the Net are numbered. The very people who have been resisting this type of tyranny will be the first to be silenced.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Busty Hookers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that I have your attention (apologies to readers who are not into such titillating headlines), on to something far more serious than the ick factor of a 66 year old criminal running a scam to pay his favourite 22 year old hooker and keep her all to himself.
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.
Even as Canadians consistently list health care as one of their top concerns, harper gives them the finger and not only ignores previous reviews, but bars those in favour of a strong, national health care program from giving testimony.
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.
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.
Friday, March 11, 2011
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! There can be only ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does King steve know about this?
He may be acting like he can make his own laws, but there can be only one in The Harper Government™
He may be acting like he can make his own laws, but there can be only one in The Harper Government™
Monday, November 22, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Sure, but can we build it before it strikes twelve?
Margaret Atwood thinks Canada needs to set up a dictat-o-meter.
Similar to the famous clock that counted down the seconds to nuclear Armageddon, this clock would grade how close Canada creeps toward a dictatorship...
Because we’re just about there.
We had very early indicators of where harper was headed when he did not appoint a deputy prime minister.
One oddly common trait among dictatorships: The dictator almost never has a named successor. Most democracies have something like a vice president, to take over if the president dies. Dictators don't want their opponents to know who would succeed them.
Since becoming PM, harper has wasted no time in establishing a totalitarian, dictatorship type of control. Dictatorships limit freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of opposition political parties, independence of courts, free and regular elections.
Since harper took power, he has been focused on one thing - getting all of it, with no chance of effective opposition.
He has been replacing key people in the public service, the courts, the military, and oversight agencies.
He has limited access to information.
He has divided the country, causing us to fight each other rather than his undermining of democracy.
He has encouraged an us-and-them mentality between police forces and the public, and the military and the public, causing a shift from serve and protect the public to viewing the public as the enemy, potential criminals who rather than be protected must be constrained.
He has limited freedom of speech by treating peaceful protesters as criminals, harassing and smearing people who speak out, punishing civil servants who speak the truth.
The more time he has to erode systems which are meant to protect our rights, the more difficult it will be to reverse that damage.
If we think harper thumbs his nose at our laws, rights, and Parliamentary system now, give him a little more time and not all of our shock and anger will be of avail because we’ll have no effective way of expressing it. Not through protests, not through our vote which will become useless, not through our rights which will have been so altered that they will be weapons to control us rather than protect us.
We have to get this guy out. Now.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thugs in the shadows
Eventually, he did sell it for far less than what it was worth. Too bad, because he probably could have used the money since he ended up in a wheelchair, put there by thugs sent to force him to sell.
Mr. Money flattens the station and turns the whole corner into a family fun centre. Even though many people in the town knew what had happened, the place was always busy and the man still walks around that town as though he isn't a brutal criminal.
I thought of that story yesterday after we found out how harper sent word to the conservative senators to kill Bill C-311 without debate
.
Harper couldn't get his way through proper channels of legislation, so he got his pretend senators - who we can see are really his bag-boys, leg-breakers, hit-men, errand-boys to do the job. Loyal to their Big Boss, they didn't let the fact that they are there for all Canadians - and paid by taxpayers as well - give them even a momentary pause, but followed orders.
Harper promissed to reform the Senate. He has. It is now a highly paid group of people, half of which have no power being overrun as they are by harper's thugs. The thugs hide in the shadows of the Senate chambers and rules presenting the illusion of legitimacy but are nothing more than illegitimate muscle for harper who gets to pretend his hands are clean.
There are what - 52 conservative senators? Fifty-two people who are where they are because our democracy paved the way for them. Fifty-two people who in one act, undermined that same democracy. Men and women, who are supposed to be so exemplary that they can represent us and act on the interests of all Canadians but who instead take our money and give us a big fuck you.
What they have done by enabling harper is neuter the votes of elected opposition reps in the House which is what harper wanted. And even if the Liberals get in with a minority in the future, the unelected conservative senate can kill Bills.
Worse than useless senate. Worse because it doesn't just sit there and do noting, it is now a compliant, ass-licking extension of the PMO. Paid for by us to make our voices even less influential.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
And for the rest of us...
Because what do you suppose happens to those who aren't part of that powerful club?
Pioneered by the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 1994, the only "freedom" they bestow is to investors through investor rights clauses that empower corporations to trump the democratic rights of citizens and their governments to enact laws and policies for the public good.
