One of the things I've admired about the overall Democrat effort this year has been the clever use of the interwebz to raise money, get younger generations engaged in the political process and bring similarly like-minded people together to work towards common goals. I've wondered how the left in Canada, as fractured as we are, could take lessons from this. Okay, so we don't have even half the excitement in the political arena, even if our elected MPs shout at and heckle each other on a daily basis. And okay, we don't have a political candidate that comes even close to having the sheer charisma and fierce intelligence Barack Obama has to rally behind. But as important as the current election is to our neighbours to the south, our upcoming federal election seems, to me, nearly as important, at least in one sense: we are facing a daunting prospect. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is currently polling in majority territy, and it seems like we Canucks may soon know exactly what it's like to have a government ideologically-driven from the far, far right.
Don't let what you may know about the current Conservative minority government fool you. The individuals making up the party would form the most idealogically conservative government in Canadian history if they given a majority. They are a party that opposes gay rights and a woman's right to choose. They believe in private -- not public -- health care. They quietly closed every Status of Women Canada office, a federal agency created to advance women's economic equality and human rights and eliminate violence against women. They believe global warming isn't happening and called the Kyoto Accord "a socialist scheme". They have poured millions and millions of dollars into traditionally-conservative issues like police enforcement and the military. They believe in less taxes and smaller government.
In 1997, Harper gave a speech to the US Council for National Policy in 1997. Among the many gems that came out of his mouth that night was this:
"The NDP is kind of proof that the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men".
I shudder. THIS is our Prime Minister.
So what does this have to do with Obama? I found that quote on a website launched by the Liberal Party of Canada called Scandalpedia, which I thought was an extremely clever idea (if rather risky). It automatically made me think of how well Obama has used those tools available him. Perhaps our left-leaning parties have learned something from him. I sincerely hope they have.
heritage watch has a better diary up here about the upcoming Canadian election (in which you'll see I'm everywhere in the comments). There, I asked if anyone knew of a Canadian site similar to dKos, and one Kossak did suggest using Progressive Bloggers. That's not an actual community though; it's more of an aggregator.
What I am trying to do is share the Scandalpedia with the Canadian members on this site (I know you're out there) regardless of which political party you vote for, and to inquire to a larger audience as to the existence of anything that might resemble a Canadian dKos -- a place where we can discuss uniquely Canadian issues, post our own action alerts, and ultimately bring people together. Why? Because we need change too.
If you really want to know the kind of state politics and government is in here in Canada, look no further than the most recent tactice Harper is using to discredit Liberal leader Stephane Dion -- a now-edited interactive website piece showing an Atlantic Puffin pooping on Dion's shoulders.
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Oh, yes, we need change too.
I understand most Kossacks frankly can't afford right now to worry about what is happening up here but I hope this diary finds an audience.