Stephen Harper, Defeated, But Not Gone

Written by Robin Mathews
 

Having led the odious Conservative Party and government to resounding defeat, Stephen Harper has (as might have been predicted) walked away from the mess, leaving it to someone else … anyone else … to clean up, if possible. But (also as might have been predicted) he retains his Calgary seat in the House of Commons – a necessary place to launch a comeback….

If Stephen Harper was aware (even just aware) of the 2006 election in-and-out scandal and attempted robbery of electors’ votes (four faced criminal charges – the Party made a plea-bargain, admitting guilt); if he was aware (even just aware) of the intricate, set-up Robocall Scandal of the 2011 election which brought a criminal conviction to one (only) Conservative worker; and if he was aware (even just aware) of the cheque for $90,172 paid by (bribing?) Nigel Wright to Mike Duffy … then Stephen Harper is a criminal.  I have chosen only three counts upon which he may be a criminal.  Readers will, doubtless, want to supply more (many, many more).

We who think Stephen Harper was aware of – and probably even active in the planning and execution – of the activities mentioned … we believe he is a criminal who has not been fully investigated and charged for his participation in those crimes (and perhaps others not named here).

That being the case, we may all presume Stephen Harper will keep out of sight, will avoid the limelight, will want to “lie low” for a considerable period of time – licking his wounds and waiting for memories to fade. (But he will maintain a seat in the House of Commons for comeback purposes. And doubtless will try to quash any investigations into Conservative government wrongdoing.)

Be Ready To Be Surprised

Or Stephen Harper may disappear, in a short time, into an appointment in the caverns of Barrick Gold to rub shoulders with its black luminaries - like Brian Mulroney, John Manley, John Baird, Andrew Coyne, Peter Munk, Janice Stein and other neo-liberals who participate in one or other in its activities.  Or he may disappear into a neo-liberal Think Tank that pretends to be balanced, fair, and concerned for all Canadians as he, himself, pretended to be through his democracy-wrecking period as prime minister.

Don’t count on it.

Having set up the first anniversary “remembrance” of the deaths of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo (in Ottawa) and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent (in St. Jean sur Richelieu), Stephen Harper likely intended the event as a post-election-win occasion upon which he could make more racist attacks on minorities and push for more powers to add to Bill C51, the legislation many consider repressive, neo-fascist, and a painful attack on human rights in Canada.

None of the Conventional (Harper-supporting) Media mentioned that the Cirillo anniversary event was well-planned in Harperdom to serve Harper’s ideology before election day.  Nor do they point out that about-to-be prime minister Justin Trudeau had almost no choice about being there – to be used for Stephen Harper’s purposes.  Like it or not, the Harper forces used (if they didn’t create) the Cenotaph/Parliament event in order to attempt to validate the growing list of their repressive measures.  The anniversary day was, doubtless, to be used to reinforce those measures.

That first, post-election, public manipulation by Stephen Harper may be harbinger of things to come.  Already offering himself as a shy, smiling, thoughtful, well-wishing, down-to-earth ordinary Canadian, he may be on his way to carefully working to win a new, thunderously approved, over-whelmingly supported run at the (a) leadership of the Conservative Party and (b) the prime ministership of Canada.  His lust for power has not dimmed by a simple defeat at the polls, nor – we may assume – has his desire to erase democracy in Canada and replace it with a neo-liberal, neo-fascist dictatorship.
The Harperites Are Still There

Let dummies take over the Party.  Let dummies mess up in the House of Commons.  All the better. Those who have tasted (illegitimate) power and profit from the Harper years will be ready to throw their support, once again, his way, made confident by his cool certainty. He is not likely to change the makeover he was undertaking to Pierre Trudeau’s motto “reason over passion”. With cold calculation he appeared to be making “treason over passion” his own guiding principle.

All the Canadians who formed or were part of organizations concerned in one way or another with ‘Harper watch’ should remain vigilante.  In fact, they should form quiet groups (lawful of course) to track his every move – and to make his every move public. Stephen Harper cannot claim the privacy of ordinary Canadians.  A major public figure (whose honesty is in serious doubt) he is, in a sense, the possession of the Canadian public which can demand to know where he travels, who he meets, who he works for and with, and who pays him for services rendered (especially outside the country).

Stephen Harper is 56.  He has another fifteen years, at least, to work on the destruction of Canadian democracy.  He has strong and wealthy allies (many outside Canada). With his defeat at the polls on October 19, 2015, Canadians may have witnessed what turns out to be merely the first phase of Stephen Harper’s long-term plan to create a despotism in Canada that can neither be voted away nor overthrown.

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The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open