Monday, October 26, 2015

Why the Ugly Record of the Harper Cons Must Not Be Forgotten or Denied



It was just another traffic accident in downtown Toronto, where everyone is always in a hurry, and time is money, and sometimes bloody.

And Godzilla knows I've seen enough of them.

But as I watched them try to figure out what happened, and who was to blame?

I couldn't help thinking those are exactly the same questions we need to ask about the catastrophic disaster, and the years of democratic darkness, that Stephen Harper and his monstrous Cons inflicted on this country.



For he was monstrous. 

His long list of crimes against Canada, it's democracy,  and its values, does need to be investigated.

Or as Cathie from Canada points out, we will repeat the mistakes of others.

The United States has seen a determined effort to wipe everyone's memory about what happened during the eight Bush years, to the point that the US media was shocked, SHOCKED, this week when Donald Trump reminded everyone that Bush was actually in charge of the American government when America experienced 9/11. 

But at least America had 9/11 as an excuse for going mad. What's Canada's excuse?

Our FPTP electoral system? That a few people were mad at the Wheat Board, the CTRC, and the long-form census?


We will fail to explain the madness that gripped this country. 

And Stephen Harper and his Con stooges will get away with murder...



And what is the excuse for years and years of craven, cowardly behaviour on the part of dozens and dozens of elected MPs -- all those Con MPs who spent years forelock-tugging, knuckling under, kowtowing to everything that the Hitler Youth in Harper's office told them to do?

I don't expect the new Liberal government will want an inquiry into those kind of questions. It would be too divisive at a time when Justin Trudeau is trying to bring Canadians together, and move the country out of the darkness and into the light.

And we know we can't count on the MSM because it would rather not dwell on the past, lest it remind Canadians of how they failed to warn us about how dangerous Stephen Harper was.

Even though it should have been obvious years ago, that there was something not quite right about him. 

You could see the madness in his cold dead eyes...



And they should have realized that if he was not stopped he would lead this country to a very dark place.

So it will have to be up to us, to make sure those haunting questions are asked, that those nightmare years are not buried, and what happened during the campaign is never forgotten or denied.

Almost overnight, the perception shifted from the bellicose, stand-your-ground Canada of Stephen Harper back to the polite and apologetic people with an unexpectedly cool and tattooed new leader.

But what of the cynicism? What of the divisive politics and the fear mongering that marked weeks of the 78-day campaign? What about all the noise around the niqab, an issue that had been brewing for some time?


If indeed it was anathema to all, and so essentially un-Canadian, why was this debate not shut down faster? And how do you explain the Conservative seat gains and NDP losses to the Conservatives and BQ in Quebec?


Today's sudden denial that it factored in seems, in hindsight, wishful, or worse: a willful denial of what makes us ugly at times.


So something so horrible can never happen again. So the many victims of that foul regime are never forgotten.

And neither is the proud spirit of Catherine Finn... 



And her last request.

‘In lieu of donations,” the mid-July obituary read, “Catherine would want you to do everything you can to drive Stephen Harper from office, right out of the country, and into the deep blue sea if possible.”

Who I'm pretty sure had she lived to see the Day of Liberation, would have wanted to see Stephen Harper be held accountable for what he had done to her beloved Canada. 

“Canada, to her, was a place where people cared about each other,” Patrick Finn says. “It was a place that welcomed others, where people debated openly and compromised. She felt that was being lost and it was important to her to get it back.”

Even as she celebrated his downfall.

“It was a celebratory moment,” Jonathan Finn says. One that Catherine Finn, had she lived to see it happen, would have marked with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne.

So yes, let's move forward out of the darkness and into the light...




Let's take time to savour our victory, and recover from that long and exhausting journey to freedom.

And then do what we can to keep Stephen Harper's foul legacy alive in the court of public opinion.

So hopefully one day him and his Cons can be judged in a court of law and properly punished.

Or as Catherine Finn would have wanted.

Driven into the deep blue sea...



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32 comments:

Anonymous said...

While I totally understand and am in total agreement with the elation of removing the heil harper reich, I would still mention one caution to Canadians today. We haven't seen anything yet of what the real Liberal Federal Government here will be/do yet. This isn't even the honeymoon yet. We still have to stay vigilant so that our new Federal Government doesn't become a duplicate on steroids of what has happened here on Ontario with the new mcguilty clone having taken office and then continuing right along the same egregious path as her mentor. That is the feeling that keeps nagging at me in the back of my mind no matter what else I am feeling about the demise of the most criminal government this country (and damn near any other civilized country for that matter) has ever heard of. The good news is that Trudeau has captured enough attention here in Canada that he will be high profile enough and have enough people expecting him to live up to his campaign promises that a lot of people will be scrutinizing him, whether they be for or against him, so there's that. Aum Ha.

