I listened to Ursula Franklin interviewed on The Current on Friday and the part that is really sticking with me, other than how inspiring she is and how I can only hope to ever be as passionate and cool as she is, is her concern about Conservative insinuations, if not outright accusations, that the Opposition Parties are not ‘trustworthy’. This is in relation, of course, to the government’s refusal to disclose un-censored documents to members of the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan. This issue has been somewhat mitigated by the Speaker’s decision that is forcing the documents’ release but it is the underlying implications that have really got me thinking.

What does it mean when the leader of the country says that the Opposition cannot be trusted? Where could this lead? Well, in the past it has led to the elimination of democracy under the guise of ‘national security’, a phrase that has been tossed about quite a lot lately. It has led to the rise of totalitarian states who claim to be acting in the best interests of the country and citizens and who allow their lust for power to guide them.

How much power should the Prime Minister’s Office have? How much power should a government that received less than a quarter of the potential vote have?*

I was just wondering: Are Canadians ready to give up their democracy for the illusion of security? Now is a good time to re-watch Professor Fonseca’s videos and maybe take a listen to Ms. Ursula Franklin – two people who chose to come to Canada from countries that had experienced dictators in order to participate in a lively democracy and who now feel that it is slipping away.

That queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach? Don’t ignore it. There is trouble afoot.

*Note: The Conservatives received 37.65% of the popular vote, but the voter turnout was the lowest in Canadian history at 59.1%, so the total percentage for the Conservatives was 22%.

1. Mound of Sound Says:
   May 10th, 2010 at 11:24 am

   As a recent convert to your tribe my best wishes for your political future.
   I think Canadians, based on today’s demographics, are far less troubled about infringement on their democratic rights than those who proceeded them were.

   Harper is, hands down, the most anti-democratic leader in postwar Canadian history. In a patently Stalinist move, he gagged the armed forces and the civil service, installing information-control commissars in the PMO to vet what public enquiries could be sent to them and to shape their communications back to the public in order to conform to their chosen political narrative. The media objected, briefly, and then turned complacently mute. Harper is still doing it and it hardly gets mentioned.

   We know from DND officials themselves that there’s nothing operationally sensitive in these old detainee documents. Even Harper hasn’t attempted to make out the case for redacting them. His approach is the “because I said so” retort of an ill-tempered parent.

   I am a disaffected, progressive Liberal who has reluctantly sought a place to park my vote while the LPC recalls what it is supposed to be.

2. Vanessa Says:
   May 12th, 2010 at 10:38 am

   Thanks for your comment and Welcome! Hopefully we’ll be able to convince you that we are not merely a parking lot but actually a whole new, and better, way of doing politics.

   Sometimes I despair at trying to keep on top of the assaults being made on our democratic structures and values, and I feel that the direction we are heading is truly frightening.

   I am proud of the work that is being done locally to revive our democratic and participatory sensibilities and I hope that it will be enough to bring about positive change.