Liberal Party - NOW will you support proportional representation?

Pollsters and others seemed to predict the results for the NDP, Bloc and Green parties fairly closely. But, no one predicted the fall of the Liberals as far as they went (and thus the rise of the Conservatives into majority status).

The Liberals lost a lot of seats in the 2011 election. But, they still received a fair amount of the popular vote.
They won 34 seats.
With proportional representation, they would have won closer to 59 seats.

Compare seats won vs proportional number of seats (according to the proportion of the populer vote they received):
(numbers have been slightly adjusted to round and to total 308)

Conservatives 166 - 124
NDP 102 - 95
Liberals 34 - 59
Bloc 4 - 18
Green 1 - 12

Not only would the opposition parties have more seats (except for the 2nd party), but their 60% of the votes would be fairly represented in the number of seats in Parliament.

Conservative senators passing bad bills that the Liberals let through in the House of Commons

Conservative senators bulldoze through worrying bills - Hill Queeries
We are hearing a lot about what the Conservative senators are doing now that they have a virtual majority in the Senate. But half of what they are doing that people are upset about is passing bad bills that the Liberals allowed to pass in the House of Commons (either by voting to support the bill, or abstaining/not showing up).

It is one thing to complain about a bill, that you backed (like the Climate bill that all the opposition parties supported fully), that had the support of the majority of the House of Commons, being shot down by the Conservative senators. But it's another thing to complain about the Conservative senators passing bills that were supported by a majority of the House of Commons (Conservatives and Liberals).

Now, maybe if the Liberals in the House actually voted against bills they did not agree with in the House we would not have this situation.

Something to think about next election.

Lib Bloggers come out swinging against the NDP

Over the past few weeks, I've seen numerous Liberal bloggers attacking the NDP and Jack Layton. The attacks have seemed very harsh and personal. I've been keeping up with the news and I know the facts around the party positions on the gun registry. And, I see that the level and number of the attacks don't seem to be supported by the facts around the issue.

The NDP must be doing something right - like trying to improve the gun registry instead of killing it - or voting as their constituents wish.

A lot of Liberal bloggers have been taking the NDP and Jack Layton to task for their stance on the gun registry. The general stance of Jack and the NDP is supportive of the registry. The Liberal bloggers seem oblivious to the NDP's aim to introduce legislation to fix the registry so that citizens, and opposition MPs opposed to it, can find it more reasonable and thus support the registry.

These Liberal bloggers are being very hypocritical when they say that - oh, here goes the NDP supporting the Conservatives. They forget who has been voting or abstaining in order to prop up the Conservatives since Harper's bunch first became the government - the Liberals. The Liberals have undeniably given the Conservatives a virtual majority government all this time - voting for or abstaining from voting on Conservative bills that the Liberals themselves didn't like.

The NDP allows free votes on private members bills. They always have. This allows MPs to vote for what their constituents want and with their conscience. The NDP generally votes as a whole with their conscience on most issues. The gun registry, as is, is opposed by most people in rural areas for some good reasons. And NDP MPs represent 12 of these rural ridings. So, unless the registry is improved, as the NDP proposes, these MPs will most likely vote to repeal the registry.

Now, just imagine if the Liberal members of parliament actually voted as their constituents wanted them to and with their conscience - we would have got rid of the Conservative government years ago. Instead, the Liberals went against the wishes of their constituents and their conscience time and again for many votes over many years, and, as a result, Canada continues to suffer under a Conservative Harper government. The Liberals have been punished by their constituents and have dropped and stagnated in the polls (losing a significant number of seats last election, and not looking good if an election were held today). There are many people who used to vote Liberal who have decided to not vote for them next time.

Do the Liberals think that by attacking the NDP that they will win more seats in NDP ridings? Unlikely. And especially unlikely in those rural NDP ridings. This seems a poor strategy for a party that has lost most of the seats it has lost to the Conservatives.

