Conservatives dismantling social programs built over generations

From the unemployed to low-income families and poor seniors, more people than ever are struggling with grim choices as they try to cope in the leaner, meaner Canada presided over by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

There are probably THOUSANDS of serious and corrupt issues which Harper and the Conservatives should be held accountable for and there is a list of over 600 acts/cuts/betrayals of Canadians by this government. 

Someone took the time and energy to put together such a list. The list was put together from information taken from the Toronto Star and other mainstream media by Michael T. Rilstone and published in the WestCoast Native News in June 2014.  I am including the first one hundred here, for the others  here:

Read the List, memorize the items on the list that affect you, let people know about the list and finally show the list to young Canadian voters so they will get off their butts and vote. If they don't the people of my generation who have lost touch with their soul will reelect Harper.

Please note, most of the following came from reading THE TORONTO STAR paper:

Reason #1 – Team Harper’s Racism
Reason #2 – Harper’s Disdain for Vets, Natives, Murdered Women, Unemployed and the Elderly
Reason #3 – Harper Missing $3,100,000,000
Reason #4 – Harper’s Kijiji Labour Scandal
Reason #5 – Harper’s Corrupt Election Bill
Reason #6 – Harper’s Enemy List
Reason #7 – Harper’s Senate Scandal
Reason #8 – Team Harper’s Municipal Support
Reason #9 – Harper’s Eco Babble Scripts for Kent
Reason #10 – Harper’s Apparent Knowledge of “The Cheque”
Reason #11 – Harper’s Destruction of Canadian Jobs
Reason #12 – Harper’s Control of His Caucus
Reason #13 – Harper’s Control of the CBC
Reason #14 – Harper’s Support of Ecocide
Reason #15 – Harper Attacks on the Unemployed
Reason #16 – Harper’s Dubious Friends, Acquaintances & Advisers
Reason #17 – Harper’s Hate for Science
Reason #18 – Team Harper’s Racist Treatment of Natives
Reason #19 – Harper’s Hate for Clean Water
Reason #20 – Harper is a Fascist
Reason #21 – Harper is a Liar and a Hypocrite
Reason #22 – Harper Will Risk B.C.’s Wilderness to Make the Koch Brothers, (at 40%, Largest Tar Sand Leasers), and Big Oil Richer
Reason #23 – Harper Does Not Understand Karma
Reason #24 – Harper Bullies Others with His Own Traits
Reason #25 – Team Harper Were Lax on the VERY RAILWAY SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS that Could Probably Have PREVENTED Lac Mégantic Tragedy
Reason #26 – Harper Screwing All But Rich Canadians, Group by Group
Reason #27 – Harper is Canada’s Worst Terrorist
Reason #28 – Harper Blocks Residential School Archives from Native Reconciliation Investigation
Reason #29 – Harper’s Official Common’s Apology to Natives Proved to be a Farce
Reason #30 – Harper is Full of It
Reason #31 – Harper Dictates to Obama Saying He Won’t Take “No” for an Answer
Reason #32 – Harper’s MP Mark Adler Broke Ethics Guidelines by Inviting Lobbyists to His Fundraiser
Reason #33 – Harper-trained Liar: Joe Oliver
Reason #34 – Harper Launches Major First Nations Termination Plan
Reason #35 – Harper Voters not Listening to Reason
Reason #36 – Harper would be Gone if People Listened to Brigette DePape’s Warning
Reason #37 – Harper’s Tar Wars: Dividing Canadians
Reason #38 – Harper the Bully: Canada’s #1 Role Model
Reason #39 – Harper Teaching Whole Cabinet to Lie
Reason #40 – Harper Spends More on Feeding Pandas than on Starving Kids in Attawapiskat
Reason #41 – Harper Gutting Canada’s Safety Laws & Regulations
Reason #42 – Harper against Pot
Reason #43 – Harper Sold Tar Sands to China with No Transparency on Discussions and a 30+ Year Lock In
Reason #44 – Harper Allows Open Warfare among Cabinet
Reason #45 – Harper Wipes Out Liberal Surplus
Reason #46 – Harper Hates Everybody and Everything
Reason #47 – Harper Financing the Murder of Innocent Palestinian Children with Canadian Taxpayers’ Money
Reason #48 – Harper’s Pretending to be a Hockey Expert
Reason #49 – Harper Government’s Zero Respect for Missing & Murdered Native Women
Reason #50 – Harper Teaches His Ministers to Be Disillusioned Failures
Reason #51 – Harper’s Tar Sands Love Works for Big Oil, NOT Canadians
Reason #52 – Harper’s Continual Record of Screwing First Nations People On a Multiple Number of Issues
Reason #53 – Harper’s Hypocrisy: Demands Natives be More Transparent and Accountable
Reason #54 – Harper Screws Air Canada Employees
Reason #55 – Harper Ignores Natives Being Murdered by Tar Sands Carcinogens
Reason #56 – Harper Equipping Canadian Police Better Than Our Soldiers in Afghanistan
Reason #57 – Harper’s Enemy List
Reason #58 – Harper’s Minister Insults Lac Megantic’s Dead
Reason #59 – Harper Withholding Education Funds for Natives
Reason #60 – Harper’s Hypocrite Trainee John Baird
Reason #61 – Harper’s Corrupt May, 2011 Election
Reason #62 – Harper’s Willingness to Destroy B.C. to Ship Tar to China
Reason #63 – Harper’s Team Repeated F-Bomb Usage, but Chastise Justin for Same
Reason #64 – Harper’s Campaign to Suppress Voting Instead of Encouraging, Promoting and Guaranteeing Our Democratic Right
Reason #65 – Harper Can’t Keep Senior Advisers
Reason #66 – Harper Refuses to Account for $3,100,000,000 Missing from Treasury
Reason #67 – Harper “Loses” Key Documents
Reason #68 – Harper Government’s Apology to First Nations Insincere
Reason #69 – Harper’s Crooked Friends and Advisers Avoiding Charges. Why?
Reason #70 – Harper’s Deceit: Claims a Majority of Canadians Voted for Him
Reason #71 – Harper Sought Legal Advice to See if Canada Was Legally Obligated to Veterans
Reason #72 – Harper Destroying Archives
Reason #73 – Harper’s Hypocrite MP, Pierre “Skippy” Poilievre, Criticizes Justin’s F-Bomb
Reason #74 – Harper Blames Everyone Else
Reason #75 – Harper Declares Idle No More Demonstrations Detrimental to Canadian Economy
Reason #76 – Harper Appoints a Lack-of-judgement-babysitter-boinker to Justice Minister, then to the Manitoba Bench
Reason #77 – Harper, (Background: Mailroom Clerk), Criticizes Justin: States Teachers NOT Qualified to be Prime Minister
Reason #78 – Harper Effectively Slams President Barack Obama for his Post Boston Massacre Remarks
Reason #79 – Harper Attempts to Brainwash Canadians
Reason #80 – Harper Brands Natives with Blue Dots
Reason #81 – Harper Gave Us Brazeau
Reason #82 – Harper Sells Canada Out to China for 31 Years
Reason #83 – Harper Pushing for Alberta’s Destruction, Economic & Physical
Reason #84 – Harper First Nation’s Assimilation: Eliminates Native Icon
Reason #85 – Harper Continually Bulldozes Native Land Rights
Reason #86 – Harper Told Obama that Alberta Tar is Safe
Reason #87 – Harper Helps Foreign Refugee Children Faster than Desperate Canadian Children
Reason #88 – Harper’s PMO Out-of-control
Reason #89 – Harper Hates Science and Scientists
Reason #90 – Harper Wants to Friend a Country that Tortures
Reason #91 – Harper Approves a Liar and Cheat
Reason #92 – Harper Treats Pandas Better Than Natives
Reason #93 – Harper Hates and Fears Justin Trudeau
Reason #94 – Harper’s Genocide
Reason #95 – Harper is Going Down
Reason #96 – Harper Screws Veterans
Reason #97 – Harper is Two-faced: Has Different Rules for Senators and Natives
Reason #98 – Harper Ignores Starving Canadian Children
Reason #99 – Harper Deregulates Canada’s Water Safety
Reason #100 – Harper’s Economic Disaster Plan 

