Indictment of Harper government

The following is taken from Aaron Wherry's latest blog post, over at Macleans. Normally, I don't quote so much, but this is beautifully expressed.

In a simplistic reading, our present situation is a direct result of what happened last Thursday. That day, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty stood in the House of Commons and delivered his government’s fiscal and economic update. Presented as a national plan at a time of profound economic crisis, it included promises to eliminate subsidies to political parties, tamper with the public service’s right to strike, and fiddle with the system through which women are able to seek equal pay for their work.

It seemed designed only to corner the opposition. So challenged, the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois found themselves with common cause and interest. Enter the coalition. And under threat of forced exit, the Prime Minister retreated to Rideau in search of reprieve.

That is the short version.

In the longview, it is the latest chapter in what is now an epic and troubling story.

In-and-Out. Chuck Cadman. Afghanistan. Torture. Linda Keen. Arthur Carty. Marc Mayrand. Dalton McGuinty. InSite. Listeriosis. Crime. Science. Academia. Elections Canada. Omar Khadr. Gordon O’Connor. Maxime Bernier. Canadian soldiers. The Military Police Complaints Commission. The ethics committee. The press gallery. CAIRS. Access to information. Notaleader.ca. The federal budget. The economy. The recession.

The emblem of this government has become a furious male face screaming indignation in the arena of our democracy. At every turn, the response has been to obfuscate, manipulate and demonize. Everything has been opportunity to divide. Truth has been tangential. Ethics and morals have been deemed quaint. The Game has superseded all. Short-term political advantage is all that’s mattered. Nothing worth doing if it is not in one’s own personal interest.

Each time, it was possible to believe it wouldn’t happen again. But inevitably there was another low. And while individually these moments might seem relatively minor—at least when compared with the great political and human challenges of our time—taken together it is a dispiriting collage.

I had an email exchange with a friend who wrote that "they (all) remind me of boys in a school yard and the one-up-manship that happens there. I'm really sick of hearing about their antics." She wondered if this fiasco might send more people back to the polls.

To which I countered: "Am sick of this system. And am sick of the lot of them for protecting their chances to plunk their partisan backsides into House of Commons seats rather than protecting the right of the people to be democratically represented."

My friend is equally as disgusted with the system.

If the Liberal party truly cared about Canada's democracy rather than its own interests, it would i) allow each of its members to vote for their leader and executive and ii) begin a citizen process toward changing our voting system to one of proportional representation, a system determined by Canadians in full consultation and by referendum.

As this latest fiasco has proven, if nothing else has, proportional representation is urgently needed in this country.

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Like him or not, Dion is the problem

Whether one likes Dion or not (and I have respect for him), he has got to go. Like yesterday, literally.

The voters, rightly or wrongly, never warmed to the man. For that reason alone, Dion has to go and as quickly as possible. May is too late.

Dion is not a good communicator and doesn't do media events well - at all. Yesterday's well-crafted speech came across poorly due to its presentation, which is a darn shame. In terms of substance, it was vastly superior to Harper's. Granted, not all of the poor presentation was due to Dion; the video quality also was poor.

People talk about the Conservative Party really being all about Harper. His leadership. Well, when voters talk about the Liberal Party, in the end - after discussion of Martinites vs. Chretianites, sponsorship, party disorganization, lack of grassroots - it always comes down to Dion. And his leadership.

The LPC needs, crucially, someone who can recapture the imaginations of the Canadian public, someone who can solidly portray competence. Dion can't do that. Nor, do I think, can Iggy (who gives most lefties the creeps) or Rae or LeBlanc.

There must be a LPC emergency measure which could i) have the duration of the leadership race shortened, ii) allow all LPC members to vote for the leader (one member, one vote), rather than insisting on running a costly convention at which only people backed by money can attend and vote, iii) or find some other way to put a new leader in place quickly.

It would be ideal if a new leader could be in place by January 26th, when Parliament resumes.

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UPDATE: Prorogue. Conditional? Woodstock trip cancelled

That's the word from Kady over at ITQ and just confirmed on CBC TV (11:15 ET), the Woodstock trip has been cancelled.

Suggests to me that the GG has either decided to allow prorogue but with limits or that she's suspending her decision and will see the Lib and NDP leaders this afternoon. It's known that Dion and Layton have requested a meeting. Also, Lib and NDP MPs have been signing a document this morning (and yesterday) avowing their lack of confidence in the government.