Mogs Moglio said...

let's make him go away by not talking about him shall we? we can go back to the true north strong and free shake him off simon let the con vultures devour him. i don't want a piece of his dead political carcass.

I'd prefer to address climate change and alternative energy [alternative to dinosaur blood oil etc] you with me buddy?

Why can't Canadians be leaders in the solar wind and vortex energies that don't pollute? We can now that an obstacle and hurdle has been removed from our path...

blessings

Gyor said...

The horrors and crimes of the 1990s Liberal Party must not be forgotten or forgiven either, oops everyone did.

The 1990 Liberals make Harper look like leftwing hippy by comparesion.

We had a choice to reject all that rightwing bullshit, and instead we traded the black cats for the white cats and ignored the mice.

Mouselands voters remain ignorant of history as ever.

Anonymous said...

To Montreal Simon,

Today a political cartoonist would make an accurate description of situation in Canada portraying newly elected PM Justin Trudeau held up bound to a chair, gagged, handcuffed and blind-folded surrounded by terrorists and gangsters pressing guns and sharp objects into his flesh piercing his clothes demanding their interests have priority before necessary priority to defend the mercilessly undefended necessary to defend to free the country from doom! (International Law demands identified victims be defended by national leader, otherwise national leader takes the blame for crimes = the description above is how a criminal enters ICC through back door.)

lungta said...

oh
the temptations of power
back in the day
if 8 conservative backbenchers had crossed the floor
we might have avoided a bunch of fixing to be done
on the otherhand in my 65 years
i have never seen canada come together as much as the heave steve did
we have a pool going here
"how many hours after using his pp seat to avoid duffy testimony does it take harper to vacate the house of commons?"

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

the new Lib Justice minister should be making plans for Nigel

David said...

The ugly record of the Harper regime:

http://hchips.ca/

http://harperwatch.wordpress.com/

http://www.rense.com/general37/fascism.htm

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/08/10/Harper-Abuses-of-Power-Final/

http://nickfillmore.blogspot.ca/2012/02/is-stephen-harper-displaying-fascist.html

http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/05/18/news/harper-worst-prime-minister-history

http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/06/07/news/harper-worst-prime-minister-history-part-two

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/stephen-harper-david-frum-canada/404755/

David said...

"...we can't count on the MSM..."

http://albertapolitics.ca/2015/10/was-there-just-a-coup-in-portugal-why-did-canadas-media-ignore-the-story/

[snip]

LIAM YOUNG • 8 Hours Ago
You nailed it: mainstream media can’t be trusted.
Postmedia is owned by a US private equity group, FOX (Murdoch) and others.
The CBC just regurgitates corporate spin from Canadian Newswire, another private company owned by a small handful of major media conglomerates.
And the Globe is toast after its embarrassing endorsement of the Conservatives, but not Stephen Harper.
I even read recently that National Geographic was bought by FOX, which comes as no surprise given some of their recent articles, especially those questioning the ‘science’ of GMOs or vaccines.
Rabble, the National Observer and Canadaland (Jesse Brown) are all good places to start for INFORMED opinion and updates on what’s happening in the world.

David said...

Another great source of news and information:

http://thetyee.ca/

Subscribe to their daily news feed

Scotian said...

Anon@2:48PM:

Gyor is a Dipper partisan shill, not a Harper CPC one.

Gyor:

Really? Part of why the NDP keeps failing is that it cannot seem to grasp that there are clear differences between the three parties, that Canadian voters see these differences, and that the Liberals with their big tent and willingness to grab good ideas and adapt to circumstances faster than the other two is why they have been the majority governing party of Canadian history.

This black cats/white cats thing made some sense in the old days with Libs and PCPCs, but in the age of Harper and the CPC is is totally disconnected from reality and is utter bullshit.

Time to move out of the past and into the present and look towards the future instead there Gyor, it's a red red world out there for the next four years, and I suspect more than that, because all Trudeau has to do is undo most of the Harper insanity to be seen as an effective change PM worthy or re-election in 4 years. While your party needs to spend a long time figuring out what it is about, where it is going identity-wise, and what it is going to do now that the Layton/Mulcair centrist plan failed utterly and the Liberals have returned with a vengeance!

