More Harper Contempt? This Time is it for the Law?

The picture is getting clearer every day about of just how bad the Harper government is (sic) and what a danger he has become to our democracy and in his indifference to his governance responsibility to Canadians.  

Now we have reports of a "damning audit of G8 spending by the federal Conservatives" from Auditor General Sheila Fraser.  However, Fraser, ever the consummate professional, will not release the report because under her enabling legislation she can only release reports when Parliament is sitting.  Where is the whistle blower who might leak this vital information for Canadians to have and help us judge the quality and capacity of the Harper Cons to govern?  BTW, where is the Harper promise of legislation to protect whistle blowers when he came to office five years ago?

Media reports quote Fraser as saying an early draft, not the final report, "...may have been released by someone outside our Office."  One can only hope.  We need a change in the law so the AG can release any report she wants to at any time she wants to whether it is preliminary or final. This arcane restriction that such material can only be released when Parliament is sitting is a relic of a bye-gone era of command and control of communications was possible and preferable.  Not the case today.

Apparently every party has agreed to the release of her damning audit of G8 expenses but only when it is done properly and according to the law.  Harper in his best dog-in-a-manger mood called on Fraser to release the final report anyway, knowing she could not do so legally.  What height of hubris would motivate a holder of the highest office in the country to make such a statement.  Actually inviting the Auditor General to break the law.  

Spare me the half-hearted homage to open accountable honest and transparent governing Mr. Prime Minister.  We are talking about allegations of misspending and illegality of some of  the $1.2billion of taxpayer money we had to borrow "to put a good face on Canada" at the G8 and to give "...the rest of the fund (as) a gift to the region.  This is money Harper borrowed on our behalf to upgrade parks and revitalize small town down towns in communities that allegedly had nothing to do with G8 activities but sure seemed aimed at helping out hapless Tony Clement, the Cons MP from the area.

Why should thoughtful Canadian citizen have the slightest respect for a Prime Minister who openly suggests the Auditor General break the law?  This is pure political posturing at best to mislead the media and the public about the truth.  At worst it is counselling an Officer of Parliament to break the law.  That is irresponsible governing but typical of Prime Minister Harper who has shown less and less respect for the non-political duties of his office.  Makes one see just how easily it was for this PM to have a five time convicted fraudster working in his office without any serious concern for the possible consequences.

John Baird, bless his partisan heart, said the "inflammatory language" in the first report is not in the final draft.  That does little to diffuse allegations of serious wrong-doing  or reassure Canadians that these guys are still worthy of our consent to govern.  Besides, what is Baird doing commenting on the content of the still secret Auditor General report and why is he doing it in public before the author can legally talk about the contents herself?  Who made him above the law? That behaviour is further evidence of contempt for Parliament and disrespect for the rule of law by the "Harper government."

This election Canadians have to realize that they are electing their own government, not Harper's government as he likes to have us refer to him.  We have to ensure in this election that the words "Harper" and "government" are never again in the same sentence except to describe a bad time in the history of our democracy.  When Brian Mulroney of all people, is prepared to "...show his unease with Harper's Tories" it is time to defeat them at the ballot box.

Imagine No Harper

This link came from an anonymous comment on another post on this blog.  It is a little bit of satire you can spare 3 mins or so to enjoy and reflect on.
 
I know its anonymous and everyone know how much I detest anonymous comments.  But OMG if they used their real names they would be thrown out of public political rallies by Harper henchmen as Harper ducks and weaves to avoid answering questions.

There here is the link - enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWI9GHIBusM

More Curiosity About Alberta Party

Here is a link to an interesting article in FFWD out of Calgary that will give you a sense of the recent history and amazing growth of the Alberta Party.  The Alberta Party is doing everything at once.  They have set up constituency organizations (44 in five months). They are gathering membership, over 1300 in five months.  They are setting policy ideas in place on a citizen engagement model.  Add to that the leadership search to find the right blend of practical political experience but with a leadership style that is inclusive and community based that will keep the shared sense of the purpose of the Alberta Party progressing.

This fledging revived and renewed political party morphed out of the desire of a group of progressive thinking Albertan who gathered in a citizen's movement called Reboot Alberta.  People who wanted to start a new political party found each other at Reboot Alberta and the Alberta Party was born.

