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This is a meme that deserves to be propagated.
What? The Canadian Government have to comprise? I don’t think so. Harper and his merry band of plutocrats are considering proroguing parliament again. Essentially wiping the slate clean for the next session. It would cost the conservatives as they have much of their treasured neoconservative agenda at risk:
“If Harper were to prorogue, the Consumer Product Safety Act, as well as several crime bills dear to the Conservative government such as those dealing with auto theft, email spam, sex offenders, conditional sentences and white-collar crime, would be wiped off the legislative agenda.”
A small price to pay though to avoid the torture scandal that is brewing over the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan. There is mounting evidence of Canadian wrongdoing and that would be bad for the polls, so indeed it might be worth it to sacrifice current legislation.
“Moreover, parliamentary committees — including the special Commons committee probing the issue of possible Afghan detainee torture — could not sit.”
Ahh…well things become more clear now. The last minority government was brought down because of an inquiry. We certainly cannot have that, as the ethical treatment of other human beings is much less important than staying in power.
A update before the post has gone to press. Look – Harper is going to do it anyway.
A second update, the disdainful deed is done. Shame on me for scheduling this post for the new year, as I underestimated Steven Harper’s capacity to fail.
The Conservative government is handling our alleged abuse of Afghan detainees with an sublime air of stupidity that George Bush made (in)famous. It seems that outright lying has not worked. We are now own to indignant posturing and appeals to patriotism. Allow me to illustrate.
Richard Colvin, a senior intelligence officer brought to light Canadian misdeeds:
“According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured,” Colvin told a parliamentary committee on Nov. 18.
Canadian Defence Minister War Propagandist Peter Mackay said:
“The member is suggesting by implication that the military did something wrong, that somehow they did not do the right thing. That is what is so despicable,” MacKay said on Dec. 10.”
What? How dare anyone question the character of our troops and our mission in Afghanistan! Especially when their allegations are false…
“The documents reveal that in 2008, military police launched six separate investigations into allegations of abuse involving Canadian troops.”
Errr….whoops! It seems like something is going on over there. However, so far we’re clean according to our military:
“The military police determined that the allegations were unfounded in five of the six cases, and the remaining investigation is ongoing,” said Maj. Paule Poulin, a spokesperson for the Canadian Forces Provost Marshall.
One can always trust the military to police itself.
And now the sour flourish:
“However, MacKay apparently never told the House there were allegations against Canadian troops, at least one of which is still being investigated.”
We can always trust politicians to act unethically. It is nice that Mr.Mackay provides such a clear example (via his briefing notes) of his dedication to the service and maintenance of power, justice be damned.
I’ve been keeping an eye on what has been happening recently with the Canadian Armed Forces and their handling of the detainee situation. The prognosis has been rather bleak. We are most likely responsible for people being abused and tortured while under our aegis. The Harper government has been doing backflips as of late to keep a lid on the story. Intransigentia has forwarded this article to my attention.
“The Harper government has effectively suspended parliamentary hearings on allegations that Afghan detainees were transferred to torture – boycotting attempts by opposition MPs to continue a Commons probe of the matter.”
Why are the Conservatives engaged in what seems to be a full on exercise in damage control if in fact, there is no substance to the allegations raised by Richard Colvin?
The Conservatives are blocking parliamentary inquiries saying insipid tidbits like this:
“It’s not the time to be having meetings that are implying, intentioned or not, that Canadians are somehow guilty of war crimes,” Laurie Hawn, the parliamentary secretary for the Defence Minister, said on CTV’s Power Play after the aborted meeting.
Well Mr.Hawn when exactly is the time to investigate possible war crimes perpetrated by our forces? The optics do not improve by stalling and delaying the House of Commons about the issue.
What is happening is that the Conservatives know they have a situation that will bring down their government. Delaying parliament is only the first step in the three ring circus that is forming around this issue. I guarantee this is only going to get worse.
According to Richard Colvin, since 2006 (and probably earlier) the Canadian Armed Forces have had a hand in facilitating the torture of afghan prisoners. Richard Colvin said:
“According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured. For interrogators in Kandahar, it was a standard operating procedure,” Colvin said.
He said the most common forms of torture were beatings, whipping with power cables, the use of electricity, knives, open flames and rape.”
Let me state this right now. Torture does not work. For an in depth analysis of exactly how bad torture is for nation states see Alflred McCoy’s book: A Question of Torture.
So torture is neither viable nor productive in terms of gathering information. Unless of course you are the church and are just trying to save the poor heretic’s souls.
It was only a matter of time as the slaughter and abuse of civilians goes hand in hand with imperial misadventures. We avoided the Iraq fiasco, but now are fully mired in Afghanistan. Colvin expresses his regrets about our foreign policy:
“As I learned more about our detainee practices, I came to a conclusion they were contrary to Canada’s values, contrary to Canada’s interests, contrary to Canada’s official policies and also contrary to international law. That is, they were un-Canadian, counterproductive and probably illegal.”
I agree with Mr. Colvin. But did our government? Of course not, the denials and spin began almost immediately.
“Defence Minister Peter MacKay also questioned the credibility of the allegations earlier this week. Hillier and Conservative officials denied Colvin’s assertion that he reported prisoner abuses as early as 2006.”
To expect a different response from any political party would be silly. That is the sad fact of the realpolitik of our times, we sanction horrible practices, and then when public scrutiny arrives, the government does its utmost to deny, deflect and discredit the bearer of the news of its malfeasance. Witness our feckless Conservatives in action:
“Last week, Colvin was accused by Conservative MPs of being a Taliban “dupe” for believing and broadcasting claims of prisoner abuse — and testifying he’d relayed those concerns to an unreceptive government.”
