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Stephen Harper No Longer Prime Minister of Canada

- Adam Clare

Finally Canadians have vote out the Conservative party led by Stephen Harper. Their nine year rule saw Canada lose respect from around the world. Canada has earned a reputation of blocking climate change related international agreements and being a country that is swayed by horrible political manoeuvres. The country transformed from a place that supports collective freedoms to a country that won’t help refugees. The federal government, who passed drastic anti-terroist laws, said they won’t even investigate the murders of aboriginal women.

Canada became a shameful place. Regular readers of this blog would note that the only time Harper (or the Conservatives) were mentioned it was because organizations stood up to fight what Harper was doing. For example:
The Lancet Calls on Canada to be a Good Global Citizen
Canadians Want Science to be Free
Harper Shuns Democracy, Activists Decide to Cover Costs

So in a nutshell, it’s good to see that Canadians have finally said no to more of Harper’s politics. They did so in the highest voter turnout since 1993.

Now we hope that the winners of yesterday’s election (Liberal party) lead Canada down a new path. A path that will change Canada’s reputation from a place of archaic climate policy to environmentally friendly policy. From a country that bans freedoms to a country that supports them. From a country that treats complex moral issues as trite to a country that can engage in civil discourse.

Good luck to the Liberal party in turing Canada from a backward-looking country to a country that once again can have a positive influence on the world.

I hope that I will now be able to say that I’m Canadian with pride instead of shame.

The Lancet Calls on Canada to be a Good Global Citizen

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

The Lancet is a medical journal that is known for its direct and terse reports, the are perhaps best known for their detailed account of the death toll in Iraq (as a result of the American invasion in 2003). Now they are calling the Canadian government to task. PM Stephen Harper is known for his ideological drive to destroy Canada (and the global environment) and now it’s having a very adverse impact on global health. This is where the Lancet calls on Canada to step up and account for its horrible behaviour.

It’s good to see that there are organizations that exist which try to bring attention to ongoing institutionalized negative behaviour brought to bear from the powers that be.

Previously a leader in freedom of information, Canada is frequently cited for its decline in openness, most recently by the Center for Law and Democracy, in co-operation with the Madrid-based Access Info Europe, which ranked it 55th of 93 countries, down from 40th in 2011.

Harper defends withdrawal of federal funding for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are critical of governmental policy, a reversal of a 50 year tradition of non-partisan support for civil society, saying: “if it’s the case that we’re spending on organisations that are doing things contrary to government policy, I think that is an inappropriate use of taxpayer’s money and we’ll look to eliminate it.” Consistent with this logic, the Government was able to continue funding NGOs skeptical of global warming and supportive of the asbestos industries.

Read more here.

Project Democracy

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Canadian democracy has been ridiculed lately and rightly so. Under Harper’s pathetic leadership we have seen the largest mass arrest in Canadian history, the largest deficit this country has ever seen, the attempted dismantling of a working financial economy and Canada’s international reputation erode to meaninglessness. That on top of the Conservative’s repulsion of anything remotely environmentally friendly.

All of this has got a lot Canadian really angry at their current leadership (if you’re not angry about this you really should be). Now a bunch of Canadians have launched Project Democracy to rid Ottawa of the worst prime minster that Canada has seen this century.

I encourage every Canadian to vote out Stephen Harper’s Conservatives across the country!

When was the last time you saw good news posted here about action that the Conservatives have taken in Ottawa? It’ll be a great news day when we announce that Harper is no longer Prime Minster of Canada!

Project Democracy is a tool to help you determine if there is a way to “amp up” your vote and stop a Harper majority. By using a riding by riding election prediction model based on the most up to date public opinion research, we can tell you which Party is best positioned to defeat the Conservative in your riding. Just enter your postal code in the box to the right.

Check out Project Democracy now.

Canada One of the Most Peaceful Nations

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Despite the fact that Canada’s current Prime Minister Stephen Harper wanted to go to war in Iraq and his commitment to keep Canadian troops fighting and dying in Afghanistan, Canada has been named the most peaceful nation in North and Central America and Caribbean region.

For a list of the most peaceful nation in each region of the world you can click here.

The list was compiled by the Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations.

Via the Canadian Press

Into the Future by Using the Past

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

To most people it looks like leaders in North America keep forgetting about global warming, well this isn’t all true. Brush the Bush and Harper conservative agendas aside and you’ll find other political leaders trying to save the planet. In Mexico, aboriginal leaders are looking into the ways of that their ancestors lived to help us slow global warming today.

More than 200 leaders from 71 American Indian nations in Mexico, the United States and Canada came together in this Mexican jungle to find indigenous solutions to pollution and ecological problems threatening the planet.

“Our Mother Earth is being polluted at an alarming rate, and our elders say that she is dying,” said Raymond Sensmeier, a Tlingit leader from Yakutat, Alaska. “The way the weather is around the world … a cleansing is needed.”

The conference began with a pre-dawn ceremony that included fire, copal incense, chants in Lacandon Maya and blasts from a conch shell.

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