Sucks to be in your shoes these days almost more than it sucks to be a die hard Harperite/CPCer.

Scotian said...

I am in full agreement with you Simon, as I'm sure you likely expected I would be. We must learn from this experience, this isn't just the usual too long in government time to toss them out corrupt government we just got rid of, no, this was something truly alien to our political culture and history and we need to prevent it ever returning! I suspect that Trudeau will not want to make a big deal out of this, but so long as he simply allows the truth of how Harper ran his government to come to the public light I am sure there will be others more than willing to show why this was something as nasty, ugly, and arguably criminal as it was. Also, Trudeau is not responsible for criminal prosecutions, all he needs to is simply leave the evidence within reach of Crown prosecutors for that to happen, and I'm hoping he will be willing to go that far if only as a reaction of disgust to what he finds once the reins of power have been turned over to him.

Time will tell, but I know I for one will never stop denouncing the Harper years, the Harper record nor the need to prevent the rise of a Harper redux in any form for as long as Iive!

That I CAN promise you!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
marie said...

anon 9:40

This is not Montreal. This is all of Canada. I am quite sure Trudeau will d o well as Canada's PM. I know your not happy that Mulcair didn't win. Perhaps because he keep attacking JT every chance he had. A large amount of people voted, and they obviously chose the person they thought would make a great PM. Mulcair kept following the Harper line about Trudeau just wasn't ready. All I can say right about now is that Harper is gone when JT is legally able to put some of his promises to bear fruit. Thousands of people felt he was the one they wanted in Parliament. You anon are just as bad as the Harper supporters bringing up the Ontario provincial government.

marie said...


Anon 6:14

. You appear to be one of Harper's shills.
If you are, go to another web site where all your buddies prowl.

PeterC said...

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-ca/157/899/440/prevent-renaming-the-calgary-international-airport/
FYI but without comment

David said...

Simon. Why not delete comments from the Con shill?

Simon said...

hi David....consider it done. I'm sorry I was too busy to check the comments closely today, But from now on I will.
And repeat my very simple rules: Argue heatedly if you will. But stick at least roughly to the theme of the post. And do not attack other commenters personally in a violent or vulgar manner, or use filthy language, or you will be deleted....

Unknown said...

Round and round the merry go-round the monkey [Trudeau] chased the weasel [Harper] ah politics sucks and the monkey is better than the weasel.

Simon said...

hi anon...I understand your concerns and they are legitimate. We do have to make sure the Liberal government keeps its promises. But although I didn't vote for him, I tried to save the NDP from humiliation, I have been very impressed by Justin Trudeau so far. He is for me and many young Canadians a symbol of generational change, and that's a good thing. And in a country that has been so grim for so long, I welcome the chance to celebrate the fall of the dictator, and the return of a more Canadian government. As you may know I am an optimist, I don't want to live any other way life is too short. But I am not naive. So if this happy fairy tale doesn't work out, I will be quick to record my disappointment. But right now I'm enjoying the good feelings, and I want the to last forever...:)

Simon said...

hi Mogs...Use the power of our minds to wish him away and make him disappear down the drain. You know I wish I could, because I would have done that long ago. But I understand what you're saying, I too want to tackle the massive problems that threaten us like climate change. But we can do both. I know because that's what they did in Scotland. Where they purged the Cons, and although they have oil, have developed enough renewable energy to in theory at least, power the whole country.
And although I will welcome the day Harper is just a distant memory, or the whiff of a bad stench, I do want him and his Cons to pay for their crimes against Canada...

Simon said...

hi Gyor...I understand your disappointment with what happened to the NDP. I felt it too, and so did many of my friends. But the NDP is still there, and it's no good living in the past. We all have to look to the future, and right now Justin Trudeau is doing a very good job of reminding us that we are living in Canada again. And for me that's something to celebrate...

Simon said...

hi Scotian...try to be generous in your hour of victory, as difficult as that may be. ;) NDP supporters are naturally disappointed, and since quite a few of them helped Justin win, by voting strategically, you should be more generous. Also, as you know, I don't see many Liberals and NDPers as THAT different. I see their platforms as quite similar, and that they share our precious Canadian values. And I noted that both of them stood up to the racist nonsense in Quebec, although Tom Mulcair was the one who paid the price for that. So they are both precious in my eyes. But yes you're right, the NDP has to examine what it did wrong during the campaign, and what kind of party it wants to be. Because allowing the Liberals to outflank them on the left, takes some doing and should lead to some serious self examination...

