This is the kind of thing any political party member has to stand up against. And every citizen has to reject in the polls.
We centralize way too much power in the leadership of political parties. It is so bad in the Harper Cons that Prime Minister Harper is a danger do democracy. He is contemptuous of democracy - and must be removed from power by citizens. Read Lawrence Martin's great book Harperland for detailed reasons why we need to defeat this kind of political abuse of power.
In Alberta we can change this centralized power system. With three parties (Alberta Party, Liberal Party and PC Party) are looking for new leaders we can make a difference and change the political culture of Alberta by simply putting up $20 to buy a membership in all three parties and push for the kind of leader you want to have as a choice for Premier next election. I call it the $20 Buck Revolution.
Take the time to join all three Alberta parties and find the leadership candidate that reflects your values and is interested in the greater good. Do not support any party or person more interested in political power than public service.
I will give you my preferred choices of leadership candidates, in all three parties, that reflect the core political values of Albertans - integrity, honesty, accountability, transparency, fiscal responsibility and environmental stewardship.
Your anti-Harper rants are as predictable as they are tiresome. It is no wonder you have been sidelined.
ReplyDeleteAt least Anonymous (10:23 PM) didn't comment on your anti-Conservative rants. Anonymous must get joy out of supporting the Harper régime.
ReplyDeleteStrange how little the Harper Con anonymous comments add to the conversation. Nothing important or helpful to say - just full of ideology and power lust.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Ken. We can influence how democratic a political party is by influencing who the leader is. I plan on using my democratic right to vote in all three Leadership races. It is important to me that, if possible, all three parties are lead by people who fundamentally believe in democracy, the importance of acting for the public good, and providing sound thoughtful leadership to their party. By doing this we will ensure that political discourse in Alberta is restored for the betterment of all of us regardless of political beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI also very much agree with your position on Steven Harper. He is a danger to everything Canadians have stood for. Alberta Views has an interesting article in the latest edition on Harper.
I personally do not like the idea of going from party to party voting for the leader. I would prefer to see parties or organizations run for what I would call the Council of citizens, which would be elected in a proportional representation. Then inside the council they would elect a cabinet from all members in the council as well as a cabinet leader or coordinator or whatever name. Of course a lot more details would have to be worked out but this is just framework I would prefer. The party system the way curently exists is totally outdated, useless and undemocratic. As far as Harper I am not even going to waste my time. He is not interested in democracy at all. He is an egocentric control freak.
ReplyDeleteLet's see... that's $20 for the Alberta Party... $20 for the Liberal Party... $20 for the PCs.
ReplyDeleteThank Goodness these races don't happen this week; I'm busted.
For a guy who is "contemptuous of democracy" Harper sure seems to be spending a lot of time trying to get a Triple E senate passed. Says he will try it again in a majority, since the presumably "democratic" NDP, Bloc, and Libs have continually voted down any attempts to modernize the Senate. And before you do your usual blather about this, I believe that the people Harper put into the Senate will stand by the documents they signed that said they will resign as soon as the Triple E Senate is in place.....
ReplyDeleteThe MPs I talk to, btw, are pretty much universal in saying that Harper is a consensus guy. They have, supposedly, riproaring caucus meetings, but at the end of the day, the face they put on, and rightly so, is a single unified message. Drives the Lefties nuts.
Graham I have no doubts that Harper is as a consensus guy as Ghaddafi is. Consensus is all in the eye of the beholder. I do not know how old you are but I still remember the Democratic Republic of Germany. If you consider Harper a consensus guy then for you democracy is alive and well in Canada. See to me Harper is despot in the way he treats everyone else at least outside of his party and that to me says it all.
ReplyDeleteCarlos - can you provide one clear example of how Harper is parallel to the DR of Germany? Give me just one. And no one is going around calling me a puppy, so can the condescension.
ReplyDeleteIf a number of MPs tell me that the find Harper is a consensus guy, and these are not pushover wimpy MPs, then I have to believe that at least to some people - the people he deals with everyday -he is a consensus guy. Political parties fall apart if there is no consensus. There is a big difference between a political party following its own agenda that it was elected to represent, and say your agenda.
Libs and anti-Cons believe that every one should think like they do, and when the see that isn't happening, out comes the Nazi, the fascist, the brown shirt accusations. You are running true to form.....
So - just give us - those reading this blog - just one example of Hitler and Harper's policies being identical. Just one.
