The CBC has released a video of Harper’s speech that was closed to the media in Sault Ste Marie last week and the blue sweater is clearly off. In the video , Harper says, “We need to win a majority in the next election campaign…we have to teach them [the opposition--ed] a lesson.”

There’s no doubt in my mind what that lesson will involve. A Conservative majority will allow Stephen Harper to begin an unhindered assault on our democracy and the institutions that enable Canadians–condescendingly referred to by Harper as “left-wing fringe groups”–to fight for their rights and freedoms. Most of all, there won’t be any obstacles left in Harper’s path to systematically destroy the ability of the opposition parties to finance and wage election campaigns.

In his speech Harper said a coalition, “…will do long term real damage to this country.” If ever there was a classic case of projection this is undoubtedly it. A Conservative majority will do long term real damage to this country’s democracy.

Barring a reversion to form by the Liberals or a sudden willingness by Harper to make a deal it looks like we’re going to be heading to the polls in the very near future. The NDP most likely has their campaign already hashed out, but on the off chance that they don’t or at least have room for a few more items I’d like to propose that these should be given space on the campaign trail.

Ending Corporal Punishment Against Children
I’ve already noted that Canada is lagging behind in abolishing corporal punishment against children by their parents. 24 other nations have already fully abolished the archaic practice of allowing parents to legally commit acts of violence against their children and Canada should too.

Proportional Representation
While it’s undoubtedly true that there doesn’t exist the appetite for this type of change yet, PR is one of the few issues that can be considered red meat for the NDP base. Given the recent polling numbers, the NDP base could sorely use some red meat. Besides, there are more than a few unaligned progressive votes that could be picked up by making this an issue in the upcoming election.

Government Run Supplemental Health Insurance
With corporations tightening their belts and union membership on the decline, fewer and fewer Canadians have or can afford supplemental health insurance that covers items such as dental and vision care or prescription drugs. The NDP should propose implementing a government run insurance program that covers these medical expenses and allows employers and individuals to opt in for a fee. It’s been repeatedly proven that publicly administered healthcare has lower administration fees so a government administered plan would allow employers that still offer supplemental health insurance as a benefit to reduce costs. It would also allow individuals not covered by their employer to purchase this coverage at an affordable price giving them more choice in their healthcare coverage. As well, it would introduce more competition into the private health insurance market where healthcare costs are rising the fastest.

Apparently Ignatieff would be crazy to force a non-confidence motion now that the Harper Conservatives are outpolling his Liberals. Good point. Who in their right mind would ever do something like that.

SES Poll: November 16, 2005
Liberals: 34%
Conservatives: 28%

Non confidence motion introduced by a crazy man on November 24, 2005.

Opposition parties have formally unveiled a no-confidence motion to topple the Liberal government, making a mid-winter federal election seem inevitable…
It’s to be tabled Thursday by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper…
That would mean Prime Minister Paul Martin’s minority Liberal government would fall, triggering an election call on Nov. 29 and a campaign during the holiday season.

I retroactively feel bad for Harper. The crazy fool was undoubtedly pwned by Paul Martin’s Liberals who were leading in the polls. By the way, I can’t recall how history transpired after that point. Does anyone even know what became of that silly fool Stephen Harper? No doubt he’s gone on to other pursuits after getting soundly thrashed in that election just as the pre-writ polls predicted he would.

Dr. Dawg deftly pulls the plug on David Warren’s latest bilgewater, but he misses what can only be considered a stunning admission.

It is crucially important to fight back: to denounce those who try to silence us;

Considering those who have been “silenced” are almost exclusively neo-Nazi Jew haters, I fail to see how Warren’s reference to “us” is anything but an admission that he too is a neo-Nazi Jew hater or at the very least sympathizes with neo-Nazi Jew haters. Either way, one of the Jewish lobby groups should look into whether or not the Ottawa Citizen is currently employing a Jew hater.

The impending election is being labeled a “Seinfeld election” by the punderatti because there are supposedly no issues upon which it can be fought. I beg to differ. There are plenty of issues for an election but there is one in particular that demands an election.

Harper’s utter contempt for our democracy.

Nine months ago Stephen Harper shut down our democracy–like a third world dictator–in order to save his job. That alone should be grounds for an election but that alone is not the full scope of Harper’s contempt for our democracy.

From his attempts to destroy the ability of opposition parties to function to his dismissal of the majority in Parliament to his subversion of the very democratic process itself, Harper has demonstrated that democracy is nothing more than an obstacle that must be overcome. Even now he considers our House of Commons to be nothing more than a “backroom”.

To say that there are no issues for an election is simply absurd. How can the protection of our democracy not be an issue of the utmost importance.

So apparently I quit blogging the other day. Um…yeah…about that. I probably won’t quit blogging until I’m dead. In fact I may become the first person to ever live blog their death.

…massive chest pains…before paramedics rush me to the hospital…getting hard to breathe…let me tell you about the stupid thing…vision fading…the Harpercons did today.

I’m not going anywhere.

Now let us never speak of this again.

Made man, Conservative MP Rob Anders is lying on your dime.

In an Anders’ communique, one of 10 different versions mailed out, he claims: “It is now illegal to hold opinions that offend radical Muslim activists,” and “under Section 13 of the so-called ‘human rights’ code, Canadians have been prosecuted for holding personal beliefs which offend radical Muslim imams and liberal activists.”

It never ceases to amaze me how many lies conservatives can pack into such a tiny space. The first lie in Anders’ “communique” is that it’s now illegal to hold opinions that offend radical Muslim activists. Wow! That sounds pretty scary when you think about it. The problem though, is that it’s not illegal to hold opinions that offend radical Muslim activists. In fact, it’s not illegal to hold opinions that offend anybody. This is such a whopper that it not only stretches credulity, it muscles credulity out into the back alley and puts a bullet in the back of its skull, mafioso style.

The second lie Anders is telling his constituents is that Canadians are prosecuted by Human Rights Commissions and Tribunals. HRCs and their Tribunals don’t prosecute people, they adjudicate complaints between two parties that are in dispute in much the same way that a libel court does. Anders is simply attempting to rewrite reality in the same way that all free screechers do.

The third lie in Anders’ deceitful missive is the claim that, “Canadians have been prosecuted for holding personal beliefs which offend radical Muslim imams and liberal activists.” This is flat out false. There have only been a few complaints filed against Canadians that address grievances my a member or members of the Muslim community. None of them have made it to the tribunal stage where they might be “prosecuted” and if memory serves me correctly, at this time all but one has been dismissed. How a dismissed complaint equals “prosecution” in any sense of the word is a mystery, but it’s a lie told repeatedly by free screechers.

What is the most disturbing about Anders’ taxpayer funded propaganda however, is the sneering he directs at “the so-called ‘human rights’ code”. Socalled ‘human rights’ codes are the result of a mature democracy that enshrines protection for its citizens from the tyranny of the majority. For Anders to sneer at our human rights code in such a manner and attempt to cast it as the boogeyman displays contempt for the very social fabric of our society. Of course this attitude from conservatives is not new; many free screechers harbour a deep hatred of Canada’s rights and freedoms. But to see such naked contempt for the rights of Canadians displayed by a Member of Parliament and at their expense speaks volumes.

Email Rob Anders (Anders.R@parl.gc.ca) and let him know you disapprove of paying for his lies to the public and that your human rights are neither “socalled” nor scary.