Am wondering if the delay at Rideau Hall might partly be due to Harper & Co. trying to draft a response. In other words, perhaps he's not still meeting with the GG, but instead is elsewhere in the building putting his strategy together.

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Liberal-led coalition? Some doubts

Having a coalition government rather than one run by the Harper Conservatives is by far preferable. However, I've doubts, which are growing since the tape fiasco yesterday, about the ability of the Liberals to run their own party let alone a government.

Too bad the Bloc aren't federalist. Oh, to have Gilles Duceppe as PM! (Have never liked Layton.)

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UPDATED: Government has less power to act when Parliament prorogued - Dec 3 Liberal letter to GG says same

UPDATE: Here's a media release from the Liberals, with a full copy of a letter they sent today to the GG re prorogation.

So Ned Franks, of Queen's University, states. This situation could seriously hamper the government's ability to act should a serious financial situation occur - as might be expected during the next six weeks.

Governments retain many powers during periods when parliament is prorogued, including the power to make appointments to the courts, boards of Crown corporations, make regulatory changes and sign contracts...

The government gives up ... the ability to spend the people's money not previously approved... That means the government could promise an economic stimulus package, but could not start spending the money until Parliament approves a spending bill such as would occur after a budget...

Given the current political crisis where Stephen Harper is seeking to avoid a vote of non-confidence, the government could find it has lost other powers as well, such as the power to make appointments.

Franks says Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean has the prerogative to refuse to approve anything other than routine matters as would be the case during an election campaign.

"She might say she will treat it as an election because she might say she is not satisfied that Harper enjoys the confidence of the House of Commons," said Franks.

"There is no precedence for doing that but there is also no precedence for a prime minister facing a likely to succeed vote of non-confidence asking for prorogation."

"A government with little power other than make promises is not an ideal situation at a time the economy appears headed into a deepening recession," says Bank of Montreal economist Douglas Porter.

And it's not the timing of a stimulus package that worries him most.

"I'm more concerned if an unforeseen storm blows up over the next two months and we've hit with some many surprises and shocks, the odds of that are too high for comfort," he said.

"What if they had to bail out a big industry?"

The GG's role seems never to have been so crucial as it is now.

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Con panic unzips the zipped

Having the Harper Conservatives and their grassroots running scared is exactly what the doctor ordered for Canada's health. Harper is losing control of the message, despite the talking points coming down the Conservative machine's sewage pipe.

When the neocons get upset, when they get angry - as progressives like me have been angry for sooooo long - their mouths get loose. All kinds of detritus previously withheld starts spilling out. We need to keep the pressure on and as we do, we'll likely witness Canada's own neocon implosion similar to that which happened south of the border.

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BCers - 7pm - Light a single candle

If you live west of the rockies, remember to light a single candle and place in a street-facing window. Leave it there for 20 minutes. Do it tonight and tomorrow night. So suggests the Progressive Coalition campaign. Candle-lighting events are just some of the things they've planned.

We can all light a candle, right?

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YES, we voted for a coalition government ...

by virtue of having voted for candidates - NDP and Green - who were NOT in cahoots with Harper Conservatives.

NO, we did not vote for a Parliament to be run by Harper Conservatives.

NO, we did not vote for Harper Conservatives to pull political tricks intended to advance their far right agenda.

NO, we did not vote to have our party of choice deprived of the $1.95 to which our votes entitled them. This crass political ploy is an affront not just to political parties but especially to low-income voters.

NO, we did not vote for Harper Conservatives to reverse pay equity advances or to restrict the right of federal government workers to strike.

YES, Daphne and I voted with the hope that Canada's Members of Parliament would finally get their collective acts together and GOVERN with CANADA's - not their own partisan - interests in mind.

YES, Daphne and I, being among the 62% majority who chose other than Harper Conservatives, voted to have MPs of the opposition parties work together to make Parliament and Canada's government work. If that means they must defeat the Conservative government, then ...

YES, we voted for an accord which would see the Liberals and NDP forming a coalition government, with one or more other parties. In fact I wrote a post on October 14th demanding they do this very thing.

