Our own little Bush

In January 2006, Canadians elected a minority conservative government, partly because they were tired of the 12 years liberal rule, partly because of a scandal involving illegal money transfers (total amount of some 40 million Canadian dollars) from the government to Publicity agencies and back to the account of the liberal party - allegedly to promote the federal government in separatist Quebec around 1995, the year of the referendum on separation (which was voted No by a narrow majority), and partly because our former finance minister Paul Martin, who took the leadership of the liberal party in 2004 and became prime minister, revealed himself to be a mediocre politician. Afraid of the liberal party strong men and women (Sheila Copps for example), he surrounded himself with more mediocre politicians while shunning the good ones, conducting a Politic of indecision, incoherence and opportunism.

He wasn't long on the job. Enter Stephen Harper, an Albertan (an oil rich province) and a former deputy of the right wing party, Canadian Alliance, newly merged with the shrinked conservative party under the banner of the progressive conservatives (here you see that Politicians do not bother to convey any true meaning in their slogans and words).

Since he was elected, Harper killed the gun registry national initiative voted and enforced by the liberals, emptied the halls surrounding the place where the government meets every week from journalists, gave very few interviews to the press, surrounded himself and the government with an ever growing secrecy, visited Canadian troops in Afghanistan (it was one of the first things he did), reengaged Canada in the missile defense system, so dear to GWBush's heart, inside the NORAD defense accord between Canada and the US, was one of the first to cut aid to the newly elected palestinian government, increased defense budget, retreated from Kyoto, shunned television cameras and crews from filming the bodies of dead Canadian soldiers sent from Afghanistan, advocated and won today a two years extension of the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan (with a 4 votes majority) by threatening the government to use his powers as prime minister to extend one year if they voted No.
Usually canadian troops have participated in peace missions abroad. Today the number of Canadian troops participating in peace missions has shrunk to the point they can all fit in a schoolbus, roughly some 56 personnels, while the military mission in Afghanistan is strong of some 2300 men and women.

The list is too long, all achieved without public debate, canadian media being relatively silent.

For all these reasons, I call Stephen Harper 'our own little Bush'. Recently, our own little Bush has been reminding us that we are likely to be next as a hit target on the terrorists 'carnet de Bal' because we are defending freedom in the rest of the world !
I am waiting patiently and anxiously for the next elections, which should come soon given the tiny majority Harper has now, hoping the liberals or the NDP (New Democratic Party) will fight back their way to the next government ! Meanwhile something must be done to achieve this goal.

So I am thinking of engaging in partisan politics, something I usually abhor !