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For awhile I thought that it was Andrew Scheer... That he had convinced himself that if only he could lie loud enough and hard enough and often enough, he might topple the government and the CPC would let him stay and he could be PM... 1/25
But then other pieces began to come together. Why do you suppose the CPC is engaged in a say-anything, do-anything hell-bent panic-stricken drive to get the Liberals out? Power, certainly. But they had power before... 2/25
They didn't do nearly half of what they wanted to, and much of what they did has been reversed. Quite a bit of legislation has been overturned in constitutional challenges. 3/25 https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/scoc-harper-gov-scorecard-741324
Harper exhibited "charter activism", in opposition to Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It can be justifiably stated that Harper hates the Charter. He hates it for a number of reasons, not the least is that it was created by a Trudeau. 4/25 https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2016/03/13/harpers-charter-activism/
He was so peeved by what he called "activist judges", one of many nods to American right wing jingoism, that he attempted to vilify the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. 5/25 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/beverley-mclachlin-chief-justice-deserves-apology-from-pm-international-jurists-say-1.2718342
Now, why, you might ask, do I keep bringing up Stephen Harper? He was voted out as PM in 2015. He resigned his seat rather than sit in opposition to another Trudeau. It's because the CPC is still Stephen Harper's party. 6/25
Jason Kenney and Scott Moe both have Harper on their provincial payrolls, directing their governments. And you can bet Scheer and whomever takes his place will have Harper on speed-dial looking for direction, advice, orders... 7/25 https://calgaryherald.com/business/varcoe-former-pm-stephen-harper-on-albertas-new-economic-recovery-council
Harper is still running the CPC. He may be relegated to being Oz, the man behind the curtain, but he is not done what he tried to do to Canada. He blames Canadian media for his defeat, which is amusing as US companies own almost all Canadian media. 9/25 https://thepostmillennial.com/former-prime-minister-speaks-about-the-liberal-bias-in-canadian-media
And so, given that Harper is still very much in play, and even if he wasn't, his acolytes still occupy most CPC seats, one might wonder what has precipitated this full-on barrage of made-up scandals directed at the Liberal Party. 10/25
Well, the amending formula for the constitution requires 2/3 of the provinces representing at least 50% of the population, and senate approval, to agree to re-open the constitution, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 11/25
https://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/Committees/Meech_Lake_1987/mlr-ch13.html#:~:text=First%2C%20section%2038%20of%20the,the%20population%20of%20all%20provinces.
https://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/Committees/Meech_Lake_1987/mlr-ch13.html#:~:text=First%2C%20section%2038%20of%20the,the%20population%20of%20all%20provinces.
Right now, the conservatives control Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. And Quebec has shifted right and are amenable. There's there 2/3 of provinces and 50% of the population. 12/25
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Current_provincial_governments_in_Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Current_provincial_governments_in_Canada
But Saskatchewan has an election coming up in November 2020. If, on the outside chance, the good folks of Saskatchewan decide they want a change of government, the perfect constellation allowing a re-opening of the constitution is gone. 13/25
It is, I grant you, a slim chance. But the CPC are not about to let this opportunity slip away without a huge ugly fight. 14/25
If they can get all the stars aligned, they can eradicate the Charter and change the constitution, so that none of their legislation can ever be overturned in the courts again. They will have absolute power. 15/25
This is an ambition talked about in conservative circles. They want to offload federal responsibilities onto the provinces, create a "small" federal government, And be free to pass whatever laws they please without interference. 16/25
This is tantamount to completely rewriting what Canada is. People need to understand this. Without our constitution and charter as they stand now, many people will be vulnerable to having their rights stripped away. Universal health care would be in jeopardy. 17/25
It could open the door to two-tiered health care, normalize for-profit education, introduce for-profit prisons, where the prison corporations can sue provinces or the feds if the supply of slave labour is not kept to a certain level. 18/25 https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/capitalizing-on-mass-incarceration-u-s-growth-in-private-prisons/
In short, if the CPC get what they want, if they can topple the Liberal government before they lose the necessary number of provinces to open the constitution and gut it, we are looking at becoming a clone of the US. 19/25
Please remember that Harper hates Canada and everything we stand for. 20/25 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/text-of-harpers-speech/article1131985/
He would dearly love to see us Americanized, as would his proteges in the CPC. And the UCP (Kenney, looking straight at YOU). 21/25
Fortunately, I believe Canadians have a lot more sense than to vote for the CPC. We should be seeing now, from what is going on in Alberta and Ontario, and Manitoba, and the rest of the conservative led provinces, that they are not acting in our best interests. 22/25
The public good is not a concept they extol. They are in it for themselves and the corporations who reward them. How do you suppose CPC MPs got so rich under Harper? Not from their salaries as MPs, that's for darned sure. 23/25
The whole lot of them need to be audited, and then tossed to the curb. They are not here for us. This is not your grandparents' conservative party. This is an offshoot of the US Republican Party. Do not be confused. 24/25
They want to remake Canada and not for the better. This is why they are so desperate to get into power before provincial parties change hands. 25/25
