Each “section” below lists the newest articles most recent first (and, if applicable, within each day alphabetically). This page contains articles posted and/or updated within the last three weeks.
Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of people, tempered by fear.
In the continuing saga of the soap-opera display of pettiness and partisanship that is the der Harper CONservative government, he picks the most innocuous and insubstantial gauntlet to throw at the opposition. I sincerely hope he doesn’t think that cancelling March break will sufficiently make up for the vacation — from government accountability and transparency — he took. Of course, his party faithful are probably rejoicing in the brilliance
that der Harper — aka dear Leader
— evinced by this latest brainstorm he and his marketing (err, propaganda) klatsch cooked up. Alas, he clearly misses the very crux of the matter.
UPDATE: Lesson Learned Stephen Harper’s elimination of spring break won’t undo the damage, but it is tacit admission that outrage expressed by Canadians has resonated in Ottawa ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Fri 05-Feb-2010.
Of course, we have to expect the CONservatives to spin this somehow — somehow it’ll be quaint watching them squirm whilst maintaining the arrogant air they have about them!

In 1988, der Harper wrote:
“Many of our most serious problems as a country can be traced to the apathy and non-involvement of Canadians in public affairs, and to decisions that too frequently ignore the popular will…. We believe in accountability of elected representatives to the people who elect them, and that the duty of elected members to their constituents should supersede their obligations to their political parties.”
One other fascinating thing — apart from the obvious hypocrisy — is how easily CONservatives will appeal to the “populist” elements amongst themselves but act like the unaccountable “elite” that they truly are once in power.
Related: After Four Years, It’s Canada that Has Changed Harper Out of political necessity, the minority government prime minister has strayed from his fiscal conservative background ⇒ By Steven Chase writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sun 24-Jan-2010.
What's even more important is to realize and remember that der Harper not only wants to dismantle what he hates most — the Canadian “welfare state” — but that he actually has repeatedly denounced Canada as a whole (yes, even our culture) in speeches and writings before he became PM! The CPC’s and the PMO’s usual defense that those were done a long time ago and that der Harper has changed doesn’t really wash. Remember that People don’t change, they just become more like themselves!
This is an even more timely and relevant aphorism in this age of the supremacy and deification of the shallow — i.e., marketing!!!
Most Canadians want Parliament to be there, just to prove democracy exists. First, all the experts said no Canadian would vote based on the issue of delivering Afghan prisoners for torture. But Stephen Harper killed Parliament anyway, to squelch that debate. Why? What did he know? Perhaps what anyone studying PR at a community college learns: that impressions are cumulative and, as a series moves along, each new one weighs heavier. Firing nuclear watchdog + global black eye re tar sands + ending KAIROS funding + torture scandal = bad election news. ⇒ By Rick Salutin writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 18-Jan-2010.
The Harper Tories are coming up with new reasons seemingly every second day for their decision to shut down Parliament for five weeks until after the Olympics. Their defence has ranged from wanting to recalibrate their agenda for the second phase of stimulus spending to needing to rebalance Senate committees and now to this: a sitting Parliament causes market instability. Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered up that excuse yesterday in an interview on BNN. ⇒ By Jane Taber writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 12-Jan-2010.UPDATE: Harper’s Wounds are Self-inflicted As the story keeps changing, public trust in Harper’s position is eroding. Rather than give Harper the benefit of the doubt on prorogation, Canadians are asking the question raised in the Liberal ads: “What is he covering up?” ⇒ By the Editors of The Toronto Star; posted Fri 15-Jan-2010.
Here we go with the “elite” bashing in which CONservatives usually indulge rather frequently. A few things to point out, though.

First of all, the elite and media bashing is directly lifted right from the Republican Party’s playbook down south. If that is not enough of an indictment… well, there is more.
Next, the original “conservative elite” prior to and during the American Revolution was made up of Loyalists or — are you ready for this?!? — the Tories!!! You got it… they mostly moved to Canada! Now isn’t that a kick-in-the-pants for the ideological descendants of these “elites”?!?
Thirdly, this bashing is usually mindless indulgence of stereotypes — and I do include Minister Clement’s tirade in this category.
Lastly, conservatives love to work the populist pump as a way of mobilizing their followers. Undoubtedly it is effective considering how quickly and “well” it is taken up — not to mention “easily”. However, there is a need for elites in any political party. Of course, good care ought be taken here.
One of the more useful definitions of an “elite” would be “a group of persons exercising the major share of authority or influence within a larger group.”
Now, from that we can really safely generalize the following:
Unfortunately, judging from conversations with and from reviewing the blogs and posts in commentary sections at media outlets, there is very little indication that the requisite “critical intelligence” is present in the rank and file of most political parties in general and in the CPC in particular.
An additional caution ought be whispered here: Any person who thinks that there is a complete absence of an elite component (or components) in the CPC is absolutely naive and needs to seriously and thoroughly re-examine their premises — not to mention their analytical and critical faculties!
As for the “chattering classes” to which Minister Clement referred, it would do well for him to remember that there is as much “nattering” by his party members as their opposition counterparts. I have also observed that CONservatives noise tends to be more of an exercise in volume than that of the mental muscle variety!
