Harper Gets a Reprieve. Now What?

So now what? Have we merely staved off the inevitable non-confidence vote? Will Harper learn to love Canada as much as himself? Will Dion be gone at an accelerated pace? Will we find some adults to supervise Question Period? Will Canadians keep caring about their country enough to continue to engage at a meaningful level and not just be reactionary? Here are some observations and prognostications:

Dion: He has to go sooner than May 2009. His work here is done. The country is too volatile and split for the Liberals to wait for the next Godot to show up. Dion has considerable talents but political leadership and retail politics are not his strong suits. He has brought Harper to heel but he lacks the skill set and the mind set to make him sit shake-paw and beg. Those are the critical training objectives for Harper to master if he wants to extend this reign.

Harper: He is a man of many faces. It is as if being two-faced is not enough for him. He is not well intended in the service of the country and pathologically insincere in word and deed. As a result of such serious character flaws he suffers from a syndrome of serious integrity lapses. But he can be trained. Like all good puppies, he will learn because he responds to rewards and fears punishment. Harper is not yet House broken but he has finagled his way out of the House and into the dog house. He has pissed off most of the country with his snarling and aggressive behaviours. He is on a choker leash now and if he does not behave, he will be muzzled. If he continues to behave like a brighter but smart-ass George Bush he will be “put down” - politically at least.

Liberal Leadership: Let’s get the Liberal leadership over by the end of February – at the latest! The candidates are decided and known. This sequel promises to be less engaging that the first season and with fewer survivors left in “the Great Race.” The political climate is so fragile and the country is so uncertain that one lingering political uncertainty is unwise and unnecessary. Dion is done and the Liberals will be too if the dither.

The Coalition: This edition of a united opposition is likely over. It has done its job. It has humbled and humiliated Harper and for that we owe the leaders a debt of gratitude. If there is a new Liberal leader decided on a fast-track the second edition of an on-going opposition coalition ought to be part of the plan going forward. We need to look carefully at the concept of coalitions given we are on our third minority government in a row – and who know how many more will be coming.

Old Canada Redux: Canadians are still split on partisan lines and Harper has revived the regional animosities again. I would like to see a coalition government for a short term, like a year or so. It would serve as a potential test run of what governing would be like as a result of Proportional Representation. It would not be as a result of PR but it would be a consequence of PR.

The Next Canada: We are about to be tested as a nation and as a society. Our old orienting mythologies of being an inclusive, fair, caring and careful and cautious society are going to be put challenged due to this economic crisis. Our character as a nation will be highlighted as we work our way through the coming calamities. How we deal with big issues urbanization, climate change, immigration, aboriginal relationships and our place in the world and our roles and responsibilities as citizens are going to be highlighted.

The Next Election: Are we going to come through this as a new progressive society, stay as a consumptive at all cost “growth” society, or will be retreat to a traditionalist model? The next election will set that course. If Harper wins a majority we will retreat into a conservative ideological mode of thought noted for a moral discipline with an expectation of obedience to authority. Harper will be portrayed as the strategic manager and experienced economist will be the strict father figure to get us through the economic mess but based on fears and insecurities. More George Bush?

If there is some other election outcome we may see a different more progressive Canada emerge that is a more caring and nurturant society. We may see a new political culture that has government and leadership that is attuned to empathy, responsibility and hope where we protect, empower and care for each other in a more vibrant sense of community and common cause that includes the individual but is larger than the individual. More Barrack Obama?

One thing that seems certain, given the causes and courses of the economic meltdown, the status quo is not on. We are not longer able to afford and presuming we can continue to abuse the planet for personal gain at the expense of the “others.” We are embedded in a globally interdependent and vulnerable world that is facing an ecological peril that is more dire than the ensuing recession/depression.

As George Lakeoff says in The Political Mind “A new understanding is emerging about what is means to be human. Our political institutions and practices reflect our collective self-understanding. When that changes dramatically, so should our politics.”

He closes the book with the chilling observation “But we better hurry up. The ice caps are melting.” Amen!

Harper's Blind Ambition Jeopardizes the Unity of the Country

Harper escapes accountability to Parliament and lives to fight one more day. Thanks to Harper’s reckless rhetoric and personal ambition, Canada is more unstable and its citizens are more uncertain and at a greater risk than at any time since World War II.


If the Governor General did not place limits on this autocratic politician we will see even more abuse of his office. He can’t abuse Parliament anymore than he has today because he shut it down.

Harper has consciously divided us one again on regional and linguistic lines again. He is an opportunistic political chameleon with little commitment to any personal principles that will serve the nation. He will say anything that is convenient to shift his share of the blame or to divert attention from the serious issues Canadians are facing. He always defaults towards the petty partisan posturing to pander to his radical right-wing base.


