Silent Government. Silent Media. Silent Majority. I Find it All so Deafening.

Richard Nixon introduced the political phrase 'Silent Majority', which referred to an unspecified majority of people who do not express their opinions publicly.

He first used it in a speech (November 3, 1969) about the Vietnam War and the many protests against it. He felt that while the crowds were enormous at peace rallies, the majority of Americans actually supported the war, but were afraid to speak up.

It has become a popular phrase with many groups, especially those who would like the freedom to bash certain groups based on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, believing that most people share their views, and just keep silent to be accepted in society.

When Jean Chretien made the decision to keep Canada out of Iraq, Stephen Harper appeared on Fox News in the United States.

In an interview with the American TV network, Harper said he endorsed the war and said he was speaking "for the silent majority" of Canadians. Only in Quebec, with its "pacifist tradition," are most people opposed to the war, Harper said. "Outside of Quebec, I believe very strongly the silent majority of Canadians is strongly supportive," the Canadian Alliance leader says. (1)

This showed how little he understood about Canadians, because poll after poll indicated that we were pleased with Chretien's decision. It wasn't just Quebec.

When Stephen Harper was with the Northern Foundation, a group he himself referred to as fascists (2), their motto was 'Standing up for Canada's Silent Majority'.

Howard Goldenthal, formerly a writer with Toronto's Now magazine, describes the foundation as a "clearing house" for right-wing groups and ideas, bringing together like-minded organizations in an attempt to consolidate and co-ordinate efforts at promoting conservatism. The foundation's organizing pamphlet, "Standing up for Canada's Silent Majority" confirms that goal. It bemoans the fact that conservatives fought — "and mostly lost" — single issue battles in the 1970s and 80s and "laments ... what has become normal': ... turbans in the RCMP, destabilizing immigration, government funding to radical feminist and homosexual groups ... " (3)

So Stephen Harper is now the voice of Canada's 'Silent Majority'. But only after he silenced his caucus and the media. Heaven help us.

Why we Should be Concerned

"I had no doubt at all that war was coming, and it wasn't just because Hitler was creating such a storm in Europe. For me it went back a lot farther than that, to the time when I was a young schoolgirl in France and saw these great fortifications being built, which I found out was the Maginot Line. On another occasion, on a school holiday, we were taken to Italy and the Fascists were everywhere and there was such an atmosphere of "getting ready" and all-round preparation, that it was scary. This was ten years before the Hitler rumblings of the thirties. This made such an impression on a 14-year-old, one of tension and fear, that I was absolutely positive that it wouldn't be long before we had another war." Kay Gilmour Toronto, Ontario (4)

Stephen Harper has stated that his foreign policy is now being directed by the Religious Right (5), or what he refers to as Theocons. And leading the charge is a dangerous right-wing group called Christians United for Israel. Headed by Texas Pastor John Hagee and his Canadian counterpart, Charles McVety, they see the world as a "clash of civilizations". The same "clash of civilizations" (6) that Harper himself envisions.

And this "clash" will end with Armageddon, but first they have to rid the world of Muslims and Communists. (I never said they were sane).

And that is one of the main reasons why Canada's bid for a UN Security seat was rejected. Because of our new "love of Israel", which has absolutely nothing to do with actually loving Israel, but exploiting them. Because during Armageddon the Jews must convert to Christianity or be annihilated.

One pastor in Jerusalem from a mainstream church expressed skepticism about the motives of the Christian Zionists — and of the cynicism of Israelis who play along. "It's the worst kind of anti-Semitism," says the cleric, who asked to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the issue. "At the end, these Evangelicals say that all the Jews will be dead except those who become Christians. But in the meantime, the Israelis are happy to fill their hotels with them and use their help to get American weapons." (7)

We could simply dismiss this as Harper doing whatever it takes to get the Jewish vote, except that there is very strong evidence that our government is preparing for war.

