More Totalitarianism From The Harper

Just as Harper has been tearing down the apparatus of scientific research that would ordinarily be used by governing parties to make informed policy decisions, the next prong of his attack on reasoned governance in Canada has begun.  

It really began in 2012, when the government rolled out a program with specific funding for the CRA to go after charitable organizations that the government suspects of overspending on "political activity".

Of "Porn Filters" and Agendas

Remember July this year, when Joy Smith stood up in Canada's Parliament and suggested we should follow the UK's example and implement a "porn filter"?

Well, Cameron's filter is about to go live, and as one might have expected, it's blocking a heck of a lot more than just "adult content" websites:

Included in O2's "parental control blocklist" are such hotbeds of hardcore porn as Slashdot, EFF, Linux Today, Blogspot, No Starch Press, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and, of course,Boing Boing. 

A more complete investigation is here.

None of the sites listed above are exactly hotbeds of porn.  In fact, more worrisome is that in the list of "blocked sites" are civil liberties groups like the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), and a stack of open source technology sites.

I smell an agenda at work here.  This isn't controlling access to pornography.  This is an attempt to control access to information and technologies that enable people to sidestep the government's surveillance programs, and access to information that could cause people to challenge the government.

The only governments that engage in this kind of activity are the totalitarian regimes that feel they have to control their citizens and fear access to information.

Now... Ms. Smith, would you care to explain to Canadians how this is a "good thing"?

[28/12/13 Update]
Someone has already built a Browser Extension to Chrome that bypasses the UK Porn Block.
[/Update]

What The Bev Oda / KAIROS Mess Tells Us

Go ... READ

It's good to see some of the media picking up on the undercurrents of the HarperCon$ activities of late - and what the Bev Oda/KAIROS business really tells us about the current state of things in Ottawa.

Think it’s a stretch to compare Canada to Nigeria? A government that forges documents, that makes things up, that smothers dissenting opinions, that accuses the media of lying.

That Oda is the minister overseeing international development makes the whole scene all the more surreal. Our government is funding groups in Afghanistan and Haiti now, teaching them about good governance.

“This is what happens in the countries we work in,” a friend of mine working for a development agency told me confidentially. We have become precisely what we contend with overseas.

Brrr...as if the winter outside wasn't bad enough, reading that article has just given me a case of the chills!

The Census Play Was Just Foreshadowing

If you thought that the HarperCon$ had sunk about as low as they could go with the census issue, guess again.

In handing the procedural reigns of government to John Baird, I think you will see a parliament whose level of dysfunction will reach new depths. Baird isn't exactly known as a conciliator or someone capable of negotiating compromise at the best of times. He's far better known as an agitator and destructive force - always ready to turn things back on the opposition.

To hazard a guess, I'd say you will see a much more hardline stance from the HarperCon$ in the next sitting of the house - one that they will need as they attempt to ram through legislation that will be damaging to Canada on all levels. The "get tough on crime" agenda is a load of absolute crap that Canada cannot afford, and in many ways will violate key tenets of our constitution on the way past.

Of course, this will not bother the ever increasing totalitarianism of the HarperCon$. They have already demonstrated a repeated disregard for facts and reality in their approach to governance many times since 2006. The most recent bit to emerge in their overbearing totalitarianism came from the PMO - when they criticized a play based on the case of one of the "Toronto 18".

I'm not going to comment on the play itself - that's almost irrelevant. The issue here is that someone in the PMO saw it as their role to comment on a play from a political stance. We already know that the HarperCon$ have intervened in funding decisions for political reasons before (e.g. the pride parade funding issues that got Diane Ablonczy in trouble earlier) This is deeply troubling because it shows us that this government thinks nothing of intervening in Canada's arts and culture scene when it finds something objectionable. This smacks of McArthyism or for that matter the behaviour of Stalinist USSR, where the government thinks that its role includes the right to dictate the cultural dialogue of the nation.