Mr. Colvin’s assertions were corroborated by a Afghani MP Malalai Joya she said:
“What he has been saying is what I’ve heard from my people,” she said.
Many of the victims are women and children detainees who have been raped, she said. “It’s not new for our people.”
Whoops! A outside confirmation of what is happening in Afghanistan? The Conservatives could not possibly be lying could they?
“The Conservative government was aware of concerns about the state of prisons in Afghanistan in early 2006, prompting it to negotiate a new prisoner transfer agreement, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Friday.”
Wow, getting caught in a lie misunderstanding (again) sucks does it not Mr.MacKay? The caliber of the verbal casuistry being spewn forth by the Conservative government leaves me gobsmacked.. The party of ‘law and order’ and ‘family values’ and morality in general. I remember with the Conservatives were rallying against the Liberals during the Adscam – debacle, oh how shrill they were. Good thing the Conservatives are above such antics now that they are in power.
It looks like we are at least partially responsible for people being tortured. A government that was actually dedicated upholding human rights and ‘canadian values’ would at least admit to their part in this ugly little affair.
Times are tough, we are in a economic downturn. Solution: Lower Taxes.
Times are great, we are in an economic upturn. Solution: Lower Taxes.
This from our level headed and supposedly fully rational Canadian minister of Finance.
“It has become obvious that Canada was well prepared for the crisis that hit us a year ago — paying down debt in good times, maintaining a prudent financial system and reducing taxes as the U.S. entered into recession in early 2008, to provide both a short-term gain and a long-term advantage,” Flaherty said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Brampton, Ont., Board of Trade.”
What the hell Jim? Is Keynesian Economic Theory a bit of a stretch for you? Or is it something else?
From the budget brought down by Jimbo Flaherty and his Neo-Conservative party.
“Corporate taxes will also be cut — by $14.1 billion over the next five years.
The corporate income tax rate drops by an additional percentage point to 19.5 per cent in 2008, falling in steps to 15 per cent by 2012. By that time, Canada will have the lowest corporate tax rate among the major industrialized economies, the government said.”
It is simply ludicrous. The government needs to raise taxes when times are good so it has the room to cut taxes when times are bad. The current Canadian Government has had but one solution on the issue of taxes: Cut, Cut, Cut, and then cut some more. That friends, is retarded. I mean sure, we all love our tax breaks, but defunding the government so it must cut valuable social services amazingly short sighted.
The business cycle must be regulated by the government for the benefit of the people of Canada. Unfortunately that means tax increasing during the good times, get over it tax-whiners, as it is necessary.
I hear this often enough: “Crime is out of control we need more police on the street… or let’s get tougher on crime… or (insert conservative trope here)”
I wonder how much thinking people who say these sorts of things have actually done about the issues of crime and poverty and how they are interrelated. Whoops! I just used a 5 syllable word that, like it or not, it cuts me off from speaking to people who often hold this opinion, and relegates me to talking past them instead. We do not have a common cultural frame of reference and I am written off as a lefty intellectual egg head socialist (Fear not I am neither smart nor witty enough to qualify to be in the liberal intellectual elite) and largely ignored. Talking past one another is a serious problem for both me and the bumpkins ( My apologies I could not resist) whom I attempt to communicate with.
Crime is a problem. (But then again, criminality is on the decline, we should not let reality intervene… it might force us to reconsider our opinions)
The populist response: We need more police, more prisons, and more courtrooms to punish these malcontents and n’er do wells. Society has gone soft on criminals and we need to ‘toughen up’ on crime to fix things.
Okay, so to toughen up on crime we need to spend more public money on jails and police. Where does the money come from? The pubic purse of course and along with more police and jails/legal infrastructure comes the necessary bureaucratic/managerial superstructure. So really, what they are advocating is more government spending and ‘bigger’ government. Government spending and more government and antithetical to what conservatives and populists claim to believe.
More police and more jails often comes with the rallying cry of cuts to welfare and other methods of social assistance because ‘it makes people lazy’. Check. Never mind the facts of the matter. Only a very small percentage of people who are on social assistance cheat the system, most do not. Social assistance helps people avoid grinding poverty. Poverty is the largest cause of our social ills, crime, violence, drug-use are all tied to impoverished people and conditions. I digress though, as welfare and other forms of wealth distribution are inherently evil and must be abolished. Charity will “fix” the problems of the poor.
My response: Crime overall has been on a decline for decades, it certainly should not be ignored as a social issue, but
needs to be framed within the proper non-fear based context. We do not need more police and jail infrastructure. We need more spending on the front lines of social assistance and welfare that directly combats poverty. Poverty is the enemy we need to combat, not crime directly. People who can exist at a modest level within society are less likely to commit crime. If we went after the root cause of crime (poverty) we could stop so much deviancy before it ever started. Improving community supports and schools have measurable paybacks toward the positive health of society.
Yet, I am the bad one because social programs mean taxes. The free ride conservatives give to industry also mean more taxes to pay for the average person as well. In Alberta, the royalty regime is laughably pathetic, with rates at absurdly low values. I digress as I’ve already talked about energy royalties in a previous post.
If you feel crime is getting out of hand in your neighbourhood first ask what can you do as a community to fix the problem. Conservative commentators are forever decrying the lazy welfare state… fine… then lets see these righteous people organizing community watches and ‘take back the night’ campaigns and tackling issues on the community level. Does this happen? Occasionally, but more often, we hear ‘we need to be tough on crime’ and ‘more police’ refrain as if this will actually fix the problem. Forget getting people involved in their community, that smacks of socialism and is a bold assault on self-interest which of course, is at the very core of conservative belief.
So we get more police and build more jails and taxes go up (or more valuable social spending is cut) and government gets bigger.
Populists rarely see this connection and thus are missing out on the sweet irony that laces much of their dogmatism.
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