Most of us who oppose Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament know that this is not the first time the Prime Minister has thumbed his nose at democracy. My own passion, US war resisters in Canada, has been up against it for years. The House of Commons passed a motion calling on the government to stop deporting war resisters and to allow them to stay in Canada, then reaffirmed it with a second majority vote - and both times the Harper government ignored the will of the majority. It's maddening, and it's wrong. In April 2005, as leader of the Opposition, Harper said, "The Prime Minister has the moral obligation to respect the will of Parliament." Indeed, he does.
Of course the war resisters issue is but one example of many. No one can remember every instance - unless we're keeping track. Lucky for us someone was.
Redsock found this amazing post from the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group (now 195,000 strong!). A member commenting as "Defend Parliament" posted a jaw-dropping collection of news stories documenting "The Harper Attack on Canadian Democracy".
What follows is most (but not all!) of "Defend Parliament"'s list. Many thanks to redsock for putting this together, and a million thanks to "Defend Parliament" for stellar citizen journalism!
As you scroll through or read this list, ask yourself this: Have I done everything I can to help make January 23 a success? Is there anything else I can do to help spread the word? NoProrogue.ca.
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MUZZLING CABINET MINISTERS, MPs, JUDGES, ETC.
How Harper controls the spin
Zeal to manage message sees journalists shunned, bureaucrats, cabinet ministers routinely muzzled. Public appearances by cabinet ministers – whether it's a speech or an interview – are carefully staged, starting with a "message event proposal" vetted by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
PM slaps muzzle on military brass
Hillier, Sr.Officials Muzzled by PMO
Mums the word: Harper tells MPs to keep mouths shut
Tories tighten muzzle on PS [Public Service] for campaign
Former chief justice of Canada accuses PM of trying to "muzzle" the judiciary
'Muzzle' Placed On Federal Scientists
Tories muzzle environmental scientist
Minister stops book talk by Environment Canada scientist
Mum's the word till message vetted
No federal cabinet minister speaks to a journalist, gives a speech or makes a policy announcement until a "message event proposal" has been vetted by a wing of the Prime Minister's Office.
Harper lawsuit smacks of authoritarian state: prof
Holland shocked by Conservative comments on media
Harper government whips Tories into line with secret handbook
Information Commissioner Robert Marleau told The Hill Times recently that the Harper government has been quietly drafting about 25 government policies that impact on the rights of officers of Parliament, and that it has been happening without their knowledge or input.
Conservative headquarters scripting calls to radio shows
Canada slips in 'press freedom' rankings
Torture probe delayed; Tories deny gagging witness
Lawyers seek to gag witnesses in Afghan prisoner inquiry
Has Canada entered a 'Bush-like vortex'?
Richard Colvin's torture allegations suggest civil servants aren't writing down what the government doesn't want recorded
PMO issued instructions on denying abuse in '07 -- Former NATO official says response to reports was 'scripted' in Ottawa
Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
Attack on senior diplomat signals demise of independent public service: experts
"If we don't have a public service that speaks truth to power we might as well have everything run out of the Prime Minister’s Office."
Diplomats told to keep quiet on torture allegations, sources say
Former ambassadors condemn Ottawa's attack on diplomat
Response to Colvin's detainee testimony discourages honest reports, letter says
Public service in crisis over Colvin
The Harper government's attack on a senior diplomat could be the final blow in the unravelling of Canada's once-sacred tradition of an independent, non-partisan public service, warn experts
Afghan detainee watchdog warns of Tory 'chilling effect'
Departing military commission chief's comments come as Harper government digs in its heels in face of parliamentary order to turn over confidential files
Feds refuse legal funding to whistleblower diplomat
Feds tried to order nuclear regulator to bend rules
Conservatives stop funding for learning organization
Ottawa is cutting off public input into climate-change policy
Tory candidate dumped for frank TV comments: Mused riding wouldn't get infrastructure cash because it's Liberal-held
Gov't program wants job applicants' views on Tory budget
Insults, discourtesy and disrespect mark Harper team's behaviour:
Targets have included AIDS activists, Nobel Prize winners and Road to Avonlea star
PM Never Too Busy For a Photo OP
Summoning hordes of photographers to document your every move following a massive humanitarian disaster, and then not letting reporters ask questions seems very disingenuous, and a little ridiculous. The intent is obviously to make Mr. Harper look Prime Ministerial, but I think if the public knew the context behind the images they were seeing they would feel exactly the opposite.
