Our Prime Minister is, first and foremost, a bully

Comment Response to:  

CRA hassels Canadian Mennonite magazine 

"One fact above all needs to be understood about the Harper government. Our Prime Minister is, first and foremost, a bully and his followers emulate him with enthusiasm. Closely allied with this bullying is an obsession with secrecy and stifling dissent.

Many people will remember Harper’s government kicking Canadian churches out foreign development programs because of the churches’ respect for human rights over profit. The Conservative government worships at the altar of profit and is vicious in its attacks on any church that dares to question its conduct. In short, for ‘Harper Conservatives’, churches that take the gospel seriously are ‘the enemy’.

The latest Tory assault on democratic rights combines an attempt to stifle free speech with an assault on another faith community. Today it is Mennonites who are being told not to proclaim the gospel, but to get on board with the celebration of warfare and profiteering or suffer the consequences.

This attempt to kill two birds (freedom of religion and freedom of speech) with one shot (financial punishment) is quite consistent with other Tory actions, including voter suppression and other electoral misconduct, that reveal a deep contempt for democracy on the Conservative benches in Parliament. Conservatives in Ottawa talk about the need for democracy in other countries while strangling it at home.

A great many of our grandparents and great grandparents came to Canada seeking religious freedom. Thousands of Canadians went overseas in World War I and World War II to defend democratic freedoms and human rights. Today we have the revolting spectacle of Conservatives trying to prop up their popularity by celebrating war while, at the same time, doing everything they can to cripple the religious and democratic freedoms so many of Canadian veterans have fought and died for.

This week I have been watching programs about both World Wars on television and wondering how many veterans are weeping in their graves. Thousands and thousands of Canadians from every part of Canada died to protect and preserve the religious, democratic, and other human rights we so cherish.

Today those rights are being cast aside and trampled under foot by politicians who seem to have more of an affinity for the evil governments our veterans fought to defeat than for our own democracy. All that is necessary for evil to flourish is for good people to look the other way. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for people to decide profit or power or greed is more important than human rights.

I wonder how many dead veterans would say they gave their lives to create a country where making a profit takes priority over human life. One hopes Canadians will use their ballot in the next election to do more than send a bunch of bullies to Ottawa who, it seems, would feel right at home with book burnings and torchlight parades." ~ via dallas mcquarrie

THANK YOU Dallas McQuarrie! 

"It's time to rise up to drive down harper's poll numbers!"

"Things we didn't hear in the 2011 Election from Steven Harper:

• that US Officers would be allowed into Canada to arrest Canadians under US Law. 
• the destruction of Fish Habitat Legislation
• raising Old Age Security to 67 

It's time to rise up, to drive down harper's poll numbers so much, that he will be driven from office like Gordon Campbell was in British Columbia.

This is a Democracy.

A Democracy is not that every few years we get to vote and we get to elect a dictator and then we all go to sleep until there's a chance we can remove them in the next election. Between elections, an engaged citizenry is the best check on the abuse of power" 

~ Elizabeth May quotes

Read More:
Elizabeth May: Rookie MP makes mark in Parliament (with video)

Reasons to Oppose the Federal Budget Bill #C-38

via Douglas Connors home page:

"You only need to be concerned over one of these to come out and express your displeasure at the way ALL of these are being rammed down our throats without the slightest bit of examination, discussion, or negotiation. And almost none of it was in the election platform of a year ago.”"

There were those who heeded the call made above to visit Member of Parliament's offices to show opposition to what I call the O-B-B the Omnibus Budget Bill, Bill C-38 which wihen passed into law will make the changes listed below . I came across this just now on a Facebook site and thought I'd pass it on:

"Some pics from the BlackMark protests today." http://2012federalbudget.tumblr.com/

Anita Nickerson’s 'List of Reasons to Oppose the Federal Budget Bill'

Bill C-38 has something in it for everyone.

Concerned about the Environment? This bill:

- repeals The Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act;
- dismantles The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act;
- excludes concerned citizens from assessments of major projects like the Enbridge pipeline;
- downloads responsibility for most environmental assessments to provinces;
- gives final say over pipeline projects to Conservative cabinet ministers­regardless of environmental impacts.
- lays off the entire Canadian scientific community looking at ocean contaminants. Did you know we have a lot of coastline?  Meaning there’s a lot of ocean not being examined, which will impact the worldwide science in this area.
- eliminates habitat protection from The Fisheries Act;
- limits the waterways protected by The Species at Risk Act and The Fisheries Act;
- dismantles the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, leaving natural areas vulnerable

Perhaps you are concerned about Health. This bill:

- shortchanges cash-strapped provinces of expected health transfers by $31 billion;
- weakens food and drug regulations at the discretion of the Minister of Health;
- ends vital Auditor General oversight of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency;
- paves the way for private contractors to perform food safety inspections.