BUT, the coalition government truly representative of the voters' choice is not the one agreed to by the Liberals and NDP, with support from the Bloc. Had our voting system been one of proportional representation system, things would have looked very different.

ETA on Jan 10/09: And we've a strong aversion to Ignatieff and the process which crowned him. Witness Iggy's handling of the Gaza invasion and the support he's getting from the National Post. He and Harper may have different brand names but the product ingredients appear virtually identical.

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Coalition-backers have gotta love this

Really, we do.

And thanks to the Ottawa Sun for the heads-up!

A Facebook group called "Stephen Harper's Last Day as Prime Minister" was gaining steam today with almost 8,000 members by 3 p.m. ET.

The site calls for Canadians to take part in a "goodbye party" for the Conservative leader Monday, Dec. 8 — the date tentatively set for the opposition to topple the government.

The dress code listed on the site for the event? "Sweater vests for all."

I assume, cuz it's not stated, that the party location is Canada-wide.

Now I've gotta find me a sweater vest...

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Letters to Editors

The Greens have added a great site, Defend Our Democracy, which includes a nifty form for sending letters to the editors of various media.

It looks like they've set it so that L2Es go to a list of media addresses, which is great. In other words, there's no need for the user to look up their local papers' addresses or the addresses of national media. You just fill out the form, click the Contact the Media button and presto! off it goes.

My letter:

Dear Editor,

I'm among the 62% of voters who voted other than Conservative. That makes me one of the majority.

It's about time Canada's opposition parties showed some backbone and stood up against the bullying tactics of the Conservative government. And I'm delighted that they're finally taking action by forming an accord to put in place a coalition government.

Canadians must not stand by while Stephen Harper plays political tricks during a global economic crisis which has reached Canada and is resulting in massive layoffs.

Sincerely,

The form includes a generic message, but you can construct your own. Most media outlets require L2Es to be under 250 words.

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Floor Crossings

Wouldn't surprise me if some former Progressive Conservatives were thinking seriously about walking across the aisle. They have to have been dismayed by Harper's controlling style and mismanagement of Canada's government. This latest fiasco could well be the impetus they've been looking for to justify making that walk.

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Photo which paints 1,000 words

It's this one:

Harper & Company were extremely cruel to Dion. It's about time Stephen Harper and his stooges were subjected to public humiliation - only in Harper's case and not Dion's, such humiliation was well earned.

Don't like to see anyone hurting, but bully Harper was unrelenting in his bashing of the Liberal leader. In this case, turnabout is indeed fair play.

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Ooooohhhh... Privy Council Office Action!

From this report, signs of Ottawa bureaucrats taking this coalition thingie seriously!

The Privy Council Office has asked all departments to begin preparing transition books for a new government.

Gawd, have felt despair about this country for so long, am having trouble coping with this new-fangled emotion called hope. What a delightful dilemma!

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Poll Alert! - Updated

UPDATE: Sneaky, sneaky. It's only 2:00 pm out here and the TC has changed the poll. Guess the editors, whose paper is owned by Canwest, wanted to stop the poll before its results reflected an opinion contrary to said owners.

At the Victoria Times-Colonist.

What would be worse for Canada: a Bloc/ND/Liberal coalition or another election?

Love the negative framing, don't you? 'Tis intended to confuse methinks.

Results so far:

Election - 40.3%
Coalition - 59.7%

Go vote! (for 'Election', in case you're wondering.)

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Coalition Deal Reached? YES!

National Newswatch is reporting that a deal has been reached - duration: 2.5 years.

NDP to receive 25 per cent of cabinet seats, however, NDP will not receive Finance or Deputy PM positions. Bloc will prop up government.

More details to follow. And here they are, from the CBC.

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Backpedaling: No guarantee of later forward pedaling

... and over the very same ground.

The HarperCons have lied time and time and time again. So what if they're now backpedaling? First on the party funding cuts, then on federal public servants' right to strike, and now (rumour has it) on pay equity?

With these BushCons, there are NO guarantees that they won't bring these issues back - openly or otherwise - should the Opposition coalition back down.

They are masters of "truthiness"™. Their lying to the Canadian people and bully boy Harper's mercurial moods have finally done this government in.

These neocons are not credible. NOTHING they say can be taken as truth.

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NDP, Lib Websites Updated - Goodale Media Releases

Looks like the coalition is getting its act together quickly, both on the ground and electronically.

