Friday 5 December 2008

An excellent resource on the record of the Harper Conservatives

start [DokuWiki]


Canada may be the first industrialized country to fall into political
crisis as a result of the global economic recession. Could this crisis
involve the suspension of our democratic institutions?




So here's the story so far:




In the last parliament Harper was a bully, pushing around opposition parties and forcing them to support his agenda.




The Harper Government introduced a new culture of secrecy and
centralized control. No more press conferences, and Cabinet Ministers
are muzzled




Harper broke his own election law by calling the last election.




Attempted to bankrupt the opposition parties by introducing a motion to eliminate voter subsidies to political parties. Debate on Party Financing




Attempts to dehumanize Quebec sovereigntists. Debate on including the Bloc Quebecois in the coalition




Demonizes the opposition. Debate on the Ethics/Constitutionality of Coalition-Forming




In this light, perhaps proroguing Parliament should be viewed as a
dictatorship in function, since the PMO would remain in power and in
control of the Government while the opposition is shut out and
Parliament closed. Debate on the Ethics/Constitutionality of Prorogation




This may be the end of the Harper reign. The Conservatives want power
and as long as Harper could deliver, they supported him, even if it
meant biting their tongue about some of the more outrageous moves. But
he blew it - he misjudged the opposition and the troops will turn on
him just like they did to Kim Campbell when she blew it with the “face”
ads. Hatred is not a family value, but it characterizes a lot of
Conservative politics.


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