What's Wrong With This Picture
The PMO is sending out a steady stream of publicity photos in the hope they will be used in newspapers and blogs across the country. But photojournalists believe Harper's handlers are going too far in trying to control his image
THE CULTURE OF SECRECY
Watchdog blasts Tories for secrecy obsession: Information chief challenges Ottawa to ease 'stranglehold'
Watchdog alarmed by Harper's information clampdown
Canada's information watchdog says the public knows less than ever about what its government is doing
Government secrecy 'grim,' watchdog says
Ottawa nixes bid to expand transparency
Tories blasted for secrecy on stimulus cash
Ottawa seeks secrecy in Tamil migrant case
CENTRALIZING POWER IN STEPHEN HARPER'S HANDS
Siddiqui: Harper acting like an elected dictator
Gomery slams Harper for ignoring him
The man who investigated the sponsorship scandal says Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems to have abandoned any commitment he once had to transparent government in favour of a top-down style that centralizes power in his own hands.
Gomery slams increasing power of PM's office
Failure to decentralize PMO power poses danger to democracy: Gomery
CONTEMPT FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
Ottawa moves to block detainee-transfer hearings [2008]
Redactions hamper Afghan detainee probe [2009]
Unreadable documents make meaningful inquiry 'almost impossible' and reflect government efforts to keep record a secret
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
Harper government says it will not comply with Opposition motion passed by Parliament
Tories to ignore vote on releasing prisoner reports
Parliament in showdown with Harper government over Afghan documents
Tories refuse to release uncensored documents on Afghan detainees
Tories force shutdown of hearing on torture [2009]
Opposition blasts boycott as whistleblower readies rebuttal to Ottawa today
Ritz avoids listeria joke questions at agriculture debate
Promised listeriosis probe still lacks investigator
Harper government withholds listeriosis notes
Did lag in releasing listeriosis notes break law?
Tories opened patronage doors before election: CP
Harper, who railed against Liberal patronage in the 2006 election, later failed to deliver on a campaign pledge to put an independent commission in charge of vetting cabinet appointments. He angrily shelved the idea after opposition MPs refused to ratify his nomination of Gwyn Morgan, a Calgary oil baron who is also a friend of the prime minister, as the commission chair.
Prentice defends use of government jet
An analysis of federal air travel by a French-language television network found that 15 ministers had used the private plane 72 times after four years in office, including 31 trips that did not appear to meet government criteria for use of the plane.
Tories stall on Liberal request for jet passengers
The Harper government says it is unable to provide the names of passengers who have flown on its fleet of Challenger executive jets since 2006 because it would take longer than a month-and-a-half to assemble the list.
CONTEMPT FOR ETHICS
People don't care about Afghan detainee issue: Harper
PM's former adviser accused of peddling access to corridors of power
PM ignores fixed-election date law
Conservatives confusing public on 'in and out' financing says Prof. MacIvor
RCMP raids Tory party headquarters
The Conservatives insist the transactions were legal but Elections Canada disagrees and rival parties have labeled the scheme outright fraud
Tories overspent on election by $1M: warrant
Tory dissenters 'idiots, turds'
Workers on the campaign of a Conservative MP who declined to participate in the in-and-out advertising scheme in the 2006 election were denounced as "idiots" and a "bunch of turds" by senior party officials, who wanted to "put the fear of God" into them for not taking part in the contentious TV and radio purchases.
Tory MP admits he broke elections law
Tory MP derides jobless as 'no-good bastards'
MPs' comments on unemployed, abortion show party's 'meanness,' opposition critics say
Finley under fire for 'lucrative' jobless comment
Conservative government has no interest in increasing Employment Insurance payments and making it "lucrative" for jobless workers to sit around the house
"In terms of the unemployed... don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
PM's Jewish pitch hits a new low, critics say Tory flyer suggests Liberals are anti-Semitic
"... new book made the claim that former Conservative MP Chuck Cadman was essentially offered financial inducements [a $1 million life insurance policy] by Conservative party officials to vote down the Liberal government's 2005 budget ... Chuck Cadman's widow [a current Conservative MP] has said her late husband told her about the offer. Two other family members say Cadman told them the same thing ..."