For more reasons go here

Harper' s Economic Record by the Numbers

The numbers speak for themselves Harper is a poor manager of the economy. His supporters believe his lies and his supporters in the Mainstream Media, justify his poor record or don't report on his economic numbers honestly. Even the National Post said "But despite demonstration from economists, the opposition and editorials, the Conservatives have forged ahead with measures which have little benefit to the economy or Canadians and seem prepared to do so again in spite of massive evidence to the contrary."

For more This short summary of the Harper record on the economy may have even some Conservatives think twice before they elect the next Manager in Chief posted at the Progressive Economist

This is what the real Conservative jobs record looks like in three graphs:

 The Evidence is in Harper is a failure as an Economic Manager and as an Economist he would/should be fired.

The suppression of science in Canada

The suppression of science in Canada is getting so bad that academics (not raving extremists) are moving past comparing it to Bush's America and are now comparing Stephen Harper's government suppression of science to Stalin's Soviet Union!

Read about the similarities here: 'In the Soviet Era as in Canada: Science Suffers Under Authoritarian Rule' http://bit.ly/18zsNA0

The New York Times editorial board has accused the Harper government of seeking to "guarantee public ignorance" by muzzling federal Canadian scientists. "This is more than an attack on academic freedom. It is an attempt to guarantee public ignorance."
http://huff.to/1fJbr5M

Harper conservatives Dismantling of Fishery Library 'Like a Book Burning,' Say Canadian Scientists >http://bit.ly/IN16KB

Globe and Mail: Censorship is alive and well in Canada – just ask scientists http://bit.ly/JeBDKY

Toronto Star: Harper government’s muzzling of scientists a mark of shame for Canada http://bit.ly/19Exwy2

Stephen Harper over the years has apparently styled himself after the former Soviet dictator, utilizing portions of Joseph Stalins' philosophy in order to divide and conquer, in order to keep himself in power.http://bit.ly/1dEFPN7

"Harper's choice of reading material has disturbed even some of his own party members. A senior conservative cabinet minister (who asked that the national post do not release his name) claims that: Harper had "read and mastered" the biography and leadership style of Russia's Communist dictator Josef Stalin, and said the prime minister has adopted some of the same tactics. "He plays people off against one another, he attempts to inspire fear rather than respect, he is unpredictable and he is 100 per cent focused on eliminating the opposition," the senior Conservative explained."

Reference: 'Stephen Harper's reading material', Allan Woods, CanWest News Service, September 16 2006: 

History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

If you are a progressive in Canada you need to read this book.

A Culture of Defiance: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada written by Emily Dee who is a Baby Boomer grandmother who says this about herself:

For much of my adult life I tended to vote Progressive Conservative. In Kingston, Flora MacDonald did a great job representing our interests, so it was a clear choice for me. However, when Peter Mckay betrayed the Party and made a deal with the devil to merge us with the Reform/Alliance; I opted out. In 2004 and 2006, I voted NDP, and still have a great deal of respect for the Party and it's leader. However, if we really want to get this new Conservative Party out of office, before they totally destroy our integrity, I have to now back the party with the best chance of doing that. The Liberal Party of Canada. I am a Baby Boomer, having grown up through many periods of social upheavel. However, I believe that as a nation we have moved forward and I can no longer simply sit back and watch it be destroyed.

Here is an excerpt of the book, which shows what Harper is like:

When that 1997 speech first surfaced during the 2005-2006 federal election, it raised a lot of red flags, once again adding fuel to the fear of Stephen Harper's "Hidden Agenda".

Many quotes were pulled from it, and the Liberal campaign included bits and pieces. It is believed that it actually cost the Reform-Conservatives a majority government.

But I've read that speech several times, and what I get from it is arrogance. An arrogance that implies that we are all wrong, but we're too ignorant to even know that we are all wrong. That only he can see the error of our ways.

Now, having given you a compliment, let me also give you an insult. I was asked to speak about Canadian politics. It may not be true, but it's legendary that if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country. Which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians.

What was the point of that remark? He's speaking to Americans, about Canadians.

First, facts about Canada. Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it. Canadians make no connection between the fact that they are a Northern European welfare state and the fact that we have very low economic growth, a standard of living substantially lower than yours, a massive brain drain of young professionals to your country, and double the unemployment rate of the United States.

In terms of the unemployed, of which we have over a million-and-a-half, don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance. (1)

It's almost like an attack ad. Very much the way he acts in Parliament now against his political opponents, only in this case, it was against the Canadian people.

It wasn't a clever speech. There were no great pearls of wisdom. It was flip and if he was actually trying to educate this group on Canadian politics, it would have only created confusion. He talks about 'Whigs' without explaining who they were. States that most Catholics vote Liberal for 'reasons he didn't want to get into.' Why bring it up at all if he wasn't going to qualify it?

