Stephen Harper and the Hope He Cannot Destroy

The other night I wrote about how gloomy so many progressive Canadians seem to be these days, in the brutal cold of a Canadian winter and the sinister darkness of Harperland.

And how I on the other hand have never felt more optimistic. Because I know we're closer to the end than the beginning of that horrible nightmare.

And it seems that every day I read another story in the MSM, asking the same wonderful question:

Will Stephen Harper stay or go?

One question will dominate the Canadian political scene this year: Will he stay or will he go? And there won’t be a thing Harper can do about it.

And of course this is music to my ears eh?

The biggest threat to Harper and his government comes not from Liberal Justin Trudeau or New Democrat Tom Mulcair, but the RCMP ITOs — Information to Obtain a production order — in the PMO-Senate scandal, which has been imprisoning the prime minister for more than seven months. The past year was one of drip, drip, drip for Harper and that will continue.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Let freedom RAIN !!!

But of  course, I also understand why so many progressives feel discouraged when the election still seems so faraway.

The damage Harper and his monstrous regime have done to this country and its reputation has been so devastating. 



And is still continuing. 

Because after wrecking our democracy he is now going after our Supreme Court. By appointing a judge, Marc Nadon, for his own  sinister purposes.

So did the prime minister make a mistake in choosing Justice Nadon? Or does his choice say something about the Conservative government’s plan for the country’s most influential court? Court watchers point to a crucial clue – Justice Nadon’s stance on the case of teenage terrorist Omar Khadr. 

At a time when other judges are beginning to rebel against the government’s overhaul of criminal law, the Khadr ruling marked the then-unheralded 64-year-old as a voice for keeping judges in their place.

To try to muzzle the judiciary, like he has muzzled so many other Canadians. And reward Nadon, for not agreeing that Omar Khadr's human rights had been violated. 



When of course they have been, in a most outrageous and shameful manner. 

And that could only happen in a country with a leader as morally depraved as Stephen Harper. An abomination if ever there was one.

So I can understand that when I say I'm STILL optimistic, some of you, like some of my friends, might wonder what kind of super weed I'm smoking. And whether I wear a jester's hat on my head and bells on my feet.

And all I can say is I wish eh? But the far less exciting truth is that I'm always looking for hope. And finding it in the most unexpected places. 

Like I did today in a small prison cell in Edmonton. 

In his small prison cell, Omar Khadr pored over his Grade 11 algebra last fall, tackled his first Shakespearean play — King Lear — and researched an essay on nuclear disarmament. With no computer access at the maximum-security Edmonton Institution, he wrote his homework in longhand.

Where our child soldier despite all that was done to him...



Has somehow managed to hang on to his humanity, and his hope for a better future.

Despite more than 11 years in prison, Khadr manages to remain positive about the future, say the professors. “He’s remarkably hopeful about Canada and human rights in general,” said Van Arragon, adding he worries whether Canada will live up to that view when the prisoner is finally released. “I hope he’ll be left alone and he can live a quiet life.”

And what I take from that is that if Omar hasn't lost hope, and Stephen Harper hasn't been able to destroy that young Canadian. I will never lose hope, and Harper will never destroy us.

Which is good enough for today?Tomorrow I'll find another candle to dazzle you in the darkness.

And maybe I WILL wear bells on my feet eh? So I can jump up and down in the snow, and make you laugh while we fight.

But this I know for sure. Those candles out there will one day become a bonfire. The bells will ring out one day from coast to coast to coast.

Omar Khadr will soon be free. At last.

And so will CANADA...



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