Quoted from "Dion, Harper clash over Cadman allegations"
PM's cutback plan: Choke rival parties
NDP considers legal action after Tories tape private meeting
Recreational stimulus favours Tory ridings
Tory ridings get more stimulus money
Stimulus funds forget high jobless areas
Lobbying czar probes firm with ties to Tories
Raitt accused of expense abuse: She improperly approved her London trip, Port Authority's former chair says
Why were port authority board minutes altered?
Documents approved in December 2008 differ greatly from those rewritten and approved six months later, Star examination finds
Raitt under fire for calling cancer, isotope crisis 'sexy
Tories overstate cost of Liberal EI plan: budget office
Tory attack on carbon tax is dishonest: economist
Harper won't rule out carbon tax
Tories outspent Liberals on consultants
The Conservative government spent almost $1 billion on consultants in its first two years in office – nearly double what the Liberals spent in a similar time period
PM's pal gets government job
Appointment to board of directors is geologist's third posting to be criticized for favouritism
Tory MP who led anti-drug campaign charged with cocaine possession
Tories spend 5 times more on ads than H1N1 prevention
Tories reject fast-tracking of sentencing bill
Conservatives rejected a bid Thursday to expedite a key piece of their tough-on-crime agenda, even as they continued to bash Liberal senators for holding up the legislation
Canada quietly asks EPA to weaken anti-pollution measures
Ethics czar to investigate Tory logos on cheques
Taxpayers on hook for $1.7-million as PMO rolls out video
Extra funding requested to help bolster Stephen Harper's communications support services
Tories spend $108,000 on 1-hour event
The Conservative government spent more than $100,000 staging a one-hour event in June to provide an update on its economic recovery program
John Baird won't let truth blunt a good barb
For second consecutive day, Transport Minister misquotes Liberal defence critic in fending off criticism on Afghan detainee torture allegations
Climate walkout 'certainly happened'
Despite minister's denial, email confirms incident
Flaherty's deficit plan: Take an axe and cut deep
'I've done it before,' in Harris-era Ontario
Tory suspended for comments about dead soldier's father is back on job
Harper was in on the ground floor of coalition building
Ironically, it was Stephen Harper who first brought the option of vaulting to power from the benches of the official Opposition to the fore in the early days of Paul Martin's 2004 minority regime. Even before the presentation of Martin's Speech from the Throne, Harper had sought out his two opposition rivals to lay the groundwork of an alliance to unseat the Liberals.
Bloc part of secret coalition plot in 2000 with Canadian Alliance
Tory aide tried to scuttle Hanukkah event: organizer
Harper zigzags on economy
For the past three months, the only thing consistent about Prime Minister Stephen Harper's position on the economy has been its inconsistency
CONTEMPT FOR CANADA AND CANADIANS
"Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status..."
Stephen Harper, National Post editorial, 2000
"It may not be true, but it's legendary that if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country, which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
"Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the [American] Council for National Policy, June 1997
"Whether Canada ends up as one national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement is, quite frankly, secondary in my opinion ..."
Stephen Harper, Speech to the Colin Brown Memorial Dinner, National Citizens Coalition, 1994
"If Ottawa giveth, then Ottawa can taketh away ... This is one more reason why Westerners, but Albertans in particular, need to think hard about their future in this country. After sober reflection, Albertans should decide that it is time to seek a new relationship with Canada ... Having hit a wall, the next logical step is not to bang our heads against it. It is to take the bricks and begin building another home – a stronger and much more autonomous Alberta. It is time to look at Quebec and to learn. What Albertans should take from this example is to become 'maitres chez nous'."
Stephen Harper, National Post, December 8, 2000
"You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society."
Stephen Harper, The Report newsmagazine, January 22, 2001
"I think in Atlantic Canada ... there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome. ... Atlantic Canada's culture of defeat will be hard to overcome as long as Atlantic Canada is actually physically trailing the rest of the country."
