Canadian Support For Abolishing The Senate Is Gaining Ground - UPDATED

UPDATE

I just got the EKOS poll results from Oct. 29, 2013
These poll results show an even stronger support for Senate abolition
53.8% of Canadians support abolishing the Senate.

Regional support
Provinces that support abolition with  over 50% support: BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec (Sask and Que are the highest with 68% and 67% support)

Provinces that support abolition with less than 50% Atlantic, Manitoba, and Ontario

Age
Highest support (52% to 59%) are those older than 35 years
Lowest support is amongst those younger than 35 years (49%)

Party Support
Highest support is amongst Conservative, NDP and Bloc supporters (62% to 74%)
Lowest support is amongst the Liberal (40.6%) and Green (49.4%) supporters

http://www.ekospolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/full_report_october_29_2013.pdf

 .....

As Canadians have become more aware of the Senate through exposure to the Senate Scandal, they are, more and more, realizing that there is no place in a modern democracy for a Senate.

More people favour making the Senate an elected body, but the support for abolition is gaining ground and has almost caught up.

6 years ago, the difference was 31%, today it is only 6%

Favour an elected Senate: 57%(2007), 42%(Feb. 2013), 49%(June 2013), 49%(Oct. 2013)

Favour abolishing the Senate: 26%(2007), 36%(Feb. 2013), 41%(June 2013), 43%(Oct. 2013)

Sources:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/18/canadian-senate/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/majority-wants-senate-changed-or-abolished-poll-suggests-1.1398046

http://www.ipsos-na.com/download/pr.aspx?id=13127

In the latest results from the Ipsos-Reid poll (Oct. 2013) the regions who favour abolition over reform the most are Quebec (54% to 39%) and Atlantic (54% to 45%). All other regions favour reform over abolition with Ontario and BC favouring it the most (53%).

It will be interesting to see where these numbers are in 2015. It will take the support of the majority of provinces to make any major change regarding the Senate (including abolishing it).

ADDENDUM
For more information on abolishing the Senate:
Abolish The Senate: A Sober Second Look At Canadian Democracy - Facts

The NDP's Roll Up The Red Carpet campaign

Democracy Watch's Shut Down The Senate campaign

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_abolished_upper_houses

NDP Democratic and Parliamentary Reform Critic Craig Scott - Abolish The Senate

News and opinion:
Abolish the Senate say local MPs

Idea of Senate Abolition Gaining Momentum Inside Conservative Caucus

OpEd: Senate Abolition The Best Course

Manitoba Joins Move To Abolish The Senate

If Canadian's Vote To Abolish The Senate, Politicians Must Listen

Canadian Senate Abolition Idea Gaining Momentum Among Tories

Abolish the Senate Instead Of Trying To Reform It

Majority of Province's Residents Prefer To See Senate Abolished, Says Poll

People Aren't Smart Enough for Democracy to Flourish, Scientists Say

People Aren't Smart Enough For Democracy To Flourish, Scientists Say

This article touches on a core problem for democracy. But add to this the fact that the corporate media and the corporate parties (Conservatives and Liberals in Canada) prey on this weakness of the populace in order to sway the people to vote against the people's own interests. This makes anything that improves the democratic process, like proportional representation (or even procedures that take baby steps toward P.R.), critical to helping make democracy work better for the people. Better education and less corporate control of the media are also critical for democracy to flourish. 

Some may try to argue, as if this is a different factor, that there are many people who just don't care enough about politics. This is not a different factor, but a result of the success of the propaganda of the corporate media/parties. Those people not smart enough to understand the importance of politics are convinced by the propaganda of the corporate media/parties to not care about politics. They will vehemently deny that they have been influenced, but they have (if they hadn't been influenced, they would care).  These people end up not voting, and convincing others to either not vote or to spoil their votes in one way or another.  This totally plays into what the corporate parties want - less involvement in politics by the populace = the more they can control politics. Politics in a vibrant democracy, is controlled by the people. In a failing democracy, politics is controlled by a few in government or in political parties whose true agenda is mainly to hold onto power by reducing the input from and control by the people.

