April 13, 2011

Dear Canada,

lostinhistory:

conssayyes:

Dear Canada,

We are mere weeks away from an election, and roughly 40% of us are thinking about voting Conservative.

Yes, it’s the third election in five years, and you’re tired. Yes, the rhetoric from the different sides of the table sound pretty similar to last time, and the time before. But this time, things are different.

They’re different because the government in power has had ample time to actually show what it’s made of. And it’s different because for some reason, we are mere weeks away from possibly handing Stephen Harper a majority. And I don’t understand.

Here in Canada, we pride ourselves on being nice. Polite. Smart. Progressive.

And yet, roughly 40% of us are willing to elect a man who is not nice. Whose government has been remarkably impolite. Who plays us for fools. And who moves our country backwards.

When we voted him into power, it was partially because we felt that the former government, led by the Liberals, had become corrupted. We had the sponsorship scandal to prove it. And here came Harper, promising responsible government and accountability.

Fast forward five years. The Harper government has been in power for longer than a standard term of office. And he wanted his government to be accountable? Well, let’s do exactly that. Let’s hold him accountable for his actions.

He’s had plenty of time to show us what his government stands for. The following list is not exhaustive (though it is exhausting):

  • Contempt of Parliament
  • Exceeding the legal election spending limit
  • Re-branding “Government of Canada” to “Harper Government”
  • Refusing access to information on Afghanistan
  • Killing the federal access to information database
  • Telling Canadians they were against an appointed Senate, then appointing more than 30 new Senators
  • Proroguing government - twice - when things weren’t going his way
  • Breaking his own promises on election reform
  • Allowing unregistered lobbyists to pitch contracts for their own personal gain
  • Killing the long-form census, an important source of information for any number of services
  • Not allowing environmental scientists to talk to the media without the government’s permission
  • Giving disproportionate amounts of money for the ridings that voted for them
  • Promising no deficit, and then handing us the biggest one in Canadian history
  • Cutting funding to the arts in Canada, and trying to censor our film industry
  • Actually doctoring documents (Bev Oda and the infamous “not”)
  • Leaving classified documents everywhere, including at a news bureau and the house of a minister’s ex-girlfriend
  • Calling cancer “sexy” and joking about the casualties of the Listeriosis outbreak
  • Plagiarizing speeches from other world leaders
  • Allowing human rights violations in the form of covering up Afghanistan detainee torture, and ignoring Omar Khadr
  • Outright lying about expenses, including the G8/G20
  • Building a $1.9M fake lake
  • Tax cuts for corporations, even after raiding the nest eggs of many Canadians through the income trust fiasco
  • Stifle the media on countless fronts, from escorting them out of conferences before the opposition gets to speak, to restricting them to five questions a day during the election campaign
  • Playing hookey at important global conferences, such as the Bali climate conference


It took one scandal for Canadians to vote the Martin government out of office. And yet, for some reason, roughly 40% of us want to re-elect a government that has actively lied to us and deceived us over five years.

If you are planning on voting Conservative, I urge you to take a moment and really look at their track record. And ask yourself if this kind of behaviour and this kind of deception and corruption is something that you can morally support.

If you are planning on not voting, I urge you to really look at the government we’ve got. And ask yourself if you are willing to stand idly by and do nothing while your government does this to you.

THIS.  I can not understand why anyone would vote Conservative.

I apologize to those who are neither Canadian or like political posts, BUT this is important and TRUE. Please vote responsibly by NOT voting for the Conservative government. 

Do us all a favour and help get rid of the “Harper Government” 

93 notes
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Via Quietly Falling Sideways

93 Notes

  1. likeiknewiwould reblogged this from conssayyes
  2. macguffin reblogged this from ladywhalersofthemoon
  3. mindsatellites reblogged this from conssayyes
  4. lilithlaquim reblogged this from conssayyes
  5. howardentlyiadmire reblogged this from conssayyes and added:
    idiot. He should’ve been...Parliament years ago.
  6. rarefind reblogged this from nothingshortof and added:
    I apologize to those who are neither Canadian or like political posts, BUT this is important and TRUE. Please vote...
  7. the-private-psychedelic-reel reblogged this from conssayyes
  8. smashley reblogged this from shorterexcerpts and added:
    Ug, couldn’t say it better myself!!!
  9. musiqueetfleurdelys reblogged this from conssayyes
  10. shadydoings reblogged this from danikasapphistry
  11. heartsontrial reblogged this from harpergov and added:
    I couldn’t agree more.
  12. burghallimster reblogged this from conssayyes
  13. nothingshortof reblogged this from andothercuriosities
  14. hubrisisterminal reblogged this from lostinhistory
  15. elizaboothy reblogged this from andothercuriosities
  16. iamnotacrackpot reblogged this from ladywhalersofthemoon and added:
    YES. Exactly.
  17. onebigpear reblogged this from andothercuriosities and added:
    just don’t get it. It’s completely baffling.
  18. ladywhalersofthemoon reblogged this from andothercuriosities and added:
    This is why I want to kick down every Tory election sign I see.
  19. andothercuriosities reblogged this from lostinhistory
  20. lostinhistory reblogged this from ladyfabulous and added:
    THIS. I can not understand why anyone would vote Conservative.
  21. aboutfalling reblogged this from enunciate
  22. dontwalkawayeileen reblogged this from harpergov
  23. lettersfromnoone reblogged this from dontthinkdontthink and added:
    40% are voting Conservative? I fucking hate out west. I have a lot to say about this election, but I shall refrain from...
  24. enunciate reblogged this from conssayyes
  25. theladygoogle reblogged this from conssayyes
  26. danikasapphistry reblogged this from harpergov
  27. sootandsparrows reblogged this from conssayyes