Harper's posturing over the situation in Egypt, is hypocrisy at it's most profound. Telling the Egyptian government to listen to the people. Pleeease.
He shut down Parliament twice for his own naked self interest, is ignoring the wishes of 90% of Canadians who don't want more tax cuts for corporations, and has citizens beat up on the streets of Toronto for performing their civic duty.
How can he possibly defend democracies abroad and then ignore any and all democratic principles at home? According to James Travers:
Canada should look long in the mirror before advising Egypt on democracy or demanding accountability from the developing world. A sorry record defending one and delivering the other strips credibility and exposes hypocrisy. Actions do speak louder than words. International expediency and domestic secrecy reduce Ottawa’s voice to a whisper when Prime Minister Stephen Harper promotes political freedoms for Egyptians and demands more maternal aid transparency from the rest of the world.Travers also points out that Harper's foreign policy is based on how he can win votes at home, and to hell with the consequences.
Rarely has the mismatch between behaviour and principles been so obvious. Cairo protesters have no reason to take Harper’s Monday support for Middle East democracy seriously. As on the maternal health issue he championed last week, the Prime Minister is talking loudly and carrying a broken stick. In 2006, the newly elected Harper joined then-U.S. president George W. Bush and European Union leaders in refusing to accept the Palestinian ballot-box decision to oust the inept PLO in favour of Islamic fundamentalist Hamas.
Canada can no longer advise any other country on their domestic affairs. Because we are now an example of what citizens shouldn't have to face. Police brutality, silence of the press and witch hunts.
In the tax payer funded hate mail above, he claims to be standing up for Canada, but that's not standing up for Canada. It's standing up for Israeli aggression against Canadian interests and Canadian values.
He spent a million dollars of our money in a desperate attempt to get a seat on the UN security council. A seat we have always easily won, and not had to try and buy.
I clicked on the link and read the Travers column. Then I read the comments below. An unfortunate majority of them are from neocon supporters, one who even believes Harper has made Canada better than it was before. Who ARE these people? What makes them think that way? One of them thinks the PM is entitled to keep information from Canadians. Very scary, Emily.
ReplyDeleteI read a blog a few years ago from someone who answered an ad for a job with the Conservative Party. They wanted people who would either write letters to the editor with their talking points or be willing to sign their name to letters written by the party. After he exposed them, they pulled the ads. There was also some controversy because they were paying bloggers.
ReplyDeleteI think they are all on staff.