Investor rights clauses are reminiscent of colonialism, says Osgoode Hall Law School associate professor Gus Van Harten.
Corporations will count on (and can count on) the masses being too wrapped up in - wondering how to pay their electricity bill or if they can ever get electricity; how to keep their kids off drugs, or how to get their next fix; how to hold back the relentless push of extremists who want to turn the clock back 100 years or how to push that tide of extremism forward - to fight these anti-democratic trade agreements. But this will only last a short while.
Unlike colonial times, more people have had a taste of equal rights, more are at least aware of them, and more have access to vast amounts of information they can check and cross reference. We are more aware this time around that our rights are being trumped, and many can communicate with each other instantly, with a few key strokes.
This time around, the masses viewed by the corporations and compliant governments as meek sheep will not have to go through centuries of education to know they are entitled to certain fundamental rights, and they will push back. However, having little money or positional power to effectively fight back against corporations and governments who have positioned themselves to be relatively untouchable, there will be spontaneous and simultaneous outbursts of violence all over the globe.
We are seeing some of these already in the protests in Greece, Spain, England, and France. Cornered, desperate people who bear the anger of injustice as a flag don't act rationally. They are driven by powerful emotion, drawing in others as their rumblings grow to thunderous roars. Then it's a self-powered tsunami that only exhausts itself after a great deal of bloodshed.
Chaos reigns.
Friday, April 16, 2010
What Canadians want
While it’s nice to see the CONs have post their brief lead - if it was real at all - I wish the drop had been attributed to something other than the Guergis-Jaffer story. While it does have to be pursued because corruption, influence peddling, and political interference are serious issues, I would much rather Canadians had been reacting to the two other big stories: the government’s cover-up and manipulation of information, and the torture of detainees.
I doubt even the Guergis-Jaffer thing would be getting much attention if sex and drugs weren’t mentioned.
This does not reflect well on our media, nor on the public.
Murder, war crimes, contracting out torture linked to our military? The government taking measures so outrageous to cover this up and prevent witnesses from talking that the approach has been called Kafkaesque?
There was a time I would have thought - no way! Not in my Canada!
But it is happening, here in this country we have been so proud of because Canadians, so it goes, just don’t tolerate that crap.
Well, we are tolerating it, and it isn’t crap. Through our apathy, through our weakness for flashy headlines screaming of sex and drugs, and the private and public lives of public figures, we fail to support the demand for serious, thorough, independent investigation into the allegations of murder, torture and cover-up.
Without the public’s pressure demanding the truth come out without interference, the government will keep hiding any wrongdoing on their part, and the abuses will continue.
If they are allowed to get away with it in this very serious, international issue, we are truly screwed. The public will show government that it need not be held accountable, that the public does not have the right to be informed.
What follows is a snowball effect. We get used to less and less info and become more apathetic. Government becomes more confident that it can violate the will of the people by deceiving them and counting on that apathy, and it becomes more corrupt. A handful of special interest groups with lots of money hold the real power because they are the only ones lobbying, and they push for legislation that favours them, while the rest of us are no more than cattle - low wage earners and mindless consumers.
If we start to get fed up, we’ll just be tossed another Guergis-Jaffer story to distract us, or we’ll be shown infomercials to stir up blind patriotism, or we’ll be told of how severe measures are necessary because the world is a scary place full of criminals and terrorists who are out to get us and destroy our democracy.
Meanwhile, our democracy is being destroyed by three things: the very government we elected to protect it, the powerful, wealthy self-interest groups pulling the government’s reins, and out our pathetic apathy.
Yes, let us demand answers to the Guergis-Jaffer thing, but only as it relates to wrongdoing that affects our country. Any corruption needs to be addressed and stopped. But we cannot pick and choose what we will take interest in based on its entertainment value. Keep the government’s heels to the flame on accountability, openness, and the respect of all laws - international as well as domestic.
Canadians should care about whether or not our military and government is complicit in murder, torture, and cover-ups. Isn’t that what we so proudly say we oppose?
I doubt even the Guergis-Jaffer thing would be getting much attention if sex and drugs weren’t mentioned.
This does not reflect well on our media, nor on the public.
Murder, war crimes, contracting out torture linked to our military? The government taking measures so outrageous to cover this up and prevent witnesses from talking that the approach has been called Kafkaesque?
