ABOUT THAT CATASTROPHE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS... Media reports last week revealed serious structural defects in the ornate stonework and stained glass windows that crown the House of Commons chamber like a cathedral dome. There was a real possibility of falling bricks and debris. One headline proclaimed that Parliament was at risk of catastrophic damage. Repair crews were called in immediately. Yes, this historic chamber of Canadian democracy must be kept in sound physical condition. But the real catastrophe for Parliament is more likely in the behaviour of the Harper government than in the building they occupy. Another example of political degradation emerged just a few days ago when a leaked document exposed Mr. Harpers plan to amend the Copyright Act to allow political parties to swipe video clips out of television news programs - without permission and without remuneration - to be used in partisan attack advertising. We all have complaints from time to time about how we get treated in particular news stories, but by and large legitimate journalists work hard to make their newscasts professional and accurate. They try to present relevant, useful information in context and in a complete, fair and balanced way. None of these virtues apply to the vicious Conservative attack ads that have so soiled Canadian politics in recent years. Mr. Harpers new rules would legalize what amounts to expropriation without compensation. The purloined material could be edited, twisted and distorted out of all proportion, without any possibility of complaint or remedy, and the broadcaster from whom it was stolen would be forced to run the dishonest advertising made from it. This is a direct assault on the integrity of journalists and freedom of the press. It blurs the line between news and propaganda. In the eyes of most Canadians, there is an important difference. When asked whom they trust most in public life, Canadians typically identify people like veteran television news anchor Lloyd Robertson. When asked whom they trust least, a large percentage say Stephen Harper. Mr. Harpers problem is hyper-partisanship. To him, political advantage supersedes every other principle by which public life might be conducted. That was the instinct behind his recent amendments to the Canada Elections Act which he forced through Parliament, making it harder for certain groups of Canadians to vote and easier for electoral fraud to go undetected. It was partisan advantage that drove the Conservative In-and-Out election financing scam. It took four years of investigating by Elections Canada and a police raid on Conservative Party headquarters, but in the end charges were laid, the Conservative Party had to plead guilty, was convicted, and the Court imposed the biggest possible penalty the law allows. It was the same corrosive mentality that led to the deceitful robo-call fiasco in Guelph where a Conservative operative was convicted of electoral fraud. The Federal Court of Canada has, in fact, expressly found that voter suppression and electoral fraud occurred in a number of ridings in the last federal election and, according to the Court, the most likely source of the information used to commit that fraud was the Conservative Partys database. And thats not all. Blatant violations of election rules forced Mr. Harpers hand-picked Minister from Labrador to resign. On another front, his former Parliamentary Secretary is now on trial in Peterborough on other election financing charges. Then there was Mr. Harpers attempt to use robo-calls to twist the work of an independent Electoral Boundaries Commission in Saskatchewan. And dont forget the Mike Duffy/PMO ethics scandal about a secret $90,000 cheque and interference in a Senate audit. That trial starts next spring. These are the kinds of truly debilitating things that make for real catastrophes in Parliament.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:57:10 +0000
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