Stephen Harper, New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, May 29, 2002
CONTEMPT FOR PARLIAMENT
WAR WITH ELECTIONS CANADA
RCMP raids Tory party headquarters
The Conservatives insist the transactions were legal but Elections Canada disagrees and rival parties have labeled the scheme outright fraud
Tories oppose Bloc motion supporting Elections Canada
PARLIAMENT DIMINISHED
PM's 'bizarre' report card under attack
Critics charge that not only are his claims that he and the Conservatives saved the economy meaningless, his pattern of disdain for Parliament reached new levels when he upstaged his finance minister and delivered the [economic] update while overseas.
PROLOGUE: THE FIRST LIES ABOUT DETAINEE TORTURE EXPOSED
April 27, 2007
Reports confirm Canada's complicity in Afghan state torture
November 15, 2007
'Credible' case of torture found in Afghanistan
Transfer of detainees is complicity in torture
Conservatives 'fume' about blunder
Their blades remain sheathed but astonished Conservatives are quietly fuming about the tactical blunder they fear could toss them into opposition. And the blame seems to be landing on the prime minister's doorstep.
Harper to blame for political crisis
Canadian Leader Shuts Parliament
Canada's parliamentary opposition reacted with outrage on Thursday after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shut down the legislature until Jan. 26, seeking to forestall a no-confidence vote that he was sure to lose ...
THE SECOND WAR ON PARLIAMENT
ACT I: ESCAPING THE COPENHAGEN FIASCO
Canada contradicts climate change consensus at Commonwealth
Canada falling behind U.S. in clean-energy efforts: experts
No faith in Harper on climate
Harper lies low in Copenhagen
Prentice hints there may be 'special breaks' for tarsands
Ontario and Quebec slam Ottawa on climate
Prentice delivers Canada's unpopular position
Harper leaves it to his Environment Minister to present plenary session
Harper lays low, Prentice addresses UN in Copenhagen
Groups declare Canada world's biggest environmental offender at climate talks
Canada's a joke at climate talks
ACT II: WAS THE HARPER GOVERNMENT COMPLICIT IN WAR CRIMES?
Scene I: THE ACCUSATION
Canada handed over innocent Afghans to torture: diplomat
Scene II: THE VILLAIN’S ROLE IS MISCAST
Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture
Canada generals deny ignoring Afghan abuse warnings
Generals say crucial reports did not mention torture "Ludicrous" to say most detainees abused – general
Scene III: THE SUPPORTING CAST REVEALED
PMO issued instructions on denying abuse in '07
Former NATO official says response to reports was 'scripted' in Ottawa
Diplomats told to keep quiet on torture allegations, sources say
Many detainees were just farmers, Afghan official says
Detainee ties to insurgency could not always be established: Afghan agency
Canadians warned early that Afghan detainees faced torture
EU diplomat backs claims on torture
Canadian's warnings on Afghan detainees reflected common view, says his European colleague
Dutch raised concerns over conditions in 2006: Netherlands suggested a separate facility
Coalition allies faulted Canada over handling of detainees
Complaint was lodged over secretive approach on captures as early as summer of 2006
Red Cross warned Canada of Afghan prison abuse
Afghans rejected Canadian-captured prisoners for 'insufficient evidence'
Hillier accused of 'trivializing' torture at detainees hearing
The record and the falsehoods: The government's insistence it knew nothing about the torture of Afghan detainees becomes more and more tenuous
Canada defended Afghan 'human-rights abuser,' memos allege
Canada kept feared Afghan governor in power despite rep as 'human-rights abuser'
Scene IV: PETER MACKAY, CANADA'S VERSION OF SERGEANT "I KNOW NOTHING" SCHULTZ, DELIVERS HIS SOLILOQUY
Government denies liability in torture cases despite report
Tories reject call for Afghan torture inquiry
No proof detainees were tortured, defence minister says
Scene V: NEMESIS, THOU ART A BITCH!
Proof of detainee abuse exists, despite MacKay's denials
Ex-ambassadors condemn gov't on detainee issue
Warnings on detainees were e-mailed to MacKay's office
MacKay's office got Red Cross warnings about Afghan treatment
Documents confirm whistleblower's emails were sent to then-Foreign Affairs minister Peter MacKay's office
Why was Harper so blind to abuse?