The Liberals can attack the NDP all it wants on the gun registry issue but it won't get them anywhere because people who may have supported the Liberals, or have sometimes thought they might support the Liberals, won't vote for a party that has let down its constituents the way this Liberal party has on numerous issues for years.

See also:
Accidental Deliberations - On Appeals To Conscience

Why do Lib bloggers hold democracy in such contempt?

The NDP split - democracy as it should be

Liberals and Bloc agree to watered-down Afghan document deal

Deal reached on Afghan documents, minus NDP - thestar.com
The watered-down deal also is a historic moment as it concedes power from Parliament to the Prime Minister. This is a very dangerous move on the part of the Liberals and Bloc, and it is very bad for our Canadian democracy.

OTTAWA— After weeks of talks, the Liberals and Bloc have signed a
deal with the government on a process to vet and release documents about
Afghan prisoner torture.

But the NDP refused and walked away
from the process, saying it’s far too secretive and won’t reveal what
the government knew about prisoner torture.

With the Liberals and Bloc onside the deal will go ahead, but the NDP
says it will not uncover the truth about the detainee issue.

“We
don’t think this process is adequate and won’t get at the truth. That’s
why we are saying there should be a full public inquiry,” NDP MP Jack
Harris said Tuesday.

...

Harris said the NDP believed there was an agreement in principle that
MPs would have access to all documents and that they would decide what
would not be released for reasons of national security.

"We now
have a document that is so narrow and so constrained ... we just think
the process is not open enough, not transparent enough and doesn't get
at the truth and doesn't honour the Speaker's ruling," he said.

The NDP Press release:

Harper still intent on hiding the truth about torture, says Layton

OTTAWA – New Democrats will not sign the Harper government’s latest
proposal on access to Afghan detainee documents because it means
Canadians will never learn the truth about torture in Afghanistan, says
New Democrat Leader Jack Layton.

“The proposal denies the rights of Parliament, allows the government
to hijack the process and doesn’t live up to spirit or terms of the
Speaker’s ruling. The other parties were willing to accept compromises
that we believe would prevent the truth from coming out. This is very
much like the Blue Ribbon panel on EI that the Conservatives talked the
Liberals into last June. And what happened there? Absolutely nothing.
The Conservatives played the Liberals for dupes all summer long.”

In April, House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken ordered the
government to negotiate an agreement with the opposition parties that
would give them access to the documents. On May 14, the parties reached
an agreement in principle. Since then, the government has been dragging
its feet in negotiations on the terms of the document releases and
insisting on conditions that New Democrats consider unacceptable.

The Conservatives’ latest proposal:

• excludes legal documents and cabinet records from review, contrary
  to the intent of the Speaker’s ruling;
• allows a single member of the committee to refer all the documents
  to the panel of arbiters for review, tying up the process endlessly.

In the U.S., the Department of Justice advised President George Bush
that he could ignore international law when it came to the torture of
detainees. That advice was made public.

“But the agreement the Conservatives are proposing here would make
that impossible. We believe Canadians have a right to know who the
government is listening to, and the arguments they are making,” said Mr.
Layton. “The Conservatives want to conceal the truth about the Afghan
detainee affair. The NDP will not participate in this dishonest charade.
We now believe the only satisfactory path to obtaining the truth is
through a full judicial inquiry.”

See also:
Reality Check: Speaker's ruling vs. Conservative travesty

Harper intends on breaking the law again

Harper digs in over Afghan documents - thestar.com
Evidence has shown that the Conservative government knowingly ordered our troops to hand over prisoners in Afghanistan into the hands of people who were torturing the prisoners. This is a war crime.

Now, Harper and his Conservative government, is saying they won't hand over the documents relating to this, even after the Speaker of the House made his ruling on the issue. It has been made quite clear that by not handing over the un-censored documents, Harper and his government will be in contempt of parliament - which is a serious crime too. It is a crime against the people of Canada and our democracy.

I say lock them up and throw away the key.