All in all, a futile exercise of the pot calling the kettle…
In other words, our apathy is being used by der Harper to pretty much get away with murder!
The Economist articles are provided below…
Related: Harper Goes Prorogue Parliamentary scrutiny may be tedious, but democracies cannot afford to dispense with it ⇒ By the Editors of The Economist; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
Related: Halted in Mid-debate Stephen Harper is counting on Canadians’ complacency as he rewrites the rules of his country’s politics to weaken legislative scrutiny ⇒ By the Editors of The Economist; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
In his interview with Peter Mansbridge (see the link below) PM Stephen Harper unctuously dismissed prorogation as a non-issue for Canadians!
Related: Mansbridge One on One — with Stephen Harper (05-JAN-2010) Peter Mansbridge interviews Prime Minister Stephen Harper ⇒ By CBC; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
What were we to expect when a political party whose very dogma centres on small — or even smaller — government gains political power?!? Would it not follow that its very disdain for government, all related institutions and traditions thereto motivates it to dismantle as much as possible in order to undermine any hint of government efficacy by its very conduct — or misconduct — and governance?!? Gladstone once said Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism, distrust of people, tempered by fear.
Harper clearly includes the government — likely any government — in his distrust and fear.
UPDATE: Tactical Diminishment Canadians would be right to wonder how any of this fits with the Conservatives’ commitment to restore the public’s trust in government. ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Thu 07-Jan-2010.
The CPC “propaganda and obfuscation juggernaut” rolls on… Now, the big blue machine — the very masters of attack, deflection and misdirection — are at it again in questioning the patriotism of opposition critics as well as the latter’s regard for the Canadian Forces. As they seem wont to do (seemingly often and regularly), the CONservatives are taking cues from the American Republican Party whose modus operandi during the Bush administration was to accuse those who weren’t in favour of the “war on terror” — or even the legitimate critics of the administration — as unpatriotic if not outrightly treacherous. Such ignoble fools who resort to cheap and simplistic demagogy sprinkled with self-righteous histrionics in order to secure their status and goals; sadder still are those who buy into the very pap they spew…
Fact: Only 3 crime bills made it to the Senate last session (2009); 17 crime bills died on the order paper thanks to der Harper’s proroguing Parliament.
BTW, der Harper has, to date, appointed the most senators (33 as of Feb-2010) to the current upper house — so much for his decrying patronage appointments of previous non-CONservative PMs and vigorously campaigning for Senate reform.
Related: Did Liberals Obstruct Agenda? Reality Check for Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and the Tories ⇒ By Gloria Galloway writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sat 30-Jan-2010.
Once again, a politician lies in plain-sight. You have to love the CONservatives. though. When they lie — or just being merely unctuous — they can still do it sanctimoniously!
Related: This is Senate Reform? The opposition have abused their Senate majority by obstructing and eviscerating law-and-order measures that are urgently needed and strongly supported by Canadians
, said the Prime Minister in announcing the appointments. But the blame for the latest obstruction lies with Harper himself, not the Senate, for it is he who prorogued Parliament after Christmas, thereby killing the anti-crime legislation that was before the Senate and ensuring that it will not be passed for many more months. ⇒ By the Editors of The Toronto Star; posted Sun 31-Jan-2010.
The more one ponders upon this, the more it seems that here’s yet another motive — and cleverly also the excuse and opportunity — for der Harper’s proroguing Parliament (circa 2009). Whether true or not, der Harper certainly has no problem accusing the opposition Senators — albeit nonsensically — for allegedly blocking crime bills that simply haven’t even made it to the Red Chamber yet! At least that much hasn’t changed with der Harper… good old attack, deflect and misdirect!
Sad thing is that his flock — his fellow CONservatives — just lap up what ever he serves up as talking points. They certainly seem to parrot those with rabid frequency, repetition and fidelity on the main stream media comment boards! Too, one would scarcely expect these very same to grasp the rich irony — never mind the obvious hypocrisy — in der Harper crowing about the opposition abusing their majority in the Senate immediately after securing a CONservative majority in the Senate himself through the appointment of his minions.
Related: Justice Minister Nicholson Pushes Crime Bill He Used to be Against As a Mulroney backbencher, Rob Nicholson was against mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. ⇒ By Harris Macleod writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 01-Feb-2010.
We know all politicians lie but der Harper… something else altogether!
UPDATE: Don’t Meddle in ATIP Requests, Political Staff Told PMO warning comes on heels of news an aide to Public Works minister made mad dash to mailroom to ‘unrelease’ report ⇒ By Daniel Leblanc writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 08-Feb-2010.
What do you expect when der Harper is absolutely obsessed with enlightening the public
and tight message control?
Of course, in this case, the sole-source contract was awarded because our dear der Harper is the most hyper-partisan and ultra-ideological. To boot the dinner he had with media types included only right-wing moguls! Surprise, surprise!!! Anyone doubt that the CPC is the Republican Party North?!? Still, you have to admire the polish that der Harper exhibits during media interviews — he never betrays his frothing-at-the-mouth partisanship! He’s a very savvy manipulator!
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