It is not time for a pause. It is time for decisive action based on collaboration and good governing. All of us are wise and smarter than any of us…but Harper has no sense of that reality. He is convinced what is good for Harper is good for the country. His blind ambition for gaining and keeping power is something he sees as his personal entitlement as Prime Minister.


Now without the accountability of Parliament, which he connived to close rather than respect, Harper has garnered all the power he has ever lusted after. Will he use the power wisely? Or will he spend his party war chest and start the propaganda was for the next election campaign with the bullying, misleading and outright lies of the last 3 years? I’m pretty sure it will be the latter.


This is not a time out for a government to regroup. It running away from Parliament is a cop-out by a coward. Canada just lost its last vestige of political innocence today. This political diversion and abject decline to govern is the most egregious example of just how far Harper will go to avoid accountability to perform his duty to the country.


The ugly side of Harper has prevailed. He is jeopardizing the unity, stability, diminishing the respect for the rule of law and undermining the confidence of the country in our political institutions. Did any one vote for that on October 14? Say a prayer for Canada this Christmas.

Harper's Hidden Agenda Will Happen If House Prorogues Just for Him to Keep Power.

If the Governor General grants a prorogue tomorrow that suspends Parliament, that puts the total power of government in Harper alone, given the anemic performance of his mute minions in Cabinet.

The GG better put some serous limits on Harper or he will find more excuses not to return in late January with a budget. He will inevitably face the loss of power in a defeat from a confidence vote. He is terminally tactical. He is not buying time. He is just getting more rope to hang himself.

Watch the prorogue period turn ugly as the Harper Party propaganda machine goes into overdrive. It will for sure spoil an already uncertain Christmas for many Canadians as he bombards the airwaves with expensive and tacky attack ads. Remember the multimillion dollar hatchet job he did on Dion for 2 years? Expect the mother-of-all attack ads this time around because now Harper has painted himself in a corner.

He will be spending big bucks – taxpayer subsidized bucks at that. There will be expensive television, radio and newspaper ads. He will be messaging with mistruths and lies in a big-time bullshit mode. Facts are interferences to fear mongering. It will be a Republican inspired campaign replete with lies as a big as Bush's lies about WMD in Iraqi done to "justify" a war on terror when the real terrorists are in Afghanistan.

Remember Harper lied about the absence of “flags” behind the Coalition signing ceremony? The television coverage proves he lied. He lies to induce fear by claiming the Bloc has veto over the coalition when they are not even a part of it. They have agreed only not to introduce any constitutional issues and confidence issues for the coalition for 18 months. There are more Harper lies as he promotes division in the country and fans the flames of regional differences, including encouraging Alberta Separatists. He is showing that he does not care about Canada or Canadians. This is all about Harper keeping in power despite the law or the Constitution or democracy.

If Harper was not running political ads but business ads, he would be brought up on charges by all the advertising standards watchdogs for the misleading falsehoods in his ads based on the last raft and rancor he released. Pity we tolerate that politicians can lie and mislead with impunity in the name of “informing citizens in a free and democratic society. “

In the real world we have business trying to honestly compete in the marketplace but they have to tell the truth and be careful NOT to mislead. Politicians like Harper are expected toile and mislead in their advertising – all in the name of democracy. The irony is pathetic and dangerous…just like Harper.

I think the propaganda blitz from the Harper Party that is only being done to save his job will offend Canadian values and confirm his character flaws. It will prove to us that he is unfit to lead, never mind govern. His bombast and carpet bombing media blitz will prove to be as effective as Nixon's Watergate protestations, or of McCain's panic attempts at sustain baseness by calling Obama names like socialist for espousing the benefits of income redistribution.

This is all going to energize the previously passive, indifferent and cynical voter into action and to the dramatic decline of popular or sleepwalking support for Harper as a politician, never mind as a party leader or Prime Minister. We are already seeing that – not on the windbags of talk radio, but on the web and in the blogs and the more intelligent comments being made to mainstream media websites.

It may take a bit of time for Harper to leave or to be hoisted on his own petard once and for all. But one thing is obvious to fair minded Canadians. Harper is way past his best before date. It is time for him to go.

Alberta Venture Column on Business Ethics

Alberta Venture has published this month's column on business ethics. I share this work with Fil Fraser, Janet Keeping and another monthly guest. Here is the link to Marketing Masquerades as Charity.

Unloaded copper CwoB 2008

Here is a video of my friend Graham Fletcher, the "Father of the Alberta Internet." He is the fellow who is spearheading the push at the CRTC to get access to telephone copper wire so virtualy all rural Albertans can get access to the SuperNet at optical fibre quality at cheaper costs that radio.