Simon said...

hi Marie...I'm sorry I let that comment through. I want this comment section to be a safe and decent place to visit. And although I don't like to delete comments, I did delete that one and if necessary will do the same to others...

Simon said...

hi anon...well I hope you're wrong. It's true that their are mighty forces swirling around, that would turn governments into puppets, but hopefully Justin Trudeau is strong enough, and idealistic enough to resist them. But of course pne person can't do it all, and if we are going to build a better world we all have to get involved...

Simon said...

hi lungta...I feel like you. I am still giddy from the sight of seeing this country come together. It was amazing and I have rarely felt more at peace and happier. It was a nightmare and it feels so great that it's finally over. As for Harper my guess is he'll keep his seat as long as the Duffy trial is on, and as long as he needs to try to force his will on the leadership race...

Simon said...

hi anon...I would love to see that case re-opened, and the robocall one as well. But right now I just want the Justice Department to explain why it has or hasn't decided to charge Pamela Wallin. Because the RCMP handed over its report ages ago, and still there is no decision. Which makes me wonder whether they were waiting to see who won the election, or waiting until it was over, and needless to say that's not an encouraging thought...

Simon said...

hi David... thanks for that, I made a copy for myself, and another for the prosecutor at the Harper Regime's Crimes Against Canada trial. I want to make sure that Life Means Life... ;)

Simon said...

hi Raven... the legendary Raven of so many great aboriginal stories couldn't be wiser. The monkey is better than the weasel. And when I see Justin Trudeau acting like a normal, decent, and very friendly Canadian. I am very very happy, and still can't quite believe that he's our Prime Minister...

Scotian said...

Simon, I'm not trying to do victory laps or rub noses in it just for the fun of it. I want the NDP to seriously look at what it did for the past decade, learn from it, and return to being the kind of party it once was, because I valued that party as important to our political culture and health. I saw it as a last line of defence against the wealthy, the corporations, and such from having free reign in our political culture. I believed that the NDP was something that helped make Canada the progressive nation we have been in the past and hopefully are returning to now that Harper has been defeated. However, that it NOT going to happen until Dippers and especially partisan Dippers like Gyor start facing reality and get their heads out of their asses!

I'll admit I am enjoying rubbing some salt into the wounds of those partisans like Gyor, given all the crap said and flung in the past by said partisans about not just Trudeau and the Libs but anyone that dared to suggest they might actually be a serious force to consider taking seriously in this election for government. But that is a secondary element for why I am doing it, not a primary. They really need to come to terms with it now, and the longer they start sticking to the narrative it was nothing they did wrong that led to their defeat the less likely any of this will happen.

You know as well as I do Simon how easy it is for defeated people to blame others than themselves to start with, and that once such a narrative really takes hold within a collective's thinking it becomes all but impossible to shake it. The NDP cannot afford to fall into this mindset, not unless they really want to enjoy endless waves of red and eventually blue governments time and again.

This was their best chance to win government EVER Simon, and they lost it because they made several strategic mistakes, and the Niqab I will argue was a secondary element, not a primary in all of this. The key mistakes I saw were the way Mulcair joined Harper on the debates issue and the reasons given to justify that position, the shaky mishandled rollout of the economic costing platform right before the debate, and using Harper budget numbers already known to be way off in being overly generous in assumptions, followed by the deficit free in the first full year pledge afterwards as opposed to the Trudeau infrastructure deficit spending, and possibly the F35, although that last may not belong. I do believe those first two do, combined with Mulcair joining Harper in being condescending and dismissive of Trudeau as a worthy opponent permeating his campaign. That helped make Mulcair seem much like Harper, and when you know there is a massive anti-Harper force out there looking for a place to call home, that is INCREDIBLY stupid strategically speaking.

Yet are we seeing ANY signs of the NDO recognizing any of this Simon? I'm sure not, are you? THAT is why said what I did. At the moment I really cannot tell who is more deluded about why they lost, CPC, or NDP, and that I really do not know which side's loyalists I feel more sorry for because of it. It certain has to suck being either in this situation, especially if they are failing to see the clear mistakes they each made as did their leaderships.

Unknown said...

Won't take long Simon for the Honeymoon to wear off ;> Show me anybody you think is perfect and I find all their flaws :>

Anonymous said...

We cannot let Harper's evils go unpunished.