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February 1, 2013 - No. 11
41st Session of Parliament Resumes
Harper Government's Abuse of Parliament
to
Continue in Current Session
Parliament Hill, January
28, 2013
41st
Session
of
Parliament Resumes
• Harper Government's Abuse of Parliament to
Continue in Current Session
-
Jim Nugent
• Idle No More Day of Action
41st Session of Parliament Resumes
Harper Government's Abuse of Parliament to
Continue in Current Session
- Jim Nugent -
Prior to the opening of the winter session of Parliament
on January
28, Harper government House Leader Peter Van Loan released a statement
and held
a media conference to set the legislative agenda of the government for
the current session. Van Loan used the occasion to justify the abuse of
Parliament that
has characterized the Harper government since it obtained its majority.
During the spring and fall sessions the Harper
government made a
mockery of Parliament by fully exploiting its prerogative powers to ram
through omnibus
Bills C-38 and C-45 containing hundreds of changes to laws being
demanded by the resource extraction monopolies and the international
financial oligarchy.
Without even time for bills to be read, the Conservative majority
rubber-stamped laws greatly expanding the executive powers of ministers
to attack the rights
and livelihoods of First Nations, working people and the vast majority
of Canadians.
While the dictatorial methods of the Harper
Conservatives have been
widely condemned by the majority of Canadian people, Van Loan
characterized the
undemocratic methods of the Harperites as being "productive." He
boasted that half of the government's bills have been given royal
assent and that three-quarters
of its bills are most of the way through the House and Senate. In the
spirit of "the end justifies the means," Van Loan said that the
Harperites' approach has
enabled them to carry out the structural changes they are seeking. He
said
more of the same can be expected in the new session of Parliament
because there are still
a lot of detail to add and blanks to fill in to impose the kind of
transformation of Canadian society the Harperites want. "We expect the
House of Commons will
continue to operate in a productive, hard-working and orderly fashion,"
Van Loan said.
In the media conference, Van Loan expanded on boasts
about the
"productivity" of the Harper dictatorship by taking up the theme of the
need for "strong"
government. Van Loan gave strong government as part of the explanation
as to why Canada is allegedly in a stronger economic position than the
U.S.
and Europe: "The stability and certainty of our political system is
foundational to our strong economic recovery. This is especially so
when you compare it with the political
gridlock that we see in Europe, as well as with our neighbours to the
south... If the American Senate passes a budget in 2013, it will be the
first time they have
done so since early 2009 -- over four years." The way the Harperites
have
been able to exploit Canada's political system and to emerge as the
dominant champions
of private interests is compared here to other jurisdictions where
according to Van Loan conflict between powerful rival groups has
resulted in "political
gridlock" blocking business from getting done. This is the real message
of
Van Loan's media event. The real audience for this message, besides the
Harperite
constituency among the privileged minority in Canada, is the
international financial oligarchy. All Harper ministers are first and
foremost salesmen, who offer
Canada as a paradise for international investors and who are selling
the Harper government as a champion of their private interests. Van
Loan's selling point
is that the Conservatives have assumed the powers necessary to sweep
away "political gridlock" and are able to put a unified state
power at the service of
international investors it is aligned with.
 People in Canada are
striving for a say in matters that affect their
lives and the world they live in, despite the Harper government's
boasts about dominating
the political system and its determination to put the Canadian economy
and society at the service of the international financial oligarchy. An
expression of this striving of the people to have a say and to decide
is the movement against changes to employment insurance as well as the
movement of First Nations for the affirmation of their rights.
The abuse of Parliament's decision-making process with
the increased use of
omnibus
bills and rule by ministerial decree and the other
anti-democratic methods the
Harperites use to oppose the popular will and enforce monopoly right
have aroused widespread
opposition to them throughout the country. People are opposed
to both the Harperite
ends and means -- opposed to the illegitimate agenda of putting the
Canadian economy and society at the disposal of monopoly right and
opposed to the
illegitimate, dictatorial methods used to impose this agenda against
the
popular will.
Idle No More Day of Action
First Nations people were joined by people from all
walks of life on the
occasion of the opening of Parliament on January 28 on Parliament Hill.
Actions were also held in some 30 Canadian cities and several cities
around the world. Signs and speakers demanded that Canada live up to
its treaty obligations, rectify the
historical injustices against First Nations and meet with them on a
nation-to-nation basis. It was also reiterated that defending the
rights of First Nations is in the interest of all Canadians.
The Harper government remains intransigent and claims
that its legislation that affects First Nations has been approved by
consultations with them. This covers up that the fundamental issues of
the right
of
First Nations to sovereign decision-making in matters which affect
their lives, including control over their land and the resources
contained therein, are negated by the Harper government's legislation.
The consultations to which the Harper government refers are a set-up
because they present a preset and narrow agenda in
which the people have no role to determine their affairs. They are
precisely the means
used by governments in service of private interests to undermine the
people's resistance and defence of their rights.
TML calls on
everyone to continue to press the just demands of First Nations for the
recognition of their treaty, hereditary and constitutional rights and
participate in the ongoing actions of the First Nations which defend
the rights of all.
Actions Across Canada and Worldwide
Besides the action on Parliament Hill, the January
28 Idle No More Global Day of Action saw activities in defence of First
Nations' rights organized across Canada, with
many more across the U.S. and still others held in Latin America,
Europe, Asia and Oceania, as MPPs returned to Parliament in Ottawa. The
actions reiterated the demand that the Harper government withdraw its
legislation which attacks First Nations' hereditary, treaty and
constitutional rights, including its omnibus budget bills C-38 and
C-45,
amongst others.
British Columbia
Prince George
  
Comox
Sechelt
Victoria
Vancouver
 
Kelowna
 
 
Nelson
Vernon
Alberta
Edmonton
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
Red Deer
Calgary
 
 
 
Saskatchewan
Buffalo Narrows
Winnipeg
 
Ontario
Morson
Kenora
Kashechewan
Chapleau
Bracebridge
Sault Ste. Marie
Sudbury
Windsor
Hamilton
Dunnville
Toronto
Rail Blockade,
Tyendinaga
Mohawk Territory
 
Quebec
Val d'Or
Montreal
 
Kahnawake
Nova Scotia
Halifax
 
United States,
January 26-28
Alaska
Washington
 
Seattle
California
Sacramento
San Francisco
 
San Jose
Bishop
 
Los Angeles
Idaho
Boise
South Dakota
Sisseton
North Dakota
Fargo
Utah
Park City
New Mexico
Albuquerque
Iowa
University of Iowa
Texas
Austin
Michigan
 
New York
Canadian Consulate
and
United Nations, New York City
Connecticut
Teach-In, Yale
University
Florida
Tallahassee
Around the World
Greenland
 
Nuuk
Mexico
Oaxaca
Brazil
Sao Paulo
England
 
London
Norway
Kautokeino, Samiland
Sweden
Skognas
Austria
Vienna
Italy
 
Rome; Sicily
Croatia
Zadar
Palestine
Nazareth
Australia
Melbourne
Sydney
Brisbane
Read The Marxist-Leninist
Daily
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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