Contemptible Conservatives record of obstruction

Dose of Democracy for Harper’s Obstructivist Conservatives | Conserving Memory

Excerpt:

To finish things off Milliken gave the Conservative government two
weeks to work with parliament to comply with the document requests.
According to an article
in the Toronto Star⁴ (27 April 2010)

“If they don’t, the Conservative government could stand
charged with contempt of Parliament and the supreme law of the land.”

Opposition considering Censure of the Tories

Censure Tories over detainee handling, MPs urged - thestar.com
Excerpt:

Mendes, one of the country’s top constitutional scholars, said
Parliament’s power exceeds that of the various national security laws
that have been used to censor government memos and diplomatic cables
describing who was warned about possible war crimes violations going
back to early 2006, when Canadian soldiers moved to Kandahar province.

That leaves MPs with two paths forward: they can ask the Supreme
Court of Canada to rule on their right to access the information, a
process that could take years; or they can invoke a rarely used power to
censure, expel and even imprison any member of the House of Commons for
contempt.

I say, throw Harper and his gang of crooks in jail so parliament can get on with its work.

Canadian electoral districts now more unequal than ever

Unequal votes threatening Canadian democracy, study finds - The Globe and Mail
Excerpt:
According to the study, if Ontario was properly represented in the
House, it would have 117 seats, rather than the current 106. British
Columbia would increase from 36 to 40, while Alberta would have 31
rather than 28.

If the opposition does not force an election, then the will have given up a lot more power

Travers: They used to behead kings for what Harper is doing - thestar.com
If the opposition parties do not vote to hold Harper in contempt for not releasing the Afghanistan-related documents regarding the torture scandal, then they are basically handing over their power to the prime minister's office and saying that they are answerable to the prime minister and not the other way around (as it is/is supposed to be).

Excellent summary of the issues around Prorogation 2 by the Harper government

by the Real News
http://www.acreativerevolution.ca/node/2326

Correction: They state that about 5,000 people showed up at the Jan 23, 2010 rally in Toronto. Actually, about 10,000 were there.

Note: one of the people they spoke to said that this issue would all blow over by March when Parliament re-opens. However, the protest movement is still growing and Harper's conservatives are still dropping in the polls. I don't think this will blow over. I think it is blowing up in Harper's face.

Protests against the Harper government continue

Unprecedented abuse of power by Canadian PM Harper spawns
...
Further national and local protests are
expected in the coming weeks, including a torch relay planned to
coincide with the Vancouver Winter Olympics. A new forum site, http://noprorogue.whyweprotest.net was created
on the day of the national demonstrations to support the efforts of
protesters around the country. In addition to providing a platform for
sharing and preserving records of the January 23rd protests, these
forums will give participants an opportunity to organize further events,
discuss concerns about the Prime Minister, and educate the public about
the threat to Canadian democracy on a national and international scale.


Contact
noprorogue at : noprorogue.whyweprotest@gmail.com
Visit : http://noprorogue.whyweprotest.net

The main whistle-blower in the Afghan scandal having his legal funding halted

Diplomat-whistleblower says he faces government reprisal - thestar.com
First the Conservatives prorogue to run away from the demands for the documents in the Afghan Detainee Torture Scandal, then they stop the legal funding for the whistle blower in hopes that he will go away too.

Questions for the PM

Questions for proroguing PM - thestar.com
The Star published a decent set of questions for the PM to answer, including things like "When will you release the documents demanded by Parliament showing communications among officials about the risk of torture for detainees handed over by Canadian troops to Afghan custody?", and others covering if he will recall Parliament earlier than planed, cutting off funding to KAIROS, how his GST Tax cut has helped create the deficit (the Star should have included the larger corporate tax cuts here as they are the largest contributor to the deficit, along with the mis-managed recession spending), unemployment, environment, and pensions.

This is a good starting point. It's unfortunate that Harper has prorogued Parliament because these are some of the urgent questions and issues that would be covered in Parliament were it up and running. So far Harper and members of his party and the MSM for the most part have brushed off questions about recalling Parliament and about the rising numbers of concerned Canadians speaking out and showing their disagreement with the prorogation of Parliament. it will be interesting to see if Harper and his team and the MSM continue to ignore the growing unrest in Canada.