If our opposition doesn't wake up and start calling this stuff out - loudly - Canada is about to enter one of the darkest periods of its history.

But ... But ... The Liberals Did It!

So, the latest talking point to come out the PMO is that the Liberals have prorogued parliament before, so why is this prorogation such a big deal?

Let's consider this for a moment. Superficially, it almost sounds like a reasonable argument. Except for a couple of things that differentiate Harper's use of prorogation from every Prime Minister before him that I can remember.

First of all, we have to consider timing. In September 2008, Harper called a snap election in September - in direct contravention of the stated principle of his own government's fixed election date law. (I won't argue that he broke his own law - the law itself was fundamentally pointless in the first place)

Then we come along in November of that same year, and Harper has his government table a budget that was designed to provoke the opposition. As soon as talk of a coalition to replace the HarperCon$ popped up, Harper went running to the Governor General for a prorogation - knowing full well that he would likely lose the confidence vote on the budget his newly minted government had just tabled. We are talking about prorogation of the parliament before the government had even begun to execute its stated legislative agenda as set out in the Throne Speech.

This year, Stephen Harper once agains runs behind the skirts of the Governor General - this time to side step having his government held accountable for its role - direct or otherwise - in the mistreatment of detainees in Afghanistan. Public ire was growing, and the attempts to dismiss and marginalize the testimony of people like Richard Colvin were backfiring.

For the most part, I think the Afghan issue is a minor issue in the long run - it will no doubt seriously damage the government's credibility, and hurts Canada's image on the world stage. But, in terms of politics, it is an issue that most people will move beyond fairly easily - as long as they are satisfied that the government has taken steps to resolve the problem.

The pattern is unmistakable - Harper is proroguing parliament not when he has substantially completed his legislative agenda, but instead he is using it as a political tool to avoid precisely what parliament is there for - to hold the government to account - and to hang onto power as long as he possibly can. He certainly cannot claim that he has substantially completed his government's agenda - in fact he's torpedoed it multiple times. This is quite different from past prorogations I can recall.

When this article was brought to my attention, it scared the heck out of me.

In fact, he said it's when Parliament is sitting that Canada's stability comes into question. That's when "the games begin," he said, and his minority Conservative government faces the constant threat of defeat and an election.

"As soon as parliament comes back, we're in a minority Parliament situation and the first thing that happens is a vote of confidence and there will be votes of confidence and election speculation for every single week after that for the rest of the year," he said.

"That's the kind of instability I think that markets are actually worried about. But you know the government will be well-prepared and I think Canadians want to see us focus on the economy. So that's what we're going to be doing."

Uh - wait a second. Harper's missing the entire point and purpose of a parliament - namely to hold the very machinery of government accountable to the people. Here's a Prime Minister arguing that Parliament should be suspended because "it creates instability"? Wrong, Mr. Harper. Very Wrong.

It is Mr. Harper who creates the instability himself. He has not learned the fundamental rule of politics - namely that it is the art of compromise. This is especially true when we are talking about a minority parliament.

But Mr. Harper has never taken responsibility for his own failings as a leader. Instead, it is a constant barrage of blame levelled at the other parties in the house. Never mind that he has his ministers write legislation that is deliberately provocative; or that is so rooted in ideology that it is simply bad legislation.

This is the kind of logic that comes out of third world dictators trying to justify abusing their own countries laws. We should be very careful with Mr. Harper at this time - he appears to be setting up the bed of lies to justify extending the suspension of parliament indefinitely so that he can govern without being accountable at all.

Conservative Totalitarianism

It doesn't matter really whether one is of "left" or "right" leaning persuasion here. The extremes off either end of the political spectrum tend to degenerate into totalitarianism.

What we should be concerned about is how close the right wing political parties in this country are to that totalitarian edge.

Consider the following. In Alberta (where we have had one party rule for rather longer than some 3rd world dictatorships have lasted), we find the government creating a new and more arbitrary form of censorship:

Bill 18 creates a new film czar position with the authority to reclassify films. It also puts new limits on children's attendance at movies.

