Stephen Harper says the Senate needs reform, but more Canadians think it's the Prime Minister's Office that has too much power.
With the Commons shut from December till March because Mr. Harper prorogued Parliament, a new poll shows 42 per cent of Canadians think the power of the PMO should be trimmed.
The survey, conducted by Nanos Research, finds Canadians retain the long-standing feeling that the Senate has more power than it deserves. But there's more concern about the Prime Minister's Office.
“It's not just the usual suspects,” said pollster Nik Nanos. “There are more Canadians that think the office of the prime minister is one of the parts of our democracy that requires a second look.”
The Nanos poll found that 42 per cent of Canadians think the Prime Minister's Office has too much power. Another 40 per cent say it's just right, and 9 per cent say it has too little power.
Yeah. I know. Polls, schmolls.
But if you are a regular reader of DJ!, you probably share our opinion that Stevie the Spiteful is the worst thing to happen to this country in a verrrry long time. Maybe ever.
So. What to do? I've yammered on about the grassrooty CAPP Facebook group and its offshoot CRUSH.
CAPP seems to have stalled -- at least in membership numbers -- and CRUSH (Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper) isn't exactly booming.
Here is CRUSH's vision:
Stephen Harper is increasingly strengthening the powers of the PMO and eroding the democratic rights of the people of Canada. It is time for a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons. It is time for the people of Canada to have their say in a general election!
Harper’s Offenses Against our Democratic Traditions and Institutions:
o Proroguing parliament to avoid facing a nonconfidence vote (2008)
o Proroguing parliament to avoid answering questions about the government’s handling of Afghan detainees (2009)
o Muzzling ministers, members of Parliament, and government watchdogs; stacking committees with political operatives
o Politicising federal institutions and programs that should represent all Canadians
o Avoiding questions by the media; restricting or denying access to information
o Using obstructionist tactics; employing American “spin doctors”
CRUSH is trying to raise enough dough to run nationwide newspaper ads calling for an election on March 3.
As I've said before, this isn't really about newspaper ads, or unseating Stevie the Spiteful -- lovely as that prospect is.
No. It's about The Money Test. The leaderless, totally grassroots, non-astroturfed CAPP put feet on the street on January 23, much to the chagrin of pundits and pols.
Now, simply, can it raise money?
I think it/we can collectively give the one-fingered salute to the ReformaTories and their running dog lackeys in the MSM.
If you have 5 or 10 bucks not otherwise committed, go get your checkbook or credit card. I'll wait. Remember, there's a reward. You'll like it.
You're back. Good. Those of you with credit cards and PayPal accounts, click here. For those of you with chequebooks, here's the info
Make cheques payable to: UNSEATHARPER.CA
Mail cheques to:
UNSEATHARPER.CA
BOX 1284 LAKEFIELD, ONTARIO
K0L 2H0
Thanks.
Here's the reward. It's not violence, it's therapy.
3 comments:
Good Post.
CAPP is floundering because after the protests there is no clear vision of what the group should be, It's now just an informational and general bitching site.
The CRUSH site is often filled with abusive behavior and hate and while they want to crush Harper(a good thing) they also feel it important to crush dissent on their own site. (a no better than the CONS they despise thing).
In both cases they are not doing anything to create local democratic organizations.
This is why more local CAPP groups like ours in Newmarket-Aurora are going alone, in our case as CED
Canadians Engaging Democracy
We even have our own speaking event this Thursday night in Aurora, see press release
http://ced-na.posterous.com/press-release-holding-the-line-on-our-democra
I'm on CRUSH and I feel very comfortable there. Trolls are banned and it's a nice place to visit. The main CAPP wall is very trollish and sometimes immature.
We all have the same goal.
I salute the work of the regional boards.
We all deserve a pat on the back as we kick Harper out.
.
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