Typo in the Toronto Star?

Thousands protest the prorogue - thestar.com
In Toronto, the estimated 3,000-strong turnout briefly forced the closing of Yonge St.
Yesterday, police estimated that there were about 7,000 people at the Toronto rally. Orgnizers estimated about 15,000. Other professionals estimated closer to 9,000 to 10,000.
The crowd in Ottawa was estimated about 3,000-4,5000.
Did the Star say 3,000 for Toronto by mistake? Or, are they lowering the numbers to make the rally look less than it was?

I was at the rally. I would say it was much much bigger than 3,000. I've been to many large assemblies and concerts in my life and estimate it was about 10,000.

For more details on the rallies, with more accurate reporting on the numbers, see:
Anti-Prorogue Rallies across Canada - Jan, 2010

Addendum

Any responsible media organization would find out how many people showed up by talking to at least one professional source. For most things like this, the source is the police who are at the event. They estimated 7,000. One of the organizers made a good point that the total must have been 10,000 to 12,000 as he said that they only close off all of ... See MoreBay St if the crowd is over 10,000. So, by the time of the march, the crowd had grown larger (than the 7,000 the police initially estimated). We were there. We know that the march filled the street for many blocks - segments of the route on Yonge, Queen, Bay and Gerrard were all totally closed to traffic as we filled the streets for many blocks, spilling onto the sidewalks.

So, this begs the question - the Star must have got the number of at least 7,000 for the Toronto rally, so - why did they report much less? Either they got it mixed up with the Ottawa number, which was about 3,000, or, they want to downplay the rallies. Or, maybe it was both these reasons. Regardless, if they do publish a correction, it will be buried and un-noticed by most readers.

Reason for downplaying the rallies? They, like the other large media companies, are large corporations. And Harper gave large corporations many billions of dollars in tax decreases over the past few years. (So much so that we will now see a great reduction in services as a result). The Star does not want to bite the hand that feeds it.

Anti-Prorogue Rallies across Canada - Jan 23, 2010

TORONTO RALLY:
I got there at about 12:45 and Dundas Square was already full. I went upstairs across the street to a 3rd floor flower shop window and took a photo of the square. Within an hour there were many thousands more people. I wandered all around the square taking pictures and talking to people. Everyone seemed pretty excited and well-informed about the issues surrounding this prorogation by Harper.

Of the various big TV news stations/networks I only saw Global and CBC - no CTV. Maybe the CTV crew was there before 1pm and that is why they estimated the crowd was only 1,000 people (It must have been only 1,000 people around 12:30pm - half an hour before the rally began.)

It was a very peaceful and well-mannered protest rally.

There were people of all ages and political preference at the rally.

Just before we marched, we all sang the national anthem (about 10,000 Canadians singing the anthem together!). I don't think there are many other times I've ever felt more proud while singing our anthem than at the rally today.

Here are the photos I took at the Rally.

Here is a video of the protest march princesssparkle posted to Youtube.

Toronto rally video

Toronto march up Bay St video - 7 minutes long - gives you an idea of the numbers of people there.

http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/01/canadians_against_proroguing_parliament_protest_in_photos/

A headcount on the Toronto Rally - over 18,000 people

National Anthem video



OTHER REPORTS ON RALLIES ACROSS CANADA AND PHOTOS:
A follow-up by Judy Rebick (Judy Rebick is a Canadian  journalist, political activist, and feminist. She is currently the Canadian Auto Workers–Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University in Toronto.)
A great day for democracy in Canada
and video of her speech at the Toronto rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIQv6LlcFHI&annotation_id=annotation_151845&feature=iv

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/01/23/prorogue-protests.html

http://scottdiatribe.canflag.com/2010/01/23/my-call-the-anti-prorogue-rallies-are-a-success/

Patricia reported on the CAPP FB page: We met an old friend, retired pro cameramen, who stopped to watch: said his pro opinion was up to 10,000, minimum 5000 on the march in Toronto. Woo-hoo!
CTV: "There are so many demonstrators, they cannot fit inside Yonge-Dundas
Square. Police shut down Yonge Street between Queen Street and Dundas.