There was a time I would have thought - no way! Not in my Canada!
But it is happening, here in this country we have been so proud of because Canadians, so it goes, just don’t tolerate that crap.
Well, we are tolerating it, and it isn’t crap. Through our apathy, through our weakness for flashy headlines screaming of sex and drugs, and the private and public lives of public figures, we fail to support the demand for serious, thorough, independent investigation into the allegations of murder, torture and cover-up.
Without the public’s pressure demanding the truth come out without interference, the government will keep hiding any wrongdoing on their part, and the abuses will continue.
If they are allowed to get away with it in this very serious, international issue, we are truly screwed. The public will show government that it need not be held accountable, that the public does not have the right to be informed.
What follows is a snowball effect. We get used to less and less info and become more apathetic. Government becomes more confident that it can violate the will of the people by deceiving them and counting on that apathy, and it becomes more corrupt. A handful of special interest groups with lots of money hold the real power because they are the only ones lobbying, and they push for legislation that favours them, while the rest of us are no more than cattle - low wage earners and mindless consumers.
If we start to get fed up, we’ll just be tossed another Guergis-Jaffer story to distract us, or we’ll be shown infomercials to stir up blind patriotism, or we’ll be told of how severe measures are necessary because the world is a scary place full of criminals and terrorists who are out to get us and destroy our democracy.
Meanwhile, our democracy is being destroyed by three things: the very government we elected to protect it, the powerful, wealthy self-interest groups pulling the government’s reins, and out our pathetic apathy.
Yes, let us demand answers to the Guergis-Jaffer thing, but only as it relates to wrongdoing that affects our country. Any corruption needs to be addressed and stopped. But we cannot pick and choose what we will take interest in based on its entertainment value. Keep the government’s heels to the flame on accountability, openness, and the respect of all laws - international as well as domestic.
Canadians should care about whether or not our military and government is complicit in murder, torture, and cover-ups. Isn’t that what we so proudly say we oppose?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Pirate Fish says Poilievre is awesomely doltish
Elections Canada “is using tax payers dollars to lose awesomely in two different court cases...” says little Pierre. He was, of course, referring to Elections Canada’s investigation into the in-and-out cheating scam the Cons ran during an election.
The pudden-head Poilievre abused the Procedure and House Affairs Committee - doing what Steve pays him to do: attack like a rabid weasel - as Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand appeared to discuss Elections Canada's 2009 supplementary estimates,
And as with a rabid weasel attack, it was ludicrous, disproportionate, and unwarranted. Elections Canada must not be threatened by budget cuts when such threats are so blatantly linked to a party seeking to shut it up or discredit it for their own partisan, ass-saving purposes. It was doing what it was mandated to do: protect our democracy by investigating a bunch of cheaters and liars who would do anything to win despite what the electorate wants.
Awesomely obvious Pierre is a fool.
Monday, February 8, 2010
About that whole Canada is better now than four years ago thing, Harper...
You have no weight pressuring other governments on respecting democracy when you fail to do it yourself.
The government of Hugo Chavez has responded to Canadian criticism it was "shrinking democratic space" in Venezuela by saying it will take no lessons from an "ultraright" government that "closed" Parliament to avoid an investigation into the handling of Afghan detainees.
Chavez’s government didn’t stop there, either. It went on to accuse the Harper government of seeking to damage Venezuela itself.
"I am talking of a Canada governed by an ultraright that closed its Parliament for various months to (evade) an investigation over the violation of human rights -- I am talking about torture and assassinations -- by its soldiers in Afghanistan," said Chaderton.
No Canadian has accused our soldiers of torture and assassination. Accusations from Canadians have been that the elected government knew about, and enabled torture, and that the fault rests with that government’s deliberate cover-up of how they failed to halt the transfer of detainees when they knew they were being handed over to a group that would most likely torture them.
But by riding endlessly on the theme that anyone who seeks an investigation into the transfers is attacking the soldiers, Harper assured the troops would become a target of such attacks.
After a trip to Venezuela, Peter Kent, minister of state for the Americas said Canada was concerned over the Chavez regime's decision to suspend the licences of several cable television stations and over the deaths of two students during protests.
"These events are further evidence of a shrinking democratic space in Venezuela," Kent said in the release. "During my recent visit to Venezuela, I heard many individuals and organizations express concerns related to violations of the right to freedom of expression and other basic liberties."
