Stephen Harper's Cowardly Closet and the Big Lie

Over the last year I have used this image and others like it a lot, for reasons I will explain later.

But on the one-year anniversary of that crazed gunman's assault on Parliament Hill, and the cowardly killing of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, I just want to say this:

When Stephen Harper claimed that his security detail had rushed him into that closet.

It was just another Big Lie.

“Where is he?” the constable asked, meaning Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Fingers pointed towards the northeast corner of the room, where a door inset in the wood-panelled wall stood slightly ajar. The closet is barely four feet in each direction, further cramped by conduit and wiring panels on the walls. With the door closed, it is completely dark and the only sound is a low hum of a cooling fan.

Harper stood inside, facing the door. He seemed calm, not frightened, the constable recalls. “He was waiting for whoever was supposed to protect him,” the constable said. “His eyes were looking at me like he wanted to know what was going on. “I looked at him and said, ‘Are you OK?’ He looked at me and said, ‘Yes.’ ”

There was no security detail.

Here, the constable’s account differs from the story that has evolved about that day — that his security team had followed protocol by forcing Harper into the closet for his safety.

He apparently made his own way into the closet, with the help of two members of his staff.

The constable says he learned that, moments after the first shots, Harper had been spirited into the small electrical utility closet not by security but by staff members – possibly Myles Atwood, the prime minister’s special assistant – and an Ontario senator whose name he does not recall.

But even if I had known that, I might have forgiven Harper, if he had been honest...



And admitted he was scared shitless, and labouring under the paranoid delusion that Canada would collapse if he wasn't Prime Minister.

I might have forgiven him, if he hadn't used that attack to denigrate his political opponents...



Or used it for crass political purposes... 




Or if I hadn't got the distinct impression that he would have welcomed another attack, so he could try to scare Canadians into voting for him...



And turn us into a police state.

So all I will say is that this picture of Nathan Cirillo is for me an unforgettable portrait of a humble Canadian hero...



Standing there in his kilt only moments before he was murdered.

Having volunteered to stand there for hours, to honour all those other soldiers who gave their lives for their country.

And was by all accounts a really nice guy...



So I am glad that he will be honoured today along with Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent.

Who also served his country faithfully and well.

And as long as I live I will never forget the bravery of Cirillo's little boy...



Who broke very decent heart in this country, with his show of courage.

But as for Stephen Harper, he was indeed nothing but liar, a bully, and a coward.

Or a chicken...



And all I can say about him is, Great Polar Bear God of the Great White North, was that feathered creature really our Prime Minister for almost TEN years?

How did that happen? What a nightmare.

And good riddance to bad rubbish...

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