We do get a glimpse into his ideology when he refers to women's rights as 'feminist' rights, and "... including some that would just horrify you, putting universal Medicare in our constitution.." What is so horrifying about universal Medicare?

If I were in the audience, I definitely would never have got the impression that this was a man with political aspirations. If he wrote that speech it was grade eight at best.

"...and a whole bunch of fairly non-conservative economic things."

" ... and a whole bunch of other things"

But I think that it helps to define this movement. It has always been about protest and arrogance and ignorance. They adhere to the Old Testament and have a view of Canada as being in moral decay. They want to return to the "good old days" when women knew their place and there was prayer in school, and a sea of white faces.

Read the Book here:

The famous Alberta “firewall” letter

My thanks to Montreal Simon for the reminder of this declaration of how harper views Canada. He has always been an Alberta separatist. And was one of the authors of this firewall letter (PDF)

The famous Alberta “firewall” letter
Dear Premier Klein:

 During and since the recent federal election, we have been among a large number of Albertans discussing the future of our province. We are not dismayed by the outcome of the election so much as by the strategy employed by the current federal government to secure its re-election. In our view, the Chretien government undertook a series of attacks not merely designed to defeat its partisan opponents, but to marginalize Alberta and Albertans within Canada’s political system.

 One well-documented incident was the attack against Alberta’s health care system. To your
credit, you vehemently protested the unprecedented attack ads that the federal government
launched against Alberta’s policies – policies the Prime Minister had previously found no fault
with. However, while your protest was necessary and appreciated by Albertans, we believe that it is not enough to respond only with protests. If the government in Ottawa concludes that Alberta is a soft target, we will be subjected to much worse than dishonest television ads. The Prime Minister has already signaled as much by announcing his so called “tough love” campaign for the West.

 We believe the time has come for Albertans to take greater charge of our own future. This
means resuming control of the powers that we possess under the constitution of Canada but that we have allowed the federal government to exercise. Intelligent use of these powers will help Alberta build a prosperous future in spite of a misguided and increasingly hostile government in Ottawa.

 Under the heading of the “Alberta Agenda,” we propose that our province move forward on the
following fronts:

• Withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan to create an Alberta Pension Plan offering the same benefits at lower cost while giving Alberta control over the investment fund. Pensions are a provincial responsibility under section 94A of the Constitution Act. 1867; and the legislation setting up the Canada Pension Plan permits a province to run its own plan, as Quebec has done from the beginning. If Quebec can do it, why not Alberta?

• Collect our own revenue from personal income tax, as we already do for corporate income tax. Now that your government has made the historic innovation of the single-rate personal income tax, there is no reason to have Ottawa collect our revenue. Any incremental cost of collecting our own personal income tax would be far outweighed by the policy flexibility that Alberta would gain, as Quebec’s experience has shown.

• Start preparing now to let the contract with the RCMP run out in 2012 and create an Alberta Provincial Police Force. Alberta is a major province. Like the other major provinces of Ontario and Quebec, we should have our own provincial police force. We have no doubt that Alberta can run a more efficient and effective police force than Ottawa can – one that will not be misused as a laboratory for experiments in social engineering.

• Resume provincial responsibility for health-care policy. If Ottawa objects to provincial policy, fight in the courts. If we lose, we can afford the financial penalties that Ottawa may try to impose under the Canada Health Act. Albertans deserve better than the long waiting periods and technological backwardness that are rapidly coming to characterize Canadian medicine. Alberta should also argue that each province should raise its own revenue for health care – i.e., replace Canada Health and Social Transfer cash with tax points as Quebec has argued for many years. Poorer provinces would continue to rely on Equalization to ensure they have adequate revenues.

• Use section 88 of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Quebec Secession Reference to force Senate reform back onto the national agenda. Our reading of that decision is that the federal government and other provinces must seriously consider a proposal for constitutional reform endorsed by “a clear majority on a clear question” in a provincial referendum. You acted decisively once before to hold a senatorial election. Now is the time to drive the issue further.

 All of these steps can be taken using the constitutional powers that Alberta now possesses. In
addition, we believe it is imperative for you to take all possible political and legal measures to
reduce the financial drain on Alberta caused by Canada’s tax-and-transfer system. The most
recent Alberta Treasury estimates are that Albertans transfer $2,600 per capita annually to other Canadians, for a total outflow from our province approaching $8 billion a year. The same federal politicians who accuse us of not sharing their “Canadian values” have no compunction about appropriating our Canadian dollars to buy votes elsewhere in the country.

 Mr. Premier, we acknowledge the constructive reforms that your government made in the 1990s – balancing the budget, paying down the provincial debt, privatizing government services, getting Albertans off welfare and into jobs, introducing a single-rate tax, pulling government out of the business of subsidizing business, and many other beneficial changes. 

But no government can rest on its laurels. An economic slowdown, and perhaps even recession, threatens North America, the government in Ottawa will be tempted to take advantage of Alberta’s prosperity, to redistribute income from Alberta to residents of other provinces in order to keep itself in power. It is imperative to take the initiative, to build firewalls around Alberta, to limit the extent to which an aggressive and hostile federal government can encroach upon legitimate provincial jurisdiction.

 Once Alberta’s position is secured, only our imagination will limit the prospects for extending
the reform agenda that your government undertook eight years ago. To cite only a few examples, lower taxes will unleash the energies of the private sector, easing conditions for Charter Schools will help individual freedom and improve public education, and greater use of the referendum and initiative will bring Albertans into closer touch with their own government.

The precondition for the success of this Alberta Agenda is the exercise of all our legitimate
provincial jurisdictions under the constitution of Canada. Starting to act now will secure the
future for all Albertans. 

 Sincerely yours,
 Stephen HARPER, President, National Citizens’ Coalition; 
 Tom FLANAGAN, professor of political science and former Director of Research, Reform
Party of Canada; 
 Ted MORTON, professor of political science and Alberta Senator-elect; 
 Rainer KNOPFF, professor of political science; 
 Andrew CROOKS, chairman, Canadian Taxpayers Federation; 
 Ken BOESSENKOOL, former policy adviser to Stockwell Day, Treasurer of Alberta. 
* This letter represents the personal views of its authors and not those of any organizations with
which they are or have been connected.

(As published in the National Post on Jan. 24, 2001, headlined “An open letter to Ralph Klein”)

How the conservatives will steal the next election

More great stuff from Occupy Canada, this time on how the cons are trying to steal the next election.