Ford Nation planning to fill city boards with unqualified conservative cronies

Toronto News: Ford accused of stacking public appointments - thestar.com
Early this year, we saw Case Ootes appointed to completely replace the TCHC board, and then Gordon Chong (part of Rob Ford's transition team) was appointed to to a job for $100,000 that the TTC does anyway.

Now, we find that Ford plans on gutting a lot of city boards of qualified and caring members and replacing them with unqualified conservative yes-people who will just do Ford's bidding (as opposed to doing what is best in relation to the board they are on). 

Here is the list of what Ford and his lackeys are doing:

- They only posted the job openings in The Toronto Sun. Everyone knows this is a very right-wing paper that is read mainly by hard right wing conservatives, and that their readership is not going to contain the best and the brightest.
-No current members of boards will be allowed to apply for membership this time around. City guidelines suggest keeping some current members and appointing some new members, and that membership should reflect Toronto's diversity. And citizens can't serve more than 2 continuous terms.
- Ford Nation councillors Francis Nunziata, Doug Ford and Georgio Mammoliti are picking applicants for a shortlist to recommend to Council for all the agencies, boards and commissions (including Toronto Public Library, Police Services, Toronto Water, Yonge-Dundas Square and all the others for the city - more than 200 positions)

Excerpts from the Toronto Star article:

Critics claim all this as evidence that Ford’s administration is
putting connections and right-wing beliefs ahead of committee-related
qualifications in a way that didn’t happen under Ford predecessors David
Miller or Mel Lastman.


“I think we have moved from a skills-based process to one based on
patronage and political affiliations,” said Councillor Joe Mihevc, a
former appointments committee member who recently visited a closed-door
session of the current committee chaired by Councillor Frances Nunziata.


“Instead of getting the best and the brightest we’re going to get the ones who are politically connected, and that’s a tragedy.”

Excerpts from the comments on The Toronto Star article:
What a surprise... Isn't that what was originally promised wouldn't happen? The worst thing that can happen to any city run agencies, boards, etc. is that it is run by people that are chosen for their affiliations, rather than their subject matter expertise. Now, if there are two candidates with equal expertise, no one could blame the mayor is he chooses one that is sharing his political view than someone who doesn't.

Qualified Candidates?  They advertised in the Sun, and received qualified candidates? I find that hard to believe.

That sound you just heard was the last remnants of social responsibility being flushed down the toilet by this administration.

Democracy. People need to understand what is going on here.
City agencies should not be run by political ideologists - the purpose
of those agencies is to represent all Torontonians and to keep the
citizens interest at the root of their decision making. These
appointments are being made to stack these boards so that they will
serve a bigger political agenda. This is not how a democracy should
work - this is how fascists and dictators operate.

If the Ford administration just once did something
that was positive or made sense to the intelligent reader, rest assured
that it would be duly noted. Unfortunately, such a phenomenon has yet
to occur. It is close to impossible to write anything positive about an
elected official who makes one dumb move after the next...

NDP warns against Conservatives' snooping law

NDP warns against Conservatives’ snooping law

TIMMINS, ON – If the Conservatives get their way, police will be
soon be able to track every e-mail sent, every website visited and every
comment left on Facebook - all without warrants or judicial review.

“Canadians do all manner of business and personal pursuits on their
cell phones and online,” said New Democrat Privacy and Digital Affairs
Critic Charlie Angus. “These provisions would force local phone and
internet providers to spy on Canadians.”

Conservatives have indicated that "lawful access" provisions will be
included in their omnibus crime legislation this fall. Experts warn this
would legalize widespread snooping on average citizens – all without a
warrant. Telecom providers would also be forced to install surveillance
software giving police the ability to track internet and mobile phone
activity.

“The Conservatives' ‘lawful access’ proposal essentially means it’s
open season on the privacy rights of Canadian citizens,” said Angus.
“The real question here is why are the Conservatives pushing for such
widespread changes and starting such a full out attack on personal
privacy and liberty in Canada?”

Angus said New Democrats support modernizing policing powers to deal
with digital issues, but pointed out that removing the requirement for
warrants altogether opens the door to all manner of abuse by security
officials.

“Without oversight or limits, the question isn’t if abuse will occur, it’s how extreme will the abuse be,” said Angus.

This is what fascism looks like. Decreasing rights and privacy of the people and increasing the powers of the state and the police.

Conservative voters and people who didn't vote - this is what you support.

