Why The Rush? Is Conservative Panic Driving So-Called "Scandals"?

For awhile I thought that it was Andrew Scheer... That he had convinced himself that if only he could lie loud enough and hard enough and often enough, he might topple the government and the CPC would let him stay and he could be PM... 

But then other pieces began to come together. Why do you suppose the CPC is engaged in a say-anything, do-anything hell-bent panic-stricken drive to get the Liberals out? Power, certainly. But they had power before... 

They didn't do nearly half of what they wanted to, and much of what they did has been reversed. Quite a bit of legislation has been overturned in constitutional challenges. 

A scorecard of the Harper government's wins and losses at the Supreme Court of CanadaIn one of starkest examples in Canadian history of two branches of government openly turning against one another, the red robed members Supreme Court of Canada have spent months systematically shooti…https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/scoc-harper-gov-scorecard-741324

Harper exhibited "charter activism", in opposition to Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It can be justifiably stated that Harper hates the Charter. He hates it for a number of reasons, not the least is that it was created by a Trudeau. 

Harper's Charter Activism - Policy OptionsWhen it came to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Stephen Harper was often anything but an incrementalisthttps://policyoptions.irpp.org/2016/03/13/harpers-charter-activism/

He was so peeved by what he called "activist judges", one of many nods to American right wing jingoism, that he attempted to vilify the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. 
cbc.ca/news/politics/…

Now, why, you might ask, do I keep bringing up Stephen Harper? He was voted out as PM in 2015. He resigned his seat rather than sit in opposition to another Trudeau. It's because the CPC is still Stephen Harper's party. 

Jason Kenney and Scott Moe both have Harper on their provincial payrolls, directing their governments. And you can bet Scheer and whomever takes his place will have Harper on speed-dial looking for direction, advice, orders... 

Varcoe: Former PM Stephen Harper on Alberta's new economic recovery councilA 12-member panel, led by economist Jack Mintz, will be advising Premier Jason Kenney on issues surrounding the province's economic recoveryhttps://calgaryherald.com/business/varcoe-former-pm-stephen-harper-on-albertas-new-economic-recovery-council

cbc.ca/news/canada/sa…

Harper is still running the CPC. He may be relegated to being Oz, the man behind the curtain, but he is not done what he tried to do to Canada.

 He blames Canadian media for his defeat, which is amusing as US companies own almost all Canadian media. 

Former prime minister speaks about the liberal bias in Canadian mediaFormer Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Dennis Prager discussed the extreme media bias in Canada, making it more difficult for conservatives to get a foothold in Canadian politics.https://thepostmillennial.com/former-prime-minister-speaks-about-the-liberal-bias-in-canadian-media

And so, given that Harper is still very much in play, and even if he wasn't, his acolytes still occupy most CPC seats, one might wonder what has precipitated this full-on barrage of made-up scandals directed at the Liberal Party. 

Well, the amending formula for the constitution requires 2/3 of the provinces representing at least 50% of the population, and senate approval, to agree to re-open the constitution, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 
solon.org/Constitutions/….

Right now, the conservatives control Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. And Quebec has shifted right and are amenable. There's there 2/3 of provinces and 50% of the population. 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:…

But Saskatchewan has an election coming up in November 2020. If, on the outside chance, the good folks of Saskatchewan decide they want a change of government, the perfect constellation allowing a re-opening of the constitution is gone. 

It is, I grant you, a slim chance. But the CPC are not about to let this opportunity slip away without a huge ugly fight. 

If they can get all the stars aligned, they can eradicate the Charter and change the constitution, so that none of their legislation can ever be overturned in the courts again. They will have absolute power. 

This is an ambition talked about in conservative circles. They want to offload federal responsibilities onto the provinces, create a "small" federal government, And be free to pass whatever laws they please without interference. 

This is tantamount to completely rewriting what Canada is. People need to understand this. Without our constitution and charter as they stand now, many people will be vulnerable to having their rights stripped away. Universal health care would be in jeopardy. 

It could open the door to two-tiered health care, normalize for-profit education, introduce for-profit prisons, where the prison corporations can sue provinces or the feds if the supply of slave labour is not kept to a certain level. 

Capitalizing on Mass Incarceration: U.S. Growth in Private Prisons | The Sentencing ProjectThe War on Drugs and harsher sentencing policies, including mandatory minimum sentences, fueled a rapid expansion in the nation’s prison... Read More »https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/capitalizing-on-mass-incarceration-u-s-growth-in-private-prisons/

In short, if the CPC get what they want, if they can topple the Liberal government before they lose the necessary number of provinces to open the constitution and gut it, we are looking at becoming a clone of the US. 

Please remember that Harper hates Canada and everything we stand for. 

Text of Harper's speechhttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/text-of-harpers-speech/article1131985/

He would dearly love to see us Americanized, as would his proteges in the CPC. And the UCP (Kenney, looking straight at YOU). 

Fortunately, I believe Canadians have a lot more sense than to vote for the CPC. We should be seeing now, from what is going on in Alberta and Ontario, and Manitoba, and the rest of the conservative led provinces, that they are not acting in our best interests. 

