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Silencing the outriders, silencing democracy

By
Keith Reynolds
| August 15, 2012

Since taking power federally in 2006, the Conservative government has undertaken a continuous attack on civil society organizations. One of the government's first actions was to cut support for women's organizations that lobbied or did research on the status of women. Environmental organizations have been accused of acting in the interest of foreign powers. Revenue Canada was given extra money to investigate them.

How did we come to the point where organizations advocating equality and changes to public policy appear to be seen by the government as the enemy of Canadians?

Tom Flanagan, University of Calgary professor and a top adviser to the Conservative leader, made much of this very clear in a largely forgotten section of a book he published in 2007.

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James Laxer

Stephen Harper's majority government: Not looking out for YOU

By
James Laxer
| February 7, 2012

As we close in on one year of Stephen Harper's majority, it is evident that this is a very special government. YOU are just not on its list of priorities.

It's not that this government does not have causes to which it is deeply committed: low taxes for business and the wealthy; the petroleum industry; military might; and prisons. If these are the government's positives, its negatives follow directly from them.

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Cynical fears of a 'hidden agenda' have replaced facts in our politics

By
Paul Saurette
| April 20, 2011

On the face of it, this election campaign has thus far largely been free of what one might call the language of a culture war. Stephen Harper has explicitly said a majority Conservative government would not open up the politics of abortion or same-sex rights. The opposition parties have learned from the last election that harping on the threat of a "hidden agenda" doesn't work particularly well anymore. Sure, it seems that the Conservative party may have borrowed liberally from the U.S. to construct a Canadian version of Tea Party-esque ads. But it is hard to argue that there is anything like the vitriol we see routinely south of the border.

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Murray Dobbin

A Harper majority and the remaking of Canada

By
Murray Dobbin
| April 11, 2011

Stephen Harper's announcement that he is going to reach his deficit elimination goal a year early and do it by lopping $11 billion off federal spending is in effect lifting the veil on his long feared "hidden agenda." It is hidden no more as the polling numbers, for both his leadership and his party's support, hold steady at high enough numbers that he can imagine a majority.

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The next step: Challenging Harper's agenda

Just one phone call...and poof it all goes away. (Image: JohnMacLennan.ca)

Related rabble.ca story:

The next step: Challenging Harper's agenda
Tags:
politics Stephen Harper human rights detainees conservative agenda Afghan detainees
James Laxer

The next step: Challenging Harper's agenda

By
James Laxer
| January 11, 2010

Having underestimated the acuity of the Canadian people, the Harper government has been placed on the defensive. While the mainstream media cheered them on and their pollsters reassured them that they were on a winning path, Stephen Harper and his ministers blithely assumed that Canadians were not interested in the Afghan detainees scandal and the environment, and that they couldn't care less about the prorogation of parliament. The accepted narrative of recent months was that Stephen Harper was on the cusp of a majority and all he had to do was to trigger an election while appearing not to want one.

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Status of Chattel

After a wee rant on my Facebook wall, words fail.

It's the girls' fault?

"The Government of Canada is pleased to provide support to Regroupement des femmes de la région de Matane for its project, Et toi ton couple, ça clic? (So, Are You Clicking as a Couple?). This project aims to promote equitable, non-violent behaviour in the romantic relationships of adolescents by targeting the hypersexualization of girls as a root cause of dating violence."

Tags:
violence against women domestic violence status of women sex education equality hypersexualization conservative agenda
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