The Harper Regime and the Road to Resistance

When the dark history of the Harper regime is finally written, historians will note that it took a very long time before many Canadians realized what was happening.

Before they finally understood  into what monstrous pit of moral depravity the deranged leader of the Con cult was dragging them.

As he slowly turned Canada into a brutish prison state. 

Incidents of federal prisoners slashing, burning, banging their heads and choking themselves behind bars have more than tripled in the last five years.

Sold them out to foreign interests.

Appallingly, the treaty would give Sinopec, one of the big Chinese backers of the Northern Gateway pipeline, the right to sue the government of British Columbia if it blocks the project. Sinopec could also demand that only Chinese labour and materials be used on the pipeline. Moreover the treaty gives Chinese state owned companies "the right to full protection and security from public opposition."

And prepared to go after medicare.

The Conservative government has been examining substantial changes to the $15.4-billion federal equalization program that could dramatically affect transfers sent to provinces and their ability to pay for programs and services.

Historians will also record that when most Canadians finally understood the terrible danger they were in, many did not know what to do. Except play the old politics, and hope that a divided opposition would defeat the Cons in the next election.

So I was glad to see someone like Allan Gregg indict the Cons for their Orwellian assault on reason.

Even a cursory examination of the most recent federal budget reveals that the 19,000 job cuts announced therein were not to be achieved across-the-board or through attrition, but were targeted very precisely at researchers, statisticians, scientists and other organizations who might use data to contradict a government which believed that evidence and rational compromise are not the tools of enlightened public policy, but barriers to the pursuit of an agenda based on ideology over reason.

But also call on Canadians to get off their asses, and do more to defeat Harper's sinister agenda: 

History has also shown that tyrants can have a truncated shelf life if the citizenry enters the public forum and, armed with facts, reasoned arguments, and thoughtful ideas, engages in a loud debate. In the case of those who would stand against reason, our silence will be perceived as consent. There’s too much at stake to be silent.

And I was also happy to see someone like Alex Himelfarb, who I respect  enormously, lament the state of our democracy.

We ought to be outraged. Just about every day our media provides a new account of the decline of our democracy: the inadequacies of our electoral system and allegations of electoral fraud; the high-handed treatment of our Parliament through inappropriate prorogations and overuse of omnibus legislation; a government ever more authoritarian and opaque, resistant to evidence and reason, and prepared to stifle dissent.

But also point to the Quebec student movement as a way to renew it.

Student leaders from Quebec have recently launched a cross-Canada tour to promote political activism, to help Canadians learn how to build social movements that offer a richer kind of democratic experience than provided by contemporary politics, but also to explain to those who feel disenfranchised why voting and political participation still matter. They understand the dangers of leaving any government to its own devices, unconstrained by a vigilant citizenry. These young Canadians seem to be looking for a new politics tuned into the voices in the community and on the streets and one that at least begins to offer some real engagement on the issues that matter – inequality and poverty, jobs and youth unemployment, climate change and environmental degradation.

Because needless to say I agree. 

We can't just look on helplessly as the Con regime pillages our country. We can't just rely on the old politics to save it. Only a mass movement of resistance can hope to slow down the Con agenda, and ensure that they are defeated in the next election.

For I also want historians to record that just when all seemed lost, the Canadian people awoke, and reclaimed their country.

I know it can happen. I'm working on it eh?

The Cons must be defeated.

A new movement is being born.

To resist is to exist.

And this is what victory looks like...



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