Is it Employment that interests you? This bill:

- forces Canadians to work two years longer, to age 67, to qualify for Old Age Security;
- cuts workers off Employment Insurance if they don’t take any job the Minister of Human Resources deems “suitable”;
- repeals The Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act;
- removes federal contractors from the protection of The Employment Equity Act.
brings in foreign workers and allows them to be paid 15% less than our minimum wage.

Is it Democracy that interests you? This bill:

- reduces the Auditor General’s powers to hold government accountable to Canadians;
- removes independent oversight from 12 key government agencies­including the - Northern Pipeline Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canada Revenue Agency;
- eliminates organizations that produce independent policy research­including Rights & Democracy, the National Council of Welfare, and the First Nations Statistical Institute;
- dissolves the Public Appointments Commission designed to ensure key positions are assigned based on merit instead of insider connections;
- allows the FBI to come into Canada and arrest Canadians on Canadian soil.

You only need to be concerned over one of these to come out and express your displeasure at the way ALL of these are being rammed down our throats without the slightest bit of examination, discussion, or negotiation. And almost none of it was in the election platform of a year ago.”

This list was created by Anita Nickerson, who volunteered to lead the Kitchener-Waterloo Blackmark day of action. Additional thanks to Jennifer Ross for compiling this ever-growing list.

WE NEED A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN SUCH OMNIBUS BILLS!

ACTION ELECTION FRAUD: Compel Conservative Party to Disclose Records to #EC - Letter |

Please use as is, or modify.

To: thomas.mulcair@parl.gc.ca; bob.rae@parl.gc.ca; Elizabeth.May@parl.gc.ca

Cc: pm@pm.gc.ca

Subject: Elections Canada and its investigation
Importance: High

May 16, 2012

Dear Opposition leaders:

I wasn't aware until today that Elections Canada has not issued a production order to legally compel the Conservative Party to hand over relevant records and is instead relying on voluntary disclosure. http://bit.ly/JLmfRw

What we know about the Conservative Party is that disclosure, even necessary disclosure as in the instance of the F-35 procurement or the costs of Bill C-10, is not its strong point.

What we know about Elections Canada is that the Chief Electoral Officer was hand-picked and appointed by Stephen Harper. We also know that the Chief Electoral Officer cut a deal over the electoral fraud that took place in 2006, so none of the Conservative Party members who stood to go to jail actually did. And we know that Elections Canada has kept secret the rulings it has made on the 2,982 complaints it has investigated across the last fifteen years.

I am not confident in the will of Elections Canada to properly investigate the electoral fraud of 2011 and apprise Canadians of their findings, so I ask you today to once again call for a fully empowered, transparent public inquiry to delve into this sordid affair and report back on it.

Such a call might have the added benefit of reminding the Conservative Party of the need to conduct everyday parliamentary business according to democratic principles and processes. It seems that every day, they transgress without a whole lot of nuance to it.

Sincerely,
(Name, Address, Postal Code)


Via Dianne Varga, Continuous Letter Depot on Canadians Rallying to Unseat Harper

ACTION: STOP THE BUDGET #STB

STOP THE BUDGET(STB) Action #1:

Below are the email addresses of five Conservative MPs, along with some suggested text. Please email them and report back with a comment to help us keep track of the campaign's progress.

Find us at: STOP THE BUDGET

The five MPs listed below are the "Asbestos abstainers" (see http://ow.ly/aIGzw).

Pat Davidson:        pat.davidson@parl.gc.ca
Royal Galipeau:     royal.galipeau@parl.gc.ca
Jim Hillyer:           Jim.Hillyer@parl.gc.ca
Ed Holder:             ed.holder@parl.gc.ca
James Rajotte:      james.rajotte@parl.gc.ca

Be sure to email them all separately!

Here is some suggested text. Use it, or write your own. Above all, please be respectful.

Dear Honourable XXX,

When the vote on banning asbestos was called, you had the courage and strength of character to abstain. I respectfully ask that you not participate in the upcoming Budget vote -- call in sick instead. 

The gutting of 50 years of environmental legislation will have profound implications for the health and safety of Canadians. There is quite simply no justification for ramming sweeping changes through in an omnibus budget bill. Please defend our democracy and insist that the environmental provisions be separated from the Budget, discussed in the appropriate committees and thoroughly debated in the House.

Sincerely,
(Name, Address, Postal Code)

Via STOP THE BUDGET

BREAKING NEWS: VIRUS SPREADING ACROSS CANADA

BREAKING: Virus Spreading Across Canada. . .

I made a comment that I am ' SICK of Harper' and with all the comments, it would appear that there is a virus spreading across this land.

'Sick of Harper' has many symptoms like a splitting headache at hearing the dribble coming from the Harper Cons.

Other symptoms are bouts of anger and rage, Tourette's syndrome with uncontrollable outburst of swearing at Harper's Conservatives, Anxiety about losses of freedom and rights...

There are more, if you know of other symptoms help get the word out so we can recognize the 'Unethical Harper Virus'.


Taken from the C.R.U.S.H page on FB. These are symptoms experienced by some of the members.