CUPW will challenge the back-to-work legislation

Canada Post union to challenge back-to-work legislation in court - thestar.com
As I was pointing out, the legislation is illegal, and the union is going to challenge it in court.
Now the decision will depend on if Harper has stacked the Supreme Court with enough of his judges already or not.

Senate protester DePape offered job by Michael Moore

Doc maker Michael Moore backs rogue page over stunt - thestar.com
"For a young person to do that and to do it peacefully, and quietly
and with grace, I thought it was a very powerful moment,” Moore told The
Canadian Press on Sunday from New York.

“Every now and then there is an
iconic moment where an individual takes action, and it inspires others
to think about, you know, what else would we be doing.”

...
“It's nice to have the support of people who think critically,” DePape said by phone on Sunday.
...

Moore said a functioning democracy should “encourage you to be disrespectful, to question what is going on.”

“I think that Canada and Canadians
probably need to put aside the full respect thing and bring out their
inner hockey stick and get to work on preventing their government from
turning into a version of ours,” he said.

DePape said she has no regrets about
the incident and remains convinced the best way to stop the Harper
government is through acts of civil disobedience.

“I really think it's only through
inappropriate action that you can challenge the status quo and have real
change,” she said, adding that she's been overwhelmed by positive
feedback from Canadians.

“It's been really inspiring.”

More than a dozen Facebook pages in
support of DePape have already popped up, with names such as “Canadian
hero” and a “True Canadian Patriot.”

“You are such an encouragement for
this old WWII veteran and I so admire your courage and commitment to
this just cause for which you stand so bravely,” said a comment
attributed to Bruce Jones that was posted on one Facebook page.

A “Stop Harper” protest inspired by DePape has already been planned for Ottawa on June 10.

From Moore's web site:

Best Contempt of Parliament Ever!
Speaker of Canadian Senate holds DePape in "Contempt of Parliament" – the same thing Stephen Harper's government was charged with for lying to and concealing information from parliament.

Brigette Marcelle - Stop Harper Facebook page.

Brigette DePape reminds us of our duty

Some people are upset with the protest in the Senate by Senate page Brigette DePape.
The issue is not when and where and how she protested (in the Senate in the middle of the Throne Speech). The issue is that the Canada that we value and have worked hard to put together and improve is at stake. The electoral system has failed us. 40% of those who voted, a minority, voted for the Conservatives. And, of all the eligible voters, this only represents 24%. With support of only 24% of Canadian voters, we now have a Conservative majority
government that is hell-bent on dismantling our country. Make no mistake - their clear goal is nothing but to loot our country and dismantle all that we value and have worked for.

This calls for drastic measures by the Canadian public to bring more attention to what is at stake, and to put pressure on the Conservative government to not follow through with their plan of destruction, but to properly govern and represent the majority in their policies and actions.

Brigette reminded us today of our duty.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.


Update:
iPolitics.ca - Behind DePape's protest, a question: "What will change things, then?"

Proportional political financing in Canada and why it is so important

Jim Harris proportional political financing on Vimeo
Stephen Harper still wants to get rid of proportional political financing and go back to the old way of enabling elections to be bought (like in the USA). Remember when he did this just after the last election and the 3 opposition parties decided they would form a coalition and defeat the Conservatives over this, and then Harper prorogued Parliament for his first time? Jim Harris explains in this video why Harper wants to cancel this financing and why it should not be cancelled.

Harper's assault on democracy as documented by Murray Dobbin

Larry Hubich's Blog: Harper’s Hitlist: Power, Process and the Assault on Democracy - Dobbin
Dobbin: “This study is
intended to examine the most serious violations of democracy committed
by the prime minister and his government. Some are clearly more serious
than others. But taken as a whole they add up to a dangerous undermining
of our democratic traditions, institutions and precedents – and
politics. These violations are not accidental, they are not incidental,
and they are not oversights or simply the sign of an impatient
government or ‘decisive’ leadership. They are a fundamental part of
Harper’s iron-fisted determination to remake Canada, whether Canadians
like it or not.”
Also:
POLL:
Environics, on behalf of the Council of Canadians, polled people about
their feelings about proportional representation in February. Here are
the results:



-   61% of Canadians support moving to a system of proportional representation in Parliament

-   36% said they were more supportive of proportional representation as a result of Prime Minister Harper’s recent prorogations



(These
results represent the findings of a telephone survey conducted among a
national random sample of 1,001 adults comprising 501 males and 500
females 18 years of age and older, living in Canada. The margin of error
for a sample of this size is +/- 3.10%, 19 times out of 20.)

