Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, September 17, 2012

Parliament resumes: Do the Cons want the Peace Tower to become the War Tower?

This week Canadian politics moves back indoors, as the 41st Parliament resumes. According to a recent poll, the Harper government looks in command, much to the disgust of those Canadians who support other parties -- and outnumber those who back the Harper regime.

The Cons pose as masters of the economy, as proven by new job creation. The number of net new jobs (7770,000 since 2009) announced by the Finance Minister will be repeated at every opportunity by every Con MP. The Harper team will dismiss the official opposition New Democrats as knowing nothing about the issues that matter: jobs, prosperity, economic growth, taxes, government spending, deficits and debts.

One obvious response is for New Democrats to push back with: "What Conservatives do not want Canadians to know!" For example, according to CCPA economist Armine Yalnizyan, four out of five of those new jobs are temporary.

Some issues lie in wait for the Prime Minister. The F-35 fighter jet contract is a classic case of botched procurement. The government can expect constant questions. Why does Canada need a first strike capacity fighter jet? Who is the enemy? Why did the government tell us the plane would cost $14.7 billion, when the real costs are closer to $10 billion more? How come other countries are dropping their plans to buy the F-35, the U.S. Congress is questioning the whole project, and the Canadian government is pretending there are no problems with buying it?

When the Conservatives come back to Parliament they will confront charges of electoral deceit and deception. A court decision is expected in the case launched by the Council of Canadians on suspicious robocalls telling supporters of opposition parties that their place of voting had been moved. A general election result in Etobicoke Centre may be voided pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court. An Ontario court ruled the riding election result could not stand because of voting irregularities.

Looking to stick a wedge between the NDP and the voting public, the Cons plan to follow up their recent attack on public services, with another attack on public services. This time the target includes not just public servants, but also their pensions.

What happens outside Parliament has a lot to do with how the parties fare inside Parliament. New NDP leader Tom Mulcair launched a national debate about how over-investment in the Alberta bitumen sands has led to an unbalanced economy.

The NDP political strategy is pretty clear. Force Stephen Harper to act as the Emperor of Alberta. Tom and the NDP want to re-create the Empire of the Saint Lawrence: hold Quebec, and take Ontario away from the Cons. In B.C., sentiment is running against exporting Alberta bitumen through the "Best Place on Earth" north by pipeline over unceded Aboriginal lands, or south to Burnaby, and on by sea, in monster tankers, going out through the Burrard Inlet next to Stanley Park.

The official opposition dream is to put B.C., Ontario and Quebec together. That would give the NDP a majority government, even without Atlantic Canada where the party has been strong, and is getting stronger.

To electors in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Mulcair can promise to send a "sustainable" level of bitumen east to be refined in Montreal, Sarnia or New Brunwick. Even if the Cons held Alberta, and Saskatchewan, a NDP victory would mean Harper loses his job.

The Conservatives are watching the race for the White House with great interest since, with Romney/Ryan, they have a horse in the race. A Republican president will allow the Keystone pipeline to be built, giving Big Oil the right to send Alberta bitumen south to be refined in Louisiana, and Harper a temporary win.

This fall a Liberal leadership begins, with or without Justin Trudeau. If Trudeau runs, he is expected to win, which will test how deep support is for both the Conservatives and the NDP. There are a lot of questions about Justin Trudeau, but none about how much interest his candidacy creates. Both the Conservatives and the NDP will be building "research" to try and dismiss him as a lightweight.

It will be interested to see what kind of team Trudeau recruits to help him deal with the untried, untested, unprepared for leadership lines being written for his opponents to deliver. This is one area where he can benefit greatly from following the example set by his father, whose 1967-8 successful run was helped by a group of top people.

The decision by the Harper government to break off diplomatic relations with Iran needs to be fully aired in parliament. As James George, former Canadian Ambassador to Iran, pointed out, leaving a potential war zone amounts to abandoning diplomacy just at the moment it is most needed.

Is the Harper government conceding the need for a "just war" against Iran? Do the Cons want the Peace Tower to become the War Tower? Where do the opposition parties stand?

Original Article
Source: rabble.ca
Author: Duncan Cameron

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