There was a kind of balance to the news that Stephen Harper, who single-handedly has been responsible for more kidney chops to the infra-structure of Canadian democracy than any Prime Minister since the early 1900’s, decided to prorogue parliament until after the Olympics – which in itself is becoming one of the world’s most anti-democratic organisations.

Like Harper, Olympic organising committees world over appear to believe they have the right to rearrange the trappings of democracy to suit their own agenda. And apparently neither Harper nor the committees experience twinges of consciences when civil-liberties or the entire parliamentary system must be put aside to meet those agendas.

It appears many of those who watched the Olympics were won over by the athletes’ performances. Bread and circuses, however will never be fair trade-offs for civil liberties, democratic process, and a viable social safety net.

This article will appear on March 8 which is International Women’s Day (a fact not noted in my monthly desk calendar) and five days after the Canadian parliament will resume functioning after being prorogued by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to avoid having to answer questions about the Conservative government’s complicity in the torture of Afghan war detainees.

During prorogation Harper took the opportunity to arrange a trade agreement that makes provincial tax dollars vulnerable to European Union based corporations, while allowing Canadian companies the right to bid on the last few dollars worth of US revitalisation money left in the last week in which the bids were open.

And during his administration women’s equality and other progressive programmes have been systematically dismantled through under-funding.

For those who do not particularly WANT to watch the annihilation of Canada in their lifetime, watching Harper use prorogation as if it was the bell in a boxing ring, raises the disturbing question as to whether, supposing there does not come a time when he suspends elections altogether, Harper is finally defeated because – oh for example – SOME political party (probably the Bloc) decides saving democracy is more important than trying to get a few more seats in the House and then -- taking an even bigger flight of fancy – that Canadians actually start paying attention to politics, turn out and VOTE; supposing all those fairytales came true, one wonders whether we will even HAVE a democratic system that is worthy of the name, post-Harper.

That is to say, now that the boundaries of the Westminster Parliamentary System have been stretched more out of whack than the elastic on an old pair of cheap underwear, one has to wonder just what kind of political hi-jinks the NEXT Prime Minister and beloved of the multi-national overlords will get up to.

The pan-Canadian response to Harper’s second “drive-through” prorogation gives me some hope that we will not have to wait until activists and union members are being “disappeared” from their homes and murdered in the streets before ordinary citizens begin to take their responsibility to democracy seriously. But in my darkest moments I wonder if it might not already be too late.

With a Regressive Conservative leader who speaks to and for what is worst in Canadians (and apparently does not know the words to our national anthem), a Liberal leader whose only real difference to Harper seems to be that he does not (appear to) hate women, the queer community and perhaps Muslims (although his agreement with the war in Iraq puts the latter possibility into question), and an NDP leadership that seems to be more fixated on taking over the abandoned centre than in loudly and often identifying the dangers of the corporatisation of the planet so as to force the rabid right leftwards, it is tempting to believe one might as well join the 52 per cent Canadian majority that chose none-of-the-above in the last election.

However, that would be a mistake, as it would ignore a profound difference between Harper and Ignatieff. That difference is Harper’s systematic dismantling of pretty well every progressive federal programme for which activists have worked over the last 40 years. It is possible a Liberal led minority government would not continue with this dismantling. We know for a fact, minority or majority, Harper will.

Meanwhile Gabriolans who want to exercise their national franchise for positive change are lucky to have the excellent MP we do, as it appears none of the major federal PARTIES put a high priority on rigorously and often identifying the economic and political reasons for the growing economic and democratic gap between the rich and the rest of us.

Not that I am bitter you understand.

Before becoming editor of Gabriola’s Flying Shingle newspaper Chris Bowers worked in the social services field for 27 years. She continues to pursue social and economic justice and environmental sustainability on behalf of her beloved nieces and generation 8, all of whom she recognises are hostages to the future.

Opinions expressed in this column will usually be those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Shingle. We welcome your comments, observations, compliments, and insights.

Namaste,

The Waging Wordsmiths