Uh-huh.
Sort of like this?
By proroguing Parliament to avoid investigations into his own complicity in the Afghan detainee issue, Harper has cost Canada a great deal of credibility and weight in its international efforts toward democratic rights and freedoms.
Bastard.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Even the BLOC showed up
Yeah, that party Harper claims is illegitimate, except when it isn't, whose vote doesn't count, except when it does because the CONs happen to need it. Sorry, will update with the MP's name, I was engaged when he was presented, but his speech was good as were those of Layton, Dewar, Lizzie May and Ignatieff.
Over 3, 400 on the Hill and their signs showed they understood what the rally was about.
Excellent speech by a retired military fellow who told us to thank Harper for the good whether since Stevo was bound to take credit for it.
PSAC also gave a terrific, powerful speech. I was hoping they'd repeat it in English, but no go. Sierra club kept theirs short, to the point, and very relevant to the rally.
The crowd behaved, remained engaged until the end.
Fun with sing-a-longs lead by the wonderful Raging Grannies.
Lots of Canadian flags!
Some good music by the Arrogant Worms (they played the beaver song!) and they did the "just Prorogue" the one performed by Rae.
A couple of ladies made a terrific effigy of Stevo, complete with the cheap Burger King crown, kitty, and long pinnochio nose.
My co-pilots took lots of pictures and when I wrestle them away, I will post some here.
We froze our feet and warmed our hearts.
Good going, Ottawa! And you were just one of 65 rallies. Heard T.O. had over 7,000 attend, but while the numbers are nice, it is that this happened at all that is amazing and encouraging.
It was especially heartening to hear so many of the speakers say this is a beginning, and that we will continue.
Carried our tired asses back several blocks to our vehicles, holding our signs high as we walked, and people off the Hill the whole way smiled, waved, gave thumbs up, and honked.
Massive thank you to those who organized here in Ottawa, and those who coordinated the rallies across Canada and in other countries.
So, Harper...can you hear us now?
Over 3, 400 on the Hill and their signs showed they understood what the rally was about.
Excellent speech by a retired military fellow who told us to thank Harper for the good whether since Stevo was bound to take credit for it.
PSAC also gave a terrific, powerful speech. I was hoping they'd repeat it in English, but no go. Sierra club kept theirs short, to the point, and very relevant to the rally.
The crowd behaved, remained engaged until the end.
Fun with sing-a-longs lead by the wonderful Raging Grannies.
Lots of Canadian flags!
Some good music by the Arrogant Worms (they played the beaver song!) and they did the "just Prorogue" the one performed by Rae.
A couple of ladies made a terrific effigy of Stevo, complete with the cheap Burger King crown, kitty, and long pinnochio nose.
My co-pilots took lots of pictures and when I wrestle them away, I will post some here.
We froze our feet and warmed our hearts.
Good going, Ottawa! And you were just one of 65 rallies. Heard T.O. had over 7,000 attend, but while the numbers are nice, it is that this happened at all that is amazing and encouraging.
It was especially heartening to hear so many of the speakers say this is a beginning, and that we will continue.
Carried our tired asses back several blocks to our vehicles, holding our signs high as we walked, and people off the Hill the whole way smiled, waved, gave thumbs up, and honked.
Massive thank you to those who organized here in Ottawa, and those who coordinated the rallies across Canada and in other countries.
So, Harper...can you hear us now?
Friday, January 22, 2010
We define ourselves
We care about our country, our democracy, the future of both for generations to come.
We care about our constitution, and the promises enshrined within it.
We care about the rights and freedoms so dearly won.
We care about our role in shaping our country and our fate.
We care about how our government acts, and recognize that it is supposed to work for us.
We care about representation through our elected members of Parliament.
We care about openness and accountability in government.
We care about the freedom to debate without fear.
We care, and tomorrow, and every day after, we will make ourselves heard.
Stay safe, all, stay focused, and take time to have some fun.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Beowulf Award
As I looked at the facebook site he had created, it hit me. Not only Christopher, but all of those people who contributed really do fit the criteria. They have taken on the monster of apathy, the evil of the assault on democracy, the defeatist attitude that average Canadians cannot effect change and they got this incredible momentum going, never stalling in the face of criticism or ridicule as others tried to trivialize what they were doing.