Easy to download>print>distribute this info graphic in public places, offices, grocery stores etc: http://ow.ly/u9FG1

Canada's chief electoral officer says (Harper conservatives) eliminating a registered voter's ability to vouch for another could impact more than 100,000 VOTERS 'The Fair Elections Act' will disenfranchise youth, students, Indigenous people, seniors, low-income people, and other groups who (coincidentally) don't vote Conservative http://bit.ly/1eYJxUL

Harper conservatives 'Fair Elections Act' sure to deprive Canadians of voting rights, experts warn http://bit.ly/1gTP67B

(RIGGING) Fair elections act would give winning candidate from previous election (Conservative majority) right to appoint polling supervisorhttp://bit.ly/1fTgoek

Conservatives 'Fair Election act' changes could muzzle report on probe into 'election fraud' robocalls, lawyer warns
http://bit.ly/NueMwF

Conservatives 'Election reform bill' will muzzle chief electoral officer, doesn’t address election fraud problems http://bit.ly/1l0kh1W

The Harper government's proposed overhaul of the Elections Act includes elements that constitute an affront to democracy, according to Canada's Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand. http://bit.ly/1lcxBjX

Election reform 'fair elections act' bill an affront to democracy, Canada's Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand says http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/election-reform-bill-an-affront-to-democracy-marc-mayrand-says-1.2527635

NO CONSULTATION WITH ELECTIONS CANADA: "The chief electoral officer has not been consulted, and we heard the minister's comments," said Elections Canada spokesman John Enright. "There's been no consultation on the contents of the bill."http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Elections+Canada+contradicts+minister+says+consultation/9464037/story.html

TAKE ACTION, INFORM FAMILY AND FRIENDS, ATTEND RALLIES, CONTACT YOUR MP. SEND PETITIONS.

You can find the contact information for your closest Conservative MP here:http://www.parl.gc.ca/parliamentarians/en/members.

You can also search for your MP based on your postal code here:http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseofCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC

You can find Conservative MPs on Twitter here:
http://politwitter.ca/page/canadian-politics-twitters/category/conservative/mp/house

PETITIONS: Investigate and prevent electoral fraud with a truly fair Elections Act http://www.canadians.org/election/letter-to-Harper.html

Stop US-style voter suppression from becoming Canadian law
http://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/stop-us-style-voter-suppression-from-becoming-law-in-canada -D

Is Harper running a Fascist government?

14 similarities between Harper's conservative government and known Fascist governments.

Now that the do nothing Budget for Canadians has been presented and the Fair Election Act is being rammed through Parliament, it is perhaps time for progressives to understand what they are really facing. 

Now, no one is saying that Harper himself is a Fascist, but the word fascism has been bandied around a lot by people angry with Mr. Harper, so let's take a look at the 14 defining characteristics of fascism to see if they're truly relevant to the situation Canada finds itself in. 

The following information was posted on Facebook but I found that posts On Facebook sometimes get taken down or they do not receive a wide enough audience,so I am reposting here with the links to the original

Thanks to Shaun Fryer and to Michael Nabertfor compiling most of these links which saved me a ton of time.  Please, if you've got more links to share to back this up, share them in the comments. Every check mark on the fascism list brings our country closer to the equivalent of Mussolini’s Italy, Franco’s Spain, Suharto’s Indonesia, Pinochet’s Chile, and yes, even Hitler’s Germany. Even one is a problem. Buckle up, Canada.

The original 14 points article started circulating during the 2004 election cycle in the US. The origin was an email chain letter that began circulating, attributed to one "Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist," who had apparently written a 14-point article listing the defining characteristics of fascist regimes. 

First let's address a few misconceptions. First of all, there is no "Dr. Lawrence Britt." The author of the 14-point fascism inventory, Laurence Britt, is a former corporate executive who wrote and published a dystopian novel about right-wing extremism, titled June 2004, during the height of the Lewinsky scandal. That is, to the best of my knowledge, his only published volume.

In the real June 2004, he achieved some level of fame with an op-ed published in the humanist magazine Free Inquiry. This op-ed was forwarded around from inbox to inbox, and readers eventually began putting a "Dr." in front of his name and referring to him as a political scientist who had compiled the fascism inventory independently of the Bush administration. He had not done so, and had never claimed to do so. The article was, and had always been intended to be, an argument against the Bush administration.

Does that mean that his article is invalid? Not at all. All of the 14 points he identifies can potentially threaten our civil liberties, and they are all points that Canada has in common with the twentieth century's most frightening fascist regimes. The trouble is that they also point  out that the Canada has many traits that are common with many non-fascist regimes, and in some cases represent longstanding elements of Canadian. political culture. Here is the link to the 14 points. http://www.rense.com/general37/char.htm

Once you have read it, we can ask whether the Harper government demonstrates those indicators of fascism. It turns out there's more than a few damning examples. 

Powerful continuing Nationalism 

This link speaks for itself

http://www.ipolitics.ca/2011/12/02/lawrence-martin-the-rise-in-canada-of-all-places-of-right-wing-nationalism/

Identifying Enemies/Scapegoats 

The term terrorism gets slung around a lot to justify all sorts of things

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/harper-government-poised-fast-track-anti-terrorism-bill-220341767.html

Rampant Sexism 

Mr Harper's government is surprisingly sexist. 

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/columnists/2008/09/10/harpers_conservatives_a_sexist_bunch.html

Obsession with National Security 

Canada's new National Security state

http://www.hilltimes.com/dobbins-view/2010/11/22/harper-government-constructs-a-national-security-state/24926

and here

http://cips.uottawa.ca/six-ways-for-harper-to-reclaim-the-national-security-agenda/

It is in fact unsurprising that more than one journalist is connecting the dots on the national security state 

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/murray-dobbin/2009/11/stephen-harper’s-national-security-state

Here's extensive spying on activists

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/harper-governments-extensive-spying-anti-oilsands-groups-revealed-fois

and on First Nations

http://www.mediacoop.ca/story/first-nations-under-surveillance/7434

Corporate Power is Protected 

Oddly enough, corporations don't seem to be struggling like ordinary Canadians in Harper's Canada. Why do you think that is?

http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/10/31/frances-russell-stephen-harper-and-the-triumph-of-the-corporation-state/

and he is a cheerleader for new corporate super-rights that surpass and override those of citizens and indeed even the nation

http://www.canadians.org/blog/public-increasingly-opposed-corporate-super-rights-harper-should-take-them-out-ceta

Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts 

Arts? Seriously? Who cares about arts?

http://www.thestar.com/news/politics/federalelection/2008/09/24/ordinary_folks_dont_care_about_arts_harper.html

let's cut the arts

http://www.straight.com/arts/harpers-arts-cuts-slammed-across-canada

but the arts aren't nearly as much a target as intellectuals, science, and evidence. 

