In the last federal election, Stephen Harper won a majority government by cheating. Not just with robocalls. He also managed to get the CBC to allow him to address the Canadian electorate on election day, during the blackout period in order to congratulate the Americans on a job well done for violating Pakistan’s territorial integrity by sending in a hit squad to murder Osama Bin Laden.
He of course then went on to praise our Canadian soldiers for a job well done in Afghanistan, etc., etc. His address was clearly political, and should never have been permitted during the blackout period. I filed a complaint with Elections Canada along with 300 other Canadians about that address, but we were told that it was not political campaigning … just an interview.
Any government announcements to Canadians during an election campaign should surely be made by the governor general or the queen. So why was Stephen Harper allowed to violate the blackout period?
I believe that judgment was completely wrong, and I challenge Elections Canada to show me one case where an incumbent prime minister was permitted to go on national radio similarly during the blackout period in the past. It has never happened in my lifetime, but I surely expect Stephen Harper to find a way to be interviewed on election day during this campaign too, now that he has been allowed to set the precedent. This time I surely hope he offers us each a plate of beans and a beer like any other good Banana Republican.
Rod Retzlaff, Glade
