You think Stephen Harper might have learned his lesson. You think a tiny sliver of light might have penetrated even into his dark world.
You think he might have finally realized that his oily obsession is leading us to economic disaster.
Declining crude oil prices are taking a brutal toll on the Canadian stock market, as investors take a dim view of the country’s economic prospects in an era of cheap, plentiful energy.
But no, no he hasn't. He's sharpening his greasy fangs, and giving himself the power to jail pipeline protesters.
Federal Minister of Justice Peter MacKay says it "would be up to a judge" to decide whether or not to lock up protesters who stage blockades against energy pipelines or hold protests on railroad tracks if a bill introduced by a Conservative Party backbencher becomes law.
While sending out his lamentable stooge Peter MacKay to try to camouflage his sinister intentions.
When asked whether the bill would apply to pipelines and railroads, MacKay acknowledged that both fall under the definition of critical infrastructure, adding that "harming that kind of infrastructure would be illegal."
MacKay left out, however, that the bill doesn't just slap fines on those who damage infrastructure—it also criminalizes those who block its construction and use. C-639 singles out anyone who "obstructs, interrupts or interferes with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of any part of a critical infrastructure."
Great eh?
Welcome to Harperville...
Where standing up for the planet can mean going to jail or paying a heavy fine. And Steve's oily horror show just keeps getting darker and darker.
And the good news? The environment will be a big issue in the next campaign. And if investors are already sending Harper and his incompetent regime this message:
The Canadian dollar fell to another five-year low of 87.10 cents (U.S.), down more than a third of a cent and offering another signal that investors are growing increasingly pessimistic about all things Canada.
And Canadians are already feeling the pain in their wallets.
He can forget about posing as a Great Economist Leader...
Because NOBODY will believe him.
And his plan to blow the surplus to try to bribe some Canadians, at a time when the economy is staggering, will only make him look even more reckless and criminally irresponsible.
Yup. He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't see it coming.
He made his oily bed.
And now he will lie in it...
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16 comments:
Desperate people do desperate things!
When will Canada take to the streets.
So here is my question: who has to prove that the economic infrastructure they are protesting is critical to the country?
I ask because StatsCan reports that mining and oil and gas extraction (note that they are lumped together there please) accounted for between 2.5 and 5.9% of Canada's GDP in 2013. (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/gdps04a-eng.htm). This may not be negligible, but it is certainly little enough that we should be able to replace it with some other kind of industry with a little imagination and innovation. Although, admittedly I suspect the morons that thought up this legislation have no imagination or innovative ability and are both jealous of said in others and doing their best to quash it in the larger population.
I am involved with most of the groups here in BC who are in opposition to pipelines and expansion of oil extraction. I don't know a single person who advocates for physical damage to pipelines, refineries or gas plants. We understand the ecological devastation such activity might cause. I personally am for preservation of life and protection of the earth and trying not to exacerbate climate change. I am for finding alternate energy solutions that do not have plausible long term destructive results, for dialling back oil and gas, and turning off those taps responsibly. Most of the people I am involved with feel the same.
And finally, while this is maybe not entirely germane, I suspect that the authors of this legislation and their bosses think those of us who are protesting are just a bunch of unemployed hippy wackos. My own MP told the local paper that he seldom hears from people who support pipelines and omnibus bills because he believes they are all busy working and taking care of their families. The people I know within the pipeline opposition community are often well-educated and well-employed, by which I mean that we pay quite a bit of taxes. I have to wonder if sticking us all in jail might not be more damaging to the economic infrastructure of the country than preventing the Northern Gateway from being built.
Karen,
I am in Atlantic Canada and thoroughly enjoyed and in complete agreement with your above comments. I do not wish to see our great land torn up by building pipelines!
My federal MP is a Conservative, so contacting him would be a waste of time.
I am well-educated but now retired, and wish to see some major changes in the oil and gas industry.
Northern Alberta is a case in point........complete devastation of the area!
Patiently waiting to cast my ballot in the next federal election.
http://dogwoodinitiative.org
http://dogwoodinitiative.org/no-tankers/stand-up-for-bc
http://canadians.org/energy
They will change the laws. They will send protesters to jail for longer periods of time and implement fines which will financially cripple home owners. Remember most of the protestors at Burnaby Mountain, were your average working person, with homes, et.c How do you get them to go away. Threaten them with 2 to 5 yrs in jail and you know how the cons love min. sentencing. Fines of $10 to $50. Don't forget Kinder morgan's slap suit. Its a favorite of American corporations and harper and his cons have learned much from the repugentthugs.
The majority of corporations are foreign. The trade agreements provide for them to bring in their own workers, if they deem it necessary. That is not open for review by the Canadian government . It is the foreign corp. who makes the decision. Now watch them bring in their own "security staff". Wait until a big protest outside the gates of some plant in some rural area. Then watch those "security staff" open fire on Canadian protestors. who do you think will stop it? Not the RCMP? They won't be around. Will there be an "investiatation"/ Of course but the shooters will be long gone and the protestors will be blamed for their own injuries and deaths.
people need to remember what happened at Oka. it can happen again. It happened to First Nations people. if you think of it as we being the Second Nation, the Third Nation (corporations and their friends) will have no qualms about shooting and killing us. It will put an end to protestors for good.
