Paul S. Graham

When Bob Rae was in Winnipeg yesterday he mused that Harper’s suspension of Parliament, while undemocratic, gave the Coalition a chance to talk with Canadians, listen to Canadians and to “get it right.”

I agree. Nowhere is this more important than on the question of Afghanistan. The Liberals got us into Afghanistan. The Liberals voted with the Tories (against the NDP and BQ) to keep us in Afghanistan. And the agreement signed by the Liberals and the NDP leaves this situation unaddressed.

If the Coalition for Change is truly interested in the views of Canadians, it needs to remember that a majority of Canadians opposes Canada’s military involvement in that war. We need to remind them of that.

Should the war in Afghanistan be a deal breaker for NDP participation in the Coalition? Evidently not, as far as the NDP leadership is concerned. For Paul Kellogg, writing in rabble.ca, it should be. According to Kellogg:

An anti-war party cannot stay anti-war and enter a cabinet with a pro-war party. Layton and the NDP leadership have to face up to the fact, that were the coalition to take office, the war in Afghanistan would become their war, and the deaths and injuries suffered in that conflict would be their responsibility.

I’m sympathetic to Kellogg’s point of view, but I’m not totally convinced. This coalition business might provide an opportunity to talk to Liberals about the evils of imperialism and the Liberal’s sad record of supporting it.

I suggest that Coalition supporters who oppose the war insist that their respective parties address it. Surely there are at least a few Liberals who oppose this war.

So, Antiwar Liberals, wherever you are, as long as you are in bed with the NDP, why not raise some hell about this war? How many more Canadian soldiers have to die helping the Americans rule the world? How many more Afghans do we have to kill before you awaken to complicity of your party?

Bob Rae rallied Coalition support at a packed Crescentwood Community Centre in Winnipeg, Dec. 6. Photo: Paul Graham

If there are divisions in Liberal ranks over the Liberal-NDP Coalition, they were not evident today at a meeting addressed by Bob Rae. The mostly Liberal gathering listened closely and applauded enthusiastically as Rae explained the historic agreement between the Liberals and the NDP to bring Harper down.

After speaking for about 20 minutes, Rae answered questions for another hour. At the end of the meeting, he was joined by Winnipeg North MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis, who was welcomed warmly by the crowd.

Here is an audio clip of Bob Rae’s speech in Winnipeg.

And here are excerpts from his remarks.

We have to have the courage of our convictions, my friends. We cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated by these slogans and these epithets and this irresponsibility of our Prime Minister. We will stand our ground.

I regret that the fact of the Governor General giving the extra seven weeks to Mr. Harper . . . but we respect the decisions that were made and all I can tell you is that it just gives us more time to get it right. It gives us more time to sit down and talk to Canadians and explain to Canadians about why this common approach works best – why it makes more sense that one-man government.

Mr. Harper has succeeded in delaying the end of his government, but he has not succeeded in achieving what he thinks he can achieve. He has no more confidence and trust today than he had last week. And believe me, he will have no more on January 26 or Jan. 27 than he has today.

Do you want to live in a country where the Prime Minister basically says that people who don’t agree with him or who try to do things differently are traitors? Are unfaithful to their country? Or lack patriotism? And I’m telling you – there is only one way to stop that. There’s only one way to stop it.

You cannot appease this man. He cannot be appeased. There is no point pretending that we can. It is essential for all of us understand.

Mr. Harper, we are serious. We are serious with what we did. We are serious with where we need to go. And we are determined to get there. And we are going to get there together. We’re going to get there in a positive, creative way, We’re going to get there in a way that responds to the needs of Canadians. We’re going to present them with a government that is disciplined, that is focused, that is united and that understands what has to be done.

We cannot afford division. We cannot afford to be disunited. We have to stay together, stay disciplined and stay focused. And stay respectful of one another. And even respectful of those people who say “I don’t think this is the right thing to do.” . . . You say, “Fine. Let’s have that discussion.”

What I know in my bones is that if we give Mr. Harper a vote of confidence at the end of January we will live to regret it for the rest of our lives. The democratic rights that he wanted to take away with that economic statement – they are the steps that he wanted to take. Those steps are not gone. Those steps are simply sleeping. There is nothing in what he has said since then that leads me to believe that he is sorry, has changed his mind, or is prepared to mend his ways. And everyone here knows that those are the steps that are crucial before you can say you are on the road to recovery. This guy ain’t on the road to recovery; he’s on the road to ruin. And I don’t think we should be following him down that road.

http://video.google.ca/googleplayer.swf?docid=-8983474497946059326&hl=en&fs=true

No, he still hasn’t met them, but it’s not for want of trying by the Majority Agenda Coalition, which on Nov. 15 demonstrated outside of the Conservative Party of Canada Convention in Winnipeg.

The coalition drew eloquent and boisterous attention to the vast range of issues deemed important by Canadians across the country. If you missed it, set aside an hour, get a bucket of popcorn and enjoy the video.

More importantly, circulate the video link widely.

You can email the Majority Agenda Coalition at block.harper.winnipeg@gmail.com.

