It has never been more obvious that what people voted for in the last federal election, accountability and transparency, is the farthest from the truth that one can go for what we got.
Elizabeth May said it best in the House of Commons recently, “the prime minister’s office in this country has way more power than the White House does in the U.S. The White House is part of the U.S. Constitution. The PMO is an invention. It is a partisan fortress. It is the least accountable place where taxpayer dollars go. About $10 million a year disappears into the PMO with zero accountability.
“Stephen Harper promised accountability. He has delivered the least accountable, most secretive and draconian government in Canadian history. “
While we stress over where to put a running track, which road to widen, which intersection to build a round-a-bout at or how much people at city hall are being paid, our country is being pulled out from under our feet.
We are sweating the small stuff while the big stuff is happening all around us. The big stuff is really big.
I can’t even begin to outline all the egregious behavior, policies and laws that have been railroaded through our House of Commons with one purpose.
To remake Canada into a right-wing, conservative country where the wants of the wealthy and connected few take precedence over the value of the lives of the many.
Where back-room boys are significantly and profoundly changing the way we do business in Canada and abroad.
Where an image of Christian conservativism is held up to signify rightness in moral standards and social behavior while services to the middle-class and beyond are dismantled or altered into oblivion.
Where security of the person, your privacy and sanctity of the person are subverted in a pretense of making you safer.
Where the idea of smaller government is misunderstood to mean more efficient and less intrusive while omnibus budget bills introduce major changes without significant debate or respect for the rights of individual MPs to speak on behalf of their constituents or have the support of the true majority of Canadians.
Where water, the land and the sanctity of the seas all becomes commodities to be bought or sold by the highest bidder.
We have lost our standing in the world as compassionate, caring and giving people. We have lost our standing at home as intelligent, thoughtful and progressive people. We have become our own worst enemy. Where might makes right, and the truth has no bearing on the outcome.
It’s a terrible legacy to leave for those who come behind us. Crushed, under the bus of political expediency for personal gain. Thrown flagrantly into the winds of change for the sake of change. Stung by the actions of those who promised to make it better.
We have been had. Taken advantage of and treated like fools.
Glenna Miles
