We pay a dear price for Harper’s ambitions

To the Editor, DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN we could travel the world with just our little maple leaf flag on our backs? That was enough to secure our safety, distinguishing us from Americans.

We were a secure country. It was because of our world policies of peacekeeping. Not that long ago, Americans would use our little flags on their packs. And then our government changed us from a peacekeeping country to one of war.

The whole point of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed with a series of enemies, to alarm the people and have them clamouring to the government for safety.

We didn’t have a homegrown terrorist threat in Canada. It has only been since P.M. Harper started his war rhetoric to further his political ambitions.

This unrest in the Middle East has been going on for more than 1,300 years – it’s a religious war, and we should not be picking sides and dropping bombs on people to further Harper’s political career. It’s a very high price we have to pay to satisfy one man’s ambitions.

No more will the little maple leaf flag count for anything except memories. Harper has done so much damage to Canada’s reputation in such a short time, from his Russia- and Putinbashing in Europe to his negative niqab comments.

We are a multiracial country, and for him to stir things up and cause dissent is unpardonable.

Harper constantly attacks our democracy, from the socalled Fair Elections Act, to stacking the courts and the Senate to the point where it is a meaningless Conservative body rubberstamping his policies.

It has been said that fascism is when government and big business join to run a country. That is where we are at now. Environmental protections have been removed from 98 per cent of our lakes and rivers to make it easier for big oil to push through their pipelines and mining companies to rape our land. The only people that seem to care are our First Nations, and they are paying a very high price with all the cuts imposed on their healthcare and education to make them fall in line.

It’s only been eight years, but what big change in Canada. And I’m afraid they’re changes that can’t be reversed.

WILLIAM COSBY | LINWOOD