September 16, 2010

Re: For Canada's sake, Harper must go

Michael Scrivener

Ask yourself: what has Harper really done that’s good for Canada?

Here are 7 good reasons not to vote for him:

1. Two prorogations of Parliament designed to quell criticism of his government—one about the handing over of Afghan prisoners to the Afghan police; the other for no apparent reason other than to give him time to watch the Olympics and silence debate over the Afghan foreign policy.

2. Very rarely allowing his own party members and ministers to speak with the media.

3. Accusing Helena Geurgis of all sorts of criminal behaviour including cocaine orgies in her Parliament hill office, and banning her from future participation in Conservative politics.

4. His claim that he wants less government and personal freedoms, Anyone in a civil service or bureaucratic position who has been critical of him or his government has been unceremoniously removed from his position, or resigned, such as:

a) The head of the Gun Registry

b) The Veteran's Affairs ombudsman who criticized the treatment of veterans from the campaign in Afghanistan

c) The head of Statistics Canada who resigned in disgust over his minster Tony Clement’s lie that he supported the long form census.

5. The government’s, in particular Tony Clement’s, unwillingness to discuss, debate or compromise on the long form census, despite all the evidence showing that it’s important for managing and distributing financial resources from the federal level to cities, communities, towns and rural areas across the country.

6. Implementation of the failed American policy of mandatory minimum sentences for all sorts of crimes. These have been shown to be terribly ineffective as a form of deterrence or a way to mete out justice.

7. The bullheaded way he justified a G20 budget of more than $1.4 billion, when London, England, was able to host the last one for $30 million, and Pittsburgh the one before that for $18 million.