Dear Mr. Kenney:

Let's chat for a moment about your comments yesterday, shall we?

"It says to me that the people of Canada want democracy respected. They just voted for a Conservative government six or seven weeks ago. They don't appreciate Opposition politicians trying to overturn election results and make a deal with the Separatists six weeks later."

This is a blatant lie on so many levels it's ridiculous.

Six or seven weeks ago, a majority of Canadians did not vote conservative. Let's be absolutely clear about this. The Conservatives got just over 30% of the popular vote - which means that about 22% of the eligible voters actually voted for you and Mr. Harper.

Second, I think you need a little remedial education in the form and structure of Canada's government - apparently you have forgotten some basics that you should have been taught back in grade school.

In Canada, we elect a Parliament - and we give a mandate to that parliament to govern the country. It is by convention that the party with the most seats is asked to form the government. In reality, it is in fact the party (or group of parties) that can control the majority of the seats that forms the government. The Conservatives are quite some distance from forming a majority in this situation.

Second, you don't get to squawk about a coalition being "anti democratic" when your party has gone after the same gambit. You know damn well that it is both legal, and a legitimate expression of democracy in Canada.

Third, it is the Conservative party that is behaving in a manner that is deeply offensive to the democracy in Canada. This is not the first time, but the third time that Mr. Harper has shut down parliament to avoid debate and to avoid being held accountable for his government's actions and policies. Instead of facing his opposition, or trying to work with the opposition, he tries to skewer them at every turn. When challenged in a serious manner, he folds like a cheap tent.

By shutting down parliament to avoid a confidence vote, Mr. Harper has done far worse damage to Canada's democracy than a coalition government would have. Why do I say this? Because in doing so, the Prime Minister of a Minority Government has silenced the voices of our duly elected representatives - including yourself Mr. Kenney. He has stifled debate solely because he cannot defend his actions as anything other than vicious partisan politics, and he is afraid to be accountable for them.

Your statements, Mr. Kenney, merely demonstrate that you are a toadie to Mr. Harper's will and whim. (Not that you've ever even attempted be anything other than a partisan politician - heaven forbid that you might actually have to deal with a constituent who isn't of like mind to yourself)

Cue Mackay ...

To reassure Canadians that the latest deaths in Afghanistan really prove that we are making progress over there.

The three were in an armoured vehicle when it struck the IED west of Kandahar city around 9 a.m. local time, CBC's David Common reported. Common said the device was likely quite large, since it was able to rip through their armoured vehicle.

In an unrelated incident, two soldiers were also injured Friday, one of them seriously, by an explosion while on foot patrol in the Zhari district, west of Kandahar city.

So..."progress" is measured in terms of the IED's getting bigger apparently. Does that mean when the Taliban gets nukes that we've won?

More seriously, how many more Canadian soldiers must die in this ill-conceived ego trip of Harper's? Occupying troops are the "Others" over there - at best they are serving as a unifying target for the various factions in Afghanistan to attack.

Harper The Cowardly Prime Minister

As it turns out, Mr. Harper fits the stereotype of a bully from stem to stern. Full of bluff and bluster when he thinks he has the upper hand, he runs from any serious challenge to his authority.

In 2007, he prorogued parliament because he had run out of script and didn't want to face the opposition parties in the house.

In 2008, he prorogues parliament again, this time to avoid a confidence vote he knows he would likely lose - less than six weeks after an election he triggered in direct contravention of his own fixed election dates law. The simple fact is that Harper has neither spine nor principles to stand and be accountable for his actions. When faced with a situation he doesn't control, he runs off to Government House to find a way to hide from his peers.

Like Frank Baum's character the Cowardly Lion, Harper is all roar and deep inside he knows that he's faking it.

Harper Makes History!

Albeit, by putting a black mark beside his name for being the first Prime Minister in Canadian history to suspend parliament solely for the purpose of avoiding a confidence vote.

I do not envy the Governor General this decision - in granting Harper's request,she placed herself firmly in a partisan position backing a Prime Minister who, it seems, has lost the confidence of the house. But, had she flat out denied the request, the HarperCon$ would have been screaming about her in the same manner, complaining that she had tacitly supported a "separatist coalition" through her actions.

