When we last left Stephen Harper yesterday afternoon, he was in his Terror Command Bunker, also known as the Fear Centre, trying to block out the sights and the sounds of yesterday's massive Day of Action.
And no doubt shocked by the sight of all those demonstrators, all those Stop Harper signs.
And of course, his failure to scare them into submission, or muzzle them, like he has so many other decent Canadians.
Still, you might think he would tell his grotesque Con committee members, who are "studying" the bill, to back off a bit. And listen to the experts instead of treating them like terrorists.
But if you did think that, you'd be wrong eh?
Because they are the McCarthyite spawn of their depraved leader, and they're not sorry.
Conservative MPs ignored opposition demands Friday to apologize to some of Canada’s leading environmentalists, civil liberty advocates and Muslims for remarks that appeared to insinuate critics were national security threats because they spoke out against the government’s security legislation.
They will turn the hearings into a star chamber worthy of a fascist thug regime...
Next to drop the gloves was Conservative MP LaVar Payne. Addressing Joanne Kerr, executive-director of Greenpeace Canada, on the bill’s measures for greater sharing of Canadians’ personal information between government departments, he said: “The purpose of the act is sharing for national security threats, so it makes me wonder if your organization is a national security threat?
Payne’s remarks ran down the committee’s allotted question-and-response time, leaving Kerr no opportunity to respond.
By ramming that dangerously flawed bill through Parliament for the sole purpose of satisfying their monstrous leader's need for total control...
Who has never been more disgusting. Or fallen so low. Which is saying something considering the long list of his hoggish depravities.
But the good news is that so brutish and dumb and desperate are Harper and his Cons, that they don't realize that their bestial behaviour tells us all we need to know about their ghastly bill, and why it needs to be scrapped
And ordinary Canadians are getting the message, like these Toronto Star readers.
Bill C-51 is forcefully touted as protecting Canadians against terrorism. It exploits amorphous fear in the same way that occurred in the United States after 9/11 where the Bush government introduced sweeping laws restricting civil liberties under the guise of protecting the United States from attack. Ironically, the more defensive we become, the less freedom we actually have.
Randy Gostlin, Oshawa
Fanatics seem to be created according to some sort of formula for each is a master in the politics of division; separating the world into ‘us’ and ‘them’, and casting their enemies as irrational, cold blooded killers bent on attacking ‘our’ freedoms and beliefs.
What a pity that so many Canadians, unnerved by even the remotest possibility of ‘terrorism’, cannot discern the far greater danger posed by the unprincipled zealot who stands in our own Parliament; for to disarm him, we need only deny him our support at the ballot box.
Mike Ward, Duncan, BC
And it's not just progressives complaining about Harper's politics of fear, so are some conservatives like this blogger at the Blogging Tories.
Increasingly we are being intimidated and not by terrorists. It is our own government stoking the fires of fear. If we are to really live the bold words we speak and remain the true north strong and free then we cannot allow a desperate political party or a government to compromise our freedom by making us afraid to live our lives.
That is anything but Canada Strong. It is instead, allowing ourselves to be turned into trembling sheep manipulated by political cowards and bullies.
Who couldn't be more eloquent, and more courageous. Or more encouraging.
Because what all of this tells me is that our tin pot dictator has underestimated the opposition to his bill.
Take a bow everybody...
Underestimated the intelligence and courage of Canadians. And that while he may be dividing some of them, he is also bringing others together.
And what's even worse for him, is that his totally unnecessary bill could very well come to symbolize all that's wrong with his ghastly government, and why it so urgently needs to be defeated.
How ironic eh?
It will not make him look like a Great Strong Leader.
It will make him look like a dangerous fascist. Or a maniac.
And it will help bury him...
Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.
18 comments:
If this sick, twisted bill is passed and unfettered power given to this sick, twisted PM, then prepare yourselves for the beginning of the Fourth Reich. "Heil Harper" will ring out in the HOC and required reading for all Canadians will be Harper's autobio "Mein Closet".
I fear all the Dear Leader saw where waves of terrorist willing to fill his for profit jails.
What frightens me is how frightened and terrified this government and all its members are. Canadians need a brave government in critical times, not a bunch of quivering frightened wrecks who want to lead us into fear. I remember the government in WW11 when my brothers went to war. They stayed strong and fearless and led the citizens to be the same. We need a different, braver government. Harper with his huge security detail and his closet experience is a terrified man and terrified people make bad decisions.