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/10/13/harpers_war_on_science_continues_with_a_vengeance.html

with cutbacks to research

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/research-cutbacks-by-government-alarm-scientists-1.2490081?cmp=fbtl

And it's apparently not enough to suppress modern research, we are also destroying decades of previous research, to impoverish the entire scientific community with but only book burning, but effectively whole library burning

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/01/09/dismantling_of_dfo_libraries_a_blow_to_democracy_salutin.html

In fact, just watch this, it'll break your heart if you care about facts entering our decision making process at all

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2013-2014/the-silence-of-the-labs

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption 

Ah yes, mustn't forget the rampant cronyism.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2008/01/01/tories_cronyism_rampant_critics_say.html

We're actually reaching for cronyism on an international scale

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/council-canadians/2013/11/harpers-new-global-markets-action-plan-corporate-cronyism-o

Disdain for Human Rights 

The Harper government has nothing but disdain for human rights.

http://nupge.ca/content/11188/harper-government-gives-human-rights-cold-shoulder

FIrst nations rights violated here

http://www.mcgilldaily.com/2008/11/first_nations_rights_violated_by_canadas_refusal_to_ratify_un_treaty/

Trying to keep human rights out of CETA

http://www.canadians.org/fr/node/9556

and more about how for Mr Harper, trade trumps human rights across the board

http://www.canadians.org/blog/stephen-harper-trade-trumps-human-rights

or how about the right to protest?

http://www.globalresearch.ca/police-state-canada-harper-government-enacts-law-threatening-masked-protesters-with-ten-year-jail-terms/5340268

In fact, it's clear he really doesn't care for First Nations people at all

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/30/stephen-harper-lists-his-governments-priorities-doesnt-say-a-word-about-aboriginals-despite-idle-no-more-movement/

Supremacy of the Military 

Harper's military policy is decidedly imperialist

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/06/08/walkom_is_stephen_harpers_global_military_policy_delusional_or_just_plain_mad.html

Here Harper refuses to sign an arms trade treaty to combat militarism out of control

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/harper-refuses-to-sign-landmark-arms-trade-treaty/article14539869/

Controlled Mass Media 

Here we've got taxpayers funding Harper's own version of 'journalism'

http://o.canada.com/news/stephen-harper-24-seven-video/

which is a little North Korean-esque in its obsessive message control

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/09/stephen-harper-24-seven-youtube_n_4572535.html

and taking control of the CBC

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/30/bill-c60-cbc-harper_n_3187821.html

Religion and Government Intertwined 

Religion and politics together again in Canada 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/from-bible-bill-to-stephen-harper-the-evolution-of-faith-based-politics-1.1369490

You might even say he's on an evangelical mission,

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/03/26/Harper-Evangelical-Mission/

Labour Power is Suppressed 

And here's an ongoing war on unions. 

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/10/31/tasha-kheiriddin-forget-duffy-harpers-real-war-is-with-unions/

more union bashing here

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/10/24/more_unionbashing_as_stephen_harper_tries_to_deflect_attention_from_senate_walkom.html

and clearly more to come

http://thetyee.ca/News/2013/11/20/Signs-Harper-Is-Gearing-Up-to-Declare-War-on-Unions/

Obsession with Crime/Punishment 

So obsessed with crime and punishment that even Texas says "whoa, that's a bit much"

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/texas-conservatives-reject-harper-s-crime-plan-1.1021017

to the extent that we're making prisons unsafe

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/02/prison-overcrowding-canada_n_4202144.html

but if we point out that the evidence doesn't support the policy, there's no sanity on that front

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2010/11/17/harper_tough_on_crime_but_soft_on_facts.html

Fraudulent Elections 

Not only did fraud absolutely take place, but the Harper government engaged in "trench warfare to prevent the case from coming to a hearing on its merits."

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/24/electoral-fraud-did-take-place-in-2011-federal-vote-but-it-didnt-affect-outcome-judge-rules/

Feeding into a mindset that they have the right to whatever they can get away with

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/in-robo-calls-ruling-a-wider-spectre-of-electoral-fraud-emerges/article12185601/

Some comments from Facebook

HS said Some of those are certainly a tad hyperbolic, but we're definitely stepping way too far in that direction.

MN said that "According to the CCPA Conservative corporate tax cuts have allowed corporations to hoard $572 billion -- over half a trillion dollars in taxpayer subsidized profits while increasingly shifting their workforce to precarious jobs."
http://rabble.ca/.../austerity-protestors-barricade...

Austerity protestors barricade Cabinet Ministers' office with canned food | rabble.ca

HF said Same thing here in the U.S. There's a wave of fascism being spread around the world by the rich and corporations and gross inequality is also part of it.

DS added this link http://rabble.ca/.../canada-creeps-toward-becoming-closed...

DZ said This has a families ring to it

SH said And add to the list: colonial genocide. I don't really know if it's proper to say Harper's big on religion and government intertwining. I'll admit I don't know much to make a judgment, but whatever influence of religion in Canadian politics is certainly far less than what folks down south have to deal with it. Or at least, far less apparent.

Moore vs Scrooge

Charles Dickens, meet your modern day Scrooge. The difference is your Scrooge was able to understand the spirit of Christmas, our MP  (James Moore to my shame, represents my riding in the House of Commons in Canada until 2015 when I hope we through him out of office) and his conservative minded government will never understand the spirit of Xmas. Thanks to Colleen for this