Harper is now damaged goods as a Prime Minister. Not only has Harper abused our parliamentary processes by running like a coward from a confidence motion, but his actions themselves are fundamentally contrary to the notion of an elected, parliamentary democracy. Not only has Harper dodged a confidence vote next week, but in doing so he has silenced the voices of all of our elected representatives in government and he has demolished any possible credibility he would have to claim that his government is in any respect accountable to the people.

If the Liberals are smart, they will move quickly to replace Dion before Parliament reconvenes. This is no time to sit back and allow another drawn out leadership campaign - pick a new leader, swear them in and gird for battle. A Harper-led government should not be allowed to stand any longer than absolutely necessary.

[Update]
As this blogger points out, in Harper's own words, he has lost his moral authority to govern:

“When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.”- Stephen Harper, 2005

[/Update]

Mr. Harper - Why Should We Trust You?

Harper Addresses Canada

How magnanimous of Mr. Harper. He actually chose to address Canada - and unfortunately he simply proved once again that he is far more interested in playing partisan politics games rather than actually governing the country.

Does he talk about his party's plan for Canada? No.

"The opposition is attempting to impose this deal without your say, without your consent, and without your vote," Harper said.

"This is no time for backroom deals with the separatists. It is a time for Canada's government to focus on the economy and specifically measures for the upcoming budget."

Instead, he spends most of his time blathering on about his imagined evils of coalition, and quietly avoids actually talking about how his party is going to govern Canada through the current economic turmoil.

In fact, worse, Harper has further isolated himself and his party in a minority parliament. He might have been able to turn to the BQ for support - if he could convince Duceppe that what he was proposing was in fact in Quebec's best interests. After this week's demonizing, I very much doubt that Harper will get the time of day from Duceppe - or even agreement that it's raining during a downpour.

At a time like this, a coalition with the separatists cannot help Canada. And the Opposition does not have the democratic right to impose a coalition with the separatists they promised voters would never happen.

Right. Sure, Steve. What you forget, Mr. Harper, is that you don't exactly have an overwhelming mandate to govern yourself. In fact, you have a minority of the seats in the house - which means that if the opposition can form a coalition in Parliament that in fact they can govern - quite legally, and quite democratically. You see, Canadians told all of the parties that none of them were acceptable - including the Con$.

The irony is that it wasn't that long ago that Harper's own party was trying to secure a coalition of its own.

I must give Dion's speech some credit - it's possibly the best one he's ever given.

In times like this our compassion as a country is tested. We believe it is imperative that the government offers Canadians who have already lost their job, whether in the factories of South Western Ontario or the forests of Eastern Quebec and British Columbia, the support they need to live in dignity and develop new skills.

That is precisely what we intend to provide.

... and then there is this:

Earlier today I wrote Her Excellency the Governor General. I respectfully asked her to refuse any request by the Prime Minister to suspend Parliament until he has demonstrated to her that he still commands the confidence of the House.

If Mr. Harper wants to suspend Parliament he must first face a vote of confidence.

In our Canada, the government is accountable for its decisions and actions in Parliament.

In our Canada, the government derives its legitimacy from an elected Parliament.

Harper has shown Canadians that he is no longer to be trusted to run Canada - he is far too interested in his own political vendettas, and far too disinterested in the job of actually governing to be an effective Prime Minister.

A Quick, Concise Review of Parliamentary Civics

Here

Read It.

Then go introduce the next twit spouting Con$ervative talking points about coalitions to reality.

Nominations For Prime Minister

With Alberta's newspapers - and population, it seems - having forgotten the basics of how our elected government is supposed to work, I'd like to nominate two candidates to replace Mr. Harper and his band of bullies in Ottawa:

Parrots Buddy and Chipper join Calgary Zoo

Two parrots can make just as much pointless noise and mess as a 140-odd Conservative politicians - only the parrots will at least be entertaining to watch...and occasionally the parrots will learn something new.

Anybody think the Calgary Zoo will agree to a straight swap?