On the bright side, oil prices are sliding and gas will follow. it won't prevent harper from making changes to the criminal code. He still is P.M. and he may be for a long time. Be prepared.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/rinelle-harper-calls-for-national-inquiry-into-missing-murdered-women-1.2865353
Rinelle Harper: "a few simple words: love, kindness, respect and forgiveness."
Stephen Harper: "a few simple words: above, callousness, deflect and pettiness."
Harperville = Horrorville Simon this already two years old: "With annual global emission increases of 3-5 percent, humans are hurtling towards a cliff" I could not have said it better: https://citizenactionmonitor.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/with-annual-global-emission-increases-of-3-5-percent-humans-are-hurtling-towards-a-cliff/
Then there is this it seems Steve's plan is indeed unraveling: https://citizenactionmonitor.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/expert-bc-intervener-files-a-motion-demanding-cessation-of-all-kinder-morgan-work-on-trans-mountain-pipeline/
hi Kathleen...yes he is desperate, and that does make him dangerous. But then we're desperate to get rid of him so that leaves us even Stephen....;)
hi Steve....I'd like to see Canadians take to the streets like they do all over Europe. But I'm not holding my breath. I'm afraid our people are not the demonstrating kind, and of course especially ot in Winter. But we can still build a movement, and before the next campaign is upon us I'm sure we will....
hi Karen...well of course you're right. The Harperites have focused so much attention on their precious tar sands, they have made them appear bigger than their real place in the economy. unfortunately they have been so successful that investors are being scared away from the country and the stock market. So the Con clown are amaging the economy further. Geniuses they are not. The intelligent thing to do is to develop the energy and the jobs of the future, but their oily obsession blinds them and they are leading us to disaster....
hi e.a.f...Lordy, you are feeling a bit gloomy these days. Once again I hope you're wrong. Because I remember OKA well, and it could have ended so tragically. We really will not be safe until we have a truly Canadian government again...
hi David...when I saw the headline 'Harper calls for national inquiry" for a moment I thought it was Steve. Er...it's the time of the season... ;)
Its not gloom, its reality. I've had a look at political and corporate interests in the last century. Its history. If they did it once, they'll do it twice. If we have a look at the history of Shell oil in 2nd and 3rd world countries, its not so nice. Just because this is Canada and the majority of citizens have been of European descent, doesn't mean it can't happen to us, if there is enough money at stake.
During apartheid, in South Africa, people would protest. The police and state representatives would move in, along with their vehicles/trucks. Did you ever notice the gas tankers there to supply the vehicles?. Did you ever have a look at the corporate names on those gas tanker trucks? They didn't even try to hide it!
Corporations liked apartheid, it gave them a low wage supply of workers, with no rights.
If we look at strikes by Coca Cola workers in Mexico, Central and South America, how did it turn out? Not so well. what makes any one think we could not be subject to the same things. its not that long ago. I recall speakers coming from Central America, who had protested against "land reform" by corporations. those people had been arrested and tortured. The Americans don't have any problem with torture. We just saw the documents this week. The same Americans harper and his cons so admire.
When we look at other parts of Africa, do we remember 1995 and the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Accused of treason, his real "crime": being an outspoken critic of the then Nigerian dictatorship, pollution and damage caused by Royal Dutch Shell while extracting oil from the area his people lived in. Mr. Saro-Wiwa was an internationally noted environmentalist, poet, etc. He has hung anyhow. Heads of state pleaded for his release, Countries offered to take him. the Pope of the time asked for mercy. It sent a message, loud and clear. Oil companies will not be stopped and their political stooges, will do as told. If anyone thinks this can't happen in Canada, give your head a really good shake.
We have only to look south of the border to see what went on in Chile, Argentina, Mexico, any central American country, and the U.S.A. We still see shootings in the U.S.A. of black people by police officers. Corporate American simply needs a low wage pool of workers.
I'm not gloomy. I've had a good look at history, from ancient times to modern. I've come to the conclusion it all keeps happening again and again.
We need only look to Hong Kong's news last night. how do you think those protests are going to end if the protesters don't clear the streets? The Chinese government will kill them. They won't hesitate to kill Canadians either. Life is cheap. We have only to look at last night's news again for the response by a con cabinet minister regarding the 1,200 murdered/missing First Nations women. He was asked by the press about the request of the young woman left for dead, following a vicious assault in Winnipeg. We may like to think the cons wouldn't treat the rest of us like the murdered/mission 1,200 First Nations women, but trust me, if it is to their advantage, they will shoot us like the dogs they think we are. To date we have deluded ourselves into thinking government wouldn't, but rest assured they will, if they deem it in the best interest of the "country/corporations". I have no illusions. If corporations want those pipelines, tankers, etc. and we the people impede their progress, we will be shot. If anyone thinks it couldn't happen, remember Oka, remember the how many women were murdered on the downtown east side before the police decided there just might be a serial killer, remember how the cons treat the Veterans, remember how the cons treat children in the North, have a look at housing in the North. None of this bothers the cons, so how should we think we might be exempt?
I was in a similar situation and in order to find the best local bail bondsmen I left no stone overturned. I would go online and research their websites, call family and friends, ask coworkers, and even asked neighbors for help. Once I had a good list of bail bondsmen, I went back online and did some more research until I found the right one.
Eliseo Weinstein @ JR's Bail Bonds
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