All Wind and Rabbit Tracks

This wonderful story by Frances Russell  published August 28, 2013 is a strong counter to harpers claim he is a good economic manager. He is not! His record speaks for itself and thanks to Frances we see how bad of a job he is doing for Canada. "Jobs, the economy and safe streets." Canadians have heard this mantra from the Harper Conservatives for eight years now. The more it's repeated, the more the public's attention is drawn to its failure on all sides.. Undaunted, the Conservatives have now added a fourth pledge - a balanced budget by 2016, coincidentally, the year of the next federal election. Former Manitoba Progressive Conservative Premier Sterling Lyon had a phrase for such empty political puffery: "All wind and rabbit tracks," he would say. Given that Canada's current deficit stands at $18.7 billion, the Conservatives' balanced budget pledge has saddled them with a tall order indeed, made much taller by the prime minister's decision back in the 2005-06 federal campaign to cut the GST by two points from seven to five per cent. That decision deprives Ottawa of $14 billion in revenue each and every year. Thanks in part to Ottawa's aggressive immigration policy, the nation's working-age population has grown by 1.8 million but the economy has only managed to spin out 950,000 jobs. In a recent analysis, the Citizens for Public Justice concludes that Canada has to create another 500,000 jobs just to get Canada back to where it was before the recession. Equally concerning is the poor quality of the jobs that are being created: mostly part-time, low-wage and unstable, geared apparently for the rising tide of temporary foreign workers being rushed here. For this dismal state of affairs, Canadians have to thank the hollowing out of this nation's manufacturing sector, the sector that supplied good, stable, well-paying jobs until corporate "free" trade agreements multiplied in the 1980s and 1990s. That freed capital to go global. Governments responded by embracing neo-conservatism and monetarism. Predictably, poverty and instability began to balloon in the so-called First World. As an economist and very proud of it, the prime minister should take a look at the growing alarm even among his orthodox colleagues about the current, now multi-year, economic fad known as quantitative easing, or ultra-low interest rates. In a recent article in Rabble.ca, economist and political scientist Duncan Cameron notes that former Bank of Canada Deputy Governor William White has likened low interest rates to having one foot on the accelerator. "And with the Harper government curbing spending, White observed, Canada has the other foot on the brake," Cameron writes. This contradictory policy needs to be fixed, Cameron continues. "The obvious choice is for the government to take the foot off the brake and spend borrowed money for needed public investments." However, since the Harper government is ideologically opposed to government spending except indirectly on tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, it's likely to take its foot off the brake by lowering taxes even more rather than spending on needed social and economic infrastructure. Conveniently, that provides it with the excuse to reduce spending further and force down wages yet again. "Conservatives believe the marketplace works fine and any problems can be fixed by allowing wages to adjust," Cameron continues. "Unemployment is explained by the failure of rates of pay to fall because of minimum wages, unions, employment insurance, welfare and other market imperfections which need to be eliminated or reduced." The cumulative failure of this dogged - and dominant -- neo-conservative belief that governments and societies can starve themselves into prosperity is becoming ever more obvious as the Harper Conservatives age in office. Unemployment, which stood at 6.6 per cent when the Conservatives took office, is now at 7.2 per cent with 1.4 million out of work, the Toronto /Star/ reports. Flaherty's 2012 budget prediction of 2.4 per cent growth by 2013 has been scaled back to 1.7 per cent. Canada's job creation record is now below the majority of developed countries. We currently rank20^th among the 34 member countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development according to the latest OECD statistics released in mid-July. In fact, Canada has fallen behind a majority of developed countries when it comes to job creation ever since the 2008-09 recession. When adjusted for population growth, the country now has fewer jobs than it did before the recession. An analysis conducted by Canadian Auto Workers economist Jim Stanford shows that Canada's employment rate, that is the percentage of Canadians who have a job, fell sharply in 2008-09. To date, it has recovered only a fraction of that loss. Worse, Stanford's analysis shows that relative to population, Canada has 1.4 per cent fewer jobs than in 2008, although Canada's working population has grown by 1.75 million in that same period. Given all this dreary and disappointing news, you would think the government would be running for cover from its hoary, four-year-old "feel good" Economic Action Plan ads, but no. The ads, which already have cost taxpayers $113 million, are still being churned out for television, radio and print distribution. Canadians, however, have long since given up listening to, watching or reading them, let alone believing them. The polling firm Harris-Decima surveyed 2,003 people earlier this year and found only three who said they had bothered to check the ads. A mere six per cent who recalled the ads reported that they'd done anything as a result. And among those who did do something, nine said they only reacted to express their displeasure. Even more damning was the fact that not one person had called the toll-free numbers displayed on the ads. "Does this minimalist response suggest Canadians are apathetic?" asked the Ottawa Citizen in a July 22 editorial. "Nope. It shows that Canadians can smell propaganda when it's shoved in their collective face." Frances Russell was born in Winnipeg and graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science. A journalist since 1962, she has covered and commented on politics in Manitoba, Ontario, B.C. and Ottawa, working for The Winnipeg Tribune, United Press International, The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun and The Winnipeg Free Press as well as freelanced for The Toronto Star, The Edmonton Journal, CBC Radio and TV and Time Magazine. She is the author of two award-winning books on Manitoba history: Mistehay Sakahegan - The Great Lake: The Beauty and the Treachery of Lake Winnipeg and The Canadian Crucible - Manitoba’s Role in Canada’s Great Divide. Both won the Manitoba Historical Society Award for popular history.

Enough Harper!

This is an email received from Mary Cote-Walkden and posted on Facebook by Enough Harper. Harper and his puppets in Canada are moving to shut down free speech, so I am reposting to make sure that when (not if)  Harper shuts down the Facebook page the message can still get out.

Dear Mr. Harper:

I am writing to you to request that when you speak in the house and to the public, that you no longer use the phrase ‘what the Canadian people want’ or any variation thereof. I can attest to the fact that you do not speak for me, nor for any member of my household, and therefore, you are not speaking with knowledge of what ‘the Canadian people want’. What THIS Canadian wants is for you to explain to me where the transparency and accountability lies in the following issues:

- Archives ‘cleansing’ – The Harper government is working through the Canadian Archives, destroying things that don’t quite agree with their position, effectively politically rewriting our history.

- Consultation Fees -- $2.4Billion was spent on unspecified, undefined, unaccounted for ‘consultation’.

- Lost money -- $3.1Billion was ‘lost’ dollars designated for National Security.

- Illegal contributions – this time from those receiving patronage appointments (ie IE directors) who are legally forbidden from making political contributions, but who made $37,000 of them anyway.

- Duffy Affair – Senator Duffy charged excessively on his expense accounts, was found to be dishonest in his claims yet he faced no consequence. The repayment does not negate the offence.

- Nigel Wright payment – where did the $90,000 come from, who ordered it, who knew about it, why was it allowed, why was a senate report doctored to hide the fact that Duffy had been fraudulently charging taxpayers and why has no one been fired over this situation? (Not some $30,000 a year PMO worker; someone with authority and substance)

- Legal counsel for Nigel Wright – who drew up any documents used with regard to the loan/gift/payment to Michael Duffy, and was any PMO counsel resource used for this purpose.

- CBC Control – The Harper government announced that they will be taking over the appointing of staff to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, effectively taking control over the news and the way it is presented to the public, providing them with more political spin at public expense.

- Temporary Foreign Workers Scandal with Royal Bank and other large corporations for the importing of foreign workers to replace Canadian workers with Canadian government oversight approval.

