There are two seismic faults splitting Canada apart right now. These two fault lines are preventing social progress, common justice, economic growth, community peace and this country’s ability to be a force for good in the world.
The first is the current government under the leadership of Stephen Harper. This ruling group are really the agents of resource extraction industries, especially oil interests headquartered in Alberta. Their period of power is characterized by an effort to bypass true parliamentary debate and cooperative discussion and accommodation between parties; to ignore interaction/cooperation with Provinces; to build a huge apparatus of alternative government within the office of the PMO; to ram through legislation by means of Omnibus Bills which bury law changes within so much legislation that much of it never hears debate; to sideline and disempower First Nations by means of smear campaigns akin to thinly veiled racist propaganda, by means of ignoring treaty rights and by schemes to use assimilation to break the Native-Land traditional connection, now that the Residential School policy has failed to wipe out Indigenous culture as was its goal; to end debate and discussion by scripting or programming spokespersons for Government policy defenses with “talking points” or propaganda points and repeating them without shame or embarrassment signifying shut down minds refusing to engage in thought. A game called “Be a Robot”. Minister Tony Clement predicted some time ago that we would not recognize Canada under his watch and under Haperism. He was right-I don’t.
The second Fault line is even more dangerous. It made possible the first Fault line, and it requires immediate action. I am not a constitutional lawyer versed in such matters, but either the Political system is broken or it was never guaranteed since we brought it home. All of the devices we deplore, omnibus bills, Senate Packing, use of Public funds to Advertise government policy, misappropriation of assigned funds (see Gazebos), Robo Calls, Proroguing Parliament—my list is not exhaustive, but all of these abuses were available to any government in this country. Indeed, some of them were used, though never to this degree. When I was an adolescent I was taught that laws and rules that are loose and sloppy enough to be abused by ruthless people, rules that depended on honour and gentlemen’s agreements, were no real protection at all. Decent, fair and principled conduct could not be guaranteed. There can always be loopholes; and now we see our Colonial creed of Governance is not merely full of loopholes, but is one great leaky sieve. We need a total reform of Parliament, of the electoral system, of guidelines for ethical conduct of MPs and for complete separation of Church and State, not yet achieved in this country.
So what to do? This dangerous Government, totally and unwaveringly attached to Harperism, to power by any means and at any cost, to ignoring environment damage in quest for profit, no matter what the consequences to health, safety and survival, this Government I am saying must be defeated at the earliest opportunity. How to do this?
Well one way would be to bring it down by helping to create an economic depression. Since this Government is created as a pro-Mega Corp agency and since it conducts a continuous ad campaign in favour of something called an Economic Plan, a failure of this plan would be hard even for this Government to recover from. The key social action initiative would be a voluntary consumer strike involving everything from national diet, to make your car last, to self imposed austerity, avoiding paper towels, using rags and hand washing them, boycotting restaurants, pooling cars, avoiding travel where possible, not buying new clothes, using old clothes, they still look great and who cares, this is a national crisis. There are hundreds of ways not to spend money. Of course, I am well aware that there will be much pain attached to an anti-spending campaign. People in retail may lose their jobs, the retail and manufacturing sectors may decline temporarily. I think the economy is very shaky anyway. So I am unsure about the cost of this action, though I am sure it would be effective and legal. The mere hostility and anger of such a movement would help restore our world reputation as a thoughtful nation.
The other immediate action that is required is to take out a Liberal Party Membership right now and vote for Joyce Murray as Leader. There is no voice in Canada at this moment more sensible, more authentic, more honest and more important to our survival than Joyce Murray’s. The main plank, the very centre of her policy is government and electoral reform. Without this we are simply kissing our democratic dream goodbye. After you have voted you can of course leave the party and return to any doctrine or ideology you wish. And if the NDP can overcome its forever fixation with its own obsession to govern, and instead think about Canada as a complex of interests being exploited by a failed system of electoral practices, we might get rid of Harperism without hardship.
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