Politics rears its ugly head: Stephen Harper and the Chattering Masses
Canada's 22nd Prime Minister closed Parliament with a phone call at the tail end of 2009 on the same day that four Canadian soldiers and a journalist were killed in Afghanistan. Where, as some pundits have pointed out, the Parliament is open and operating.
Stephen Harper is described by his admirers as a masterful political operative who has single-handedly routed a Liberal dynasty and drives the opposition - who hold the majority 0f seats in the House of Commons - into the rocks. Repeatedly.
He is described by his critics as a mean-spirited control freak with little regard for Canadian institutions who rules his caucus with an iron hand, gathering every more power into the Prime Minister's Office and ruthlessly attacking any messenger of contrary opinions.
So into this fray comes Facebook. In about a week, a Facebook group called 'Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament' went from a few thousand members to just shy of 155,000 members (154,842 as of 3:06 pm Eastern / 4:06 pm Atlantic).
And two separate public opinion polls released in the past few days seem to indicate that a growing percentage of Canadians are unimpressed with the reasons Mr. Harper has given for shutting down Parliament (to recalibrate the Conservative plan, to prepare a budget, it's routine, etc.)
He says proroguing Parliament - a phrase virtually unheard of 'till recently and now part of the Canadian lexicon - is no big deal. Critics say it's undemocratic.
This is a minority government. The majority of Canadian voters - which is a number that keeps shrinking but that's another story - did not vote for the Conservatives. And there are some seriously wacky numbers related to the popular vote in Canada and how it relates to the political makeup of our legislatures. That's a story for another day.
Critics dismiss the Facebook group as insignificant because it's just 1) a bunch of kids who won't or can't vote, 2) 100 per cent Liberal / NDP / BQ / Green Party supporters, 3) lazy people who won't actually do anything, or 4) donkeys and jobless drug addicts and supporters of child molestation who d0n't deserve to live / vote / etc.
Mr. Harper's desire for a majority government is legend. To be fair, you'd be hard pressed to find any Prime Minister past, present, or future who wouldn't have the same wish.
But one of the wheels came off that train when, after advocating and legislating fixed election dates, Mr. Harper called an unscheduled election in what many called a blatant attempt at winning a majority at the expense of his expressed principles. Another wheel fell off when, during the campaign, Mr. Harper mused that 'ordinary' Canadians didn't care about the $45 million in arts funding his government had just cut to what he described as rich artists who attend swanky galas to complain about their government funding.
Mr. Harper called it "a niche issue" at the time, but history showed it helped stop the majority train by reducing the hoped-for gains in Quebec. (The other big helper was fellow-Conservative Danny Williams of Newfoundland & Labrador who launched an Anyone-But-Conservatives campaign over a bitter dispute related to that province's energy agreements.)
For the past week, the Facebook anti-prorogation group has been growing by hundreds - sometimes thousands - each hour. (155,258 at 3:35 pm Eastern / 4:35 pm Atlantic)
Significant? Or just another messenger to be surrounded and attacked?
Industry Minister Tony Clement was quoted earlier today wading in on the issue: "It may not be what the chattering classes want, but we're not here to govern on behalf of the chattering classes."
Calling the online community 'the chattering classes' is similar, in part, to the dumb comment from Scott Reid (former Liberal PM Paul Martin's communications director) who said mid-campaign that the Harper plan for child care would result in parents spending the $25/week subsidy on "beer and popcorn."
Cue the backlash.
But there's another part that's more chilling than dumb: "...we're not here to govern on behalf of the chattering classes."
Do I expect governments to favour their friends over their enemies? Unfortunately, yes. I don't like it, but that's human nature.
Do I expect governments to govern solely on behalf of their friends?
Not in a democracy.
-gb
