Michael Harris' Guide to Street-Proofing Our Votes

As you may have heard, Ottawa has been swirling with rumours that Stephen Harper could be getting ready to call a very early election. 

So he can strike before the flames of fear and bigotry he has been fanning die down. And before the Duffy Trial.

And although those rumours seem to have subsided, his performance during his year end interview with Peter Mansbridge was less than reassuring in that regard...



And now that he's even crazier than he was back then, he is capable of ANYTHING.

So just to be safe, or as safe as you can be in his monstrous Harperland, I thought I'd pass on Michael Harris' guide to street-proofing your vote.

Or his Hitchhiker's Guide to the 2015 Election. 

It is my intention to street-proof your vote. It needs street-proofing because the old electoral politics of presentation, explanation and proof are mostly dead. Politicians no longer court you, they stalk you. They don’t campaign, they spy, cheat, chisel and connive their way into office.

So you can learn not to trust your telephone eh?

Never, I repeat, never listen to a telephone recording, let alone act on one. A lot of people who did in the last federal election exercised their legs, not their franchise. Now that Harper’s strategically weakened new elections legislation makes life markedly easier for would-be cheaters, we are certain to see the sequel: Son of Robocalls. When you know it’s a recording, just hang up. Don’t let them use your telephone as a Trojan horse to enter your head.

Like I don't trust my I-Pad, especially now that thanks to Bill C-51 Stephen Harper will be creeping us all the time...



And of course Harris' warning about how you should make sure that you are armed with the right documents when you set out to vote, couldn't be more important. Because it will be a jungle out there.

Plan your trip to the polling station as though you’re fording a crocodile-infested stream. Make sure you have everything you need. And that means two pieces of official identification, one of which must bear the location of where you hang your hat – if you don’t have a driver’s license or provincial ID with a photo and your street address. And while you can use your passport as proof of identity to vote, you will still need to show a second pile of ID bearing your name and address.

And you can't trust Pierre Poislievre.

Bear in mind that Pierre Poilievre, the man who downsized democracy in Canada for the Harper oligarchy, has made the act of casting a vote more like filing your income tax. If you don’t have the proper documents, expect to have the dudes in short pants up your nose as an ineligible voter. Stick this on the fridge. Challenges to prospective voters at polling stations across the country will be the signature dysfunction of the coming election. The “Fair” Elections Act has set the table.

For obvious reasons...



But yes, get ready to vote, and encourage others to do the same. Because voter turnout will decide the next election. 

We can't let Harper and his Con bullies intimidate us. We must be ready. 

Final note on street-proofing your vote? Inform yourself. Look at what the people who want their power renewed have done with it so far, and at what those who seek power say they will do if they get it. Above all, don’t cast your ballot out of fear.

And we do need to street proof our vote. So Boss Harper and his Con gang can't steal the election. Like his Poutine gang tried to do last time.

Which reminds me...if on the day of the vote you notice that Stephen Harper is in a state of wild excitation, like he was last election day, long before the votes were counted.

But even as the robocalls were going out, as I documented in this video...



Please call the police and the media, and report it IMMEDIATELY.

Because while street proofing our votes is good.

And defeating him and his foul Cons will be excellent.

Street proofing our country, against further abuses, would be even better...



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