"Are there a sufficient number of informed Canadians out there in hockey land to mount a successful STOP HARPER campaign in the upcoming election?"

New book examines Harper’s agenda to remake Canada “by stealth”. Should Canadians be concerned? « Citizen Action Monitor
Read the post at the link!
Better yet, read the book!

Ford's lackey Ootes balks at doing his job as directed

Editorial: Double-dipping at city hall - thestar.com
Excerpt:

What shouldn’t be left to his discretion is whether to do his job as
instructed by city council. In published comments Thursday, Ootes said
it did not make sense for him to approve every invoice over $1,000 at
the housing authority. It would take too much of his time.

But city council voted 22-21 last week to have the community
housing board — now represented by the interim managing director — sign
off on all such expenses. Ootes can’t expect to take the public’s money
and then refuse to do the public’s bidding, through its elected
representatives. He, of all people, should know better.

Ootes’s behavior shows that, even in Ford’s administration, there’s
gravy to be had at Toronto City Hall. Yes, $25,000 is just a few drops
compared to the heavily loaded “gravy train” that Ford expects to find.
But people scooping even small amounts should, at least, do their job
according to the dictates of city council.

That's why there needs to be a board of duly elected members, not just one person appointed by the Mayor. A board could handle the workload. Ford bypassed proper procedure to un-democratically dismantle a democratically elected board and replace it with one person. Now there is NO representation for the tenants, and the one person doesn't want to do his job as directed by our democratically elected city council.

Democracy in Israel is in real danger

The death of Israeli democracy - Features - Al Jazeera English
What little democracy there is in Israel is in further danger of erosion.

Excerpts from the article (link above):
"A country that must force people to call it democratic, on pain of imprisonment, is not a democracy."

the Knesset is debating one of a slew of anti-democratic bills. Some of
the legislation targets Palestinian citizens of Israel - people like
this man and his wife, who is quick to offer me coffee and her opinions.

If
the Admissions Committee law passes, for example, this young couple and
their three children could find themselves barred from living in
certain communities and villages, even those built on public land. If
the Nakba Bill is approved, organisations that commemorate the 1948
expulsion of Palestinians will be ineligible for public funds. This is a
"watered down" version of the bill. The original version sought to
imprison anyone who publicly marked the Nakba Day. Other legislation
aims to silence individuals and groups that criticise the government.

The
Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI) says that such bills pose "serious
threats" to the country. Explaining that the death of democracy is "a
gradual process," the IDI, a non-partisan think-tank based in Jerusalem,
warns: "People who are concerned but are waiting for the 'moment of
real danger' to abandon their routines and take steps to defend
democracy are making a mistake. The moment of real danger is now."
...
Some critics might say that Israel was never a democracy in the true
sense of the word. Arab citizens of the state were under martial law
from 1949 to 1966. A year later, the decidedly undemocratic occupation
of Palestinian territories began.

Knesset member Dov Khenin, of
the Jewish-Arab party Hadash, puts it like this: "In Israel there is a
specific democratic space. It's not big, and in connection to the topic
of Arabs, it's even smaller. But the space is important to us because
it's the space we're standing in."

He gestures to the room in
Jaffa, where he is giving a talk under the banner of "The Danger of
Fascism". There are about 20 people present - a sad number considering
what is at stake.

"What has happened in recent years - and it's a
process that's very dangerous - is that the space is being attacked and
clamped down upon," Khenin continues.

"One of the attacks is coming in the form of racism," he says.

He explains that while Arab Knesset members have always been regarded with suspicion - the vicious verbal assault Haneen Zoabi faced in the Knesset
after she participated in the flotilla comes to my mind - the
government is "now attacking not just the Arab Knesset members but all
the Arab population".