It is not necessary to succeed completely to win the award, it is only necessary to have made a stand, and Christopher White, along with all who joined in have done that.
But they also succeeded. Regardless of how the rallies go, they woke up many Canadians, drew attention to our ailing democracy, inspired thousands, established a network of activists and concerned citizens that will no doubt outlive the prorogation issue.
So the winners of the Beowulf Award are:
Christopher White, creator of the facebook account “Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament;”
All the legitimate members of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (excludes trolls), special mention to the many who are working so hard organizing events, doing research, up-dating us on events, informing us of articles of interest, setting helpful links, networking, finding speakers, getting material together for rallies...;
All of those who support the rallies in any way, either by showing up, spreading the word, organizing, donating, or taking the time to become informed;
All of those who have written letters to newspapers, posted on blogs, written to Parliamentarians or other people in a bid to fight for our country and rights in this instance.
I have personally seen people go from feeling they could do nothing against Harper’s onslaught on our rights and freedoms to getting very involved in helping prepare for the rallies, distribute information, convince others of the importance of getting involved, and most important, realizing that we citizens have power and are responsible for shaping our democracy.
What Christopher White and those who have worked so hard as a result of his initiating this movement will help us create a healthier democracy if we continue what they have started.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Oh. My. Effing. Dog.
This may take awhile, so grab a coffee. Better make that something with a kick to it. I’ll wait...
...OK. The dividing line between sanity and insanity is not clear or precise. Most insane people permanently cross that final zone between reality and massive delusion gradually. They may have at one time questioned their own rhetoric, wondered, when comparing themselves to others, if they were normal, noticed odd little differences such as others having something called a conscience. But let a borderline case sit long enough listening to nothing but the echoes of his own disturbed ideas, well, you can end up with this:
Harper was asked if Canada's reputation as a stable democracy will suffer from his prorogation of Parliament. Harper said there was "zero risk" of that. In fact, he said it's when Parliament is sitting that Canada's stability comes into question.
I know. Read it again. Take your time. I’ll wait...
That is our Prime Minister, folks. The guy who is supposed to lead our country through Parliament, the guy who is supposed to help guard our democracy and promote Canada internationally. And he is saying that Canada is more stable when the democratic process of elected representatives acting on behalf of voters is by-passed, suspended.
He of course blames the instability of a sitting Parliament on the fact that he has a minority government, and somehow, this just isn’t fair, or workable, and if it is dysfunctional, it simply isn’t his fault. We Canadians just aren’t doing our part in giving him a majority, and the opposition MPs are, well, behaving like opposition MPs.
Yes, Steve, that’s what it means to have a minority. You either work with the opposition (which collectively represents the majority of Canadians who did not vote for your party) and develop legislation accordingly, or you quit and let someone who really grasps and respects that fundamental concept of a democratic Parliament do the job.
When I read this article today, I decided that yes, Steve has finally permanently crossed that line into insanity. He finds nothing wrong with making such statements, finds them in fact so reasonable that he thinks the majority of Canadians will find them truthful, brilliant, and just the very reason to give him a majority.
It is Steve’s failure to grasp how appalling his reasoning is that shows him to be mad.
He sees nothing wrong with stating that it is better to suspend Parliament than to have to deal with the 2/3 of Parliamentarians representing 2/3 of Canadians voters. He sees nothing wrong in praising the virtues of proroguing as a means of avoiding democratic votes in the House, votes made on behalf of those we elect.
And somehow, after telling us through these crazy words that 2/3 of Canadians aren’t worth listening to, that 2/3 of Canadians’ rights don’t mean shit, he thinks those very Canadians will see the wisdom of having their rights ignored, and will give him a majority so that he can crush even more of those rights with even fewer barriers.
That’s insanity. That’s sight so turned inward that it can do nothing but invent its own version of reality in a mind so isolated from normal people that it begins to believe the craziness it has made up.
And that, Steve, is the kind of instability of mind that prevents you from convincing more Canadians to vote for you.
Steve seems to think he is Special. The Chosen One. The saviour just waiting to be anointed. There have been others like him, people who have started out with a sense of entitlement, believing that they were born special, and that rules did not apply to them. They believed they were meant to make the rules for those lesser beings, the mindless masses.
Kim Jong-il Caligula L. Ron Hubbard
Leaders who ignore the public and create their own rule of law to suit their personal objectives are not leaders. They are despots.