What is really sick is Trudeau saying the Liberals will vote for the bill and repeal it when elected. What Trudeau hasn't thought about is: what if he and the Liberals do not form the next government? What if Harper is re-elected? Trudeau and his Liberals will be unable to protest in Parliament because they will be told, you voted for it. Trudeau will go down in history as the federal Liberal leader who voted with the cons and destroyed the party. Up to now the liberals were an alternative, Now, not so much.
Trudeau may have wanted to avoid an argument about "are you with us or the terrorists", but he could have changed the narrative, by simply refusing to answer and turning the question to: are you with the murderers or 1,200 First Nations Women and their families"; are you with the convicted Cons or with those who believe in honesty", etc. There is so much material to work with when campaigning against the Cons, he didn't have to take this route.
The Cons aren't interested in what is right or wrong. They are interested in total control. Just like in Communist China. This bill will be used against Canadian citizens, when they protest actions by communist China's government corporations. Harper will simply say China is going to sue, the protestors are a "hazard" to the good order of Canada and its financial position". Then its arrest us, toss us in jail and that is all she wrote. People need to be very careful when it comes to harper and this anti-citizen bill. Its all about maintaining corporate control. This bill does it. It doesn't have anything to do with terrorists.
Simon, It looks as if David Suzuki was right a few years ago about Harper creating prisons for breakers of new laws that criminalise dissenters from the environmental movement and other protestors.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/09/25/suzuki-harper-is-building-prisons-for-eco-activists
Mass arrests have already occurred under Harper's watch with no real inquiry or safeguard that this will not happen again.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/g20-related-mass-arrests-unique-in-canadian-history/article4323163/
I'm waiting to see how Bibi Netanyahu fares this week and also what a rise in US interest rates will do to our poor "Economist" run country.
Either event might spell doom for the Harperites
e.a.f
Did you not listen when Trudeau spoke to the McGill crowd. He said that the only reason he said that he would support the bill was simply because of Harper making political hay over bill 31. I really wish that people would listen and review what Justin really said and why he said that. Anyway, that's my 2 cent worth like or not.
Trudeau has said that C-51 oversight and amendments will be part of his election platform.
EAF...Yes it is true that Trudeau may not form Government, what does that mean?
Harper is going to ram through C-51 either way, at least we have a Trudeau promising of making prudent people`s rights protections, charter right protections.
I don`t understand how naive some people are.
Can`t you see? Trudeau is attempting to calm the fears of older, unsophisticated voters who believe we need this legislation, call it what you will, it`s smart politicing by Trudeau, guess you need to be smart to understand strategy.
Why alienate millions who have been frightened by Harper`s fear mongering?
It is only sick because the need to do so is such, and that is thanks to Harper, not Trudeau. Trudeau is doing what he needs to do to hold onto and continue the peeling off from Harper center right voters, who are going to decide the outcome of the next election, just as they did in 2011 when they gave Harper his majority. Something a lot of people either tend to ignore or paint in a nasty light is that the Libs are a centrist pragmatist party, which means they need to appeal to both center left/progressives AND center right conservatives. When this bill was first announced, and Trudeau made his decision our host here put up a blog post commending Trudeau for avoiding the obvious poison trap Harper had laid for him. I agreed then, and I still do today.
Trudeau by saying that regardless of voting for the bill he and his party have major probs with it, and have major amendments to correct that, and are prepared to use those as part of an election platform should the CPC (as we all expect) fail to allow these amendments, have left themselves well placed. If anything his avoidance of the trap and turning as much as he could the lemons into lemonade, yes, bitter lemonade but still, shows him in a better light not a lesser one.
As to your argument about turning the argument with say pointing to the aboriginal women issue, while that would have weight on the progressive side, it is unfortunately clear that the security issues carry more weight in the conservative AND centrist circles, and since they combined tend to be about 2/3rds the voting public this matters. As I have said for many years now the largest plurality in the regular voting public in this country are the swing centrists, be they center right, left, or center center. So you have to consider the arguments that work there, and I'm sorry, and I wish it were otherwise yet it is clearly not, that security tends to trump almost everything, and when you also consider how much the national press gallery seems to be playing megaphone to Harper on this file, well it then becomes hard to believe that deflection would work. Not to mention it would reinforce the argument that Trudeau is unfit on these issues, unable to face them directly and is not a leader.
