In the unholy rush to jam their Unfair Elections Act through before the majority of Canadians realise just how bad and self-serving piece of legislation it is the Harper regieme has asked the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee to “pre-study” it. In short order the Conservative-dominated committee has come
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The Cracked Crystal Ball II: Stealing Our Democracy: Linda Frum, Talking Points and the Dumbf
*Dumbf = dumbfuckery – a condition that appears to be unique to the creation of Harper Government talking points regarding Bill C-23. On Huffington Post this morning, I read Michael Bolen’s commentary on Bill C-23 which led me to Linda Frum’s more verbose op-ed defending her TWITter position from earlier this
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Stealing Our Democracy: The Senate Takes A Swing
Okay, now the Senate is talking about wanting to see some amendments to the Harper Government’s bill to undermine Canada’s democracy. The interim report recommends: — Removing a provision which would allow political parties to exempt from their election expenses any money spent to raise donations from anyone who has
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: TFW Program: Shut It Down NOW!
A few weeks ago, we learned of a few McDonald’s restaurants abusing the Temporary Foreign Worker program by giving preferential treatment to candidates coming in under the TFW program over Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Today, we find out that it has been much broader in scope than just
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: The Implications of Flaherty’s Death
Flaherty passed away suddenly this week. I did not like Jim Flaherty‘s politics – a follower of Mike Harris in the 1990s, and a minister to Harper since 2006, Flaherty has consistently subscribed to following political leaders that I fundamentally disagree with. However, I’m not writing to speak ill of
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Prerequisites for Democratic Legitimacy
Anita Vandenbeld author of an article called ‘Imposing Legitimacy: The Dilemma of International Democratic Development’for LawNow magazine and former director of parliamentary affairs for Jacques Saada, the first minister of Democratic Reform in 2004, recently wrote an article on the legitimacy of bill C23. In it, in contrast to her
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23: Accountability for Thee Not For Me
It’s not exactly news that Harper has never liked Elections Canada. In fact, it’s less than news. His outraged utterances about Elections Canada when he was head of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC) in the 1990s set the tone for the content of Bill C-23. “The jackasses at Elections Canada
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Winning at All Costs.
I think we are all sick of the win at all cost mentality of our political parties and their leaders, this mentality is not restricted to just the Harper Regime, although it is certainly most prevalent with that group of oligarchs, but can be seen with very few exceptions in
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-32: Is This Even Necessary?
As I start to review the content of Bill C-32, the so-called “Victim’s Bill of Rights” legislation, I find myself wondering if this piece of legislation is even meaningful. The first thing that made me wonder about this was the following: 11. Sections 380.3 and 380.4 of the Act
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: In Harper’s Canada … A Budget Bill Isn’t Just A Budget
Pay close attention to Harper's "omnibus" bills. Those contain the bulk of his agenda. They're so big that he's hoping you don't even look. These bills are so multi-dimensional that calling them "budget implementation bills" is a bad joke. Bill C-31, the budget implementation bill for 2014, is no exception.
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Further Analysis On Marc Nadon’s Appointment
Marc Nadon is, for now at least, out of the picture as far as Canada’s Supreme Court is concerned. Frankly, I know very little about Justice Nadon’s beliefs and history as a judge. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he happened to lean towards Mr. Harper’s “hang-em-high” approach to
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Harper Loses 2 Gambits In 2 Days
Harper has lost two gambits to undermine Canada’s legal system in two days. First, an attempt to make prison sentences harsher by retroactively killing an early parole program was knocked down yesterday. Then, this morning, the Supreme Court swatted down Harper’s appointment of Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court. Even
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: 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
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Stealing Democracy Part X: How Far Does The Rot Go?
There is no doubt any more that Bill C-23 is deliberately designed to enable the CPC (or other political parties) to engage in the kind of electoral fraud that the CPC has attempted, and been caught out at repeatedly in the past. Worse, it goes so far as to politicize
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Undemocratic Democratic Reform
Are changes to an electoral system in a democracy valid if they are brought in by a less than democratic process, are they in fact valid if the very ‘independent’ body charged with overseeing said electoral system is excluded from the process? Are they valid if recommendations from said body
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23 – Stealing Democracy Part IX: The Shackles On Elections Canada Advertising
Ever since Bill C-23 was tabled, I have been baffled by the fact that the bill so viciously curtails the ability of Elections Canada to advertise and communicate with voters in S18: 18(1) The Chief Electoral Officer may provide the public, both inside and outside Canada, with information on the
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Harpers Orwellian Regime
Arising from George Orwells novel Nineteen Eighty-Four published in 1949 the adjective Orwelliandescribes a totalitarian dystopia characterised by government control and subjugation of the people. Orwell’s invented language, Newspeak, satirises hypocrisy and evasion by the state: for example,the Ministry of Truth oversees propaganda and historical revisionism. When writing this Orwell
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: An Act Of Aggression Is Still Wrong
I’m angry beyond words at this: Transgender Woman’s Jail Treatment Prompts Complaints Baxter said Griffith was concerned about her safety and asked to be put into protective custody. Guards moved her to the protective custody section and placed her in a cell with two accused male sex offenders, Baxter said.
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Municipal Voters: Partisan Intervention is Coming Your Way
Did you mistakenly think that the Manning Centre’s attempt to bend the 2013 Calgary municipal election to more “conservative” was an aberration? You would be quite wrong. The author of the Metro News article is considerably more charitable than I am about the matter – but then again, he was
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: C-23: The Theft Of Democracy Part VII
I’ve more or less gone as far with analyzing the text of C-23 myself at this point in time. I’m sufficiently convinced that this legislation is nothing more than an overt move on the part of the Harper Conservatives to undermine Canada’s democracy, and should be tossed in the garbage
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