What People are Saying about the Election

Anna Di Carlo: “A Harper Government has absolutely no intention of sharing power with anyone. The age of reasonable accommodations is over. Today, the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands is accompanied by the concentration of political power in fewer and fewer hands. This is why Parliament doesn't "work." It is paralyzed because the party in power refuses to "reasonably accommodate" any interests save the dominant monopoly interests.”

National Leader MLPC, Etobicoke North

Elizabeth May: “This is definitely going to be a much more aggressive and unrestrained government.”

Green Party leader and newly elected first Green party MP in Canada

Bronwen Bruch: “The Conservative party increased their vote percentage by less than two points, but this allowed them to win 24 more seats than in 2008, when they were already over-represented. Stephen Harper calls this a ‘decisive endorsement’, but we call it a rip-off.”

President of Fair Vote Canada (FVC)

Esther Matharu: “It is time for us to stop fighting ‘against’ the current government and concentrate on defining a new, united and progressive Canada, a Canada that works ‘for’ the people. A new paradigm is needed. Citizens can act as a force outside the government to change it. The people can and must speak.”

Current leader of the Women’s Alliance Party

Osama bin Laden 1959 - 2011

Esther writes:

To whom does it profit and Why we should mourn the killing of Osama son of Laden

We were told a while back that Osama was dead when, in 2001, we were informed of his demise. Now, the old card is brought out of a loaded pack from the hands of known cheaters and liars and we are told he is dead, all over again.

As the West cheers, the skeptics ask for a body, but there is none to show.

Question: What does that mean to us, citizens of the world, those of us who love peace and have been appalled by the rising militarism in our ‘civilized’ countries? Why are we disgusted by the spectacle of this ten year+ ‘most wanted man’ by the US, living in hiding in Pakistan, where he was supposedly identified and subsequently downed, shot in the face (no one will recognize him), identified by his wife and DNA (so they say), his body shrouded, prayed over and dumped in the seas in a manner that no one can ever find it again, eaten by fish and sharks, ostensibly to stop people from praying over his grave?

Answer: We should be disturbed by the news of his death, not just because of the manner in which it was carried out; not just because of the time these people chose to ‘destroy’ Osama; not just because of the barbaric depictions with which his assassination is being celebrated; not just because the same day we mourn the assassination of Khadafy’s son, a 29-year-old father of three innocent children, all killed supposedly by a cowardly drone attack. All these too, but also add to that the injection of fear that we must now live with. Fear that this is the beginning of the end, which looks so much like a provocation by the US-led NATO to take the war from an entire region to the world. Fear, also, that that rogue nation among rogue nations, Israel, will launch its pre-meditated attack on Iran, and that this act in itself will be effectively ‘blamed’ on the hoped for violent ‘reaction’ of the Muslim world towards the provocative manner and timing of bin Laden’s murder.

Are we to forget that the so-called weapons of mass destruction allegedly to be found in Iraq were the excuse for an illegal invasion of a sovereign country, not much worse than any other dictatorship in the region, for example the US ally, Saudi Arabia? Are we to forget how it took only two years for the people in the US and Canada to be misinformed and psychologically prepared for such an event? Are we to forget the excuse of the illegal invasion of Afghanistan as the ‘hiding’ of Osama bin Laden by the ‘evil’ Taliban? Are we to forget the current NATO led attack on Libya? And what will it be for the other dictatorship countries in the region?

Naturally we are to forget all that. Make the world ‘feel’ a little more unsafe, ‘look’ like might is right, 'sound' like we, the peace-loving West are in the ‘right’, and we have a world of orchestrated chaos which is become the play ground of the weapons industry, the political elites of the industrial nations, the cold-war mentality that has never really gone away, and the rising outrage of the neo-slaves and hungry masses that need to be controlled (by what? by whom?)

There you have it, a closed vicious circle of a potential world war. We mourn because we see the stage set for a perpetual conflict. We mourn because we can say with some truth that Homo sapiens, this predatorial king of the jungle, will never learn from the lessons of the past, but will happily condemn all future generations to pay for their mistakes.

