Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Stephen Harper and the Enemies of the State

















He has always been a bully. They say it gives him pleasure to see fear in the eyes of others. He has always treated his opponents like enemies to be destroyed.

Now as he turns this country into a sinister prison state, anyone who opposes him is an Enemy of Canada.

In a sworn affidavit released Tuesday to The Canadian Press, Andrew Frank says he was told by his supervisor at ForestEthics that a PMO official had referred to their organization as an "enemy of the state." The affidavit describes how staff were told their jobs were at risk after the official told Tides Canada, which supports the work of ForestEthics, that the government would "take down" all of the agency's projects unless it cut ForestEthics loose.

The masters of the Big Lie deny it. But who would believe anything they say, when their record speaks for itself? 

The Harper government has cut funding for critics before. In December 2010, the Canadian International Development Agency turned down a funding application by the relief organization Kairos.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney initially told an Israeli audience the group had been cut off due to its anti-Israel stance — an assertion Kairos said was patently untrue. International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda contradicted Kenney, saying the group simply no longer met the criteria for CIDA's foreign aid priorities. But an internal memo later surfaced, signed by Oda and CIDA's top two officials, indicating that the agency had actually recommended Kairos's application be approved.

Remember Kairos. Remember how they savaged women's groups. Remember what they did to Rights and Democracy and its president poor decent Rémy Beauregard...















Who died of a heart attack after the Cons went after him like a pack of rabid wolves.

Rémy was my hero, and now so is Andrew Frank.

The events of the last month have ensured that I will never take my rights as a Canadian citizen for granted again. That is both sad and encouraging. Sad that I ever had to question them, and encouraging because I have been reminded of another lesson taught to me by my parents: the best way to stop a bully is to stand up to him.

Because those are the Canadians who fight for us ALL.

The pipeline process is now fatally flawed, and must be delayed until a full judicial inquiry can be held. For who knows how many groups are being blackmailed, but are too afraid to speak out?

But even more importantly, our democratic freedoms are now in mortal danger. For if these sinister prison Cons can declare their or Big Oil's opponents to be enemies of the state NOBODY is safe.

"When a government calls its own citizens enemies, you've lost your moral authority to govern."

I call on the NDP, the Liberals, the Greens, and all other progressives to join forces in a Coalition of National Salvation to fight and eventually defeat this foul regime.

You know, I wish I lived at a better time in Canadian history, so I would never have to write about Stephen Harper, because it depresses me so much. 

But I know a bully when I see one. And I am haunted by this question.

They say it couldn't happen in Canada.

But what if it did?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bill Moyer says on Real Time with Bill Maher, regarding the rejection of the Keystone pipeline -
"The real issue is the integrity of the political process. There was collusion between high government and the industry to get this through before the public had a chance to be heard."
They're applauding Obama's bravery for rejecting TransCanada's application.
Our problem in Canada is that Harper et al is the high government in collusion with the oil industry and they are trying to undermine the public process.
Couldn't happen in Canada...?
We must reconsider!
Thanks Simon.

BC Mary said...

Thank you, Simon. That needs saying, and clarifying, and re-visiting until we get a handle on our own sovereign affairs ... including "homeland" defence issues which we now share with the U.S. [see Allison's posting].

The thing is: what do we do, each of us, today and every day?? We gotta find our push-back.
.

Anonymous said...

The Mop & Pail is also "covering" this story: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/environmentalists-departure-sheds-light-on-tension-felt-by-green-groups/article2313991/

Mysteriously, they have entirely avoided quoting anything from Andrew Frank, and have done a spectacular job spinning and dancing around Frank's sworn allegations. The words "Enemy of the People" and "Enemy of the Government" are nowhere to be found in the Globe's article.

The Globe's editors must be worried that their readers would too easily make the link between Comrade Joe Stalin's "Enemies of The People" and the statements from the office of Comrade Joe Harper.

Anonymous said...

I heard Ibbitson from the Globe and Mail. He said, Harper doesn't like big gatherings, that's was why he was going to skip out early. Which Harper changed his mind, when he saw how angry the F.N. were. Harper just sat there with his finger up his nose, and really said nothing. Ibbitson went on to say, the Enbridge pipeline, was the best thing for the F.N. since their way of life, was taken from them.

Harper is no Conservative. He is a Reformer, and running Canada on the lines of his fascist, Northern Foundation Party, from 1989.

Harper and his favorite henchman Campbell, use the same dirty tactics. Oppose me, and you have no job. That's exactly how dictators operate, by threats.

I read, Luis Moreno-Ocampo has given Harper a summons for, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

We need to run that s.o.b. right off the planet. A criminal for a P.M...Running our country. Good grief!!!

Simon said...

hi anonymous...Moyer is absolutely right, Big Oil and its tools are so desperate to sell all that oil to China they are practically out of control. And here at home they must be putting a lot of pressure on the Harper Cons because they're looking desperate too. The good news is that when people are desperate they tend to make mistakes, and I'm predicting the Cons are about to make a mistake that will hound them from office...

Simon said...

hi BC Mary...first of all I just want to say how inspiring I find the resistance from all those people in British Columbia. Bravo. The cons must be trembling in their booties. As to what we can do to derail the Con majority I have come to the conclusion that the progressive parties must do more than just play old politics. They must leave the musty halls of Parliament and mobilize the population.
If they want to be our leaders then they must lead by example. And any progressive party that does that can count me among their followers...

Simon said...

hi anonymous...thanks for the Globe link, and I must say I find it very strange that they would not ask the principal character in this sordid Con drama for his comments. Or even put the story into a wider context. But that's the Globe eh? When push comes to shove it's pretty clear whose side they are on...

Simon said...

hi anonymous...I was curious to see what Harper was going to say at the summit meeting with the chiefs. And he certainly didn't surprise me. Like anyone who opposes the Dirty Oil pipeline our native people are also his enemies. And until his foul government does something to help the poor people of Attawapiskat and other suffering communities, his words mean absolutely NOTHING...