Warrant Officer Robert John Wilson, Pte. Demetrios Diplaros, Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren, all from 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, were killed by an IED on Dec. 5, 2008. Photo: National Post

Every time we lose another soldier, it feels like I’ve lost my son one more time . . . I really feel we shouldn’t be there to begin with, so if there’s a hundred or two or three its all the same to me – they shouldn’t be there. . . . I don’t see the reason we should be losing all our young soldiers to a war. I think they should be doing peace keeping and helping more people. What’s the point of having them killed in a foreign country — for what reason – we’re not even sure what we’re doing there.
– Claire Léger, mother of Sgt. Marc Léger, one of the first Canadians to die in Afghanistan, interviewed on Global TV News, Dec. 5, 2008

These are very special people who have put their lives on the line in the service of their fellow human beings and in their devotion to our country. It is because of them now and throughout our history that we are able to celebrate our Christmas in such peace and prosperity,” Harper said. “It is because of them that we have this wonderful country. It is their gift to us.
– Prime Minister Stephen Harper, at CFB Petawawa for a previously scheduled event to launch a “Trees for the Troops” Christmas campaign, National Post, Dec. 5, 2008

I guess Madame Léger has her answer; her son and 99 other Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan so that we could celebrate Christmas in peace and prosperity.

Bah, humbug!

Winnipeggers opposed The Rogue, Dec. 4, 2008, at a spirited rally at the Marlborough Hotel. Photo: Boris Minkevich, Winnipeg Free Press

Media reports put attendance at the Winnipeg rally at about 500. I was there; it seemed larger. It was (as were all of the rallies across the country yesterday, I imagine)  part public relations exercise and part group therapy. We publicly demonstrated our support for a coalition government to replace Harper and we got a chance to vent our collective outrage at Harper’s antics.

This is all well and good. But it left me wondering, where do we go from here? Will the leadership of this movement continue to mobilize and if so, to what end?

I’m beginning to think that the Parliamentary battle to replace Harper was lost as soon as Michaelle Jean gave Harper permission to suspend Parliament. When he comes back at the end of January, having held power for three months, the option of a transition to coalition government may be theoretically possible. However, I think Jean will play safe, and if the government falls at the end of January, she will dissolve Parliament and we will be into an election.

Which brings we back to my earlier question: to what end should this coalition be mobilizing? An election favours Harper, not so much because he is popular with Canadians, but rather because the anti-right wing forces in Canada are fragmented and our electoral system allows MPs to win their seats with the smallest of pluralities.

None of Canada’s Opposition parties, by themselves, can take enough seats to win even a minority government. If the Coalition is serious about replacing Harper it has to be prepared to contest the next election as a Coalition.

This would involve, among other things, an agreement between the Liberals, NDP and Bloc to support each other’s currently elected MPs in this election.

Scary stuff, yes. But absolutely necessary if we are to rid the country of Harper and the dangerous brand of politics he represents.

Below is the latest Winnipeg Free Press Readers’ Poll. It’s a snapshot taken at 9:30 Central Time today.

Should Parliament have been suspended?

Yes 42%
No 57%

Total Votes: 1841

The Harper Dictatorship

The Tory Thug gets to duck and cover for now. Stephen Harper has succeeded in his bid to undermine Parliamentary democracy. He has shown a profound contempt for democracy. Shame!

According to this morning’s Winnipeg Free Press Readers’ Poll, 67 per cent disagree with the Prime Minister’s assertion that Canada’s Opposition coalition is a “threat to democracy.” While this is not a scientific, randomized poll and could be manipulated by trolls across the land, it’s kinda reassuring.

We Winnipeggers know our threats to democracy, Mr. Harper. This is something you should remember if you want to continue in your chosen field.

Do you agree with Prime Minister Harper when he says the Opposition coalition is a threat to democracy?

Yes 32%
No 67%

Total Votes: 2178

Time: 8:24 AM, Central Time

Stephen Harper is amazing. Even when there is irrefutable evidence to the contrary, he is willing to lie on national TV about his unwillingness to share power with the Bloc Quebecois.

This is what Harper said last night in his broadcast to the nation:

Let me be very clear: Canada’s government cannot enter into a power-sharing coalition with a separatist party.

My how things change. This is an excerpt of a letter to then Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson signed by Stephen Harper, Jack Layton (NDP) and Gilles Duceppe (BQ) in September 2004:

As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the prime minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government’s program. We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for a dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority. Your attention to this matter is appreciated.

Maybe this is something he learned from Stockwell Day, who was evidently up to the same thing in 2000, according to an article in The Globe and Mail.

Can someone tell me if Harper wants to prorogue the current session of Parliament becasue he is, basically, pro rogue? (Sorry . . .)

In case you missed it, here are links to the texts of the speeches given by Harper, Dion and Layton last night.

Go, Coalition, go!!

Bloc part of secret coalition plot in 2000 with Canadian Alliance

A document obtained by The Globe and Mail shows that the scheme would have propelled then Alliance leader Stockwell Day to power in the coalition. Read on . . .