Enemies of the state: The (almost) Complete List
Like many of you, I was shocked to hear that a member of the Prime Minister’s Office had sent an email asking staff in other ministers’ offices to compile lists of “enemy stakeholders.”
This did not sound like the discreet, professional Prime Minister’s Office with which I think we are all familiar. Just the risk of such an email coming to light made it impossible to believe any member of the current PMO was involved. On top of which: Enemies lists? Not on this prime minister’s watch. I distinctly remember the prime minister on election night promising “to govern for all Canadians.” Say what you will about Stephen Harper, but he’s a man of his word.
I was going to consign the whole business to the “silly season” file, when a thick brown envelope dropped through the mail slot in my door. Inside, stamped “EYES ONLY,” was a document, many pages long, bearing the title, “Our Enemies: The Complete List (Revised).” At the top of the first page was the prime minister’s coat of arms. Whoa, I thought. So it’s true.
I hesitate to share this information with the public. As shocking as the existence of the list itself, obviously intended as a sort of aide mémoire, are the names it contains. I include only a selection, with explanatory notes as appropriate.
1. The Opposition. OK, this one’s maybe a little obvious, but it has been weeks since there was a fresh attack ad or physical confrontation with an opposition leader. But perhaps Peter Van Loan will be in a better mood now that he no longer has to worry whether he will keep his job.
2. The bureaucracy. Among the entities constraining his freedom of action, Harper reassured Canadians a week before he was elected in 2006, was “a Liberal civil service.” With foreign service workers on strike and more fights looming over severance and sick leave, relations would seem no better, notwithstanding the addition of thousands of new enem — er, employees to the federal payroll.
3. The courts. Another of the constraints Harper mentioned. Suspicions of Liberal appointees aside, denunciations of “judicial activism” and “judge-made law” are a staple of conservative gatherings. More recently, a Federal Court judge took the government to task for attempting to “derail” a case brought over the robocalls controversy.
4. The Senate. Once the “Liberal senate,” it has proved scarcely more cooperative under Conservative control. Senators appointed on an explicit pledge to support Senate reform have since balked. A bill to require greater transparency in union finances was sent back to the Commons with the help of more than 20 Tory senators.
5. The media. Any questions? Too bad, you’re not on the list.
6. The premiers. Disdaining to meet them collectively, Harper has tangled with several of the premiers individually. Some, such as Newfoundland’s Danny Williams, Quebec’s Jean Charest and Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty, are no longer with us. But Alberta’s Alison Redford can’t be too happy that so many federal Tories campaigned for her defeat, while B.C.’s Christy Clark is in the feds’ sights over her attempts to hold the Northern Gateway pipeline to ransom.
Moving down the list, we find:
17. Environmentalists. As in “environmentalists and other radical groups.” See also: “eco-terrorists.” Less heard from since the omnibudget cut their funding.
29. Scientists. Never mind climate change: The list of subjects on which federal scientists have been prohibited from speaking publicly includes floods, sharks, even snow.
46. Elections Canada. As leader of the National Citizens Coalition, Harper referred to the agency as “jackasses.” As prime minister, his government has been in frequent conflict with it. Changes to elections laws, still pending, were prepared without consulting the Commissioner of Canada Elections.
63. The Auditor General. Though he was appointed by the current government, Michael Ferguson came under fire for finding that the costs of the F-35 purchase had been understated. The parliamentary secretary to the minister of Defence suggested the AG had mixed up basic accounting terms, couldn’t get “basic facts right” and was being “disingenuous.”
87. The Parliamentary Budget Officer. Also a Tory appointee, he has been stonewalled, lied to, and publicly accused of incompetence.
209. The U.S. Should the administration rule against the Keystone XL pipeline, highly placed government sources have let it be known, the impact on Canada-U.S. relations would be severe. But it’s hard to see how they could get any frostier.
217. China. Once on the list over its appalling human rights record, all appeared to be forgiven, even after the prime minister was publicly scolded by the Chinese president for taking so long to visit. That was until China’s state corporations started buying into the oilpatch.
238. Europe. A long-promised trade agreement is stalled amid much mutual finger-pointing.
428. Canada’s police commissioners. See: long-gun registry.
912. Mrs. Rose Fairchild, 421 Marlow Ave., Kitchener, Ontario. It’s a long story …
As I say, that’s a partial list. A more complete accounting would include the former governor general, the Speaker of the House, the CRTC, the CBC, the banks, “Toronto elites,” Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney — whoops, no, they’re friends again — the government of Iran, child pornographers … I knew you would be shocked.