Harper's Contradictioning Views

First off, I hope that everyone had a happy Christmas and that you are all looking forward to the New Year :)

I'm currently listening to an interview between Stephen Harper and CTV's Steve Murphy (found here, http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=48407586) in which he says (among a lot of other things that will be discussed) "there's a lot of attention these days to the shenanigans on Parliament Hill" which I thought was a very good term for all the nonsense he's created by suspending parliament... except I believe he's probably talking about the proposed coalition government again.

Harper's Tories unleashed a smear campaign after the suspension of parliament accusing the proposal of being "undemocratic", that the coalition would "overturn the results of the election" (said again in his interview), that the Liberals and the NDP were aligned with the separatist Bloc Quebecois [insinuating that the BQ and the separatists in Quebec will win in the end] and that the opposition was secretly aligned with Satan. Okay, the last one was my own creation, but Harper did set out to demonize the opposition and turn support away from them. It didn't help the Liberals that the leader they had was probably the most unpopular leader they've had in the past... forever... and that he's better off forgotten (what was his name again?)


But I've gotten off topic. Let's go back to Harper's position on this coalition government.

Harper said on December 1st, before suspending parliament, that "[The Conservative] party will never consider a coalition with the Bloc Québecois". (http://www.liberal.ca/story_15511_e.aspx) Strong words, right?
I find it very interesting that the Prime Minister is so dead set against this coalition, since he's supported coalitions in the past. Surprised? Disbelieving? Let's go back to 2004, when Stevie wrote a certain letter to then Governor-General, Adrienne Clarkson, insinuating that the opposition was willing to make a coalition to replace then Prime Minister Paul Martin. Remember that? Well, I don't, since I was very young then, but I've read a lot about it, which is almost as good...
Let's take a look at the letter:
_________________________________________________________________
September 9, 2004
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson,
C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor General
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A1

Excellency,

As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government’s program.

We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House [emphasis mine], have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined [emphasis mine], to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority [emphasis mine].

Your attention to this matter is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

Gilles Duceppe, M.P. Leader of the Bloc Quebecois

Jack Layton, M.P. Leader of the New Democratic Party
___________________________________________________________________

(This letter can be found here:http://www.liberal.ca/story_15511_e.aspx or pretty much anywhere else on the net devoted to politics. I encourage you to look it up.)

Now, let's consider the points of emphasis that I have italicized, and look at their applications today, shall we?
"[The opposition parties] who together constitute a majority in the House [of Commons]"
The same is true today; the opposition parties (the Liberals, the NDP, and the Bloc Quebecois) constitute together a majority in the House of Commons. From this point of view, the transfer of power from a minority Conservative government to a majority of the House of Commons is hardly undemocratic, but is rather a sound democratic move.

"...This should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all your options before exercising your constitutional authority"
Here, Stevie reminds the Governor General that, in the event of a dissolution of Parliament, she is allowed to meet with the opposition leaders and ask if they are capable of forming a coalition government. This is a perfectly legal move and is allowed by Canada's supreme law, the constitution. Here, he isn't talking about a coalition being undemocratic; he's proposing one himself!

Any of this making any sense or ringing any bells?

Let's take another look at that smear campaign now. Harper's letter makes much of what he is saying sound like major hypocrisy, no? After all, things haven't changed (from a constitutional perspective, anyway) from 2004. Coalition government is still legal.

The fact of the matter is, Harper is setting out to try and scare Canadians. He and his supporters are using what I like to call "power words" to shock the public. "Power words" in my use of the term are words that any individual can use to inflate an issue and divert attention from the message of another individual. In this case, it's on a much grander scale. We're being bamboozled. Here are a few of those power words: Coup, undemocratic, overthrow, separatist, backdoor, unfair. The "power words" concept can be applied to sentences too, as in: "they are trying to overturn the election", which is one I've heard a lot recently out of the mouths of Conservatives.

What are they trying to divert attention from?

They are trying to divert attention from the controversy of their proposed "fall economic update" which would have eliminated public funding for political parties and prevented public workers from going on strike. I won't go into detail about the update, that topic is discussed at length in one of my earlier notes (Parliament Makes Me Angry, or, my first note found at the bottom of the page) but let's consider this: Prime Minister Harper knew that the entire world was going into a recession. He knew that all the other G8 nations were trying to head off the crisis and were injecting billions of dollars into their economies in the form of economic stimulus packages. He knew that many countries would run deficits due to the fact they would be injecting additional money into spending on projects such as road building and infrastructure work, which aim at providing their citizens with jobs and putting money into the economy and also working on projects that need attention. Knowing all this, he still failed to present any kind of effective aid for the Canadian economy or our major industries; he instead proposed to eliminate his opposition and ban public workers from striking.

Doesn't that strike you as somewhat undemocratic?

But according to Stevie, we want this.

The fact of the matter, the fact that Stephen Harper is desperately trying to divert your attention from, is this one: He has failed the people of Canada, he has failed to do anything to try and lessen the impact of the recession that we are now in, and he has failed to address the issues by instead attacking his opposition and causing a major controversy that is founded on flawed logic, bogus arguments, and political paradoxes that he himself has created.Leadership is about responsibility and being Prime Minister should be about being honest and open. These attacks on the coalition government calling them undemocratic are lies and contradict what is legal and deemed democratic in our constitution. Harper is not above the constitution.

It's important to remember this.

All that being said, I'd like to announce that so far, the United Steel Workers of Canada and UNITE HERE are co-operating a great deal with us on our planned rally on January the 18th. We are hopefully going to have anywhere between 1,000 to 2,000 people so far thanks to effective co-operation with our friends in these unions. The rally will be held at 1 in the afternoon and... we're not sure when it will end yet. If you are as outraged as I am, if you feel, as I do, that Canadians are being wronged by the Harper government, if you would like to be a voice of change for the betterment of Canada and would like to show your support, I would ask you to stand and march with us on that day. More information will be forthcoming for all of us.

Take your stand, Canada. These issues and their outcomes are going to make (or break) Canada in the coming few years. It's up to us to ensure that we as a nation pull through this crisis in the most democratic fashion there is.