“It’s hard to find a country friendlier to Israel than Canada these days,” chirps Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Stephen Harper’s Conservatives

-called Israel’s 2006 invasion of Lebanon a “measured response” (Two Canadian UN peacekeepers were targeted and killed by Israeli in the invasion. Harper refused to protest, asking rhetorically in parliament what they were doing there in the first place.)

-refused to condemn the invasion of Gaza in December 2008 or the siege of Gaza (the only “Nay” at the UN Human Rights Council)

-refused to condemn the Israeli murder of nine members of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in May-opposed an attempted IAEA probe of Israel’s nuclear facilities as part of an effort to create a nuclear

-weapons-free Middle East.

-cut off UN humanitarian aid to Gaza because it was going through the Hamas government there. (8)

But even more alarming is the physical evidence:

That $15 million for UNRWA-Gaza was not actually cancelled by Harper; it was cleverly transferred to Operation PROTEUS, a plan to train a Palestinian security force “to ensure that the Palestinian Authority maintains control of the West Bank against Hamas,” according to Canadian Ambassador to Israel Jon Allen. Boasts Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Americas Peter Kent, this is the country’s “second largest deployment after Afghanistan”.

While Canada trains police to contain Palestinian anger, it is rapidly expanding relations with the Palestinians’ colonial masters. Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan just held talks in Tel Aviv to further expand the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement ... Canada and Israel signed a far-reaching public security cooperation “partnership” in 2008 to “protect their respective countries’ population, assets and interests from common threats”. Israel security agents now officially assist the RCMP and CSIS in profiling Canadians citizens who are Muslims [my emphasis] and monitoring individuals and/or organisations in Canada involved in supporting the rights of Palestinians. The barring of British MP George Galloway from entering Canada in 2009 was surely at the behest of now official Mossad advisers. (8)

And even more alarming still, Peter Kent said recently “It’s a matter of timing and it’s a matter of how long we can wait without taking more serious pre-emptive action.” (8)

"A matter of timing". So where are the headlines? Canada has also built prisons and courts in Palestine. They have promised an expenditure of 400 billion for military hardware. Rick Hillier says that Harper has also stated that his office will run future wars. Is his "silent majority" the only voice now being heard?

And what about that whole Communist thing? Seems they are not only just posturing with Russia, in an attempt to revive the "Cold War". They've been busy.

Harper and MacKay have hosted NATO Arctic war games aimed at the “aggressive” Russians, and announced plans to spend $9 billion to buy F-35 joint strike “stealth” fighter jets to “meet the threats of the 21st century”.

Very dangerous "war games"

After visits by Canada's defense and military chiefs to inspect the multinational war games, Prime Minister Harper arrived in Resolute on August 25, the penultimate day of the 20-day military maneuvers, to - in the words of one of the nation's main news agencies - rally the 1,500 Canadian, American and Danish troops present.

Harper's visit to inspect the exercise occurred only hours after another - potentially dangerous - publicity stunt by his government: Dispatching CF-18 fighter jets (variants of the American F/A-18 Hornet) to allegedly ward off two Russian Tupolev Tu-95 (Bear) strategic bombers patrolling off Canada's northern border, "something the Russian military does frequently." Harper's press secretary, Dimitri Soudas, "said the two CF-18 Hornet fighters visually identified the two Russian aircraft approximately 120 nautical miles north of Inuvik in Northwest Territories," over international waters. (9)

When are we going to stop being silent? When it's too late? And while you're pondering that question, here's something else to think about. A Prime Minister can on his own, declare war on our behalf. Scared yet? Mad yet?

Maybe we need to listen to people like Russel McNeil, from Nanaimo, BC:

The men and women in the generation before mine did what they had to do. They crushed an evil idea. In the Germany of the 1930s it was called National Socialism. Like all evil, this lie was masked in other lies and promises of a better life. It is ironic that the idea sprang up in a great land, amongst a caring and compassionate people, no different from the people in the towns and cities in Canada. Yet the idea took root in spite of this, and attracted the worst of any country's criminals.

