Pre-paleolithic Neanderthals

In his Friday speech, Stephen Lewis took aim at the “pre-paleolithic Neanderthals” in office.
By: Tim Harper National Affairs, Published on Sun Nov 23 2014

At the age of 77, Stephen Lewis describes himself as being “happily in his dotage,” a man free to bare his soul and dispense with diplomatic niceties. He did just that in Charlottetown last Friday. The one-time lion of the left unleashed a withering roar over eight years of Stephen Harper government.

Lewis focused on five fronts of perhaps irreversible decline in this country. The former Ontario NDP leader, United Nations ambassador and lifelong human rights advocate took aim at the “pre-paleolithic Neanderthals” in office and their role in the decline of Parliament, the suppression of dissent, the plight of First Nations, their blinkered climate-change policy and our plummeting world status.

When he surveys the political scene today, he says he runs the emotional gamut from “rage to rage.” But he is not alone. He joins a line of political elders who are taking increasingly harsh stock of this government’s performance.

Former Progressive Conservative prime minister Joe Clark has spoken out about foreign policy, former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin has been an outspoken critic of aboriginal policy and former ministers in the Brian Mulroney government emerged to condemn the watering down of environmental regulations.

Lewis told the Symons Lecture on the future of confederation:
• Canada’s world standing is in free fall.
• The Harper government’s contempt for Parliament and its traditions has degraded political life and fostered voter cynicism.
• Its attitude to aboriginals is not paternalistic, it is racist.
• Harper’s refusal to join the rest of the world and move toward renewable energy sources is endangering future generations and contributing to a looming planetary meltdown.
• Civil society and the ideas it fosters have been slapped down and censored, subverting democratic norms.

“There is a radical ideological agenda gripping this country,” Lewis said, “but it’s not the environmentalists or the other targeted groups committed to the quest for social justice; it’s the political leadership.”

We are channelling the years of Richard Nixon’s enemies list, Lewis says, adding the former U.S. president was driven by paranoia, Harper is driven by malevolence.

Lewis compared the atmosphere in Ottawa to that of the Ontario legislature where he served for 15 years, the William Davis years.

There was a respect in that chamber, he said, and that was respect was fostered by the premier.
“Vitriolic nastiness in debate does not breed respect,” he said, “nor does adolescent partisanship, nor do pieces of legislation of encyclopedic length that hide contentious issues, nor does the sudden emergence of frenzied TV attack ads, nor does the spectre of a Prime Minister’s Office exercising authoritarian control.”

The government’s refusal to hold an inquiry on missing and murdered aboriginal women, its refusal to compromise with aboriginal leadership on the funding gap on First Nations education and its environmental standing that has sunk so low that we are seen as an impediment to a climate change accord in Paris next year, are all being watched around the world, said Lewis.

“It is as though Canada had decided, like some mindless national curmudgeon, to be a permanent outlier on issues of minority rights and women’s rights,” Lewis said.

“It does us damage. It does us shame.”

Of the “redundant” tarsands, Lewis says he is “hyperventilating for the day, when some Canadian politician has the courage to say: Leave it in the ground.”

Is this merely an overheated attack on a government that shares none of Lewis’s principles? An angry journey into nostalgia?

“Somewhere in my soul,” Lewis says, “I cherish the possibility of a return to a vibrant democracy, where equality is the watchword, where people of different ideological conviction have respect for each other, where policy is debated rather than demeaned, where the great issues of the day are given thoughtful consideration, where Canada’s place on the world stage is seen as principled and laudatory, where human rights for all is the emblem of a decent civilized society.”

He will be ignored by those in office. But his words should be studied by any who seek to govern going forward.

Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper@thestar.ca Twitter:@nutgraf1

The Three Amigos

 

Let’s cut through the crap !

 

As a Canadian Citizen it is not just your right to vote, it is your responsibility to cut through the crap and ask yourself and your candidates the really tough questions. A lazy voter will always get the government they deserve. An informed voter who does their homework will get the government they want.

 

Things you should be asking yourself during this 2015 Federal election campaign include: 

1 – Who has the nicest hair?

2 – Which party indulges the most in cyber bullying? (Attack ads)

3 – Which party has delivered a consistent positive message?

4 – Which party has fed at the trough the most?

5 – Which party is most represented in the senate spending scandal?

6 – Which party do you think will get the most support from seniors?

7 – Which party do you think will get the most support from the military?

8 – Which party do you think will have the most civil service support?

9 – Which party is more interested in Canadians than themselves?

10 – Which leader leads their party, which one demands that the party do as it is told?

11 – Which leader is the most passionate about what they are saying?

12 - Which party has spoken out the most about environmental protection?

 

And last but not least, which party is playing on your fears so you will choose them over the other candidate parties?

 

Elections should not be won based on:

1  - Fear mongering.

2 - Because your party has more money to spend on campaigns than the other guy.

3 - Because you think someone has nice hair.

Elections should be won based on:

1 - Your commitment to the environment (we need to breath)

2 - Your commitment to a strong economy (have a plan, and state it in public, let us decide its merit)

3 - Your parties and members adherence to the law (all law, not just those which suit your purpose)

4 - Your commitment to the people, not the party, or worse, yourself and your ego.

5 - Your protection of those in the vulnerable sectors
6 - Your commitment to those you send into battle

 

Remember, numbers don't lie, but liars use numbers. And one last thing, opinion polls are just that, opinions. Don't let someone else sell you their opinion, make up your own mind.

2015 Canadian Federal election

 

 

"Rough Rider"

 

Now, about that Canadian Election

lol

 



Never enough

 

Heaven Needed a Hero like You

We can never say thank you enough to those who choose to
put themselves in harms way to protect us.

We can never say sorry enough to the families of those
who gave their all to perform their duty. 

We can never stop helping those left behind,
for when we do, we fail them all.

R.I.P.
Lyrics by: Jo Dee Messina