Department of Culture

Click here to check out the website created by grassroots Conservatives to oust Harper

Folks hold on to your seats and be prepared to be bombarded with every kind of propaganda imaginable. The Conservative war chests are overflowing.  Panicked parties who suddenly find themselves on the wrong side of history seldom go gently or quietly.  

The Globe and Mail has intercepted next week’s Conservative talking points distributed by Harper’s Chief of Staff Guy Giorno (ex-Chief of Staff to Mike Harris).  

The intercepted script they are giving to MPs who will be making the rounds of radio and television talk shows over the next week is so detailed that they certainly don’t seem hopeful MPs have the skills to legitimize Harper’s actions on their own. The talking points are also strangely absent of any real justification for the Conservative economic plan, which flies in the face of sound fiscal policy in a recession.

What makes the Conservatives seem even more desperate, is that many of their talking points contradict numerous  statements previously made by the Prime Minister:

On September 9th, 2004 Harper, Layton and Duceppe signed the following letter to the Governor General:

“As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government’s program. We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority. Your attention to this matter is appreciated.”

This Guy Giorno Guy really isn’t doing a good job is he?  Mixed messaging, leaked talking points to the media, well at least Harper has never given an interview to CBC where he goes into further detail about the right of the opposition to form a government without forcing an election right?……

Here’s some highlights from then Leader of the Opposition Stephen Harper’s interview with Evan Solomon on CBC:

“The government can only be brought down because it alienates several parties in the House. And the first obligation in this Parliament, if the government wants to govern, it has to come to Parliament and it has to show that it can get the support of the majority of members, through the Throne Speech, through legislation, and through budget and supply”

“We’ll support the government on issues if it’s essential to the country but our primary responsibility is not to prop up the government, our responsibility is to provide an opposition and an alternative government for Parliament and for Canadians. What the government has to do, if it wants to govern for any length of time, is it must appeal primarily to the third parties in the House of Commons to get them to support it.”

“I’ve consulted pretty regularly with Mr. Duceppe and Mr. Layton to get a sense of what they’re looking for - it’s up to the government to do the same thing. If you want to be a government in a minority Parliament, you have to work with other people.”

“I think the real problem that we’re facing already is that the government doesn’t accept that it got a minority. The Liberals think the natural state of affairs is a Liberal majority - they’re not happy about this, they don’t accept it and quite frankly, they’re going to look for any opportunity to call an election. I can tell you that our party and I’m sure Mr. Duceppe and Mr. Layton from our conversations want Parliament to work - it’s in the interests of the Opposition for this Parliament to go on for a while and be effective. It is only the government that wants to end this state of affairs and go to have another election.“

There’s actually more, but that’s enough to give anyone a sense of the hypocricy the Conservatives will have to engage in to destabilize a government that has the support of the vast majority of Canadians.  The NDP and Liberals alone recieved almost 1 million more votes than the Harper Conservatives.

There’s got to be enough Hockey Moms and Dads out there across Canada to explain to Stephen that you can’t have different sets of rules for winning and when you’re losing.

How quickly have the remaining 1/3 of Canadians who supported them turned on Stephen Harper’s Conservatives? After the releasing an economic update that flies in the face of what every major government in the world is doing to counter the global economic crisis:

Even the Globe and Mail has published a mea culpa, that admits their endorsement of Harper in the recent election was founded on incorrect assumptions.

You know things are bad for a pro-big corporation government when….

Clearly, Canadians do not want to be thrown into another election. It is well within the Governor General’s mandate (see the King/Byng Affair) to appoint the opposition as government when a Prime Minister does not have the support of the people and is engaged in political tactics that would force an election the country does not need or want.

Here’s to looking forward to a Liberal/NDP government in Ottawa soon. The two parties together received almost 1 million more votes than the Conservatives in the past election and have a legal and legitimate claim to form a government.

See Stephen, there is a difference between having a minority and a majority government.

DoC got rolling this August in a packed Town Hall meeting at The Theatre Centre with with Naomi Klein and over 700 other motivated citizens.  How can this momentum be maintained? What can we learn from the Obama campaign’s success in mobilizing for positive change?

I was psyched for my first, first-person-post, to explore what the Canadian cultural sector could take from the methods and success of the Obama campaign. Turns out, someone else has already written a concise and insightful overview for the US cultural sector:

Holly Sidford’s article in the Fall 08 Grantmakers in the Arts was written before election night, and even contains the endearing phrase, “Barack Obama may not be our President”, but it is right on the money in terms of analysis.  It outlines six key lessons anyone working in the cultural sector should take from the methods and tactics the Obama campaign used:

1. People want to be inspired.

2. Link to a higher purpose, and herald the future.

3. The improbable is possible—with the right strategy.

4. Participation is our most important renewable resource.

5. Entitlements are dead.

6. Respect and empower the young.

Click the link below to read the full article:

The Obama Zeitgeist: Six Lessons for the Cultural Sector