In addition, the government will be able to hire inspectors who can, without warrant, check out movie houses and video stores and oblige owners to hand over films and any documents associated with the films.

Do you notice the "without warrant" clause in there? In essence, they are allowed to forcibly confiscate product for whatever reason the "inspector" decides that day. There is no due process, no appeals, nothing. In essence, the government has just created its very own media police, and given them a blank cheque.

Then on the Federal scene, we have Stephen Harper's gang busy trying to govern through fear:

The Conservative government will again try to bring in two controversial elements of an anti-terrorism bill that would extend police and judicial powers.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson gave parliamentary notice late Tuesday that he will attempt to bring in the provisions, which could be introduced in the House of Commons as early as Thursday.

The measures would give police the power to make preventive arrests, without a warrant, of anyone suspected of planning a terrorist attack.

They would also require anyone with information relevant to the investigation of a terrorist act to appear before a judge in secret for investigative hearings. Witnesses could go to jail if they don't comply.

Remember these little horrors? They were introduced just after 9/11 - with a sunset clause on them at the time. Fortunately for Canadians, the government of the day never actually used them (demonstrating that they are unnecessary to begin with)

However, the HarperCon$ are bound and determined to continue emulating the Bush II Rethuglicans, and are busy trying to ram unnecessary legislation through the house. Legislation which gives the police and other agencies unreasonable powers of detainment without accountability.

If that sounds like a police state to you, it's because it is.

Harper The Micromanager Strikes Again

For a government that claimed it was going to "clean up" in Ottawa, watching the Iron Curtain of secrecy descend is quite worrisome.

Now we have Harper trying to muzzle the Auditor General.

Fortunately, our current Auditor General isn't exactly a 'shrinking violet' type:

Auditor-General Sheila Fraser found allies yesterday who condemned the Conservative proposal, which could mean that Parliament's officers must vet their public statements through a wing of the Prime Minister's Office, as an unprecedented attack on the independence of the officers, who are supposed to work at arm's length.

I wonder how long it will be before PMSH finds an excuse to get into a pissing match with Ms. Fraser so that he can justify firing her and replacing her with someone more compliant with his wishes control everything with an iron fist. Harper isn't a democratic leader, he's a totalitarian.

- This has been another entry in the TAG file...

Harper The Totalitarian ... What's Next?

If you are a politician in Canada, the media is a fact of life. If you are a politician in a governing party, the media is omnipresent in your life ... get used to it.

In Stephen Harper's world, though, it seems that it's okay to use police muscle to distance yourself from the media.

Okay, Harper doesn't like the media - I get that - it's quite clear to me...and has been ever since his first official hissy fit with the Parliamentary Press Corps.

However, this is another thing altogether:

"There's a time and a place for the media," a Mountie told a small knot of print reporters, making it clear the issue was not a matter of security but of communications strategy.

The unnamed officer said he was acting on orders from the PMO.

Now, a reasonable person might look and say that this is nothing more than security. But if we are talking about a security precaution, how do you explain this?

While tour bus groups freely wandered the lobby of Charlottetown's Delta Hotel, plainclothes Mounties rebuffed reporters who had convened for the Conservative party's three-day summer strategy session.

Granted, it's a strategy session - I get that. However, the Con$ are not an opposition party now, they are the governing party. While I do not believe that the media needs to be "in the room" at their strategy session, the Con$ have no business using the RCMP as hired muscle to keep the media away.

This is not the actions of a party that respects democracy, or for that matter even touches on the shores of accountability in government. This kind of heavy handedness is sending a clear message to Canadians -> "Let us do what we want, and screw you to hell" is the message.

The Harper government's approach to the Canadian media has been insulting to both the media and Canadians. It smacks of cover-ups, dishonesty and a disrespect for the Canadian voter. Using the police to enforce your will when you don't want to be held accountable for your own bad policy is the act of a wannabe dictator.