...OK. The dividing line between sanity and insanity is not clear or precise. Most insane people permanently cross that final zone between reality and massive delusion gradually. They may have at one time questioned their own rhetoric, wondered, when comparing themselves to others, if they were normal, noticed odd little differences such as others having something called a conscience. But let a borderline case sit long enough listening to nothing but the echoes of his own disturbed ideas, well, you can end up with this:
Harper was asked if Canada's reputation as a stable democracy will suffer from his prorogation of Parliament. Harper said there was "zero risk" of that. In fact, he said it's when Parliament is sitting that Canada's stability comes into question.
I know. Read it again. Take your time. I’ll wait...
That is our Prime Minister, folks. The guy who is supposed to lead our country through Parliament, the guy who is supposed to help guard our democracy and promote Canada internationally. And he is saying that Canada is more stable when the democratic process of elected representatives acting on behalf of voters is by-passed, suspended.
He of course blames the instability of a sitting Parliament on the fact that he has a minority government, and somehow, this just isn’t fair, or workable, and if it is dysfunctional, it simply isn’t his fault. We Canadians just aren’t doing our part in giving him a majority, and the opposition MPs are, well, behaving like opposition MPs.
"As soon as Parliament comes back, we're in a minority Parliament situation and the first thing that happens is a vote of confidence and there will be votes of confidence and election speculation for every single week after that for the rest of the year," he said. “That's the kind of instability I think that markets are actually worried about.”
Yes, Steve, that’s what it means to have a minority. You either work with the opposition (which collectively represents the majority of Canadians who did not vote for your party) and develop legislation accordingly, or you quit and let someone who really grasps and respects that fundamental concept of a democratic Parliament do the job.
When I read this article today, I decided that yes, Steve has finally permanently crossed that line into insanity. He finds nothing wrong with making such statements, finds them in fact so reasonable that he thinks the majority of Canadians will find them truthful, brilliant, and just the very reason to give him a majority.
It is Steve’s failure to grasp how appalling his reasoning is that shows him to be mad.
He sees nothing wrong with stating that it is better to suspend Parliament than to have to deal with the 2/3 of Parliamentarians representing 2/3 of Canadians voters. He sees nothing wrong in praising the virtues of proroguing as a means of avoiding democratic votes in the House, votes made on behalf of those we elect.
And somehow, after telling us through these crazy words that 2/3 of Canadians aren’t worth listening to, that 2/3 of Canadians’ rights don’t mean shit, he thinks those very Canadians will see the wisdom of having their rights ignored, and will give him a majority so that he can crush even more of those rights with even fewer barriers.
That’s insanity. That’s sight so turned inward that it can do nothing but invent its own version of reality in a mind so isolated from normal people that it begins to believe the craziness it has made up.
And that, Steve, is the kind of instability of mind that prevents you from convincing more Canadians to vote for you.
Steve seems to think he is Special. The Chosen One. The saviour just waiting to be anointed. There have been others like him, people who have started out with a sense of entitlement, believing that they were born special, and that rules did not apply to them. They believed they were meant to make the rules for those lesser beings, the mindless masses.
Kim Jong-il Caligula L. Ron Hubbard
Leaders who ignore the public and create their own rule of law to suit their personal objectives are not leaders. They are despots.
Monday, January 4, 2010
What the hell?
This is starting to feel like an episode in the Twilight Zone.
Still, there's word the Tories may go further to ensure prorogation becomes routine. Government sources say they're contemplating formally shutting down Parliament at the end of every year, so the government can start afresh with a throne speech and a budget.
Do it often enough, it becomes routine, and people come to believe it's the norm. Normal to kill any work still on the table and start all over again just to kill the same bills the following year. Normal to incurr waste of taxpayers dollars on wasted bills. Normal to wipe the slate clean of work done by committees studying abuses and scandals.
Sort of like going to confession on a regular basis: wipe your sins away without coming to terms with them or being held accountable so that you can go out and commit a whole new set of sins, repeat some of the same ones, secure in the knowledge that never, ever will you be held accountable.
The role of elected representatives will erode further if the federal government makes good on its suggestion to make prorogation an annual event, experts say. "It's not easy to see how this can work," said David Mitchell, president of the Ottawa-based Public Policy Forum. "It raises the question: Why do we have a Parliament?"
