Spreading The Word On Harper

A surprising number of people have asked me why I am so strongly opposed to Harper and his lot getting a majority government. It’s like they weren’t paying attention.

I would think that anyone who has had their eyes open for the last eight years would have had an object lesson already in what happens when you give a bunch of reactionary neocons control of a government and let them run rampant.

However, instead of running down that argument, I think I’ll just point them to The Harper Record.

The whole thing can be read onlineI don’t want to get off on a rant here, but why would you make these chapters free for download, but stick them in ridiculously restricted PDFs? I mean you’re giving away the content, why put locks on that won’t stop redistribution, but will only annoy people who want to quote segments of the document, or move the content into another format for use with eBooks, or readers for the blind, or whatever. It’s nonsensical. Especially when cracking PDF security is so easy. I mean, do you think I actually typed that quote in on my keyboard?, with an additional option to just download individual chapters. You should pop over to the site and read the list of chapter titles, to see if there’s anything there you want to dig into.

Here’s a bit from the freedom of speech chapter:

The Harper chill effect has been evident from the very beginning, and it has been consistent throughout his first two years in office. During this brief period, Harper has used the court system to help silence foes, critics, and generally anyone with whom the Prime Minister might have a disagreement. It turns out this includes Elections Canada and Canadians seeking equality justice, as well as his political opposition, the Liberal party.

He has picked public fights with dissenting bureaucrats and shut down normal bureaucratic flows of public information. He treats the national press corps like a special interest group that has to be managed, controlled, and contained. He has muzzled his own cabinet, elevating this practice to new heights, and he swiftly implemented funding cuts to groups which ensure ordinary Canadians have a public voice and access to legal representation within the court system.

All this has been enacted with only minority government power at Harper’s disposal. Left unchecked, the Harper chill effect threatens to profoundly undermine the core institutions that ensure the health of Canada’s democracy. It also gives a glimpse into changes Canadians might expect should Harper secure a majority government.

If there’s even a tiny chance that you’re thinking of voting ConservativeI know, seems unlikely for my readers. then go read that book. Especially if you’re one of the “I’m voting for my local candidate, not for Harper” people–know that Harper’s autocratic control of his caucus renders your local candidate irrelevant except insofar as he/she might contribute to the much-to-be-feared Harper majority.