On April 11, 2012, Andrew Coyne said this in the National Post regarding the F35 Fighter Scandal,
“This isn’t about the planes, in other words, or costs, or accounting. This is about accountability. This is is about whether departments are answerable to their ministers, and whether ministers are answerable to Parliament — or whether billions of public dollars can be appropriated without the informed consent of either Parliament or the public. It is about whether ministers speak for their departments, or can disown them when it suits them. And it is about whether we, as citizens, are prepared to pay attention, and hold people in power to account when they lie to us.
Which is to say, it is about whether we live in a functioning Parliamentary democracy, or want to.”
Chantal Hebert writing for the HillTimes.com made this observation on May 14th 2012,
“Over the opening year of their majority mandate, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have moved to discourage civic dissent – in particular but not exclusively on the environmental front.
They have replaced federal-provincial dialogue with diktats and litigation.
They have placed themselves on a collision course with the courts over the place of the rule of law in the exercise of ministerial discretion.
The concept of ministerial responsibility has been reduced to a quaint historical footnote and parliamentary accountability is on the same slippery slope.
In the House of Commons, the government has moved to stifle the input of its opposition critics at every turn, systematically curtailing debate on bills or more simply subtracting legislation from competent scrutiny by cramming it inside inflated omnibus bills.
It should surprise no one that governments who treat the rule of law as a pesky inconvenience will eventually breed the same attitude in those that they purport to legislate for.
Repeat shows of contempt for Parliamentary institutions by the very people tasked with safeguarding their integrity can hardly breed public respect for those who toil within them or for the product of their legislative labours.
The synchronicity between the ongoing Conservative efforts to emasculate a duly elected federal opposition in the Commons and the unrest against the policies of a duly elected provincial government in the streets of Quebec is accidental.
The two battles are being fought on different fields over different issues. But they are flip sides of the same bad coin: that of a debased democracy.”
I have provided two strong opinions regarding the demise of democracy in Canada. Both journalists are well known and respected in their professions and certainly not linked to any revolutionary or radical critiques. If these two exemplars of the corporate media can see and report the misuse and degradation of parliament, then surely those of us with much more lived experience, who cope daily with the fallout of draconian and undemocratic decisions, must take the opportunity to give voice to our opposition and testify to the wounding of the body politic.
Whoever you are, Where-ever you are, express your condemnation of the government, its policies and its actions. We must be the voice of the “common good.” They are the 1%. We are the 99%.
Do not be afraid to speak, but don’t be surprised if your words are repudiated. There are many who believe that if they can maintain silence they will be over looked by those in power and therefore insulated from the actions of the political elite. This is wrong thinking. Nothing will protect the citizens ofCanadafrom a government that has diverged from the path of democracy and thrown its lot in with those who seek to dominate for the purposes of securing more power and greater wealth.
Our silence will only help their cause. Speak out, write letters to the editor, tell Members of Parliament and cabinet members your views, financially support any group that is willing to keep up the pressure, attend teach-ins and protests. Invite speakers from the non-profit community, environmental groups and individuals who are unwilling to be cowed or bullied by the Harperites. Be creative in your actions and constant in your pressure. Our future depends on you and those who hear and understand your message.