Looking forward to Ken's howls of outrage over Liberal Senator Levigne's fraud conviction. Ken will be incensed that even more corruption surfaces from the Liberal Party that brought us HRDC scam, Adscam, Shawinigate, etc. I know I share that sense of outrage, and believe that the Liberal Party hasn't spent enough time in the political wilderness, and I bet Ken agrees......
ReplyDeleteThank god we have Steven Harper leading the country. A decent, intelligent, and capable leader, respected the world over.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Politics/20110311/senator-lavigne-fraud-110311/
Carlos: please tell me how trying to get Triple E Senate - a DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED SENATE - is opposite to the theme of Democracy.
ReplyDeleteIf Harper is as rabidly anti-democratic as you say, why is he trying to get this legislation through?
If one or any of the other parties are more democratic than Harper, why have they blocked this legislation.
Please defend your logic, or were you just blowing smoke?
This is a continuation - it would not allow me to post it in one piece.
ReplyDeleteI would appreciate that if you want to have a serious discussion about politics that you do not put words in my mouth. I did not do that to you and I would like a discussion to be a discussion not accusations and name calling. I never said anything about nazis or whatever is that you mention in your note. I never even mention Hitler so I am not sure what you are talking about. I just think that in the Canadian democratic context Mr. Harper is not really a consensus person. If you noticed, he is the only prime minister I remember in the last few decades that has had a book written about his lack of democratic and consensus style. I fully agree. That is all. I do not think Mr. Harper is a Hitler or any of that crap. That is not my style at all. I do not care about that type of discussion. I am glad that you think that having Mr. Harper leading the country is a good thing. I on the other hand think that Canada has lost a lot in many different ways. For example in foreign policy, we have lost a lot respect around the world with his open support of Israel when we all know that it is not as simple as that. It is a very complex issue where both sides have to be listen to. Unilateral support to me is very wrong especially when it has religious overtones. Mr. Harper is also a great proponent of all the policies the US was good at implementing in the last 3 decades and we all know where it took them. Deregulation is a pipe dream that only works in a world of perfect humans. We are far from perfect and greed and power are now destroying not just our economy but our values as a society that now wants to believe that the survival of the greediest is the way forward. You may believe that as well but I do not and so I do not like Mr. Harper as our leader. I also do not believe in the involvement of religion in government affairs and that is also been slowly happening in Canada. Although Mr. Harper does not make references about God like his cousins to the South, in the background they are working on it. As far as the Senate, I first of all again ask you not to put words in my mouth. I never said that Mr. Harper is RABIDLY anti-democratic. Those are your words. If you want my words, he is a minor democrat and as a Canadian, after 144 years of democracy I expect much better. I certainly agree with him on Senate reform. I actually think we should do away with the Senate. To end the discussion I do not blow smoke. I will discuss with you anytime without personal attacks and within the language limitations I have. Furthermore I will just add that I do not believe that any of the other parties are much better except that as far as leaders are concerned I do think that Mr. Layton, Mr. Ignatieff are way more democratic than Mr. Harper.
Hi Ken
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what happened here but it certainly is not the way I put it together. I sent a first one and then a second one. I am not sure if you edited them but if you did it does not look good and at the senate line it does not make sense. Do you still have them separate that they can be published that way?
Thank you
Hi Graham
ReplyDeleteImportant parts of my message are missing for some reason and so I am sorry that some other points I had made did not get posted. I do not have a copy of what I wrote as I did it directly on the comment area so I cannot resend. Anyway I will take it from here as I do not have means to recover. Unless Ken does and he can repost it in two separate messages.
Thank you for reading.
Carlos Beca
Hi Graham
ReplyDeleteAs you can see my comments about Mr. Harper and his government and his contempt for democratic isntitutions and values is something even MPs in Ottawa agree. For the first time ever this has happened in Canadian history. I believe that is a pretty strong endorsement of what many of us have been saying. This man believes he is above everyone else. It is very sad really.
Carlos Beca
Don't waste your time on trying to argue with Graham. His bluster and braying in your face kind of style is par for the course.
ReplyDeleteSenate Reform requires a Constitution change and we went through a very extensive process 15 years ago. But likely Graham went with the braying of Presto Manning "for the love of Canada, vote no". The guy wouldn't know consensus if it jumped up and bit him in the butt.