Justin Arjoon of CAPP(Toronto chapter) said Jan 24th of the Toronto Rally: Thank you all for showing up and providing your support to us. We estimate there were about 10-12 thousand people there (the square holds 7, we were over capacity, and they only shut down all of bay st if there's more than 10,000 people).

I read that Steve Pakin of TVO estimated that about 10,000 people were at the Toronto rally.

Photos by Todd Claydon on FB

Vote in the on-line CTV poll!

http://www.mediastyle.ca/2010/01/estimated-25000-canadians-rally-for-democracy/

http://www.sindark.com/2010/01/23/media-from-the-anti-prorogation-protests/

Trevor Strong performing The Wild Proroguer at the Ottawa rally.

Lots more photos from rallies

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/01/23/12587651.html#/news/canada/2010/01/23/pf-12587111.html

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=10580339&id=516195423&ref=mf&fbid=440592095423#/album.php?aid=370175&id=516195423

http://skinnydips.blogspot.com/2010/01/macleans-blog-toronto-anti-prorogation.html

http://www.flickr.com/groups/distinctlycanadian/pool/

The NoProrogue - Why We Protest site
http://noprorogue.whyweprotest.net/

NDP to push for reforms regarding prorogation of parliament

NDP propose restrictions on Harper’s powers | NDP
...
“Today I am announcing that the New Democrats will bring proposals for legislation to limit the power of prorogation so the Prime Minister cannot abuse it. The government should only prorogue Parliament on a vote in the House of Commons. This will inform the Governor General of the will of the majority, so that prorogation happens when it is needed – not simply when the Prime Minister feels like it.
“In five days, on January 25, we will be here on the Hill, ready to do the jobs Canadians elected us to do. We will have MPs on the job, here in Ottawa, but we’ll be fanning out across the country too. Teams of our MPs will visit ridings and talk to Canadians about EI and pensions, climate change and credit card protection, all the critical issues facing our country.
...

Opposition fights back on Prorogation

Opposition fights back on prorogation - thestar.com
Both the Liberal and NDP leaders are in support of the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament and what it stands for.

The Liberals are going to hold hearings, with key speakers who were silenced by Harper.

...

Opposition critics say the latest move was a deliberate attempt to muzzle a parliamentary committee’s probe into the treatment of Afghan detainees.

But Layton said today that the three opposition parties have agreed to continue their investigation unofficially with hearings scheduled to resume Feb. 3.

The prorogation also meant the end of more than 30 pieces of legislation. Parliament had been due to resume Jan. 25.

In a speech attended by NDP MPs and party supporters, Layton ripped Harper’s decision to suspend Parliament, accusing the prime minister of showing “disdain” for MPs and Canadians.

“With so many challenges facing Canada – job creation, climate change, the war in Afghanistan – Parliament must be able to do its work,” Layton said.

“The Prime Minister must be held to account,” he said.

Layton suggested that Harper may pay a political price for his decision to prorogue Parliament, extending a Christmas recess for MPs until Mar. 3.

“There’s been a real uprising of Canadians against this notion that you simply shut down Parliament whenever you feel like it as Prime Minister,” Layton said.

He said that NDP members will be active participants in cross-country rallies planned for this Saturday to protest the prorogation and called for a “new politics.”

“The new politics says there’s a better way forward – an end to secrecy and arrogance, the beginning of openness and accountability,” Layton said.
...

Responsible accountable government is worth defending

Goar: Parliament is broken, not worthless - thestar.com

...
Since Harper was first elected four years ago, he has systematically silenced inconvenient voices. He began with his own MPs and cabinet ministers – they can no longer speak without authorization. Next, he shut down parliamentary committees. Then he fired or cut short the mandates of independent public watchdogs. Then he turned on public servants who tried to sound the alarm. And now he has prorogued Parliament twice.

