Bill C-51 and the Fascism of the Harper Regime

If the Public Security Committee's hearings into Bill C-51 had ended today, some no doubt would have called it just another bad April Fool's joke.

But Stephen Harper is so desperate to beat the drums of war and fear, and use the bill to go after his political enemies, he couldn't wait that long.

So he rammed the bill through yesterday, and although it was no joke, the hearings were in every possible way a ghastly fascist farce. 

The House public safety committee has completed its review of the government's proposed anti-terror legislation, after listening to more than 16 hours of expert testimony from nearly 50 witnesses.

Because although the Cons did make some minor changes, they voted down every single opposition amendment.

Questioned the loyalty of experts who testified...



Refused to listen to them, just parroted their PMO lines.

So as Michael Geist points out, the bill is still dangerously flawed. 

While there is some tinkering with the information sharing provisions, the law will still allow for widespread sharing without effective oversight from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Moreover, key concerns with respect to the CSIS Act (warrants that can violate Charter rights) and broader oversight and accountability remains untouched.

And the committee was a shameful farce...



Few legislative issues are as important as the security and privacy of Canadians, but the entire hearings were structured to avoid hearing from experts, to asking irrelevant questions, or to bringing in witnesses with scant knowledge of the proposed bill.

Just another disgusting example of the now total contempt with which the Cons treat our Parliament. And one that even John Ivison finds appalling. 

Even in the darkest days of the Second World War, Winston Churchill addressed the House of Commons with the latest news, good or bad, and never shrank from a vote of censure. “I am,” he used to say, “a servant of the House of Commons.” 

The great Tory leader would probably be appalled by Canada’s Conservatives, who appear to believe the acronym MP stands for Masters of Parliament, given the way they treat its institutions like whipped dogs.

But what takes all of this into the realm of fascism, is apparently the real reason the Cons don't want to allow parliamentary oversight.

The unspoken reason. Their dirty secret.

They can't trust the opposition with the security of Canada...



An exchange with a senior Conservative reveals the mistrust between the government and the opposition is not just between individuals, it’s systemic.

“How can we grant access to the country’s most sensitive secrets to people who want the country to fail [the Bloc] or have no confidence in the entire security apparatus [the NDP]?”

Can you believe that? They can't trust the opposition, but we are supposed to trust THEM? 

Or this morally depraved maniac?



Who marches to the sound of the drums in his head.

That alien freak who lies all the time, is about as Canadian as a three dollar bill, and who after raping our democracy is now trying to turn us into a police state?

We're supposed to trust HIM?

It boggles the mind, and makes you wonder where DO those Cons come from? For it surely can't be Canada. Ivison can describe their behaviour this way:

This strikes me as wandering beyond partisan arrogance into terrain that is borderline anti-democratic.

But in a parliament of whipped dogs, where and when does borderline anti-democratic become fascism? And who in the MSM will tell us when that line has been crossed?

But the good news is that by acting like a fascist, and ramming that bill through committee in such a brutish manner, Harper will now own it all the way to the next election.

And since polls show the more Canadians understand the bill the more they hate it...



We're going to educate them. 

From April 13th to April 20th people across Canada will step up for a Week of Education to Stop C-51. Any activity that helps educate your fellow residents of Canada is welcome: Petitions, letter writing, social media outreach, marches, forums, flyering, canvassing etc.. Let's grow the numbers in opposition.

With that and other campaigns, and some of the loudest and angriest protests this country has ever seen...



For now there can be no doubt. No doubt whatsoever. 

If we want to scrap that fascist bill.

If we want to save our democracy and our country. 

We must defeat that monstrous maniac before he turns us into a police state...

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