One of those progressive thinking Albertans at Reboot Alberta was Glenn Taylor, the three time Mayor of Hinton.  He has now stepped up to run for the leadership of the Alberta Party and I am delighted to be working with him on achieving that goal. I encourage you to learn more about Glenn Taylor and see what a breadth and depth of elected political experience he has.  He also has a realistic world view from a rich and diverse set of practical life experiences too.  I believe he has much to offer to Alberta through the Alberta Party goal of doing politics differently.

You can also keep in touch with Glenn on Twitter @glenntalyr and on Facebook by searching GlennTaylorAlberta.  Check out those opportunities to engage with and get to know Glenn too.

I hope you have also come to realize that we need a new political culture in Alberta.  We need a government that reflects our true selves and not the mistaken myths and condescending caricatures that are imposed on Alberta these days.

We can change all that through a young vibrant enthusiastic political movement that is caring, compassionate and ready to take responsibility for more open, transparent, honest and accountable governance.  This is all now emerging and getting ready to offer a serious viable progressive political alternative in the next election.  It is called the Alberta Party.  Join us and be the change you want to see in and for Alberta.  

Do Elections Actually Equal Political Accountability?

Back in 1993 Kim Campbell was excoriated for stating the obvious that elections are not the time to deal with complex issues. The reaction was swift negative and part of her disastrous electoral outcome.  She was right however.

The sound bite journalism with the superficial horse race mind set of traditional media coverage back then persists today...even worse if you ask me.  Add to that the social media maelstrom of comment and conflict and the poor voter is hard pressed to know what or who to believe...never mind trust.

The Hill Times has a terrific article by W.T. Stansbury entitled "Why general elections are pretty poor mechanism for accountability to citizens."  It is a long and thoughtful article so don't rush through it.  Let it sink in.  Accountability along with Integrity and Honesty were the top three evaluation criteria Albertan's choose in some research we did last May through Reboot Alberta.  It is a serious and central concern of citizens in this province.

His accountability theme expands on the fact that elections are too infrequent to make and irreversible to really make politicians accountable.  He notes that we don't have any really effective and acceptable performance measures for politicians, especially given the complex and wide scope of government. He notes there is a sense that elections are mostly a referendum on the performance of the economy. If folks feel better off the economic management of the current government get applauded and likely re-elected.  Harper is making misleading comments about the comparative strength of the Canadian economy as Jim Stafford points out in this Globe and Mail Commentary 

This leads to Stansbury's next point; the Information Problem.  Information to assess government performance is hard to collect get at and it is expensive to access. We see Access to Information policy thwarted more than enabled and recently we see it is inappropriately interfered with by Harper government operatives for political purposes.

There is more but you get the drift.  Elections matter but we need to take them seriously as citizens as difficult as that is.  It is made worse with the superficial political spin machines and the misleading messaging they push at us and the herd mentality of understaffed and under funded mainstream media who too often get suckered into be stenographers and not journalists.

Just another reason why citizens need to take back control of our democracy and punish poor political performance in government and on the way to get there.

An Oz View of the Canadian Political Culture

This opinion piece out of Australia, written by a Canadian is a terrific compilation of the sad state of the Canadian political culture and the decline of our democracy.

The essence of Canadian disengagement and the consequential political atrophy and decline of our democracy  is captured in this paragraph:

Edmund Burke noted that all that was necessary for evil to triumph was for good men to do nothing. Canadians are certainly good and worthy folks, but they suffer an excess of civil obedience, politeness and lack of civic rage that could be harnessed to combat political atrophy. At a time when Arabs risk life and limb for political freedoms, Canadians seem largely apathetic about the erosion of their democracy.


We are in an election.  They matter.  The results determine how we will be governed and by whom.  The results determine the quality of character of the leadership and by default, the country, both internally and to the rest of the world.  The election results impact the daily lives or each and everyone of us.  It will set a tone that directs and even determines the nature and nurture of our personal and national dreams and aspirations.  


Elections matter.


Any conscientious and concerned Canadian must realize this and get informed and engaged in determining the outcome of this election.  Reflect on the admonition of Edmund Burke above.  Overcome your apathy.







Then take a few more minutes to read and reflect on David Akin's excellent column in the Sun newspapers today.  "Bad Governments are Elected by Good People Who Don't Vote."  Dust of your citizenship.  Demand a country you can be proud of again and make it happen by electing people of character who see political like as all about public service not the pursuit and practice of personal political power.