Women would never have done that, never have led us into so many wars, never have chosen the gun over the word, never have allowed us to spend so much on weapons and so little on care. That’s why we need more women in politics. That's why we need Comm-Unity.

And this is why the Women’s Alliance Party.

For a similar perspective, please see this article by John Bart Gerald.

http://nightslantern.ca/2011bulletin.htm#may2

Women's Alliance on the Hill with Steelworkers Local 1005

See more photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=189818634397244&set=a.189816714397436.45324.100001073254865&type=1&theater

Vote for Change

Harper's Harpies rage against the Cheats and Creeps, the Liars and Thieves who are twisting our country totally out of shape. They scream that they ain't gonna take it no more and call on voters to go vote and get these despicable monsters out of government. This is just the beginning!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG976MStsZY

To Be or YouTu-Be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbt9qDyQffY

There are so many messages to be covered during an election campaign, and this is but one of them presented today by three ordinary citizens.

Candidates Join Esther at Voter Social

Concerned parents and Code Blue for Child Care is working hard to make early learning and child care an election issue and as such, held a "Voter Social" at Centretown Parent's Day Care located at 94 James Street today.

Parents, staff and friends living in the federal riding of Ottawa-Centre were invited to the three story house that has housed the daycare for more than 20 years.

Today's agenda was about learning what the different federal parties have planned for early learning and child care. Esther was joined by Stuart Ryan, candidate for the Communist Party and Paul Dewar, NDP incumbent.

Stuart Ryan, Esther Matharu and Paul Dewar.

Helen Forsey on Canadian Democracy

Canadian Democracy at the Crossroads – Election 2011

Canadians are privileged to live in a democracy. Our parliamentary system has evolved over centuries, and our political parties reflect the diversity and freedom of thought we enjoy as citizens.

One result of this freedom and diversity is that in some elections, no one party wins a majority of seats in the House of Commons. This means that whichever party forms the government has to co-operate with others in order to get laws passed and stay in power. This is called “minority government”, and it can work very well. All it takes is honesty, respect, and a willingness to co-operate across differences.

However, the present government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has thumbed its nose at our elected Parliament and made “minority” a dirty word. Harper’s Conservatives have misled the House of Commons, kept vital information secret, fired public safety watchdogs, systematically sabotaged parliamentary committees, and twice shut down Parliament itself rather than face criticism.

This election really is about our democracy. Canadians have a right to expect fairness, honesty and respect from our system of government. Instead, the Harper regime has given us five years of injustice, corruption and contempt.

Harper uses a stack of fairy tales about our parliamentary system to trick people into thinking they have to vote Conservative in order to avoid disaster. In reality, his threats about the opposition “seizing power” or forcing a fresh election are shameless scare tactics based on lies.

Lie #1: Coalitions are evil and illegitimate.

Not true. Coalitions are totally constitutional, and can be the most sensible way to govern co-operatively and respect the will of a majority of voters.

Lie #2: Canadians elect the prime minister.

Not true. We elect some 300 Members of Parliament to the House of Commons.

Lie #3: The party that wins the most seats necessarily forms the government.

Not true. The governing party must win – and keep – the confidence of our elected MPs through confidence votes in the House.

Lie #4: Defeating a government on a confidence motion forces a fresh election.

Not necessarily. If a recently elected House votes to defeat a government, the Governor General calls on the leader of the opposition to form a government and seek the confidence of the House.

Lie #5: It is an illegitimate “seizure of power” if the opposition accepts the Governor General’s invitation to replace a government that has lost the confidence of the House.

Not true. In fact, the opposition has what amounts to a constitutional duty to try to form a viable government with the recently elected Parliament, with no need for a repeat election.

As Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has treated our elected Parliament like an annoying irrelevancy. His government has behaved so outrageously that it has finally been formally found “in contempt of Parliament”. Now he wants to win a Conservative majority so he can do even more damage.

People all over the world are risking their lives to achieve democracy. Let’s not allow the Harper Conservatives to destroy ours from the inside.

Fact Sheet prepared by writer and activist Helen Forsey

For more information, see How Canadians Govern Themselves at www.parl.gc.ca/publications.