"The process is spreading," Khenin adds.
"And if we look at the past two years, it's not just the Arab
population, [the government is] also attacking Jews who think
differently."
...
The Anti-Incitement Bill criminalises those who publish anything that
denies Israel's Jewish and democratic character. Because I have authored
articles calling for a bi-national democracy, this one could land me in
jail. (And, if I'm already headed for the clinker, I might as well
state the obvious: A country that must force people to call it
democratic, on pain of imprisonment, is not a democracy).

And the
Knesset is considering the creation of committees that will investigate
the funding of left-wing civil and human rights organisations - most of
which are critical of the Israeli occupation. Critics have likened the
move to a political witch-hunt as right-wing groups will not be
investigated. They also point out that such an investigation, which is
the responsibility of the legal branch, would exceed the Knesset's
power.

So the question remains: Will Israel become out-right fascist?
...
'Sliding towards fascism?'

At an October protest
against legislation commonly referred to as the loyalty oath - a bill
that would require non-Jews seeking Israeli citizenship to pledge
allegiance to a "Jewish and democratic" state - Gavriel Solomon, a
prominent academic and peace activist, likened Israel to Nazi Germany,
circa 1935.

That was the year that the Nuremberg Laws - racist
legislation that led to the systematic and deadly persecution of Jews -
were created.

"There were no [concentration] camps yet but there were racist laws," he said. "And we are heading towards these kinds of laws."

Speaking
to Al Jazeera by telephone, Solomon softened his message, remarking
that: "The question was really if we are not sliding towards fascism."

"Even
though we very clearly have people like [Avigdor] Lieberman [the
foreign minister] who are not sensitive to the issue ... there [are]
enough people on the right not to allow such Lieberman laws to go
through," he says, pointing to members of Likud like Dan Meridor.

But Haaretz
recently revealed that right-wing activists are working in Jewish
settlements to recruit Likud voters who would push Meridor out of the
Knesset.

And rightists are taking other moves to silence dissent. Haaretz reports that they have successfully shut down the Facebook pages of several left-wing groups.

Depending
on how these right-wingers spin their projects - are they trying to
silence dissent or are they taking necessary measures for Israel's image
and security - the Israeli public may be willing to march lockstep with
them.

A recent poll, conducted by the Geocartography Knowledge
Group, found that more than half of Jewish Israelis are willing to limit
press freedom if the media poses a threat to the state's image. And
nearly two-thirds would clamp down on freedom of speech for the sake of
security.
...
"We need to understand that fascism isn't an expression of power, it's an expression of weakness."

Khenin
points out that not long before Netanyahu became prime minister he
called Palestinian citizens of Israel a demographic threat. "And now
he's head of the government," he adds.

And because the death of
democracy is tied up with the occupation, "a people who oppresses
another people cannot be free," Khenin says, paraphrasing Friedrich
Engels.

Referendum win by Erdogan mainly means a boost for democracy in Turkey

Turkey’s Erdogan ready to make changes after referendum win - The Globe and Mail
Excerpt:
The AKP ran an impressive campaign. Most aspects of the government’s
lengthy set of changes were immensely popular: They reduce the power of
military courts over civilians, grant greater protections of human
rights, and remove the immunity from prosecution that Turkey’s military
coup leaders gave themselves when drafting the constitution in the early
1980s.

G20 Toronto - Conservative MPP Randy Hillier speaks out against the G20 weekend tyranny

Opinion: G20 crackdown reeks of tyranny - thestar.com
Read the link!
When even right-wing politicians begin to say what the police were ordered to do in Toronto was wrong, you've got to consider that something so bad happened that it definitely warrants an impartial full public inquiry.

G20 Toronto - City council shames themselves and the city by commending the brutal, illegal and inappropriate police work

City council commends “outstanding” police G20 work - thestar.com
The worst of the bunch was mayoral candidate Rob Ford who said that there should be no review of the police actions at all:

“I don’t think there should be an inquiry or review,” of police
actions, “none whatsoever,” Ford said.

“Our police force was more than polite, more than accommodating

with the protesters,” in the face of taunts and worse, he added.

“If I was chief, I would have moved in Saturday afternoon and

cleaned house,” instead of waiting until Sunday to make mass arrests,
Ford said. “I think our police were too nice. I would have had a
zero-tolerance approach,” he said, adding he realizes councillors can’t
tell the police chief what to do.