The public good is not a concept they extol. They are in it for themselves and the corporations who reward them. How do you suppose CPC MPs got so rich under Harper? Not from their salaries as MPs, that's for darned sure. 

The whole lot of them need to be audited, and then tossed to the curb. They are not here for us. This is not your grandparents' conservative party. This is an offshoot of the US Republican Party. Do not be confused. 

They want to remake Canada and not for the better. This is why they are so desperate to get into power before provincial governments change hands. 

The Public Good

I am regularly accused of being "partisan" - along with a lot of other things that, I suppose, are meant to hurt or offend me. I would like to explain a few things.

Political parties are made up of human beings. Generally, at any given time, one party forms government.

Since parties, and therefore governments, are comprised of human beings, and human beings are fallible, no government is perfect. Someone will always find fault with something.

Governing is hard. There are a lot of moving pieces and even the best-intentioned government can make mistakes, miss doing something someone needed, have to backtrack and tweak programs to make them better. 

This is especially true when a government is having to govern on the fly, under extreme/rapidly changing conditions, like during a pandemic. The CERB came out fast, but then it became clear that this group & that were left out & programs are being developed to address these. 

Some things may be handled well, and others may need significant adjustments. But everything the Liberals have done during this crisis is intended for the public good. To keep Canadians from going hungry, being homeless, getting sick.

If I support and defend them, it is not because they are "Liberals". It is because they are working for the public good. That's what I look for in a party. I want a government in Canada that cares about Canadians and, despite being flawed humans, actually tries to do the right thing. 

I expect any Canadian government to work in the best interests of Canadians. I cannot support any party that seems to actively try to harm some Canadians. Of course, by this, I am referring to Conservative parties post 2003. 

The Harper government did not just pad the pockets of billionaires & self-aggrandize and follow a very exclusive doctrine. They actively engaged in activities that hurt Canadians & others. They cut environmental regulations, bullied charities that were doing important work... 

Cut Veterans' Affairs offices and staff, closed Coast Guard facilities, shut down Status of Women offices, destroyed science libraries, cut funding for health and education, demonized people (the niqab ban/barbaric cultural practices tipline), obstructed harm reduction measures (Insite), ignored Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, tried to bypass the duty to consult to push pipelines through Indigenous lands, stopped refugees from coming to Canada... 

Cut regulations that allowed events such as the Walkerton e-coli outbreak in 2010, the listeriosis outbreak in 2008, the Lac Megantic explosion in 2013... Sent Canadian men and women to war for American interests...

Refused to allow any Canadian aid going to the developing world to address family planning needs, bought billboards in Hungary telling Roma people they are not welcome in Canada... 

Cut the court challenges program which ensured that groups could raise challenges to infringements of human rights in Canada, raised the age of eligibility for Old Age Security to 67, made it harder to be eligible for EI...

Brought in mandatory minimum sentences (many of which have been deemed unconstitutional), carried out trade negotiations in secret, introduced boutique tax credits that do nothing for those with not enough earnings to pay tax... 

The list goes on. All behaviours of a party that does not have the public good at heart. And fast forward to the present, we can see exactly the same behaviours in provincial conservative parties. 

Kenney and Ford have cut funding and programs for the most vulnerable, while giving big corporations huge tax breaks. They are trying to dismantle public health care and public education. 

In Alberta, one of the first things the UCP did after the election was remove protections from LGBTQ2+ youth. And they celebrated by dancing in the fountain in front of the Legislature. 

Here, in these conservative parties, I see not only imperfect people who might sometimes make mistakes. I actually see animosity towards the public. Callousness and disregard for the public good. We live in a SOCIETY, not an ECONOMY. 

The goal of government should be a healthy, well-educated, and reasonably comfortable population. Economic ratings are secondary to the quality of life enjoyed by the population. 

The conservative parties, federal and provincial, seem to have completely lost sight of this. They are willing to cheat, to lie to the public, to make things up or spin them, in order to gain power. 

And once they gain power, they are happy to view the public as a means to an end. We are just "human capital" to them. Cogs in the capitalist machine that pours wealth into a few special pockets. 

The NDP used to be the conscience of Parliament. I don't really know what they are now. Messaging is garbled. Sometimes they are highly principled, like Matthew Green, MP for Hamilton. Sometimes they side with the CPC in fomenting unrest based on conjecture, spin, rumour... 

The PM bought a swingset and gifted it to one of Canada's official residences. The CPC and NDP and our news media crucified the Prime Minister about this for weeks. That does not suggest a party with anything but power on its mind. 

So, the Liberals are not perfect, nor are they my natural choice. I expect they will make mistakes. They are only human, like the rest of us. But of all the parties right now, they seem the one most able and inclined to work for the good of Canada and Canadians. 

And so, you can call me names and suggest I am "stuuupid" and talk about koolaid all you want. I want a Canada that is good for all of us. Even you who troll my posts and spew insults.