We are indeed living in interesting and regretfully as well, very dangerous times for our imperilled democracy. Whether you are on the right, left or centre is quite irrelevant at this point. In the coming weeks, we shall see whether our great leader, has pulled off his power grab by proroguing parliament. We shall soon know if he has effectively instituted an authoritarian regime in this country by means of a parliamentary putsch. If as the fellow citizen writes below, the ruling regime, does not respect the will of Parliament and does not very soon hand- over all documents related to the “Afghan detainee” affair, then we indeed will be witnessing the final act of this sordid play, whose central plot line, is premised on the absolute dismantling of democracy in Canada by one man (a would-be dictator.) This sinister tale has one objective: the imposition of an authoritarian state in this country on its restive citizenry. As I have written in past postings (P.N.N.) the defiance of parliament is tantamount to treason. And will likely be judged as such by both historians and politicial scientists alike in the future.
I have exceptionally pasted and posted this letter to the editor which has appeared in the Victoria News.Com (04/16/10). I wholeheartedly share this fellow citizen’s views and believe anyone who still cares to the least degree, about this country’s ailing parliamentary democracy should also feel the same way.
Text reads as follows: The House of Commons has ordered the Harper government to deliver to parliament unedited documents, which allegedly demonstrate the government knowingly and deliberately, delivered people to torture.
The government’s response to the House’s order has been to ignore it, arguing it has a responsibility to keep some types of information from public view and that overrides Parliament’s order.
“Mr. Harper’s position takes everything we know about responsible government and turns it on its head.
No Canadian with an ounce of democratic spirit will stand for a precedent-setting end to parliamentary accountability by accepting Harper’s refusal to follow the direction of our Parliament.
If Mr. Harper’s refusal be continued, the sergeant-in-arms should – indeed must – be directed to enforce the orders of Parliament and seize the documents.
What could come next is the scary part.
If the sergeant-in-arms is met with resistance we will be witnessing the use of force to subvert parliament, which is both treason and an attempted coup d’état.
Like it or not we are days away from asking these questions: Will the Harper government go so far as to resist the enforcement actions of parliament? Will Stephen Harper persist and force confrontation? Or, will he relent and yield to our constitutional parliamentary democracy?
Eugene Parks
Victoria
The site for the Vancouver local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.