This may all seem distant and theoretical to you. How does it affect your life if an irritating, dysfunctional debating forum is shuttered?

• It means the government will operate behind closed doors this winter. When Parliament is closed, Harper and his ministers can avoid public scrutiny. The government can spend taxpayers' dollars unwatched. It can act unilaterally.

If you trust Harper implicitly, this is not a problem. If you don't, it is.

• It means your taxes will be used to provide each of Canada's 308 MPs with a 12-week paid Christmas break. They'll earn $35, 867.62 during this hiatus. They could work in their constituencies, of course. But they could also do party business, look after their personal affairs or take it easy. You have no way of knowing.

If you consider this good value for your money, you're not affected. If you don't, you are.

• It means you and 34 million other Canadians are involuntarily relinquishing your say in the nation's affairs. It was already pretty tenuous. For the past 35 years, Liberal and Conservative prime ministers have weakened Parliament to strengthen their own grip on power. Harper has gone further than any of his predecessors, capitalizing on an ineffective opposition and a tuned-out populace.

If you think this slide toward one-man government is fine, a shuttered Parliament is no problem. If want to preserve the fragile safeguards that remain, it is.

The stakes go beyond the here-and-now, beyond Harper's political tactics, beyond the ill-tempered, unproductive wrangling in the House of Commons.

If Parliament loses its legitimacy, your children and their children will have no institution capable of reining in an autocratic leader or a government that is out of control.

If people with talent, fresh ideas and clear principles give up on Parliament, the best hope of fixing it will be lost.

It may not bother you if democracy is diminished.

It does trouble Canadians who believe the rights their forebears fought and died to protect are worth defending.

Are you so superficial that you only vote for the most charismatic leader?

One argument, regarding current Canadian politics and the reason why someone voted for Harper, that I bump into often (usually from Internet trolls) is that there is no one else to vote for. Are you so superficial that you only vote for who you see as the most charismatic leader? What about their party policies, ideals and values? What about their plan?

If the plan of one party was to destroy Canada as we know it and replace it with a bad dream from George Bush's head, and that party had, in your view, the most charismatic leader, would you vote for that party? But, I believe I waste my time as you probably don't even know the word charismatic.

I think this is how Harper got some of his votes. Yes, it is too bad that some of the electorate are as dumb as stumps and proud of it! But there will always be this group no matter how much we try to promote book learnin'.

The only group of people who have benefited, or will benefit from Harper's plan are the wealthy - period. So, if you are wealthy and dis-compassionate and don't care about other humans or the environment or the future of this country or life in general, then Harper is who you vote for. But, I don't think this group is as big as 30% of the Canadian electorate. Maybe 1% if that. So, that leaves the other 29%. Who are they? Why did they vote for Harper? They must be people, like those mentioned above, who aren't intelligent enough to know better. They are duped by the Tory-supporting MSM. They are duped by campaign promises, and even vote again for a party that obviously lied in the last election campaign.

If you are part of this group and feel offended by what I have written, then there is hope for you. Only the truly evil or stupid would not be offended if they are part of this group. For those of you who are, do some research and find out the truth behind the man behind the curtain (Harper).

Here are some links to get you started:
http://drivingtheporcelainbus.blogspot.com/2010/01/harper-attack-on-canadian-democracy.html
http://drivingtheporcelainbus.blogspot.com/2010/01/harper-plan.html
http://drivingtheporcelainbus.blogspot.com/2010/01/canada-failures-have-been-deliberately.html
http://drivingtheporcelainbus.blogspot.com/2010/01/insight-to-stephen-harper-from-his-1997.html

And visit the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament
They aren't really against prorogation. They are against this particular recent prorogation, which was done for completely selfish reasons and not any responsible-to-Canada reason.

Educate yourself before you vote next time. Don't vote for who the media says is a winner. Don't vote for who has the nicest sweater. Vote for a party that truly represents your views and ideals. And read between the lines, get a second opinion.

