The implications of Harper's War on Labour.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller
1892-1984


Lawrence Martin outlines the reasons for the Conservative War on Labour.

When they had a minority government, the Conservatives soft-pedaled labour issues. Now that they have a majority and a labour-backed NDP in opposition, they have moved into attack mode. It’s war on big labour and it’s intended as Stephen Harper’s new winning strategy.  (My emphasis in bold)

If the implications of this strategy weren't so ominous I would enjoy the schadenfreude of seeing the NDP reap what it has sown.  (Was the NDP really so stupid that they thought their alliance to destroy the Liberals and give Harper a majority would buy them immunity from the attack machine? It looks like that was the case).


The economic foolishness of this strategy is apparent to anyone who cares to think it through.  There is no incentive for unions to concede on any single issue.  The less a union gives in, the further ahead they are when the arbitrator makes a ruling.


But that is not the main issue with the strike busting tactic.  Harper's contempt for Parliament shows how blithely he is willing to disregard centuries of democratic tradition.  The anti-union chest beating allows Pappa Steve to check off items 2 and 10 of the fourteen defining characterisitics of fascism in one swoop.  Union bashing might be politically popular but the actions our government is proposing violates Canada's obligations to provide Freedom of Assembly and Association.  Once again, the questions must be asked.  Is there a limit to what Harper will do to achieve and maintain power? 


So I put aside, temporarily, my disdain for the NDP and their collusion with the Harper Party and speak out.  This attack on Labour is wrong.  It is another sign of the authoritarian tendencies of Harper and his Party.Recommend this Post

The Conservative Party as a malignant organism

Check out the most prominent ads on National Newswatch this morning.  

They are actually the same ad.  Advertizing a petition on the official website of the government party to influence the legislative agenda of that government.  While I recognize that there is supposed to be an arms length relationship between the government and the party, this would be surreal if Harper hadn't already pulled us through the looking glass.

Why would they do this?  They have already announced their intention to scrap the registry.  With a majority there is nothing to stand in their way.  The best reason I can come up with is that they want to squeeze the last $20 they can from each of the anti-gun registry rubes.  Expect anti-Wheat Board ads for the Wheat Board rubes and so it will go.

The Conservative Party has demonstrated a phenomenal strength in its fund raising techniques.  But the means to an end have become an end in itself.  The Party fund raises, not as part of a means to effect a policy goal, but to fund the machine.  It will generate legislation design to ensure the richness of the party rather than the well-being of the nation.  It will wantonly destroy everything in its path without even knowing why.  All that matters is the size of the bank account and paying the Party bureaucracy.  The original purpose of the Party has been forgotten long ago.  The Doomsday Machine becomes an apt metaphor.

This is the most dangerous aspect of this government and it's apparatus.  Now if only we could envisage a way to explode some impulse engines in its gaping maw.Recommend this Post

The revolution will be commercialized (In a good way)

What is the meaning of this?

It  means that a coherent purpose is coalescing from the inchoate rage.  And the emerging message is a good one.Recommend this Post

What I would have written about Harper's putative love of hockey

If I could write like Kai Nagata.  Read this and be comforted that not every journalist is fooled.Recommend this Post