Why Harper Scares Me
By Mike Archer. After the Robocall scandal which involved the Harper Conservatives lying to voters who might not vote for them so they would go to the wrong polling station address, and with the extensive unchecked powers he is trying to provide police and the government in order to surveil average Canadians in the name of fighting terrorists, this post on Facebook terrified me this morning.
I was considering clicking the ‘No’ button because, for a brief moment, I thought the governing party should know how dissatisfied I am with their policies and behaviour.
I was thinking of their muzzling of scientists; their determination to put more people in jail for longer despite a significant drop in crime; their use of omnibus bills to hide unpopular laws …
I was also thinking of their destruction of the long-form census and the resulting inability of government departments to make useful public policy in the absence of actual facts …
Then I started thinking about the Harper government’s attacks on charities with which it disagrees; its use of the Canada Revenue Agency to punish political opponents; its use of the police to harass potential opponents of the Kinder Morgan pipeline and its labeling of environmental groups as groups opposed to the economic interests of Canada (which are included in Harper’s new C-51 anti-terror bill).
Then I thought of all the warnings we receive on a daily basis about how organizations misuse the information they gather on Facebook and I saw Harper’s picture.
I asked myself, “Do I trust this man not to misuse my personal information if I click ‘No’ on his little survey?”
That’s when a chill ran down my spine and I realized that, for the first time in my life, I am truly afraid of my government.