No fucking kidding! Our vote, our will comes to mean very little.
Regardless of what party you support, you should oppose this move in any way you can. Do any of us want this to be the way any party in power - today the conservatives, tomorrow, who knows - by-passes our elected representatives who are supposed to act on our behalf?
Still, there's word the Tories may go further to ensure prorogation becomes routine. Government sources say they're contemplating formally shutting down Parliament at the end of every year, so the government can start afresh with a throne speech and a budget.
Do it often enough, it becomes routine, and people come to believe it's the norm. Normal to kill any work still on the table and start all over again just to kill the same bills the following year. Normal to incurr waste of taxpayers dollars on wasted bills. Normal to wipe the slate clean of work done by committees studying abuses and scandals.
Sort of like going to confession on a regular basis: wipe your sins away without coming to terms with them or being held accountable so that you can go out and commit a whole new set of sins, repeat some of the same ones, secure in the knowledge that never, ever will you be held accountable.
The role of elected representatives will erode further if the federal government makes good on its suggestion to make prorogation an annual event, experts say. "It's not easy to see how this can work," said David Mitchell, president of the Ottawa-based Public Policy Forum. "It raises the question: Why do we have a Parliament?"
No fucking kidding! Our vote, our will comes to mean very little.
Regardless of what party you support, you should oppose this move in any way you can. Do any of us want this to be the way any party in power - today the conservatives, tomorrow, who knows - by-passes our elected representatives who are supposed to act on our behalf?
The government's use of prorogation shows it believes Parliament has become an "inconvenience" that needs to be managed, rather than an essential part of the democratic process, said Mitchell.
Our will, as represented through those we elect, an inconvenience that needs to be managed? Oh sure, because the CONs seem to think they know what we want better than we do, and actually consulting with us, or taking our misguided concerns seriously is a waste of time.
(emphasis mine)
But (political scientist Nelson Wiseman from the University of Toronto) doesn't expect much of a public backlash from the move. The public doesn't seem to get worked up about the erosion of Parliamentary power, he said. His feeling is echoed privately by Tory MPs, and by a poll showing that 46 per cent of Canadians just don't care whether Parliament starts sitting in January or takes a break and comes back after the Olympics in March.
How fucking insulting and offensive is that? We don't care about the erosion of Parliament? We don't care that we are losing our right to shape our own future? We just don't give a damn that our democratic act of voting is just to lull us into believing this is a democracy but actually means very little?
Show these pompous bastards how fucking wrong they are. Show it in polls, show it by protesting prorogation. If you don't, then they are right. You really don't care whether or not we live in a democratic country, and I'll add that you don't give the slightest damn about your children's rights.
And why has our precious media given this monumentally important topic so little coverage? Maybe part of the problem why so many people don't seem to give a damn is that the media is doing such a shit job at bringing it, and its serious nature, to our attention.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Harper says: Let me be clear -
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thank you, Ralph Surette
Two related articles came out today on how Harper is destroying our democracy - one by James Travers, and one by Ralph Surette.
Both bring out similar concerns:
Indeed, the Harper government merely gets worse: more controlling, angry, manipulative, contemptuous of Parliament, more suspicious of its own civil service - and more incompetent, in its Bush/Cheney way, on anything touching foreign affairs. It also represents a minority of Canadians. - Surette
Coldly cynical and conveniently effective, the advantage tilts dramatically to the ruling party. Sharing only favourable factoids and fearing no challenge from an opposition frozen outside the loop, Harper, sounding like a U.S. president, speaks directly to the people over the heads of MPs, Parliament and, should the need arise - as it did during the coalition crisis - even the Governor General.
We are witnessing institutions crumbling under the weight of assumed personal power. After decades of whittling away the principles, precedents and even laws limiting their manoeuvring room, prime ministers are now free to do as they please, at least until voters next make their mark. - Travers
Both provide examples of Harper`s contempt of Parliament, and his refusal to be open and transparent with the public.
However, Travers and Surette come to different conclusions.