I've said it before, I truly do not believe were the Libs in majority we would be seeing this bill at all, and what little elements of it that actually do provide some value would be far better refined and tighten up in language than what we see here. That we would see proper hearings, as they did in 2001, and that we would have true oversight since they were in the legislative process of creating said oversight when they were defeated as a government. I have a lot of interest and family history/connections to our security institutions, and I also am an ardent free speech/thinker too so I see the issues here from both sides. This bill is clearly a political trap whose only true security focus is the Harper governments job security, as in keeping them in power, pure and simple. Trudeau acted in the most sensible manner to limit this bills ability to do that, it isn't pretty, but it clearly was the best option open in a host of bad/ugly choices. I agreed with Montreal Simon on this then, and I do now.
Scotian
hi anon...remember two things: One the bill will almost certainly be tied up in the courts until long after the election, and passing it against the wishes of so many Canadians, could cost the Cons that election. So it's a double edged sword that will be used against them...
hi Steve....actually I'm more worried about whether we'll have enough cells to accommodate the Cons, because as soon as we defeat them we are going to investigate what they've done, and i haven't the slightest doubt that some of them will go to prison...
hi anon...I agree the cowardice of Harper and his Cons is beyond belief. I refuse to allow either him or any terrorists to scare me, or muzzle me, I'm outraged that he should try to make Canadians look like chickens, when nobody but nobody is as much as a coward as he is...
hi e.a.f....I'm not as bothered by Trudeau's position on Bill C-51 as you are, because I see it as a way to innoculate himself against charges that he is weak, and it's not as if he's saying that the bill is a good one. The main thing is to keep up the pressure on the Bill because it will help us defeat him and that's all that counts. But yes, you're right it is about total control. The control freak has finally gone overboard, and it will cost him...
hi Scotian...lordy, I'm sure you'll never let me forget the day I surrendered my principles in the name of expediency. ;) But that is the way I feel. The only thing that counts is winning the election. And it is only by winning the election that we will get rid of the bill....
hi hinofan...yes ,you could see this coming from the moment Harper Joe Oliver and others started calling environmentalists radicals and extremists. And I well remember the G20 arrests since most of them happened in my neighbourhood, which during the time of the summit was like living in a police state.
But yes, I am hoping that Netanyahu gets defeated, and if the U.S. does raise its interest rates it will make our dollar plunge, and make Harper's economic record look even worse...
Simon:
Expediency when not an overriding practice/principle actually has its place in politics, especially democratic politics. It is like so many other things though, too little and things do not work, too much and it poisons, one needs to find proper balance. This is something ideologues and zealots, whatever their focus, in politics have a hard time grasping in my view. I can live with expediency when I see the logic for it, and when I see that staying too committed to a principle/ideology is counter-productive and/or corrosive it sends warning signals for me. Of course, like anything else it is context sensitive and needs to never be treated in a one size fits all manner, then it is just as bad as that inflexibility I was referring to earlier.
Besides, understanding Harper is an at all costs issue shows you appreciate the reality we live under, and I will never twit someone for that, at least not seriously..LOL
Scotian
Harper said that once elected in 2006 he would bring in a era of transparency and accountability.... How did that turn out?
Trudeau can say whatever he wants, and anyone is free to believe him or not. Whether he will do it or not is another matter. The question is: Are the rights, freedoms and democracy of Canadians itself, worth the risk? Are you willing to lose your Charter of Rights under the assumption that somehow Trudeau will fix it later? What if latter never comes? What if the first person taken away in a black van is Mr. Trudeau himself? This is what this Bill will allow btw, and there are CON (paid) posters at the G&M already calling for the removal of all opposition. Do not underestimate the danger that Canada has found itself in.
Lets not kid here, BILL C-51 is not the first step into fascism, it is the last, everything is at stake.
Nobody but an ignorant fuckwad would ever be so naive as to think trudy will give up the unmitigated power C-51 will give him if he wins the next election. O-bomb-a promised he would undo all the shit w. did and when he got in he EXPANDED those unbridled powers that the naive 'murkans believed he was going to curtail. We are in the most dangerous period this country will ever know and a bunch of idiots running around with bromance hard-ons for trudy and singing his praises like he is the new messiah is just idiotic. All anyone who can actually spell and or compose a simple sentence in English above an 8th grade education level has to do is to look at the history of how his party has acted/voted when in power to know that he is going to be another harper. C-51 is the undoing of Canada and voting for the goddamn libero/cons is the surest way to make sure it disappears forever.
You'd be a lot more convincing, grant, if you could actually speak English. Duh!
hi everyone...I'm not getting involved in partisan discussions, at this point I just don't have the strength to do that. I value the opinions of all progressives, and I love you all. All I ask is that you keep your discussions civil and avoid insulting each other. We do have our differences, but we all have something in common, and that it to defeat Harper and his filthy regime...
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