The terrible sadness is that evil never dies. At best, it is only controlled. When the controls fail the evil can take root again —anywhere. It could happen here. We can only hope and pray that the impossible sacrifices of my parents' generation has taught our generation to recognize deceit and evil, and that they have provided us with the tools to keep those ideas under control. (10)

We have the tools. They are called ballots. I suggest you use them.

Sources:

1. Most Cdns. support war, Harper tells U.S. TV, CTV, April 4 2003

2. Hard Right Turn: The New Face of Neo-Conservatism in Canada, Brooke Jeffrey, Harper-Collins, 1999, ISBN: 0-00 255762-2, Pg. 430

3. Preston Manning and the Reform Party, By Murray Dobbin Goodread Biographies/Formac Publishing 1992 ISBN: 0-88780-161-7, Pg. 100

4. Voices of a War Remembered: An Oral History of Canadians in World War II, By Bill McNeil, Double Day Canada, 1993, ISBN: 0-385-25353-2, Pg. 104-105

5. Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons: The rising clout of Canada’s religious right, by Marci McDonald, Walrus Magazine, October 2006

6. Harperland: The Politics of Control, By Lawrence Martin, Viking Press, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-670-06517-2

7. An Evangelical at Armageddon, By Tim McGirk and Tel Meggido, Time Magazine, April 7, 2008

8. Canada’s international do-gooder image shattered: Ottawa Loses Bid for UN Security Council, by Eric Walberg, Global Research, October 23, 2010

9. Canada Opens Arctic To NATO, Plans Massive Weapons Buildup, by Rick Rozoff, Global Research, August 29, 2010

10. Voices of a War Remembered: An Oral History of Canadians in World War II, By Bill McNeil, Double Day Canada, 1993, ISBN: 0-385-25353-2, Pg. 129

So Michael Ignatieff Destroyed Our UN Bid. Why Not Paul Heinbecker? Or Are They Afraid We'll Read His Book?

There was a letter to the editor in the Kingston Whig Standard, by Roy Kenny of Napanee, in response to Canada losing it's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.

It wasn't unlike others I've read from Harper's supporters. Things like "freedom", "human rights", "democracy" and "the rule of law", thrown around.

Michael Ignatieff suggesting that "we didn't deserve a seat on the Security Council", tilting the vote, though it was erroneously stipulated that he had been saying that for months, when in fact it's been more like days.

But there is something very important that is being missed here. Partisan jabbering aside, this is a significant snub. And while I'm sure Ignatieff is flattered that anyone thinks he has that much power, it's other voices we should be listening to, because those are the voices that made the difference.

Like that of the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Kamalesh Sharma, who in November of 2009, joined others in a movement to have Canada kicked out of the Commonwealth, because of our inaction on climate change. Or the voices at Copenhagen who awarded us the 'Colossal Fossil', not just for our "do nothing" stance, but for the fact that the Harper government actually sabotaged the negotiations.

Or Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS Society, who lambasted Stephen Harper for snubbing organizers of a major international conference because he was “afraid” to show his face after his lack of leadership on health at the recent G8 summit.

Or maybe the voice of Robert Fowler, Canada's former top diplomat who was kidnapped and held for ransom last year, while on a special mission for the UN. He recently commented: “I’m not sure that Canada deserves to win this election, for we no longer represent the qualities which we Canadians have long insisted that candidates for the council should bring to such responsibilities."

Or perhaps the voices of Mr. Fowler's colleagues, the 100 former senior diplomats and ambassadors who signed a letter, along with Fowler, in support of Richard Colvin, the man who was being vilified by the Harper government because he spoke out against Afghan detainee abuse.