Scene VI: HARPO, I HAVE A FEELING THAT WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE!
Natynczyk makes major reversal on detainee story
Scene VI: TWAS BUT A DREAM AND THE BLACKED OUT MEMOS ARE STILL A BIT FUZZY
Harper government changes tune on Afghan prisoner issue
MacKay says Tories were aware of concerns and began to act shortly after taking office
Heavily-censored Afghan abuse memos released
Documents confirm whistleblower's emails were sent to then-Foreign Affairs minister Peter MacKay's office
Scene VII: FRAILTY, THY NAME IS PARLIAMENT!
Parliament in showdown with Harper government over Afghan documents
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
Harper government says it will not comply with Opposition motion passed by Parliament, setting stage for legal battle
Tories to ignore vote on releasing prisoner reports
Tories refuse to release uncensored documents on Afghan detainees
Conservative boycott shuts down Afghan detainee hearing
Tories force shutdown of hearing on torture
Opposition blasts boycott as whistleblower readies rebuttal to Ottawa today
ACT III
Scene I: THE DEMOCRACY DEATH SCENE?
PM suspends Parliament
EPILOGUE: AT HOME AND ABROAD
Democracy diminished, accountability avoided
By suspending Parliament, Stephen Harper allows the governing party to elude the detainee issue, a move that undermines the democratic rights of the people
Prorogation redux: Harper in contempt of Parliament
His request to shut down the House again undermines Canada's democratic institutions
The Economist vents spleen on PM's decision to prorogue
"His officials faced grilling by parliamentary committees over whether they misled the House of Commons in denying knowledge that detainees handed over to the local authorities by Canadian troops in Afghanistan were being tortured. The government would also have come under fire for its lack of policies to curb Canada's abundant carbon emissions."
'Harper goes prorogue,' The Economist laments
"Never mind what his spin doctors say: Mr. Harper's move looks like naked self-interest," says the editorial. The editorial likens Canadian ministers to hapless former U.S. president Gerald Ford, "who could not walk and chew gum at the same time."
Afghans violating detainee-transfer agreement
A number of insurgents handed over to Afghan police can't be accounted for, despite Ottawa's assertion transfer
ADDENDUM
CBC Report on Conservatives' leaked "dirty tricks manual"
Only days after filibustering several committees, a leaked document seems to prove the Conservative government has been deliberately wrecking havoc. ... Spring of 2007: a Conservative manual to purposely and deliberately disrupt and make the government committees dysfunctional. ...
The Harper government has failed to help a number of Canadian citizens in trouble outside the country.
The Harper government resorted to dirty tricks to try to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board.
101 Reasons not to vote for the Conservative Party (video)
***
Message from Defend Parliament:
I've been saving these links for a few years and finally found a forum to paste them. I've organized them in a logical way, which I hope shows a persistent pattern of attack on Canada's democratic institutions, of which the latest prorogation is only the latest example. The scale of this attack is truly frightening! As you can see from the sheer volume of HEADLINES and LINKS alone (with very little content) that fear for our democracy should not be limited to a few paranoid types or to anyone of a particular political persuasion but to anyone that cares about living in a free society. ...
Conservatives and supporters often try to blame the Liberals before them, or someone else. ... But it wasn't until the Conservative government was in power than problems began to surface (and it was the Conservatives who did nothing about the problems) Fact: General Rick Hillier, acting on his own or not as the case may be, signed a deeply flawed agreement to turn over detainees to the Afghan authorities in December 2005, during an election campaign. The Conservatives were elected a month later. Instances of mistreatment were reported by Richard Colvin to his superiors, first in May 2006, and well into 2007.
HYPOCRITICAL HARPER QUOTES
"The first principle of a democracy is that the Prime Minister is supposed to be able to face this House of Commons any day on a vote. This government now has the deliberate policy of avoiding a vote. This is a violation of the most fundamental constitutional principle of our democracy."
Stephen Harper as Leader of the Opposition, attacking the Martin government, May 3, 2005
"When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern."
Stephen Harper, Canadian Press, April 18, 2005
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