- Bail-In Provision snuck through to allow government access to personal savings accounts to settle government debts (2013)

- Long Gun Registry – stopped then reinstated (April 2013) with increased registration fees for restricted weapons and the yearly renewing of license for long guns

- Robocalls (2012) – issuing fake, misleading calls to actively interfere with voting public

- Canada Action Plan ad campaign Part 1-- $26M taxpayer dollars over 3 months for programs already ended in order to promote conservative party interests.

- Canada Action Plan ad campaign Part 2 – while unemployment, particularly student unemployment, rises steadily, Harper continues his Canada Action Plan ads at high-cost events, for no purpose other than pre-campaigning.

- ETS Scandal – An IT contract was unfairly awarded to CGI, a known association of Michael Fortier, the then PWGSC Minister in a clear conflict of interest. No fairness monitor was appointed to oversee the process, reported scores by evaluators did not coincide with what they had issued, the evaluation team was advised to destroy all records relating to the evaluation, the government refused to debrief companies that had lost the award, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal ruled against the government, and the government’s response was angry denial and to appoint a new federal crown prosecutor (a former Conservative candidate) to charge the unsuccessful companies involved in the bid process with big-rigging – a charge still unproven but the case continues four years after the fact.

- CFIA (2012) – food inspection services cut, listeriosis outbreak, Minister Gerry Ritz’s tasteless jokes about deaths from outbreak.

- Prorogation – Part 1 (to avoid Contempt of Parliament fallout)

- Prorogation – Part 2 (to avoid NDP/Liberal coalition government)

- Shoe Store Project (2007) – plans for a $2M government controlled media center, run by the PMO to replace the National Press Gallery, run by the national press.

- Julie Couillard Scandal (2007) – Maxime Bernier leaves sensitive NATO documents at ex-girlfriend’s house, a woman with known ties to the Hells Angels

- In and Out (2007) – Circumnavigation of election finance rules in 2006 election. $230,000 in fines issued for violating spending laws

- Plagiarizing – Part 1 (2007) you plagiarized Australia’s John Howard’s speech about Iraq

- Plagiarizing – Part 2 (2008) from Ontario Mike Harris’ speech

- Repatriation scandal – issued orders that military personnel killed in combat would not receive repatriation attention or coverage and no flags would be at half-mast

- Scrums – all media scrums in Parliament were forbidden. Press statements would be issued when the government feels they are necessary, effectively stifling the press.

- Chuck Cadman scandal – offered a bribe for the vote in parliament, then lied under oath about it and the tape evidence of the bribe

- Senior Federal Scientists Gagged – they are not allowed to speak to media without government permission... still in effect

- Long-form Census stopped, cutting access to valuable statistics

- Unfair labor conditions for government workers-- Suspended Federal civil servants’ right to strike

- Abuse of RCMP during election -- Limiting access of press to PM during election by misusing RCMP to restrict access at private events

- Omnibus bill to pass non-financial bills with budget, making it impossible to reject pieces of the overall bill, thereby circumventing parliamentary process in the passing on individual bills. (Ironically something Stephen Harper as leader of the opposition was adamantly opposed to as being undemocratic)

- Afghan Detainees Scandal

- Military planes scandal -- Withheld financial information from parliament and parliamentary committees about costs of military planes

- Improper procedure for fighter plane procurement-- Neglected the bid process in awarding of a contract on fighter plane procurement.

- Whistleblower scandal – Christiane Ouimet, integrity commissioner, turned down investigations into 227 whistleblower allegations. She was quietly dismissed with a $500,000 exit payment and gag order.

- Rebranding Canadian Government as Harper Government on communications documents

- Interference in the 2008 US Presidential election

- $54,000 taxpayer money spent on 2-day oil lobbyretreat in UK (2011)

- Withdrawal from Kyoto

- G8/G20 Fake Lake Scandals

- Interfering with collective bargaining -- Ordering striking unions back to work: Canada Post, Air Canada,

- Breaking your own new set election date law

- Over 1700 patronage appointments

- Pulling Canada out of UN anti-drought initiative

- Contempt of Parliament – refused to turn over documents on Afghan detainee affair and later refused to submit to a parliamentary request regarding costing of his programs

- Issuing a 200-page handbook to committee heads advising them on how to disrupt their committees.

- Reneging on promise to allow parliamentary committees to select their own chairs.

- Dictating an order that staffers to cabinet ministers do not have to testify before committees

- Ordering all government communications to be vetted by his office or the Privy Council Office

- Putting Conservative party logos on stimulus funding cheques that were paid out of the public purse.

- Had party affiliates write on-line posts, using false names, to attack journalists.

- In Charlottetown in 2007, he had the police remove reporters from a hotel lobby where a party caucus meeting was being held

- Attempted to tar the reputation of diplomat Richard Colvin for contradicting their position on the afghan detainees situation.

- Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor mislead the House regarding the afghan detainees situation, had to apologize and later resigned

- Terminated Peter Tinsley, the Military Police Complaints Commissioner, when he started to investigate the afghan detainee situation.

- Mudslinging -- Before his leadership, personal attack ads were used, relatively sparingly, only during election season instead of every day regardless of election cycle.

- Fossil of the Day awards (x3) were awards to John Baird, as minister of the environment, at the UN Cancun climate conference (Dec 2010) awarded by more than 400 leading organizations, to the countries that do the most to disrupt or undermine UN climate talks, citing that Baird and the Canadian government were‘working against progressive legislation to address climate change” by“cancelling support for clean energy and for failing to have any plan to meet its very weak target for reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

- Bev Oda – misleading Parliament, mishandled CIDA requests for KAIROS group, overspending (has paid back $4,025.26 to taxpayers)

- Maxime Bernier – 2 ethics investigations for conflict of interest

- Peter Penashue – election overspending, ineligible donations

- John Duncan – improperly lobbied a tax judge

- Bruce Carson – violating lobbying regulations/influence peddling

- Dimitri Soudas – Communications Director for PM questioned over kickback scandal involving Montreal Port Authority

- Jim Flaherty – Finance Minister improperly interfered with CRTC regarding the issuing of a broadcast licence

- Dean Del Mastro – Elections Canada investigation of overspending, etc.

