Stephen Harper and the Con War on the Truth

If you want to understand what Stephen Harper is trying to do to Canada you can't focus on each individual atrocity he commits, no matter how painful the bite.

You have to focus on the whole ghastly web he is spinning, to understand that his main target is the TRUTH.

Take this latest report for example.

The newly released numbers from the 2011 census reveal a wide, demographic chasm between the nation’s poor — those whose annual income falls well below the $27,000 median figure for an individual— and the richest in Canada.

Not only does it show that the Canadian dream is just a myth, and that Stephen Harper is no economist.

It also turns out we can't fully trust the figures.

Critics who protested the federal government’s decision to cancel the long-form census have had their worst fears confirmed with the release this week of data from the survey that has replaced it. The National Household Survey is weakest and most unreliable in its data on low-income earners, which is exactly the danger that many observers foretold when the Harper government announced the cancellation of the long-form census in 2010.

Because the Cons gutted the census we can't even be sure we know our own country. Or help those who need it most.

Just like we still don't know the full job killing impact of LAST year's budget, because the new Parliamentary Budget Officer has already given up looking for the information. And seems only too eager to neuter his own office. 

Frechette has a master's degree in economics. But compared to this task, or his predecessor’s credentials, he’s a fiscal featherweight. He has spent the last 27 years working in the Parliamentary Library — a subdued information backwater with no advocacy role. Not exactly the ideal training ground for a proactive PBO.

Frechette has reportedly told his staff that their work will be less analysis and more synthesis. The focus will be on committee support rather than on public reports. Expect a much lower public profile.

And then there's the RoboCon scandal...



And the burning question of whether we'll ever know who carried out this crime against democracy.

Especially since the new head of Elections Canada is apparently not the kind of man to rock the boat.

The surprise appointment in the summer of 2012 of Yves Côté as the new commissioner of Elections Canada has raised concerns about the quality of the investigation. He is described as a competent but cautious bureaucrat rarely known for tackling a file aggressively.

It could be that some people, like Michael Sona, are given to exaggeration. Or it could be that a governing party that has been no stranger to dirty tricks overstepped the bounds on this one and will pay a huge price. We just don’t know — and if the new guy at Elections Canada isn’t pursuing the investigation thoroughly, we might never know.

And if all of that wasn't bad enough, and the muzzling of scientists, the Big Lies, and the brainwashing wasn't the death of democracy.

Successive prime ministers have treated Parliament as something of a nuisance to be tolerated, but Harper has taken it to a new level. Whether it is Afghan detainees, the Parliamentary Budget Office, the federal budget, federal access to information law or a range of other issues, the Conservative government appears to treat releasing information to the public an affront. Secrecy, not transparency, is often their default position. It is a culture that permeates the federal bureaucracy, and it is eating away at our democracy.

Then there's the Senate scandal, where the media can't get anywhere because the paper trail is missing.

And the opposition can't ask questions because Great Ugly Leader is padlocking our Parliament. 

So we are left stumbling around in the dark, or trapped in his web of lies...



So he can tell us the truth is what he says it is.

Or what we don't know won't hurt us...



Even though it's KILLING our democracy.

Which is what he wants above all things, because once he's done that he can do ANYTHING.

Oh well, it's funny eh? The great Montreal group Arcade Fire, just put out a new song called Reflektor, with some vocals from David Bowie.

And the video reminds me of the journey we're on in the darkness of Harperland.

Where hope goes to die.

And all is fake and frightening...



But what I take from it, since it's Friday, is this eh?

Slowly but surely we are crawling towards the light...



We have lived on our knees for a long time, but not for much longer.

And we will defeat the monster before his madness engulfs us, before the truth becomes treason.

And before his ugly evil shatters this country...



And I'm crawling off to the weekend to make some videos, and party like there is no tomorrow.

Lordy, do I need it.

Have a great one everybody !!!!

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