Here is a good site for alternative news and views in Canada:
http://www.progressivebloggers.ca/

And if you are war supporter, especially a supporter of going to war or killing people for no good reason, you are in the wrong country. Canadians, the majority of Canadians, support peacekeeping, not war-making. War is not a game, like hockey or football. It is serious. People get killed - hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians like you and me - in war. And they don't come back to life (like in video games). Think about the consequences before you say things like At least Harper is beefing up our military. Ask yourself - what for? Why is the current government pumping a lot of money into killing people in another country that never threatened us or our way of life? The answer is not for what the mainstream media is telling you - to give Afghanistan a democracy - that has been proven to be untrue time and again.

I guess I left one group out of who supports people like Harper and his party in elections - couch mass murderers. I would hope there are not too many of them in Canada.

Harper's Plan

One thing about Canada that really steams up Harper is our social support system - healthcare, education, employment insurance, welfare, public transit, etc.
Well, he has been working on dismantling all of it. Here is how.

Step One - Reduce Government income
By reducing the GST, and lowering corporate income tax, Harper has reduced yearly income for the government by about $20 billion. - Accomplished.

Step Two - Create a Financial Crisis
The Recession gave him the perfect cover to spend money. Harper spent so much money with his infrastructure projects in Conservative ridings, and generally mismanaged money - mainly spending on his friends and those loyal to the party - that we went from a surplus to now having a deficit of over $50 billion - Accomplished.

Step Three - Cut Programs
He has finally reached the final stage. This is where he claims that times are tough and with our big deficit and debt, we must tighten our belts and we will have to cut programs. He has already been cutting all sorts of programs and support to important things. But now he will begin to cut spending to our vital national programs.
He had to prorogue parliament or the Afghan scandal would have derailed his government and spoiled his plan. Proroguing parliament hopefully will backfire and we will be able to get rid of him as soon as possible.

Wake up Canada! Come out of your caves and pay attention. Our country is being destroyed by someone who cares nothing for our way of life or our values. it's time to stand up to him and toss him out!


See also: Here Come The Spending Cuts
and
First Prorogue, Then Eviscerate

The most wasteful government in Canadian history wants you to tighten your belt

Socialism for rich is Tory way
by Frances Russell

Owen Gray makes some excellent points about Harper's plan in his post:
The Wrecking Crew
excerpt:
Because Mr. Harper and the recently retired American president have so obviously drunk from the same well, Mr. Bliss's opinions should be considered alongside those of Thomas Frank, whose book, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, is a fascinating chronicle of the second Bush administration and its discontents. Frank says that neo-conservatives, like Bush and Harper, champion four key objectives once in office. First, they oppose bringing top notch talent into government service. Second, they wreck "established federal operations," because they disagree with them. Third, they make a cult of outsourcing and privatizing. And, finally, they pile up "an Everest of debt" in order to force government into crisis. The results are cataclysmic. "The ruination they have wrought has been thorough;" Frank writes, "it has been a professional job. Repairing it will take years of political action."

When one considers what the present government has done in office, the parallels are stark. The way it has treated Linda Keen, Paul Kennedy and Richard Colvin speaks volumes about its ability to attract and keep good talent. Its handbook advising caucus members on ways to obstruct government is a cynical attempt to shift blame. And Mr. Flaherty's last fiscal update mimics his colleague, former Ontario Education Minister John Snobllen, whose prescription for forcing change was to "create a crisis." The debris Mr.Snoblen left behind still clutters Ontario's schools.

Professor Bliss would have us believe that all it would take to change things would be for the opposition to have the courage of its convictions and force an election. But, as Mr. Frank makes clear, democracy is not just about elections. It's about what governments do between elections. And, the truth is that -- while Mr. Bush and Mr. Harper have no trouble with government -- they have a visceral hatred of responsible government. The issue is, how do citizens hold a government accountable between elections? Professor Bliss is unconcerned with that conundrum.