Or how about Paul Heinbecker, our UN Ambassador the last time we had a seat on the council. Heinbecker has written a book which offers a scathing assessment of the Harper government's international performance. He criticizes our UN peacekeeping missions, where we are now ranked 53rd, and reveals that Canadian diplomats are discouraged from taking part in UN human rights negotiations. They are also forbid from using terms such as "gender equality" and "international humanitarian law", even though these terms come from treaties Canada has ratified; simply "because the words offended the sensibilities of the party's social conservative base."

And we can also add the voices of Canadian foreign aid workers who understand the significance of the "secret" changes to our foreign policy. Like Adrian Bradbury in Northern Uganda, who got his "list" of things he's no longer allowed to say. "When speaking of the war, where upwards of 3 million people have been killed, and rape is widely used as a tool of war, the terms "impunity" and "justice" can no longer be used when calling for an end to, and punishment for, sexual violence."

And Bradbury reminds us that Canada had fought hard to have those things included in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, making them part of the human rights language. Now we have abandoned them with no input or debate.

So Mr. Kenney while you might not respect the United Nations, the fact is that the United Nations used to respect us. And it was not only African or Arab nations voting against us, but many former allies, including India.

And while most Canadians do stand with Israel, we prefer that it not be at the expense of our relationship with the rest of the Arab world, or mean that we have to marginalize one million Muslim Canadians. It was that kind of narrow minded attitude and xenophobia that caused the Holocaust.

But maybe Robert Fowler says it best, when he aptly remarked recently: "The world does not need more of the kind of Canada they’ve been getting.”

I'm so proud.

Losing the UN Seat Was Not Our Only Diplomatic Disaster

Losing the UN Security seat was definitely a black mark for Canada and a reminder of just where this party is taking us. But it was not the only diplomatic disaster this week.

As Don Martin reminds us:

The foreign affairs fizzle of losing its bid for a UN Security Council seat on Tuesday, while a humiliation for the history books, was not Canada's major diplomatic breakdown of the last week.

The dogfight in the skies over the United Arab Emirates has the potential to punch a billion-dollar hole in Canadian exports to the region even while we're hastily evicted from a military base that has cost tens of millions of dollars to carve out of the desert sand near Dubai. Long after the red faces fade over Canada's smackdown at the UN and Prime Minister Stephen Harper gives up his desperation tactic of blaming the failure on trash-talking by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, the negatives from losing Camp Mirage and resulting economic tensions with this wealthy sheikdom will linger on.

And again the Harper government is trying to use fear tactics, that aren't working.

A UAE official has expressed disappointment over the recent statements of the Canadian government on the landing rights dispute and termed them as “fear tactics” of the Neo Cons. The Canadian media reports that a military plane carrying its defence minister was refused landing permission in the UAE was nothing but a deliberate leak of misinformation, Gulf News reported quoting an official source.

The source said the agreement granting Canada landing rights had expired in June, but was given an extension for three months. But a Canadian military source told CTV News that the UAE on Monday turned back the plane carrying its defence minister Peter MacKay, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and Chief of Defence Staff General Walt Natynczyk who were returning from Afghanistan.

Lamenting the lack of reciprocity in goodwill showed by the UAE, the source said “Canada today is behaving like the defunct states of the Iron Curtain” when it came to free trade and liberalisation.

An "iron curtain". That's it exactly.

And as usual Harper became a one man show, cutting everyone else out. And yet he never takes the blame for anything. Go figure.

Ottawa’s eviction from a Mideast military base has exposed a rift within the Harper cabinet over how far Canada should go to satisfy its Arab hosts: an internal debate in which Stephen Harper cut Defence Minister Peter MacKay out of negotiations. Canada is set to vacate Camp Mirage, a once-secret military installation, by Nov. 5 after failing to reach an agreement with the United Arab Emirates over what would amount to compensation for nine years of accommodation near Dubai.

In one of his photo-op trips to Afghanistan, Harper told the troops that Canada was not an island. So why has he sent us adrift?