Both the NDP and Liberal websites have been updated - haven't checked the Bloc's. (Somebody?)

Also, the last two media releases from the Libs have Ralph Goodale as spokesperson. A sign of future new role for him? As in PM?

I'd prefer that, despite my having liked Dion. The optics of having him as PM just wouldn't play well since the electorate never did take to him.

This is an interesting comparison, courtesy of the Libs' November 28th release.

Amount of fiscal stimulus recently announced by:

United States : $1,859 billion

China : $726 billion

United Kingdom : $518 billion

Japan : $341 billion

Germany : $264 billion

France : $93 billion

Canada (2008 Fiscal Update): -4.3 billion

Wait to go Harper!

Gawd, it feels like an election all over again. I'm pumped!

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Budget Jan 27 - Proroque 'til then?

It's reported that Flaherty will table a budget on January 27th.

"We'll present a complete, comprehensive budget," [Flaherty] said. But his message was muddy when it came to what kind of approach the government will take to spending to stimulate the economy...

Michael Ignatieff said he heard nothing in Mr. Flaherty's announcement that would dispel coalition talks by the opposition.

"...I didn't hear anything in Mr. Flaherty's statement that backs us off this ledge," he told the CTV program.

My suspicion is that Harper will proroque Parliament until then.

The issue, to me, is not WHEN the HarperCons will table their budget, but WHAT it will contain. With so many lies coming out of these Bush-cons' mouths, nothing they say now has any credibility. Ergo, neither will any hints as to what will be contained in their budget.

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Conservative grassroots turning away in disgust

Wow. In response to a blog post over at Macleans this morning is this, from one Jerry Jackson, written at 4:36 am:

I donated 1000 dollars to the Conservative Party of Canada this year, and 400 to my local campaign.

What has transpired in the last 72 hours has absolutely disgusted and disillusioned me. At the first Conservative Party Convention (in what seems like a lifetime ago), we were told, and told eachother that we would do it better than the other guys. Accountable government, no tricks, no slimy games, just good governance and a United Right.

We, the grassroots of the CPoC have told ourselves that the compromises in policy were simply a temporary condition necessary to achieve power.

We the grassroots of the CPoC told ourselves that the misgivings of this government in its campaign spending, were simply trumped up allegations, created by vengeful officials at elections Canada and members of the left wing media.

We the grassroots of the CPoC turned a blind eye when government grew under Harper, not shrank as promised.

We of the grassroots watched with awe as the facade finally came crashing down this thursday, and the people we placed in power, were exposed as lying, conniving, inept opportunists, just as bad as the people we removed from power 3 years ago.

I will never donate or volunteer on a campaign so long as Stephen Harper is the leader of the Conservative Party. We have given him four elections, and he has been incapable of inspiring Canadians, passing any of the policies we developed within the party, or taken one step to dismantle the corrupt and bloated institutions of our socialist system.

I will be mailing my card back to Conservative Party headquarters tomorrow.

Dissension among the Conservative grassroots is NOT what Harper & Co. can afford. Those grassroots are the lifeblood of the party - and its key funding source.

Might the above comment be evidence of further rumblings in the rank and file? If so, it could well turn out that the CPC of the future, if Harper persists in hanging on, will be in as much need of that $1.75 per vote as the other parties.

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Progressive Coalition Best Anti-Depressant

Truly, this coalition talk, if followed by the real deal, beats any anti-depressant pill, hands down. At least it does for me and likely for other previously disillusioned, disenfranchised, progressive political activists.

Have been in a blue funk ever since the October 14th election. After that fiasco of an election, I'd decided to join the ranks of the non-voting electorate, this after forty years of faithfully going to the polls and doing my darndest to help my party of choice.

Now, it looks as though things may be turning around, that my vote - and those of the other 62.4% of voters, the ones who DIDN'T form the 37.6% who voted for Canada's neocons - finally may count, that we might get a government which properly represents the choices of the electorate. That we may, in fact, get a Canada we can be proud of again.

US President-elect Barack Obama talked about hope. A Liberal-NDP progressive coalition government, supported by the Bloc, has the potential to engender hope, Canadian-style.

That alone could give a boost to the economy, as we, the voting majority, receive a sorely-needed dose of optimism.

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