Harper Begins is Majority Reign June 2, 2011. Canada Made the Wrong Choice.

The election was a month ago, but the Conservative Party of Canada officially begin their majority government tomorrow, when parliament reopens.

There are just too many reasons why voting in the Conservatives once again was the wrong choice, let alone giving them the majority. Here, let's put them is paragraph form.

Transparency Denied.

Under Stephen Harper's rule, the government now has the ability to hand-pick the journalists that they will speak to and just what questions they will be allowed to ask. Harper has also picked a select few party members who are allowed to speak to the media.

The media is no longer allowed to participate in scrums, which are a period after cabinet meetings in which reporters ask cabinet members candid questions. Harper refuses to let any of his MPs speak to the media unless he has okayed their rehearsed speeches.

"The reality is that every new government wants to keep a tight lid on its messages and this one in particular because it had the previous example of Mr. Martin who had so many priorities that they all turned to mush in the minds of the Canadian people," Harper stated back in 2006. So, pretty much, he thinks that the media shouldn't report on what the government is doing because Canadians are too stupid to understand it. Which I would disagree with, had Canadians not been stupid enough to re-elect Harper.

In 2007, the Toronto Star uncovered a $2 000 000 plot of the Conservative Government's to create a government directed media center benignly codenamed the "Shoe Store Project". The project was quickly scrapped as soon as Canadians caught wind of it. Even without the Shoe Store project, the fact that the Conservative Party tightly muzzles the press means that we still have our own MiniTrue, anyway.
Further adding to the list of Harper's Orwellian deeds is him throwing out rally attendees who were believed to be associated with Opposition members. And by associated, I mean that they've been in the same room before.

Senate Reform... JK JK LOL LOL LOL

“As everyone in this room knows, it has become a right of passage for aspiring leaders and prime ministers to promise Senate reform – on their way to the top. The promises are usually made in Western Canada. And these statements of intent are usually warmly received by party activists, editorial writers and ordinary people. But once they are elected, Senate reform quickly falls to the bottom of the Government’s agenda. Nothing ever gets done.  And the status quo goes on.”

Believe it or not, the above quote is by Stephen Harper. From 2006. Harper has been in power for over five years now. And you know that thing called the Senate? It still hasn't reformed.

Harper is doing the exact same thing the Liberals before him did. Stacking the Senate with his partisan devotees to suit his needs, even when it goes against what the majority of Canadians want. What's worse is that he explicitly said that he would not do this. Acting against democracy is one thing. But doing that and lying about it?

People Don't Like How I'm Doing My Job? Okay, Time For a Vacation Then.

Each time Harper has faced severe backlash over his actions in Parliament, he has responded with proroguing parliament.  The first such time was after the vote of non-confidence. The second such time was after Harper faced criticism over the Afghan Detainee issue in which he promised the Afghanistan Government that he'd build them a new prison for the ethical treatment of prisoners... and never did it. 

If people don't like how you're doing things, just don't show up.

Ten Massive Leaps Backward for Climate Change Awareness and Sustainable Development!

 Uma Thurman isn't the only one out to kill bill (well you come up with a better pun, why don't you, Mr. smart-Mouth?) In 2010, the Conservative-stacked Senate killed Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act, which was meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, despite scientific experts saying that the bill was needed to help curb climate change.

Harper has previously stated that he would never let the Senate (which he promised to reform, remember?) go against the wishes of the majority of the elected House of Commons (which more closely represents Canadians than the appointed Senate), and he has done just that.

The Senate waited 193 days for a day when 15 Liberal Senators were absent, called the vote without notice and without debate, and killed the bill with 11 votes. 

We used to be an environmental leader, but we went to the UN negotiations without anything to show.

The Harper Government has not renewed funding for the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science. Rather, it provides subsidies for oil companies, against the advice of Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development and the International Energy Agency.

Harper's Administration has also shown itself to be anti-scientific. Although peer-reviewed scientific research has show dangerous amounts of highly toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Athabasca River Delta due to the activities of upstream bitumen mines and factories. The government, however, has downplayed this as being "natural" and has even claimed that levels are decreasing. That's not what the numbers say. The numbers say that the levels of toxin exceed three times the level that is known for causing liver cancer in fish. Levels are increasing and correlating with the level of annual bitumen production.

It was discovered by Mike De Souza that the government conveniently left out oilsands data from a national inventory on greenhouse gas emissions recently submitted to the United Nations. After being pressed for the information, Environment Canada revealed that the oilsands were responsible for 6.5% of Canada's annual greenhouse gas emissions, up from 5% in 2008. That's more than the greenhouse gas emissions released by all the cars in Canada put together. Statistics point to this number rising to 12% by 2020.

Harper has continually stressed that the oil industry is "clean" and the future of Canada's economy. Scientists tell us that not investing in green energy will prove detrimental to both the environment and the economy.

Okay, I am as tired of typing as you are of reading, but that doesn't mean that I've run out of reasons why Harper should not have been re-elected. Stay tuned for part two tomorrow. Right now I've got to go to bed.

I shouldn't think about the Conservative Party directly before going to bed. I shall surely have nightmares of being taken to Room 101 for dissenting. Ciao.