- Arthur Porter – Harper appointee as Canada spy agency watchdog wanted for $1.3B fraud

- Lisa Raitt – left sensitive documents in public AND made the‘cancer is sexy’ comment

- Jason Kenney – used MP stationery for party fundraising

- Rahim Jaffer and Helene Guergis – aids writing letters to papers pretending to be citizens, influence peddling (him), letting her husband use her office, mortgage transgressions, and the Charlottetown Airport meltdown

- Peter MacKay – using military transportation for personal use

- Vic Towes – abusive language and ‘you’re either with us or against us with child pornography’ statement

- Sebastien Togneri, Agop Evereklian, Giulio Maturi, Dale Saip and Kasra Nejatian all involved in ethics transgressions

- Rona Ambrose – told a parliamentary committee that Canada had paid its debt under the Kyoto Protocol but it was later pointed out that it was still unpaid. She refused to add spotted owls, of which there were only 17, needed no special protection. As Minister responsible for the Status of Women, voted for a motion to revisit the Canadian Criminal Code regarding abortion.

- John Baird – Used his cabinet post to interfere with the 2006 Ottawa city mayoral election and the light rail transit system in that city.

- Tony Clement -- $50M originally intended for the G8 meeting and border issues was used instead in his riding, with no supporting paperwork

- Mike Duffy – improperly collecting housing allowances

- Patrick Brazeau – improperly collecting housing allowances and facing assault and sexual assault charges

- Pamela Wallin – travel and other expenses being audited for irregularities

- 58 senate appointments, 100% from the conservative party despite election promises of not appointing any senators or other patronage appointments.

- In a variety of punitive ways, Harper moved against NGOs, independent agencies, watchdog groups, and tribunals who showed signs of differing with his intent. In some cases he fired their directors or stacked their boards with partisans. In others, he sued them or cut their funding. The targets of such tactics included the Rights and Democracy group, Elections Canada, Veterans’ Ombudsman Pat Stogran, Budget Officer Kevin Page and many more. His party’s smear tactics included labelling the Liberal party anti-Israel, calling Dalton McGuinty the small man of Confederation, trying to link Liberal MP Navdeep Bains to terrorism, and calling for reprisals against academics such as the University Ottawa’s Michael Behiels for questioning their policies. - Two months after the federal election, Stephen Harper privately met with Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton in a Montreal hotel. On September 9, 2004, the three signed a letter addressed to then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, stating, “We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.” – you can never raise the issue of coalitions again with derision. You used that ticket yourself, so any mention of it is entirely disingenuous.

- "When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern." -- Stephen Harper. You, Sir, need to apply this to your own leadership.

- “We don't think as a party that patronage has any place in the Parliament of Canada." Stephen Harper, Calgary Herald, March 22, 1995 -- see the above noted 1700+ patronage appointments you have made.

- "We don't support any Senate appointments." Stephen Harper, Winnipeg Free Press, January 29, 1996 -- Singing a different song now, Mr. Prime Minister?

- "Stephen Harper will cease patronage appointments to the Senate. Only candidates elected by the people will be named to the Upper House." Stephen Harper Leadership Website, January 15, 2004 – patently a lie told in order to win votes.

- "…the Upper House remains a dumping ground for the favoured cronies of the Prime Minister." Stephen Harper Leadership Website, January 15, 2004 – You wrote the book on this one, sir.

- "I don't plan to appoint senators; that's not my intention." Stephen Harper, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, January 14, 2006 -- I won’t flog this dead horse any longer.

- “I, too, am one of these angry westerners ... We may love Canada but Canada does not love us ... Let's make (Alberta) strong enough that the rest of the country is afraid to threaten us.” Report Newsmagazine, December 2000. – you do love this east vs west scenario. It’s growing tired. The only discourse between east and west is the one you are creating in your spin room.

- “You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society.” Report Newsmagazine, January 2001 – this explains a lot.

- “Let's face it, the average backbench MP is little more than a bench warmer for his/her political party.”Letter to The National Post, February 1998. – just the way you like it, Sir? It seems you still want your backbenchers to only follow the party line and who cares what their constituents might want or need.

- Then… there was this: The time for accountability has arrived. Canadians will soon be able to finally hold the Liberals accountable. After 12 years in power, the Liberals must be held accountable for the stolen money; accountable for the broken trust, and accountable for all that they failed to accomplish because of this government’s total preoccupation with scandal and damage control.

For those Canadians seeking accountability the question is clear: which party can deliver the change of government that’s needed to ensure political accountability in Ottawa?

We need a change of government to replace old style politics with a new vision. We need to replace a culture of entitlement and corruption with a culture of accountability. We need to replace benefits for a privileged few with government for all.

Everyday Canadians – the hardworking people who pay their taxes and play by the rules –want and deserve a new government that will put the people’s interest ahead of self-interest. And this election provides them with a chance to tell Liberal Ottawa that they’ve had enough; that they’re tired of being forgotten; that it’s finally their turn.

It’s time for a new government that will get things done – for all of us. Our priorities are clear. We will clean up government, cut the GST, offer parents help with child care, cut patient wait times for medical procedures, and crack down on crime.

Our plan will help individuals, families, seniors, and small business. A new Conservative government will strengthen national unity and advance our interests on the world stage.

This platform presents a clear choice for Canadians. A clear choice between old and new; entitlement and accountability; benefits for a few and leadership for all. Only one party can deliver the change of government that’s needed to bring political accountability to Ottawa.

Join me and stand up for Canada.

Stephen Harper, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (election 2006) The sad irony is that THIS Stephen Harper had it right. I wonder what happened to him. The Stephen Harper we have now is EVERYTHING this one campaigned against.

These scandals, situations and questions have gone completely unaccounted for by this government. In fact, other than for an almost non-existent percentage, no one has been fired, reprimanded, replaced or investigated criminally. The only action taken to account for these situations is to obfuscate the truth by cutting off access of media and police -- a truly fascist and arguably treasonous move. Sadly, I have debated this letter for some time, out of fear for my family and myself, because it seems to be a pattern for this government to steamroll over problems and issues rather than to acknowledge them. I realize that I am throwing myself under the steamroller. What a sad sad commentary about what this country, the envy of every other country in the world because of its moral and ethical values, has become.

Mr. Harper, in light of your complete and total lack of transparency and accountability, indeed you absolute disdain for those two qualities that you clearly, repeatedly campaigned on, I had no choice but to write to you. The only purpose you have is your own megalomaniacal lust of power and authority at ANY cost. There is no transparency and there is no regard or respect for the laws of our Parliament or of our country when applied to you and your government. Based on the fact that your party did participate in election fraud, and did obstruct investigation into said election fraud, along with the rest of this very long list (and whatever else will be coming out today and in the days to come of your questionable, at best, practices) I would respectfully request that you attend the Governor General’s residence either to ask for this illegitimate government to be dissolved, or to file your resignation as Prime Minister of Canada... or both