Out there, where the undecided and skeptics are kept at arm's length, Ottawa's secrecy culture isn't a kitchen table worry. Out there it would be rude to ask when the buck last stopped at a minister, how civil servants became fall guys or how watchdogs lost their bark. Out there, if Conservatives have it figured right, the manipulation of an inconvenient Parliament will slide by with the same ease as the piece-by-piece deconstruction of democracy. - Travers
The "issue of governance" is how to get rid of it - and what to replace it with. Although the Harper government has managed repeatedly to work its way up to the 40 per cent range in the polls, considered majority country by the pollsters, as soon as the cameras focus on that fact, something blows up and the lead sinks like a stone. The problem is that when the cameras turn to the Liberals, they sink like a stone as well...The Liberals will have another shot at it at the next election. If they fail again, then something will really have to be done. Enough international humiliation and enough scorpions. - Surette
Travers seems to have already buried the public`s ability to play their role in a democracy and force chage, while Surette fans our angry embers, telling us with his closing words that something will have to be done if the politicians don`t oust this abominable government. There is little question that Surette is calling to us, the citizens of Canada.
That`s good journalism. Respect for readers, not afraid to shake us up, not afraid to opposr government.
The turning point in events such as the French revolution that lead to commoners gathering together and fighting injustice was the invention of the press. Information was able to reach many, and the corrupt leaders did not control those running the presses. The writers of the releases understood their role not only to inform the public and making them aware of corruption, but to remind them of their role in shaping their own fate and that of their country.
So, thank you, Ralph Surette. We need more of this to remind all Canadians that it`s not ``rude to ask when the buck last stopped at a minister, how civil servants became fall guys or how watchdogs lost their bark,`` and that we have the power to stop ``the manipulation of an inconvenient Parliament (sliding) by with the same ease as the piece-by-piece deconstruction of democracy."
Both bring out similar concerns:
Indeed, the Harper government merely gets worse: more controlling, angry, manipulative, contemptuous of Parliament, more suspicious of its own civil service - and more incompetent, in its Bush/Cheney way, on anything touching foreign affairs. It also represents a minority of Canadians. - Surette
Coldly cynical and conveniently effective, the advantage tilts dramatically to the ruling party. Sharing only favourable factoids and fearing no challenge from an opposition frozen outside the loop, Harper, sounding like a U.S. president, speaks directly to the people over the heads of MPs, Parliament and, should the need arise - as it did during the coalition crisis - even the Governor General.
We are witnessing institutions crumbling under the weight of assumed personal power. After decades of whittling away the principles, precedents and even laws limiting their manoeuvring room, prime ministers are now free to do as they please, at least until voters next make their mark. - Travers
Both provide examples of Harper`s contempt of Parliament, and his refusal to be open and transparent with the public.
However, Travers and Surette come to different conclusions.
Out there, where the undecided and skeptics are kept at arm's length, Ottawa's secrecy culture isn't a kitchen table worry. Out there it would be rude to ask when the buck last stopped at a minister, how civil servants became fall guys or how watchdogs lost their bark. Out there, if Conservatives have it figured right, the manipulation of an inconvenient Parliament will slide by with the same ease as the piece-by-piece deconstruction of democracy. - Travers
The "issue of governance" is how to get rid of it - and what to replace it with. Although the Harper government has managed repeatedly to work its way up to the 40 per cent range in the polls, considered majority country by the pollsters, as soon as the cameras focus on that fact, something blows up and the lead sinks like a stone. The problem is that when the cameras turn to the Liberals, they sink like a stone as well...The Liberals will have another shot at it at the next election. If they fail again, then something will really have to be done. Enough international humiliation and enough scorpions. - Surette
Travers seems to have already buried the public`s ability to play their role in a democracy and force chage, while Surette fans our angry embers, telling us with his closing words that something will have to be done if the politicians don`t oust this abominable government. There is little question that Surette is calling to us, the citizens of Canada.
That`s good journalism. Respect for readers, not afraid to shake us up, not afraid to opposr government.
The turning point in events such as the French revolution that lead to commoners gathering together and fighting injustice was the invention of the press. Information was able to reach many, and the corrupt leaders did not control those running the presses. The writers of the releases understood their role not only to inform the public and making them aware of corruption, but to remind them of their role in shaping their own fate and that of their country.
So, thank you, Ralph Surette. We need more of this to remind all Canadians that it`s not ``rude to ask when the buck last stopped at a minister, how civil servants became fall guys or how watchdogs lost their bark,`` and that we have the power to stop ``the manipulation of an inconvenient Parliament (sliding) by with the same ease as the piece-by-piece deconstruction of democracy."
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