Summary of police actions (that the council just commended):

Saturday - police were ordered to stand down and allow about 100 vandals smash windows and burn police cars, and to let the cars continue to burn for a long period of time; basically allowing unchecked property damage into the thousands if not millions of dollars, and to allow the safety of the public to be threatened by allowing police cars to burn for long periods of time.

Saturday & Sunday - after the vandalism, the police brutally assaulted hundreds of innocent, peaceful demonstrators and illegally arrested and detained them. While detained, many were not allowed a phone call, water, or food or medical assistance. They also robbed these people of personal property.

It's time to re-think re-electing any of these blind fools on the council come Fall.

UPDATE SEPT 1, 2010
Here is a list of the councillors who voted in favour of "To commend the outstanding work of Chief Bill Blair, the Toronto Police Service and the Police Officers working during the G20 Summit in Toronto (MM51.10)": Ainslie, Ashton, Augimeri, Carroll, Cho, De Baeremaeker, Del Grande, Feldman, Filion, Ford, Grimes, Hall, Heaps, Holyday, Jenkins, Kelly, Lee, Lindsay Luby (Chair), Mammoliti, Milczyn, Miller, Minnan-Wong, Moeser, Moscoe, Nunziata, Ootes, Palacio, Pantalone, Parker, Perruzza, Rae, Saundercook, Shiner, Stintz, Thompson, Walker

Further reading:

Toronto
Council Votes to Silence Dissent

Clowns
to the Left & Jokers to the Right: the G20, the Police & Civic
Democracy

Sorry Fillibluster, your comment was eaten by Blogger errors.

Here it is:
"I have emailed my city councillor expressing my dismay at this shameful
endorsement of brutality. I would urge anyone who live in Toronto to do
the same. All city council emails are here:"
http://app.toronto.ca/im/council/councillors.jsp

Why the Canada Census is important and why the Harper government's decision to stop making it mandatory is bad.

Why you should care about the long census form’s demise - The Globe and Mail
Read the story at the link
- Government's of all levels use the data to make informed decisions
- businesses use it to be more efficient, productive and profitable
- Canadians use it to keep our government responsible to its citizens

Further reading:
Pop The Stack: An Economist Who Doesn't Want More Data? UCalgary Called, they Want their Degree Back

NDP demands immediate restoration of census long form

eaves.ca: The Census Weak Link

The Galloping Beaver: Censless

Register and vote here on the government discussion site:
Reinstate Our Census Long Form aka Questionnaire 2B

G20 Toronto - Zeroing in on who is to blame for directing the police

Challenging the Commonplace: Stephen Harper Ultimately Responsible for G20 Infringement of Civil Liberties
Why the MSM is not all over this since the G20 weekend baffles me. We are finally seeing signs that the direction to the police to stand by and allow 1.5 hours of vandalism and police car burning, and to then the direction to the police to beat and arrest hundreds innocent people most likely came from Stephen Harper himself. Who hates Canada more? Who hates Toronto more? Nobody but the prime scumbag himself -> Stephen Harper.

And, the only way to uncover all the links is to hold a Federal level impartial public inquiry. And Prime Scumbag is not going to agree to that.

Further reading:
Who Commanded the G20 Commander?

G20 Toronto - "Toronto got a taste of what could very well happen if apathy or fear of our own shadows continue."

Sister Sage: If an Amputee Being Handled With Brute Force By Those Who Are Supposed To Protect Doesn’t Dawn Upon Us To Do Something…
...
Why is it that we have to wait until it’s too late to turn back before
we realize what’s happened to us? I am terrified of this happening;  In
this case, the police state where police can do anything to anyone they
please; a police state where people can simply disappear. A police state
where one can be arrested simply for being in the wrong place at the
wrong time or for disagreeing with the government.   Toronto got a taste
of what could very well happen if apathy or fear of our own shadows
continue.
...
On the G20 weekend in Toronto, the police acted illegally to brutally beat and make a lot of people disappear for no reason. And, they seem to have gotten away with this.
Let's make sure that whoever was responsible for directing the police to break the law doesn't get away with this, and let's make sure this this never happens again. To do this, you can't just stick your head in the sand. Fixing this will take Canadians waking up and speaking out and taking a stand. Wake up and take a stand Canada!

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.”