Stephen Harper not acting much like a prime minister

Stephen Harper not acting much like a prime minister

Postby Oscar » Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:35 pm

Stephen Harper not acting much like a prime minister

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoe ... fb0c88de0e

The StarPhoenix Published: Monday, June 30, 2008

Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made some very disturbing statements to a Saskatoon audience.

Responding to a court judgment that ruled that his government had not only broken the Canadian Wheat Board Act, but had contravened the constitutionally protected rights of its directors by issuing a gag order, Harper claimed that farmers had clearly voted for "choice" in the plebiscite arranged by former agriculture minister Chuck Strahl last year. That plebiscite didn't consult with all farmers, as the act dictates, but with representatives of the major grain corporations who are allied with the Alberta Barley and the Western Wheat Growers. These organizations represent fewer than 1,000 of the 60,000 farmers affected.

Parliamentarians made it clear that the government was breaking the act, but Harper disdains advice. The plebiscite broke every democratic law of fairness. Gag orders, stripped voting lists, multiple ballots issued to "farm units," numbered ballots, voting lists kept secret from opponents, refusal of scrutineers and adding a third impossible option.

When a federal judge in Calgary ruled in July that the government's action over the marketing of barley was illegal, Harper said he would succeed in the illegal action, "One way or another." His response to the second ruling of illegality last week was a general threat that "anyone who stands in our way will find that we will walk over you."
Given his arrogance and contempt for Parliament, what part of "illegal" does Harper not understand? Whom will he "walk over" -- justices, opposing farmers or both?

He appears to be more like Robert Mugabe or George W. Bush than a prime minister of Canada. This nation is not yet a dictatorship, though Harper is behaving more and more as if he considers himself that dictator.

Phil Bladen,
Preeceville
Oscar
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