PopCan - Popular Canadian Politics

Frustration with the Harper government’s decision to prorogue Parliament spilled from the Internet onto the streets Saturday, as thousands of demonstrators gathered at rallies across Canada.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on Dec. 30 that Parliament would prorogue until March, instead of resuming on January.

The decision sparked a backlash, especially online, where a Facebook group opposing the move grew to include more than 210,000 members.  There were questions whether that number would translate into actual bodies at Saturday’s protests, but rallies in Ottawa and Toronto drew thousands of participants…[more]

Stephen Harper is in trouble for being ham-fisted with Parliament and several public institutions. He has also caused a ruckus by penalizing those who dare criticize Israel.

Fused together, those two traits can be combustible enough. Adding a third element, catering to his party’s conservative ideologues, the Prime Minister has created a major crisis at Canada’s leading international human rights agency.

The entire staff has rebelled at Rights and Democracy, the Montreal-based institution that backs Canada’s foreign policy by supporting the rule of law in such troubled spots as Haiti and Afghanistan.

Forty-five of 47 staffers, both management and union, are demanding the firing of the Harper-appointed chair of the board, Aurel Braun, plus his vice-chair and another director…[more]

Remember the old battle cry of the Reform Party – The West Wants In. Well… in 2010, we can safely say that the West IS in with Stephen Harper’s Conservatives firmly planted in the Reform/Alliance side of the spectrum. The question is - Are we better or worse as a country? Based on the trajectory of things over the past few years, the answer is clearly, no.

I should say that this isn’t to disparage Western Canadians collectively, just their political class who have really but the “con” in neo-con over the past decade. Everything from importing American sensibilities – their political style, religious zealotry, ridiculous belief in the unfettered market system, xenophobia – to the fast-track devolution of the country to a resource-based economy – Canada has taken one giant step backwards with the West in power.

That isn’t to say that things can’t be turned around. Indeed some of the best elements we hold dear came from the West (Healthcare, pensions, etc.). Unfortunately, this was the socialist side of the Western-Canadian political spectrum which doesn’t seem to be on the rise. The West had their chance to move the country forward, at a time of our greatest potential and wealth, and they have pissed the opportunity away. Heck, some Westerners have even started a The West Wants Out movement – Way to show leadership guys.

Perhaps it time for the East to be in. And by East I mean the Maritimes. Prime Minister Danny Williams – I could see that.

Haroon Siddiqui
Thestar.com

When Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Jean Chrétien were in power, conservative commentators used to complain that both tended to be dictatorial, courtesy of our parliamentary system that made the prime minister too powerful, more so in some respects than the president of the United States.

Where are those pundits when we really need them? Stephen Harper is centralizing power in the PMO on an unprecedented scale; defying Parliament (by refusing to comply with a Commons vote demanding the files on Afghan prisoner abuse); derailing public inquiries (by a parliamentary committee and the Military Police Complaints Commission); muzzling/firing civil servants; demonizing critics; and dragging the military into the line of partisan political fire.

“When you add up all that this government has done, it’s truly scary,” says Gar Pardy, former head of the foreign ministry’s consular services. He’s the one who organized the petition that defended diplomat Richard Colvin from Tory mudslinging, and which has been signed by 133 retired ambassadors.

The extent of Harper’s misuse of power becomes clearer when you realize that the Conservatives are replicating some of the worst practices of the Republicans under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney:

Consolidating executive power; eviscerating the legislative branch; operating under extreme secrecy (by keeping an iron grip on information, through endless court challenges and censoring/redacting documents); riding the coattails of the military and questioning the patriotism of political opponents; and forcing out public servants who refused to fall in line…[more]