DEMOCRACY UNDERMINED
Stephen Harper doesn't deserve my vote, Mohammed Adam says.
By and large every election is a referendum on the incumbent, and it will be no different when Canada votes on Monday. Canadians will decide whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper has done a good enough job over the last four years to be rewarded with another term — or turfed in favour of a new leader.
My decision is made: I am not voting for Harper because over the last four years he has undermined and devalued our democracy, and more recently divided our country in a way that is undeserving of another term as prime minister.
Voting is fundamental to representative government, but winning an election is not the end of it. Democracy comes as a package, with elections at its heart, but with rules, checks and balances and institutions that together form the bedrock of democratic governance. Part of a prime minister’s job and responsibility is to honour and respect the important institutions that underpin our democracy — Parliament, the courts, media and civil society.
That has not been Harper’s way. As prime minister, he has shown nothing but disdain for these institutions, to the detriment of our democracy. He is the emperor as prime minister, wielding absolute power. He is a leader who always knows best, who does not listen, has contempt for our democratic institutions and scant regard for its principles, practices and traditions.
He has used omnibus bills to undermine the legislative branch, introducing new legislation or amending laws without due process. In one case, he used an omnibus budget bill to brazenly amend the Supreme Court Act, and in another instance involving the RCMP and the gun reg-
istry, retroactively changing the law to make something that was illegal a few years before legal.
In a democracy, the courts are sacred and independent, an institution no regular politician would dare to interfere with. But not Harper. Angry at not getting his way at the Supreme Court, he launched an unprecedented public attack on the chief justice, falsely accusing her of improper conduct to undermine public confidence in the judiciary. And when he was found out, he refused to apologize.
The media are democracy’s watchdog. Harper has nothing but disdain for the institution. He severely limits access, and while other party leaders in the election campaign open themselves to vigorous questioning,
Harper plays by his own rules, restricting the ability of reporters to question and hold him accountable.
Then there are his election law changes that make it harder for some Canadians to vote. The list goes on.
You may question whether the choice of leader at a crucial time in the country should rest on something as esoteric as a prime minister’s respect or lack thereof for our democratic institutions and traditions. Indeed, some may argue that at a time the economy is struggling, jobs are disappearing, climate change is becoming an existential threat and terrorism is growing, the test of leadership should be more consequential.
Some would argue that Harper has been a good manager of the economy,
steering a good ship through rough economic storms, and that should be the overriding test.
Perhaps he has, perhaps he hasn’t. But even if true, one can be a good economic manager and still respect the sanctity of democratic governance. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Democracy is the foundation on which Canada is built and a politician who has shown no respect for its underlying principles should not be rewarded with another term.
With three days to go, there is nothing in the polls to suggest Harper is done. He has as good a chance as anyone to win. But if he does, it won’t be with my vote.
He is the emperor as prime minister, wielding absolute power. He is a leader who always knows best, who does not listen, has contempt for our democratic institutions.
Mohammed Adam